Page 12 of Breaking Rules

Lumen

Part of beingin the foster system was dealing with caseworkers, and while I wasn’t technicallyworkingin or for the system, I still sometimes met the social workers when I was around the group home. Josalyn Brodie hadn’t been one of those, so when I stepped into the lobby of the Department of Child and Family Services, I wasn’t sure who I was looking for or where I was going. Fortunately, one caseworker I did know spotted me right away.

“Lumen Browne.” Donna Bedford beamed as she came toward me. Her hug was both familiar and welcome, and a single inhalation of apple-scented body wash took me right back to being thirteen when my first caseworker had retired, and I’d been passed off to Donna. Henry had been okay. Donna was better.

“Hey, Donna.”

“I’ve heard you’ve been working with some of the kids at Brie Richards’ place.”

I nodded. “I have. Actually, that’s why I’m here. One of her girls, Soleil Artz, reached out to me yesterday, but then changed her mind about telling me whatever was troubling her. I want to talk to her caseworker and see if I can get some ideas about how to get through to her or what she might have to say.”

“Who is it?”

“Josalyn Brodie.”

“She’s a good woman,” Donna said. “Tough and a little jaded, but she still cares. C’mon. I’ll take you to her.”

I followed Donna through the cubicles to one closer to the back.

“Josalyn.” Donna rapped her knuckles on the divider. “This is Lumen Browne. She talked to you about one of your kids.”

Josalyn looked like she was in her late forties, her jet-black hair in braids that nearly went to her waist. Her dark eyes were intelligent and stern, the sort of person who took her job seriously.

“Ms. Brodie.” I held out a hand.

“Don’t leave without saying goodbye,” Donna said as she walked away.

“I won’t,” I promised as Josalyn shook my hand. “Thank you for seeing me.”

“Please, sit.”

I did as she asked. “I know it’s unorthodox, talking to a…well, to someone who doesn’t officially work in the foster system. I appreciate it.”

“I wasn’t going to,” she admitted, “but I know Soleil’s had some problems, and Brie says that you’re one of the few people who’s been getting through to her.”

“I’m trying,” I said. “Did Brie tell you who I am? I mean, how we know each other?”

“She mentioned you were one of her kids, but that was about it. I didn’t look up your file.”

I wouldn’t have blamed her if she’d pulled up my file just to be sure I didn’t have any red flags in my background, but it didn’t surprise me that she didn’t bend or break rules without great consideration.

“Brie’s house was the last place I ended up,” I said. “I went into the system when I was seven. My parents signed away their rights, and I never saw them again.”

One good thing about telling my story to people who worked in the system was that, while some expressed empathy, none of them pitied me, especially since I knew my story wasn’t even close to as bad as most others.

“Yesterday, Soleil called me while I was at work.” This was verging on breaking Soleil’s trust, but I needed to know more, and to learn that, I had to convince Josalyn that I could be trusted. “Then she came to see me, but I had a lot going on, and by the time we were able to talk, she no longer wanted to.”

The last thing I needed was to get Soleil in trouble for skipping school, but it was a risk I felt like I needed to take. Josalyn studied me, and I let her, knowing she needed time to make her decision. When she nodded, a bit of the tension in me released.

“Soleil’s been in and out of the system since birth. Her mom’s an alcoholic, and there’s never been a father in the picture. A year ago, Soleil’s mom went to prison for hitting someone while driving drunk. The person wasn’t hurt too badly, but it was a third offense, so she ended up getting a longer sentence than she might have otherwise.”

I nodded. “Yeah, that’d make most people cynical.”

“She’s also had four different caseworkers. The first retired. The second got married and moved away. The one before me was fired for taking bribes to look the other way in a trafficking ring that ran through one of the group homes.”

“Shit.” Probably not the best thing to say, but it seemed appropriate. “I remember reading about that. The asshole social worker was Soleil’s?” A horrible thought occurred to me. “She wasn’t…” I didn’t have the heart to finish the sentence.

Josalyn shook her head. “The home she was with when that happened was actually a good one. She probably would’ve stayed there if the older couple hadn’t run into some health problems. The woman had a heart attack, the man a stroke. Neither one of them was capable of caring for a head-strong, rebellious ten-year-old.”