Confession

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In 2018, I called CPS on my friend. At the time her little brother was living in the apartment with her, because he and his mom were fighting bad. He was 13 years old. I've known him since he was about 8 years old. So he moved in with his big sister (my friend). He was an A/B average student but when moving in with her, his grades had plummeted. She made him do like all the house work from the time he got home until bed. And it wasn't like chores you would give to your kids. No. He had to clean the house top to bottom, on top of cook for my friend and her roommate and whatever else they demanded. I remember he used to walk across town just to come play with his friends on my block. So that would be major highways, which horrified me, because I knew my friend was home, and she could have easily dropped him off, or asked me to pick him up. (I often drove him home). And I remember him asking to walk inside with him one night. And my god. The STENCH. I nearly threw up instantly. I knew she had a guinea pig, but as someone who grew up in a household full of animals, I knew the cage hadn't been cleaned. And despite them having a blow up mattress ((that my mom bought them once)), they forced this child, to sleep on the floor with one blanket. No pillow. And the floor was dirty. I was PISSED. He offered me a bottle apple juice and I walked to the kitchen over heaps of trash. He apologized for the mess since he wasn't home all day to clean, and I told him, "It's not your fault" And on the fridge there I seen his list of chores. There were so many, I couldn't even count it all. And there comes my friend. She was drunk, despite being 19 years old. (Drinking age here is 21). Her roommate bought the alcohol, as she always did. And she started yelling at her little brother, telling him he was a bother. And I coaxed her to go back to bed. I told her little brother to text me whenever he wanted or needed to. And he did. That night I came home, and started bawling. But I realized he was in pain, and it would be selfish of me not to do something. So, I called. The agent on the phone was as disgusted as I was. I had noticed he lost weight, (he was thin but like thinner than ever now). And so, they had him removed and to live with his aunt and his mom was sent for treatment. I remember my friend being pissed that someone made the call, and said to me "I bet he did it, what an attention seeker." And I kept quiet. But it is now 2021. His mom and he rebuilt their relationship. His sister, my friend, has finally gotten her act together. And he was finally allowed to go back home with his mom and other sister, and now he has been on the high honor roll for the past year. I am so proud of him. I often see him, he now works at the grocery store, stocking shelves when he isn't busy practicing the flute or doing his studies. I've been thinking about this a lot. And I feel guilty for not telling my friend I made that call. But at that time she was so reckless and uncaring, that who knows what would have happened. But, I'm glad that once little boy is now growing up into a strong and wonderful young man.