told that there was an incident here last night.”
“An incident? Yes, there was an incident, Marko.”
Blaire didn’t take him up on his offer to sit, which Blaire saw as a ploy to calm her when she had absolutely no intention of being calmed. Her hands were trembling, as it was much too late for calmness.
“I heard one of the children crying in the middle of the night, and when I went down to the room, the door was locked.” Blaire informed him in a voice that sounded as if it would dissolve into sobs at any moment.
“Of course, it was locked. The doors are always locked. We lock them every night for the children’s safety. I thought I explained that by giving you keys,” Marko said, countering the attack immediately.
“Their safety? They’re not prisoners! What if they need something or need to go to the restroom or, God forbid, this place catches fire, then what?” Blaire grabbed the thick brown hair that had found its way inside of her shirt collar and pulled it out with a swift yank.
“Ms. Baker, many of these children have special needs, some of them can barely walk, some can barely talk, some are blind, and others have mental illness. If we leave the doors open, they could come out of their rooms unsupervised, fall down the stairs, get into the kitchen knives and hurt themselves, hurt others…maybe, even get out of the facility and down to the sea. Any number of things could happen, and we do not have enough staff to sit and watch overnight, since we can barely afford to pay the people that we have watching during the day. There is one person here overnight, and many times it is the same person that works during the day. The overnighter is only for emergencies. We work on a skeleton crew here, and again, I know that you come from a place where funding is abundant, but we do the best that we can under difficult circumstances. You are here to help us, not judge us. Whether you think so or not, I am very committed to my job. It is my life, and let me remind you, Ms. Baker, that a year from now you will get to go home, but I will not , the workers will not , and the children, certainly, will not . This is home for us, and we do the best that we can with it, and if it is not up to your standards, Ms. Baker, then maybe you should not be here.” Marko was pleased with his speech and relaxed into his chair.
Blaire was disarmed by the rebuttal. She had been prepared to yell, scream, and curse Marko like she had never cursed anyone before. Blaire wanted to let him have it, but after hearing his explanation, though it did not completely absolve him, it was reasonable at least and admittedly, she had not expected any explanation that he could give to be even that.
You’re not in America anymore, Emma’s words were haunting.
“W…well…” Blaire stuttered, trying to wrangle her tongue to cooperation. “I apologize. I may have overreacted just a bit. I am just not used to this. I want to be here I assure you,” Blaire said, plopping down into the chair where she lowered her head into her palm.
“I assume nurse Wells took care of Andre’s injury?”
“Yes, of course,” Blaire confirmed.
“Good. It happens to the boy quite often.”
“If you don’t mind, Marko, I would like to purchase…donate some things to St. Sebastian, like books, blankets…if that’s okay?”
“That will be fine,” he said as Blaire got up to leave.
“Ms. Baker…” he called before she could exit.
“Yes?”
“There are locks on all of the doors at St. Sebastian, including the one to your bedroom, I suggest you use them. ”
The last student filtered out of the classroom as Blaire sat to make notes. A spirited game of Ring Around the Rosie began outside, not too far from Blaire’s open window, the euphoric play filled her with a joy reminiscent to that of being a young child again. She scribbled a few more lines on her notepad before she got up and crossed to the back window where the children were outside
“An incident? Yes, there was an incident, Marko.”
Blaire didn’t take him up on his offer to sit, which Blaire saw as a ploy to calm her when she had absolutely no intention of being calmed. Her hands were trembling, as it was much too late for calmness.
“I heard one of the children crying in the middle of the night, and when I went down to the room, the door was locked.” Blaire informed him in a voice that sounded as if it would dissolve into sobs at any moment.
“Of course, it was locked. The doors are always locked. We lock them every night for the children’s safety. I thought I explained that by giving you keys,” Marko said, countering the attack immediately.
“Their safety? They’re not prisoners! What if they need something or need to go to the restroom or, God forbid, this place catches fire, then what?” Blaire grabbed the thick brown hair that had found its way inside of her shirt collar and pulled it out with a swift yank.
“Ms. Baker, many of these children have special needs, some of them can barely walk, some can barely talk, some are blind, and others have mental illness. If we leave the doors open, they could come out of their rooms unsupervised, fall down the stairs, get into the kitchen knives and hurt themselves, hurt others…maybe, even get out of the facility and down to the sea. Any number of things could happen, and we do not have enough staff to sit and watch overnight, since we can barely afford to pay the people that we have watching during the day. There is one person here overnight, and many times it is the same person that works during the day. The overnighter is only for emergencies. We work on a skeleton crew here, and again, I know that you come from a place where funding is abundant, but we do the best that we can under difficult circumstances. You are here to help us, not judge us. Whether you think so or not, I am very committed to my job. It is my life, and let me remind you, Ms. Baker, that a year from now you will get to go home, but I will not , the workers will not , and the children, certainly, will not . This is home for us, and we do the best that we can with it, and if it is not up to your standards, Ms. Baker, then maybe you should not be here.” Marko was pleased with his speech and relaxed into his chair.
Blaire was disarmed by the rebuttal. She had been prepared to yell, scream, and curse Marko like she had never cursed anyone before. Blaire wanted to let him have it, but after hearing his explanation, though it did not completely absolve him, it was reasonable at least and admittedly, she had not expected any explanation that he could give to be even that.
You’re not in America anymore, Emma’s words were haunting.
“W…well…” Blaire stuttered, trying to wrangle her tongue to cooperation. “I apologize. I may have overreacted just a bit. I am just not used to this. I want to be here I assure you,” Blaire said, plopping down into the chair where she lowered her head into her palm.
“I assume nurse Wells took care of Andre’s injury?”
“Yes, of course,” Blaire confirmed.
“Good. It happens to the boy quite often.”
“If you don’t mind, Marko, I would like to purchase…donate some things to St. Sebastian, like books, blankets…if that’s okay?”
“That will be fine,” he said as Blaire got up to leave.
“Ms. Baker…” he called before she could exit.
“Yes?”
“There are locks on all of the doors at St. Sebastian, including the one to your bedroom, I suggest you use them. ”
The last student filtered out of the classroom as Blaire sat to make notes. A spirited game of Ring Around the Rosie began outside, not too far from Blaire’s open window, the euphoric play filled her with a joy reminiscent to that of being a young child again. She scribbled a few more lines on her notepad before she got up and crossed to the back window where the children were outside
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