Double Whopper, anyone?

It's got cheese and everything. It even comes with large fries and a large Dr. Pepper. I don't need it. I bought it for a former foster son. He is the bio brother of Alli and Beth. He lived with me for about 3 months when he was 12, turning 13 while he was here. He left me to go to a kinship placement. It wasn't a relative but was a family he'd lived with before and they loved him. God bless them - they really loved him. That lasted just over a year before he became so physically violent that the foster mother literally feared for her life if she was left alone with him. (For good reason. I had the same fears. He also once threatened to kill one of his sisters because he didn't get to sit in the seat he wanted in the van. It was a real threat. I believed him.) Anyway, he left there and went to another foster home before his mother decided she wanted to get him back. She worked her plan, got him back, and then dumped him when he predictably started causing trouble again. When she gave him back to the state, they gave him to his alcoholic father, on the very day the father was released from a mental hospital after attempting suicide. Yeah, that makes sense - NOT!

Anyway, back to the Whopper. We were driving home from school today and realized that the kid walking down the road was little brother. We turned around and stopped in a parking lot to wait for him to catch up to us. He said his father was supposed to have picked him up from school and taken him to the police station at lunch. His probation officer had told him to go to arrange his community service. (Doesn't that make it sound like this placement is going well?) Father didn't show at school so he walked from school to the police station. It was the wrong day. He had to walk home. We offered to take him home and feed him on the way. He refused. He said he didn't have much further to go. He wouldn't tell us where they were living. He just said he was almost home.

We left but felt bad. We ran through the Burger King drive-thru and grabbed him the biggest meal on the menu (He's a 15 year old boy. You can't fill him up.) We then drove and drove but couldn't find him. It was like he just disappeared. Alli had an idea of where they were living so we drove there but still couldn't find him.

So, we drove home with the Whopper meal untouched. It's sitting on the counter, waiting to be eaten. Everyone was a little down after that. He had so much potential but he's blown it all. I don't know who has failed this child. I guess almost everyone he's come in contact with has to some degree. However, he's to the point that he can change and do better or continue on his current path and become a thug like his older brother. Makes me sad. He was such a cute kid. How horrible must his life have been for him to be 15 and on probation? (And I do know this is not his first run-in with the law.)

Now, anyone want this Whopper? It's loaded with lettuce, tomato, cheese, despair, and missed potential. I know I don't. I've had enough.