Miss Evans worries about her new student when she sees that she always wears dirty clothes to school and doesn’t talk to anyone. One day, she goes with the girl to her house and finds out something shocking.
“This semester, we have a new student,” Miss Evans told her class. “Everyone, please give Kitty a warm welcome!”
As the class greeted her, Kitty shrank in her seat. Some students asked her where she was from and why she was there. This made the young girl even more uncomfortable.
Miss Evans knew why the girl had to start school in the middle of the school year. When she saw the transfer papers for little Kitty, her heart hurt. She quickly got the other students’ attention.
“I’m sure that over time, we’ll all get to know Kitty better. Now, though, it’s time to do math.”
The students groaned as they pulled out their workbooks. Kitty didn’t say anything. After that, She lowered her head so her dark hair covered her face. Miss Evans got down on her knees next to her desk.
She said, “Hi, Kitty.”
“I just want you to know I’m always here to talk if you need to. It’s hard to switch schools, but I’m sure you’ll get used to it soon.”
Kitty gave her a quick glance, and Miss Evans caught a glimpse of her sad brown eyes. Poor kid, he or she had been through a lot!
Kitty said, “Thank you, Miss,” in a whisper.
Miss Evans put her hand on the girl’s shoulder and kept teaching. At the end of the day, she and Kitty waited outside for her dad. Soon, a big man came up to them.
“Hi, Kitty,” he said. “Did you enjoy school today?”
Kitty nodded and moved away from Miss Evans to go with the man.
“You must be the father of Kitty.” Miss Evans put her hand out for you to shake. “I teach her, Miss Evans,” I said.
“It’s great to meet you, Miss. I’m Steve.” Kitty’s dad gave her a smile and a handshake. Then he looked at Kitty. “Sweetie, why don’t you go wait in the car? You probably want to put down that heavy backpack, and I need a minute to talk to Miss Evans.”
Kitty gave her dad a strange look, then ran off to an old pickup truck nearby.
Steve said, “The last few months have been hard for Kitty.” “It would be helpful if you kept an eye on her.”
“I took note of the fact that she moved here because her mother died recently.”
Miss Evans studied him. “How has she been getting along?”
“There are good days and bad days. Since I moved here for work, I didn’t see her and Shawna as often as I wanted to.” Steve shrugged. Things will go better once we know each other better again.
“I have no doubt about it.” Miss Evans gave a grin. “Don’t worry; I’ll do everything I can to help Kitty get used to her new home. She did well in school before, so I’m looking forward to seeing her get back on track.”
Miss Evans did what she said she would do. Over the next few weeks, she kept a close eye on Kitty. What she saw worried her. The girl often went to school in the same clothes. Most of the time, the clothes were dirty and stained.
Even in class, Kitty was quiet. She sat alone on the playground and didn’t play with the other kids when they asked her to. Miss Evans tried to get her out of her shell, but the girl stayed quiet until she begged Miss Evans for help.
This could not keep going on! Miss Evans took her phone out of her purse and dialled 911.
The class just got done. As everyone else left the room, they talked loudly, but Kitty went to Miss Evans’ desk. She stood there with her arms crossed and her head down.
“Kitty, is everything okay?” Miss Evans asked.
She nodded her head. She spoke in a way that Miss Evans couldn’t understand.
“Speak up, sweetie. I can’t understand you.”
Kitty yelled, “I don’t want to leave school!” She lifted her head and looked at Miss Evans with teary eyes.
“I don’t want my dad to take me. Could I move in with you instead?”
Miss Evans’ heart broke when she heard how desperate Kitty sounded. She moved closer to the girl and put her hand on her shoulder. “What’s wrong, Kitty? Why don’t you want to go home with your dad? Is there a problem?”
Kitty gave herself a big hug and turned away. “I hate living with my father. I no longer want to live with him.”
“Oh, sweetie. I can imagine how hard it must be to get used to a new town and school. You’ve been through a lot, and I’m sure you miss what your life was like before.
The little girl cried, “I miss my mom.” “I miss my room.”
“Kitty?” Steve showed up at the door and blocked it with his big body. “You’re there. When I didn’t see you outside, I was worried.”
Kitty turned around and moved away from her dad. “I don’t want to go with you!”
Steve’s face got all wrinkly. “Hurry up, Kitty. Don’t act that way.”
Kitty’s lip was shaking. As she looked at her dad, tears ran down her dirty cheeks.
“You know I’m trying to be a good dad, right?” Steve got down low before his daughter. “Things are hard right now, but they will get better. You’ll see.”
Steve reached out a hand to Kitty. After a long time, Kitty wiped her eyes and shuffled toward him.
Miss Evans didn’t know what to think about this. It was clear that Kitty didn’t like living with her dad, but how much of that was because she was sad? She thought that there was more going on.
“Let’s all leave at the same time.” Miss Evans stood up and held out her hand to Kitty.
When they got to the parking lot, Kitty broke away from the adults and ran to her dad’s truck in front of them.
Steve said, “I’m sorry about everything, Miss Evans.”
“Recently, Kitty has been under a lot of stress, and she’s not handling it well.”
“I’ve seen that she sometimes wears dirty clothes to school,” Miss Evans said. “How are things at home?”
Steve’s eyes got bigger, and he scratched his beard. “Yeah. Well, we’ve had some plumbing problems. I swear I told the landlord about it, but no one has yet to fix it.”
“That makes me sad.”
“She really likes those clothes because her mother bought them for her. Steve added, “She doesn’t like to change her clothes.”
He stopped suddenly when they were only a few yards from Steve’s car. “I appreciate that you’re looking out for Kitty, but I don’t think she’ll be used to all the changes in her life for a while yet.”
Then Steve told her goodbye. Miss Evans watched as he got into his pickup truck. When he drove away, the car growled and let out a horrible cloud of smoke.
Even though Steve tried to reassure her, Miss Evans kept worrying about Kitty. She stopped wearing dirty clothes to school, but she was often late and started skipping classes.
Miss Evans noticed one day that Kitty’s face looked pale and tired. She had dark circles under her eyes, and it looked like she could hardly stay awake in class.
Miss Evans began to think that something was wrong with Kitty, so she decided to find out what was happening. She gave the class some work to keep them busy, then went outside to call Steve.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Steve. Miss Evans is Kitty’s teacher. I’m calling because I’ve noticed Kitty often seems tired at school.”
Steve said, “That’s because we had to stay up late to help her with her homework.” “I’ve, ah, been working late too. I can’t help her with her homework earlier in the evening because of this. That work is much harder than I did when I was her age.”
“Well, Kitty seems to be having a lot of trouble, so it might be best to get her a tutor. I’ll write down some numbers and give them to Kitty so she can give them to you.”
“Thanks, Miss Evans. You’re very nice to do that.”
Miss Evans was about to close the classroom door later that day when she saw a crumpled piece of paper on the floor near Kitty’s desk. She picked it up and saw that it was the note with the math tutors’ phone numbers that she had given to the girl.
Miss Evans needed help understanding. Why would Kitty throw away the paper if she was having trouble in school? She ran to the window to see if the girl had left yet.
Steve and Kitty were just leaving the school grounds when I saw them. They were walking, and Steve held the girl’s hand and carried her backpack on his shoulder. Kitty’s head was down.
Miss Evans gave the nod. That girl had many problems and would find out what they were today. Miss Evans ran to her car in a hurry. She was set on following Kitty and her father, but they were gone by the time she got to the street.
When Steve came to get Kitty the next day, Miss Evans was already there. They left again on foot, and Miss Evans went with them.
Before they got to the old pickup truck Miss Evans remembered the father and daughter had to walk a few miles. It was parked in a lot on the empty edge of town.
Steve opened the door to the car and put Kitty’s bag inside. Then he reached in and put something over the windows. When he was done, Kitty got in the cab, and Steve closed the door. He went around to the back of the truck and sat there.
Miss Evans had no idea what was going on. Soon after, Kitty came out wearing different clothes. She was holding in her arms the clothes she’d worn to school. Miss Evans followed them as they walked to a laundromat nearby.
Miss Evans crossed the street and peered through an opening between two old shirts covering the windows. She gasped when she saw what was inside.
This could not keep going on! Miss Evans took her phone out of her purse and dialled 911.
“Where are you going, Miss Evans?”
When she turned around, the teacher saw Kitty running toward her. Steve was a few steps behind her and was shocked by what he saw.
“I’m going to put an end to this.”
The police then showed up. They asked to look inside Steve’s car and shook their heads when they saw folded piles of clothes, pillows, blankets, and a teddy bear on the dashboard. Everyone could see that Steve and Kitty lived in the truck.
“It’s only for a short time!” Steve looked back and forth between Miss Evans and the police as if he couldn’t decide who to talk to. “I lost my job because I hurt myself at work, but I’ll get another soon! Then we’ll no longer be homeless.”
“I swear I don’t mind it so much,” Kitty said. “My dad brought my pillow and my teddy bear, Freckles, so I can be happy, and I promise I am!” The little girl grabbed the hand of a police officer. “Please don’t take away my daddy!”
“Honey, no one wants to take you away from your dad,” the police officer said, “but you can’t keep living like this. Soon it will be cold, so you need a place to stay where you will be warm and safe.”
The officer then looked at Steve. “Sir, I’m taking you and your daughter to a shelter. They will help you get back on your feet and care for both of you.”
Steve and Kitty went to the shelter, and Steve was later taken to a rehabilitation centre for his work injury. In the meantime, Miss Evans set up a special meeting at the school for the parents. She told them what was going on with Steve and Kitty.
The school set up a way for Steve and Kitty to raise money. They raised enough money to rent Kitty and her dad a small apartment and gave them all the necessary furniture and appliances.
Over time, Kitty went from being a quiet, shy child to a girl who always had a smile. She was the best student in her class and got a full college scholarship.
What does this story teach us?
Never be afraid to ask for help. If Steve had been brave enough to ask for help sooner, he could have avoided a lot of sadness.
Trust your first thoughts. Miss Evans could have believed Steve’s explanations, but she was smart enough to go with her gut feeling that there was more going on.