NO ROOM

I'm in the office today, doing the usual goofing off and then the shit hit the fan.

Her mother was a former employee, but got termintated because she was still using. That was way before my time, but my staff has taken her daughter in-Giving her small tasks to do around the office and giving her bus passes to get to school, food and such.

I'm alone in the office (Monday's are admin days, so it's only me and/or the finance person). I let her in the back room so she can start packing supplies. I make small talk:

"How's school coming along?"
"Fine."
"What's been going on with your mother?"

That question opened the can of worms. She told me her mother moved out of their house because her cracked our aunt & boyfriend took the place over. She hasn't been to school in a week because she has no lunch money or bus pass, most of her clothes have been stolen by her aunt and she doesn't want to go back home. I try to calm her down by finding solutions, but she has a reason for each one, eventually cornering me into complete silence.

I don't know what to do. I was two second short of having her stay at my place, but by doing that, I'll throw myself in a situation I don't want to be in. I'm not even going to bother calling the police because that will cause way too much drama. She's only 14 years old, crying out for help and she's leaning on my shoulder, asking for advice and I don't know what to tell her.

I call my boss who has a closer relationship with her mother. I let her know what's going on and she claims she'll call the mother and speak with her. Then she ends the call by saying,

"You should really look into adopting her. You have the space and you don't have any kids...."

For a mili-sexond (oops, Freudian slip, ya'll) second, I felt guilty and considered it. Then I started getting angry. Who in the hell is she to tell me what I need to do? I'm giving her my time, my ear, positive attention. That's the best I can do. Why don't you take her in? You don't have any kids? You definitely have the space? Don't put me on the spot like that.

I took her to the locksmith to get a lock to place on her door and a cheap cell phone with a pre-paid card for emergencies.

That's the most I can do without putting myself in a mix I have no room for on my overloaded plate of shit. Am I being selfish? I'm not even going to bother answering that because I know I'm not.