Day 4

On her way home, Beatrice thought more about her mother’s work. She found it strange that her mother provided “medicine” for dozens of men. Drinking this liquid didn’t seem to make them feel any better. They acted bizarre and often fell asleep on the ground, leaving Beatrice and her siblings uneasy and frightened in their own home.

Beatrice wondered if there was something else her mom could do to make money. Maybe I could help Dad, she thought, hopeful the help would end the constant fighting between her parents. Who am I kidding? What can a young girl do to fix grown-up problems? Will things ever change?

That evening Dad angrily burst through the door. “Where’s my dinner?” he scolded. Beatrice looked at the small amount of rice and beans left in the pot, the last of what she’d bought with the money Mom had given her. She hadn’t eaten yet, but she knew if her father kept drinking on an empty stomach, things would get worse. So she dished up the remaining amount. He snatched the bowl and stormed back outside.

Beatrice looked at her brothers and sister who had stopped eating. She watched as they scraped a few bites together and offered it to her. Looking at the half-eaten food, tears welled up in her eyes. Beatrice was not crying because she was hungry but because of the love her siblings had shown her.

“I love you,” she told them as she ate the few spoonfuls of dinner.

• Can you imagine being in 8th grade and thinking about solutions to your parents' problems?

• What do you feel inside when you read that her younger siblings gave her the last bits of their dinner?

• Where do you see compassion and empathy being modeled by Beatrice?
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