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  After making sure the baby was safely installed in a small, grimy playpen and the toddler was watching Sponge Bob, she and Brandie waded through the house, picking up the garbage. It was a big job and in the end, they filled seventeen big bags with trash. Though she looked like she was about to drop, the young mother worked with a will, cleaning as if her life depended on it. It made Mei-Li glad to see her determination—she was doing this for her kids. It also reinforced her gut feeling that this family needed to stay together.

  After putting out the trash, it was time to tackle the dishes. Mei-Li cleared out one side of the sink and filled it with hot water. There was no dishwashing liquid but she had some of that too. She and Brandi washed and dried, stacking the plates and cups in the mostly bare cabinets until the sink and counters were clear. Mei-Li noticed there wasn’t much food in the cupboards other than a few boxes of Kraft macaroni and cheese and a dusty can of green beans. She promised herself to drop by the food bank and bring Brandi and her kids a food box as soon as she had a spare minute.

  The maggot filled pot she saved for the last, mostly because she just couldn’t bear to touch it until she had to. She emptied it out in the back yard, shivering as the slimy mass of writhing white grubs plopped into the small hole she had dug in the dirt with the heel of her best court shoes.

  Mei-Li sighed as she scraped clods of earth over the disgusting mess. She was hot and sweaty from working in the filth and heat, her hair was stringy and now her shoes were caked with dirt. So much for looking good in court—after this she would be lucky to even look presentable. But it was either pitch in and help or take the kids and she didn’t want to break up this home. Even if it was messy and the mother was young and inexperienced, there was clearly love here.

  There was still a lot of cleaning to do but when Mei-Li finally had to go, the place looked a lot better than when she had gotten there. To her surprise, the young mother, Brandi, threw her arms around her neck and hugged her before she left.

  “Thank you,” she whispered in Mei-Li’s ear. “All I ever heard about you people was how you wanted to take people’s kids. I never knew any of them was like you.”

  “You’re welcome.” Mei-Li patted her on the back. “We don’t come around wanting to take your kids, Brandi—we just have to make sure they’re safe. Please don’t let your place get so bad again. I’ll be coming back to check you soon.”

  “I swear it’ll look great next time you come,” Brandi vowed. “I don’t know how it ever got that way…it was just a gradual thing. I’d be so tired it didn’t seem to matter if one more thing got left undone. But I promise I’ll do better now.”

  “I know you will.” Mei-Li smiled at her. “Okay, I really have to go. The instructions for the lice shampoo are on the back of the box.”

  “I’ll use it right away. And thank you for that too.” Brandi’s blue eyes filled with tears again. “Thank you so much.”

  “You’re welcome.” Mei-Li squeezed her hand. “I have to get going. I’ll see you soon.”

  “I’ll be ready!” Brandi promised.

  Mei-Li left her smiling and had gone back to the office to once again try and get to the paperwork. On the way she went through the drive-thru at McDonalds for a large fry and a chocolate milkshake. It was an indulgent lunch and she knew it wasn’t good for her but after the morning she’d been through so far, she needed a little indulgence.

  She had barely seated herself at her desk with her bag of take out when yet another call came in. This time it was from a teacher—Mrs. Hemphill who taught first grade. One of Mei-Li’s clients, a little girl name Kristin, was in her class.

  “I know you’re probably busy,” she began when Mei-Li picked up the phone. “But you asked me to call you if there was anything suspicious.”

  Mei’Li’s stomach clenched. “What is it?” she asked, trying to keep her tone professional. “Have you noticed any fresh marks or bruises?”

  “Well, no…” Mrs. Hemphill sighed. “But Kristin is back to acting the way she was before—you know, so silent and withdrawn? She was crying today during art and when I asked her why, she said it was because she was scared. But she wouldn’t say of what. Or who. She just clammed up and I can’t get anything else out of her. But she’s got that…that hunted look she always did before and I know I’m not imagining it. She’s been so happy and contented the past few months but today—it’s like someone rolled back the clock.”

  Mei-Li found herself nodding though she knew the other woman couldn’t see her over the phone.

  “All right, I’ll come by and see what I can find out.”

  “Make it soon,” the teacher advised. “I don’t like the idea of sending her back to that house if it’s happening again.”

  “I’ll come right away. Can you send her to the office to wait for me?”

  “Sure. It’s lunch time now so I’ll send her with her lunch bag. She can eat while she waits.”

  “Got it. On my way.” She hung up the phone, took off her glasses, and put her head on the desk for just a moment, gathering her strength. The day from Hell indeed. And she still had a shelter hearing in court to get through at two, plus the mound of paperwork to finish after that. Also, she was going to have to document everything she had done today. She’d be lucky to get out before eight o’clock tonight.

  If only I could get some sleep, this wouldn’t seem so bad, she told herself. I know how that poor girl, Brandi felt—I’m just so tired all the time! If only he would leave me alone I could—

  “Hey, Mei-mei, rough day?”

  The voice of Claudia, her best friend and supervisor, cut through the fog of sleep deprivation and weariness. Mei-mei meant little sister in the Mandarin dialect and it was an apt name for Mei-Li coming from the other woman. Claudia was a good friend and, even better, a good supervisor. She was also Mei-Li’s mentor and had showed her the ropes when she started as a CPI three years before, right out of college.

  “You’re not going to have an easy time,” she had advised Mei-Li frankly on her first day. “People don’t like Child Protection and some of them are going to hate you even more for who you are. They’ll think you don’t understand—because you don’t have kids. They’ll try to dismiss you because of your age and your race—get ready to hear every sexual and racial epithet you can imagine and some you can’t because you’re going to get that and more out in the field. I can’t tell you how often I’ve been called the N word. Not to mention whore, slut, bitch and every other nasty word in the book. Also in your case, some people are going to literally look down on you and try to disrespect you because you’re such a tiny little thing.”

  Mei-Li had felt her enthusiasm waning. “Seriously? Are you saying this is the wrong job for me? Because I got a Masters degree just so I could do this. I want to make a difference.”

  “I’m not saying it’s the wrong job—if you care enough and you really want to, you can make a difference. I’m just saying it’s not gonna be easy. Are you up to the challenge?”

  With Claudia’s help, Mei-Li had been—and was—on a daily basis. At least she had been before she started having the dreams. Before she stopped being able to sleep at night…

  “So, rough day?” Claudia repeated.

  Mei-Li looked up. All she could see was a blur but even so, she could tell her friend was dressed to impress. Claudia was a tall, statuesque woman with creamy, dark brown skin, large, liquid brown eyes, and an impeccable fashion sense. People at the office teased that the two of them looked funny when they stood together because Claudia was nearly six feet tall and she dwarfed Mei-Li’s petite figure. Mei-Li didn’t mind. She was happy to be Claudia’s Mei-mei or little sister here at the DCF.

  She sat up and nodded. “Yeah, you could say that. That last call I got was from a house…” She shivered. “Let’s just say it wasn’t very clean.”

  Claudia put a hand on one full hip. “And I’m guessing you cleaned it.”

  Mei-Li shrugged uneasily. “It was a young