On a busy Friday, women coming in and out, she slips into the exam room.
"Bon jou. Write your name here for me please."
She shakes her head no.
"Can you write your name?"
Quietly she says, "M pa ka ekri."
She cannot write.
"Okay. What is your name honey?"
She replies so quietly that it cannot even be heard. I look to Paige who is standing nearby. "What'd she say?" Paige questioningly repeats her name.
She nods. We've guessed correctly.
"Ki laj ou cheri?"
"sèzan"
Sixteen
"Eske'w ansent?"
Barely audible, eyes to the ground, "wi"
We say, "Please come back; our class meets on Thursdays".
Before she leaves she tells Paige, "There were a lot of people coming in and out of my house. He came there and he forced me."
She arrived again early this week for her full intake appointment.
Her chart is filled out.
Things are noted.
90 pounds.
very short in stature.
emotionally flat.
states forced twice by same 22 year old man. no longer sees him in her neighborhood.
states maybe sister can care for baby.
states sister is 17. ultra sound says baby is due december 24.
What is not stated is what screams inside our hearts, reverberates off the walls.
She is 16.
She doesn't seem 16.
She seems like a little girl.
I think of my daughter Hope. This girl is a frail version of Hope. Not much taller. Not much heavier. Probably going to give birth on or around Hope's eleventh birthday. She may as well be eleven.
Does love heal?
Maybe we'll find out.
"Bon jou. Write your name here for me please."
She shakes her head no.
"Can you write your name?"
Quietly she says, "M pa ka ekri."
She cannot write.
"Okay. What is your name honey?"
She replies so quietly that it cannot even be heard. I look to Paige who is standing nearby. "What'd she say?" Paige questioningly repeats her name.
She nods. We've guessed correctly.
"Ki laj ou cheri?"
"sèzan"
Sixteen
"Eske'w ansent?"
Barely audible, eyes to the ground, "wi"
We say, "Please come back; our class meets on Thursdays".
Before she leaves she tells Paige, "There were a lot of people coming in and out of my house. He came there and he forced me."
Her chart is filled out.
Things are noted.
90 pounds.
very short in stature.
emotionally flat.
states forced twice by same 22 year old man. no longer sees him in her neighborhood.
states maybe sister can care for baby.
states sister is 17. ultra sound says baby is due december 24.
What is not stated is what screams inside our hearts, reverberates off the walls.
She is 16.
She doesn't seem 16.
She seems like a little girl.
I think of my daughter Hope. This girl is a frail version of Hope. Not much taller. Not much heavier. Probably going to give birth on or around Hope's eleventh birthday. She may as well be eleven.
Does love heal?
Maybe we'll find out.
