“I’m hiding,” Billy said.
Why in the world would he be hiding? There were so many questions Kyla wanted to ask him, but she knew they needed to get out of this creepy basement first. When she discovered her flashlight, she turned back to him and Tanner, and then spoke.
“Let’s go upstairs and you can talk to us.” When she came closer again, it broke her heart to see that the boy’s cheeks were sunken, and dark circles were prominent under his five-year-old eyes.
Billy didn’t argue when she took his ice-cold hand in hers and turned him around so they could make their way up the staircase. She knew Tanner would follow. She went down the hallway and straight to her apartment. Once inside, she lit the candles she already had sitting out. They cast a dim glow on the room, and she took the time to get a really good look at Billy’s face.
It was covered in dirt and he looked exhausted and sad. What was going on?
“Billy, why were you in the basement, and why are you so dirty?” She sat him down on a chair and then went over to her kitchen sink. She didn’t have hot water, but she could at least wipe some of the grime off his face.
After trying to warm the cloth up in her hands as much as possible before touching it to his skin, she walked up to him and began wiping him down. He flinched at the contact but didn’t try to stop her.
“Look, Billy, you have to tell us why you were down there,” Kyla said when she’d finished cleaning him up. “I’m sure your grandmother is worried sick about you.”
His eyes filled with tears, and when they spilled over, Kyla felt her own eyes begin to sting. Tanner took that moment to come into her apartment, a soda and some crackers in his hands, and he joined Billy at the table, popped the tab on the soda, and slid it in front of the boy. Billy didn’t even look at it.
“I’ve been bad,” he said on a sob that tore into Kyla’s heart.
She tried to reassure him. “Oh, Billy, you couldn’t have done anything very wrong.”
“I hurt my grandma,” he choked out.
Kyla was stunned by those words, and she had no earthly idea how to respond. It certainly wasn’t what she’d been expecting the young child to say.
“How did you hurt your grandma?” Tanner asked as he pushed the soda a little closer. “Why don’t you have a drink first before talking telling us all about it? You don’t want your throat to hurt I you talk too much.”
Billy took the can obediently and swallowed a small amount before putting the soda down and looking over at Tanner. More tears were falling down the boy’s newly cleaned face.
“Grandma always tells me to pick up my toys, and sometimes — well, most of the time — I forget, ’cause I just do. I don’t know why. I left my car in the hallway and grandma came out of her room and she fell over it. She hit her head and then I couldn’t wake her up. I called the 911 number she told me about and then I hid. I didn’t want them to take me away ’cause I hurt my grandma.” He started to sob, and his tiny body shook.
“Oh, Billy. You didn’t do anything wrong,” Kyla said, feeling so much pain for this poor child. “Your grandma isn’t mad at you.” She just prayed that Vivian was all right. She made eye contact with Tanner, who was already lifting his phone to dial security. How had they not noticed Billy when he went down to the basement?
“How long were you down there, sweetie?” Kyla asked.
“I don’t know. I fell asleep, and when I woke up, it was really dark and I was scared, but I didn’t know what to do.”
Tanner spoke quickly to Kyla. “His grandma was transported last night to the hospital a few blocks down the road. Let me make one more call and then we can take him down there.”
He stepped from the room and made whatever call he needed to make, and then he came back in. “Okay, it’s all good. We can go,” he said.
She was thoroughly confused. It sounded as if Tanner needed to get permission to go to the hospital, but that made no sense. So maybe that wasn’t the call he’d mentioned. Of course it wasn’t.
They blew out the candles, left Kyla’s apartment, and by some miracle managed to hail a cab to take them to the hospital. Tanner had phoned for one, but he didn’t want to wait. When they reached the hospital room of Billy’s grandmother, Kyla had to fight back tears again. The poor woman had so many wires hooked up to her.
The next hour flew quickly. They weren’t able to get a lot of information, but what they learned was that she was in a coma from her fall to the floor, and that her hip had been broken. Kyla and Tanner waited in a quiet room nearby, and soon someone from Children’s Protective Services showed up.
“Billy, we’re going to need you to come with us,” the woman said after she introduced herself.
“Because I was bad,” Billy said in a rocky voice, his shoulders hunched as his small fingers clung to Kyla’s.
“No, Billy, not because you were bad, but because your grandma is sick right now and can’t take care of you,” the woman told him. “We’re going to take you to a nice, safe house, a place for you to get comfortable for a little while.”
“Why can’t he just stay with me?” Kyla asked before she even thought about stopping herself.
“We can’t just let the child go with anyone,” the woman said, her eyebrows going down in disapproval.
“I live in same apartment building he does, and he’s obviously comfortable with me,” Kyla argued. “Please let me take him; he’ll be closer to home.”
“The system doesn’t work like that, ma’am, and I would appreciate it if you didn’t upset the child any more than he already is,” the woman said, and she reached for Billy. “I am sorry. I know you’re trying to help him, but this isn’t the way to do it. If you contact our offices tomorrow, you can speak with someone about the proper procedures on what you can do to be a foster parent.”
Billy clung even more tightly to Kyla. “No, please don’t let them take me,” he pleaded.
The way he looked up at Kyla made her feel absolutely terrible.
“Billy, I’m going to talk to whoever I need to talk to, okay? I will try to get you as soon as I can, and you’ll be with me until your grandma gets better.” Kyla spoke carefully, unwilling to let him know that her heart was breaking.
The woman gave them a few more moments and then had to take the boy away by his arms when he refused again to go with her. “I’m sorry,” she said again as the two of them exited the room. Billy was sobbing uncontrollably.