What To Do With Kim

Yesterday I was heading into the work room at the office when I practically ran smack into this beautiful, young girl whom I had never seen before, her hands cupped around a can of Dr. Pepper and a plastic cup filled with pub mix.

"Excuse me!" She said with a smile, her sad eyes crinkling, and then she walked on through the door and into the hallway. But her deep voice surprised me, made me step back a little, made me question...wait. Is she a girl?

My initial thought was that she was a new girl on the cleaning crew that came to our office periodically to spruce things up. But about that time, Tami said in a hushed tone, "Vonda, come into my office!" And she proceeded to tell me then how this girl, Kim, came up to her when she was just outside of the office, pleading for help. Apparently her roommate kicked her out and she simply had nowhere to go.

18 years old and nowhere to go.

What to do?

Clarissa immediately went to work trying to find a homeless shelter where we could take her for the night and hopefully help her figure out the next step. However, we quickly learned that the only shelter around was full and not accepting anymore stragglers until the next day.

It was cold outside--rainy and gray. Perfect weather for Kim's predicament.

And so, with the shelter a no-go, we decided to pool our money and rent a motel room for Kim.

During the in-between moments, we discussed what to do: should Tami take her alone to the motel? What if she pulled a knife? She seemed absolutely harmless--petite and beautiful and sad.

But one never knows...

We finally came to the decision to send Kim with Tristan and Clarissa as both Tami and I had a 6:00 appointment that was work-related and we couldn't miss. And so, Tami called the motel to reserve a room for Kim...

But this too was a dead end: they would not accept Kim unless she had ID.

She did not.

At this point, it was after 5:00. I had to run home and check on Jace who was sick and alone and had been that way all day. My day had been a frenzy--filled with one thing after another--and I never found a moment to slip out of the office and check on him.

Tami had to run home and let her dogs out as they had been alone in the house for almost 12 hours at this point, and she had to go into Fort Worth to meet family for dinner after our 6:00 appointment.

But what are we going to do with Kim?

Kim sat alone in the hallway of the office, smiling up at us with those beautiful eyes and freshly pinked lips from the lipstick she kept putting on as we whisked around trying to figure out how to solve her dilemma on a cold rainy evening with nowhere for her to go.

And then I had to leave. "Good luck, Kim" I said, feeling utterly ridiculous and helpless and having absolutely no words.

"Thanks," she replied, looking up at me, her holds folded neatly in her lap.

And I walked away into the dark night, leaving my friends to pick up the pieces alone.

I quickly ran home, checked on Jace, made sure he was alive and breathing, and then ran back to the Hopps Museum so that I could quickly set it up for a 6:00 meeting that was happening shortly. It wasn't long after I arrived that Tami arrived as well, and she gave me a quick update:

It turns out that Kim's mom is the one who kicked her out. Kim? She's actually Alex. And Alex came out and told her mom that she identifies as a girl and her name is Kim. Kim's mom was none too pleased with this news and told her to go, never come back.

But as Kim's reality crushed in on her sitting alone in the hallway of our office, she called her mom and pleaded for her to allow Kim to come home.

And she did.

I have no idea what transpired last night for Kim and her mom. Most likely? I never will. But my heart hurts for both of them. My heart hurts for a mom whose dreams for her son are held hostage in a reality she refuses to accept. My heart hurts for Kim who isn't comfortable in the body she was born in.

And I can't help but wonder: what would we have done if her mom had not come by and picked up her "wayward" child?

What would we have done with Kim?

What is the world going to do with Kim?

Sad, beautiful Kim...