Status: very slow
Just a Story of One Little Girl
Chapter 13
Aiden brought his laptop into his room and we found Smee’s Home for Lost Boys and Girls. It was in Connecticut, so we decided to go by train, since we live in New Jersey, and 6 kids was one too many for my brother’s five-seater Mazda.
That Friday, after school, the six of us took the local bus to the train station. We boarded the train with our backpacks full of clothes and other necessities for a weekend trip. We had anticipated a long stay, and the boys had all bribed their siblings to cover for them with their parents. Aiden and I didn’t bother with that; we simply told my father that Aiden wanted to check out a college and I was going with him because I was detail oriented and could keep track of everything we needed. He was drunk and bought it easily.
After the long train ride, we walked about an hour to the orphanage. We walked into the large building and headed for the office. There, we found a short, chubby man who was going through files. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. “Excuse me?”
The man looked up and squinted through his glasses. He took them off and lay them on the paper-covered desk. “Only need those to read.” He smiled. “What can I help you kids with?”
I looked at the boys, but found they were all staring at me, expecting me to do the talking. I cleared my throat. “My name is Mackenzie, but when I was here at the orphanage, I was Ellery Anastasia Iero. I’m trying to find my mother.”
The man’s small eyes widened in surprise. “Your mother? Hmmm, yes, well, if you have a last name, then your mother must be on the birth certificate. You should look at it.”
I stared at him incredulously as he went back to filing. “But – I –“ he looked up from the documents once more. “What I mean to say is: I can’t find my birth certificate. My dad…lost it.”
The man glanced me up and down quickly. “Ah. I see. Why didn’t you say that in the first place. Follow me.” He walked out of the office and turned own the hall. “I’m William Smee XI, by the way. It’s very nice to meet you.”
I shook his hand, and followed him down the long corridor. I was extremely anxious about finding my mother, but also quite excited to finally know who she was. I could only hope she wouldn’t completely reject me.
Mr. Smee finally stopped at the door. “This is the records room. When were you adopted?”
“About 14 years ago.”
“Let’s see what we can find for you.” He smiled warmly and unlocked the door, stepping to the side to let us in.
I gasped at the scene before me. I had stepped into a large room filed to the top with rows and rows of boxes. Each box was marked with a timeline. “14 years you say? That’d put you around 1998 or so. March ’02…August ’99…Ah here we are! September through December of ’98!” The man pulled down a box and gave it to me. “And here’s the rest of the year, just in case.” He took three more boxes down for me to look through.
“Thank you so much, you’ve been very helpful.” I smiled at the mousy looking man.
“Is that everything you need?” I nodded. “Good luck with your search! The files are listed by month, and then alphabetically by original last name of the child.” He shared one last smile before leaving.
“Well, we can disregard January through March. I was born at the end of march and I was adopted about two or three weeks later. Let’s look at April.” We each pulled about 20 files from the folder, looking for my name. We worked for ten minutes in silence.
“I found it!” Austin’s voice pierced the silent air. We all threw the files back into the folder and crowded around him. He flipped through the stapled documents. “Adoption contract, copy of your Social Security number, consent of agreement form,” He flipped one last page. “Here it is! Alright, your mother’s name was Katelyn Nicole Donovan. We should write that down somewhere.”
I produced a pencil and small notepad from my pocket. I quickly wrote down her full name. I planned to Google her as soon as we got out of here. I was hoping beyond hope that she had some sort of social network open to the public.
After putting the file back in its place, we thanked Mr. Smee and left the building.
That Friday, after school, the six of us took the local bus to the train station. We boarded the train with our backpacks full of clothes and other necessities for a weekend trip. We had anticipated a long stay, and the boys had all bribed their siblings to cover for them with their parents. Aiden and I didn’t bother with that; we simply told my father that Aiden wanted to check out a college and I was going with him because I was detail oriented and could keep track of everything we needed. He was drunk and bought it easily.
After the long train ride, we walked about an hour to the orphanage. We walked into the large building and headed for the office. There, we found a short, chubby man who was going through files. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. “Excuse me?”
The man looked up and squinted through his glasses. He took them off and lay them on the paper-covered desk. “Only need those to read.” He smiled. “What can I help you kids with?”
I looked at the boys, but found they were all staring at me, expecting me to do the talking. I cleared my throat. “My name is Mackenzie, but when I was here at the orphanage, I was Ellery Anastasia Iero. I’m trying to find my mother.”
The man’s small eyes widened in surprise. “Your mother? Hmmm, yes, well, if you have a last name, then your mother must be on the birth certificate. You should look at it.”
I stared at him incredulously as he went back to filing. “But – I –“ he looked up from the documents once more. “What I mean to say is: I can’t find my birth certificate. My dad…lost it.”
The man glanced me up and down quickly. “Ah. I see. Why didn’t you say that in the first place. Follow me.” He walked out of the office and turned own the hall. “I’m William Smee XI, by the way. It’s very nice to meet you.”
I shook his hand, and followed him down the long corridor. I was extremely anxious about finding my mother, but also quite excited to finally know who she was. I could only hope she wouldn’t completely reject me.
Mr. Smee finally stopped at the door. “This is the records room. When were you adopted?”
“About 14 years ago.”
“Let’s see what we can find for you.” He smiled warmly and unlocked the door, stepping to the side to let us in.
I gasped at the scene before me. I had stepped into a large room filed to the top with rows and rows of boxes. Each box was marked with a timeline. “14 years you say? That’d put you around 1998 or so. March ’02…August ’99…Ah here we are! September through December of ’98!” The man pulled down a box and gave it to me. “And here’s the rest of the year, just in case.” He took three more boxes down for me to look through.
“Thank you so much, you’ve been very helpful.” I smiled at the mousy looking man.
“Is that everything you need?” I nodded. “Good luck with your search! The files are listed by month, and then alphabetically by original last name of the child.” He shared one last smile before leaving.
“Well, we can disregard January through March. I was born at the end of march and I was adopted about two or three weeks later. Let’s look at April.” We each pulled about 20 files from the folder, looking for my name. We worked for ten minutes in silence.
“I found it!” Austin’s voice pierced the silent air. We all threw the files back into the folder and crowded around him. He flipped through the stapled documents. “Adoption contract, copy of your Social Security number, consent of agreement form,” He flipped one last page. “Here it is! Alright, your mother’s name was Katelyn Nicole Donovan. We should write that down somewhere.”
I produced a pencil and small notepad from my pocket. I quickly wrote down her full name. I planned to Google her as soon as we got out of here. I was hoping beyond hope that she had some sort of social network open to the public.
After putting the file back in its place, we thanked Mr. Smee and left the building.