At the exact moment Elise was waking up in her childhood bed – a fluffy pink canopy, the kind every little girl dreams about – the Richmond County Sheriff’s Department SWAT team busted a dog fighting enterprise carried out by Jack Lewis.
Despite the theft of his fighting bait the day before, Jack went ahead with his scheduled main event. Animal Control seized four pit bulls mixes, three Rottweilers and another three dogs of undetermined parentage. The whole while he and the other participants and spectators were being taken into custody, Jack kept yelling about being robbed. What were they going to do about that lying bitch who stole his dogs.
Sheriff Warren Shelton advised Jack of his right to remain silent, strongly recommending that he avail himself of that right and to shut the hell up.
With evidence collected at the scene and the video provided by Elisa, Jack was convicted of multiple counts of animal cruelty with aggravating circumstances, operating an unlawful interstate dog fighting, racketeering, and a myriad of other related felonies. He was sentenced to ten years in federal prison and a permanent restraining order was filed to keep him away from Elisa once he was released.
For her part, Elise was granted immunity for her testimony against Jack. She gave Goldie a portion of the money she was paid for the puppies she took from Jack’s dog kennels. The remainder, $3 – including an old bill with red ink stamped along the edge, was used to buy a box of Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies. A Brownie troop had a booth set up in front of the K-Mart Goldie dropped Elise at to meet her parents.
She wanted to bring her mother and father the cookies because of the memories they shared from a happier childhood days when Elise’s mother was her Brownie Trooper leader. Elise’s dad put the box of cookies in the freezer when they got home. Everyone knew frozen Thin Mints were how to best eat the chocolatey treats.
Elise and her parents spent the next few days talking and getting to know each other again. There were lots of tears, but even more hugs and smiles.
They sat in the courtroom gallery in support when she testified against Jack, and held her hands when the judge read the verdict.
That fall Elise was registered for classes to train as a veterinary technician. Goldie promised to write her a letter of recommendation for a summer internship. Elise wanted to atone for the damage Jack had done and for waiting so long to do anything to stop the carnage.
Ten years should be long enough to create a new life and move forward from this horrible chapter in her life. Janice, herself a victim of domestic abuse, encouraged Elise to also share her story with other young women. The two had become close friends and allies. Speaking out helped her purge her nightmares and hopefully she was helping just one woman break away or to never get involved in a violent relationship.
—
“How did they sound when you talked with them,” Elise was on her way to see her parents for the first time in three years. Those wasted years she spent with Jack.
When Sheriff Shelton asked if she wanted to help reunite Elise and her parents, Goldie didn’t make him ask twice. She offered to drive Elise to a nearby shopping center half way between Monroe and their town. She had already assured Elise that both her parents had been elated to hear that their daughter wanted to come home. They had never given up hope that she’d return someday, and couldn’t be happier today was the reunion they longed to have.
“Look! Girl Scouts. I should get a box for my dad. Thin Mints were always his favorite,” Elise suddenly sounded ten years old. A smile long gone from her face, spreading from ear to ear.
“I think that would be a wonderful idea. Run and get the cookies and I’ll wait here for you. Your parents will be looking for the van and I should stay here in case they show up while you’re gone.”
Elise fished out $3 from her purse, a few dollars from the money she was paid for the puppies she saved from Jack. One dollar was an old bill with red ink on the edges. Running over the the decorated table, circled by little girls in tan vests, she picked out a box of mint cookies. The Brownies, all talking at the same time, loudly thanked her.
Before leaving, Elise asked the smallest little girl what her troop was planning with their cookie money. Obviously very shy, she spoke barely above a whisper.
“We’re going camping on a big boat. Our mommies are coming too. We’re sleeping in bun beds.”
Not sure she heard correctly, Elise looked to one of the moms helping at the cookie booth.
“We are using the money to take an overnight trip on the U.S.S. Alabama Battleship in Mobile. It’s going to be a Mommy and Me adventure. We will be staying in the former service quarters – bunk beds.”
“Oh, how fun! I was in Girl Scouts when I was younger, and my mom was trooper leader,” Elise had turned back to the little girl. “I know you all will have a great time.”
She thanked the girls again for the cookies and headed back to Goldie’s van. Before she got across the lot, she noticed her father’s old Buick parked in front of the van. She took off at a full run, nearly knocking over her dad when he stepped from the car. Her mother, exiting from the passenger’s side, was already in tears. The three held each other for a long time, Elise apologizing over and over.
“Not another word of that, do you hear me,” Elise’s mother managed to say between crying hiccups. “We just need to get you home.”
There were more tearful hugs when Elise introduced her parents to Goldie. Promises were made to keep in touch, and Goldie assured her she would be at Jack’s trial to support her.
Before leaving, Goldie walked over to the Girl Scouts and bought a few boxes of cookie to take back to her staff at the shelter. Another day of pairing abandoned souls with the families who needed them.
—
The two women sat at a kitchen table, stacks of ones spread out in front of them. Both were drinking sweet iced tea and nibbling on shortbread cookies.
“Looks like the girls sold enough cookies at today’s booth to exceed what we needed for the Mommy and Me sleepover.”
Courtney made out a deposit slip for the money. She was the senior leader for Girl Scout Troop 145. The other woman, Valerie, had agreed to be co-leader so her daughter Sophia could have a spot in the troop. Courtney’s daughter Erin was friends with Sophia, and the two girls were in the same third grade class. Erin had invited her new friend to join the troop. Sophia, the new kid at school, begged her mom to help so she could be with her first and only friend.
Valerie was worried about the sleepover, and how the other girls would relate to Sophia. She and her daughter had only moved to town right before school started. Painfully shy, Sophia had a difficult time making friends. She would often come home from her old school crying about being picked on by the other kids in her class, being called names for being so quiet and so small.
Other than Erin, Sophia never spoke of any other friends, and even though Valerie was at the troop meetings, she didn’t see much interaction between her daughter and her fellow scouts.
“Would you like some more tea,” Courtney got up to refill her glass, adding the rest of the shortbread cookies to the plate.
“No, I’m good,” Valerie said, hesitating to bring up her concerns.
“You really don’t have to worry about the sleepover,” Courtney poured more tea into Valerie glass ignoring her plea for no more tea.
“Sophia is so shy, and Erin is her only friend. It would be horrible for her to be at this sleepover and the other girls not have anything to do with her.” Valerie twisted the tea glass, rubbing the condensation off with her thumbs. She looked down at her hands.
Courtney reached across the table, taking Valerie’s hands.
“You’ve been at meetings, none of the other girls are mean to Sophia. They like her, really. They just don’t know how to get her to open up. This sleepover will be good for all of them. I have a few tricks up my sleeve. I’ve been at this for a while, trust me it’ll be fine.”
Valerie squeezed Courtney’s hands in return. Silently shaking her head in agreement.
“Let’s take this money to the bank and deposit it in the troop account. I’ll get a check out to the Battleship for the sleepover deposit. Then… you and I are going out for dinner. Erin’s older sister Nicole can watch the girls.”
The women made the trip to the bank’s drive-thru lane, and put their deposit slip and cash in the pneumatic tube, sending it to a waiting teller. The money from the cookie booth sales included an old bill with red ink stamped on the edge.
While at dinner they made shopping lists for easy snacks and breakfast. They would have kitchen privileges on the ship, but only access to a refrigerator and microwave. They would order pizza for dinner that night, a special being offered by a nearby restaurant for scouts staying aboard the Alabama.
Valerie wrote out a To Bring list she would later transcribe and print out for the girls and moms. Permission slips, waivers and car pools sign-ups were worked out. The women also made plans for craft activities and games they could play that night.
The day of the sleepover, the girls were too excited to be still. It was like herding kitten to get them paired up with their buddies and car pool rides. Sophia and Erin were teamed as buddies and sat huddled in Courtney’s back seat giggling and whispering.
After a dinner of pepperoni and plain cheese pizzas, the girls and their moms gathered in the break room aboard the ship to make popsicle stick picture frames as Courtney and Valerie took photos. They would make copies of the pictures later and give them to their mothers for a souvenir of their adventure.
Once the craft mess was cleaned up, and the precious works of art laid out on butcher paper to dry, Courtney had the whole group grab their Sit-Upons and make a huge friendship circle, alternating scouts and mom.
Courtney stood in the center of the circle, her right hand raised over her head, not saying a word until all the girls became quiet and raised their own right hand. When she had everyone’s attention and no one else was talking, she took her seat in the circle.
“This year we have almost as many new scouts as we have returning scouts. We also have a new leader, Miz Valerie.”
The scouts and moms all clapped, a few whooped. Courtney raised her hand again for quiet.
“I’d like us to have a Welcome Ceremony, Do some of you remember how we do that?”
Erin raised her hand, waving it frantically at her mom.
“Erin?”
“We ask one scout to sit in the center of the circle, then we all take turns saying what we like about that person.”
“Exactly. This is a way for us to tell our old friends how special they are to us, and to let our new friends know how much we are enjoying getting to know them.”
The whole troop began to sing:
“Make new friends
But keep the old
One is silver
The other is gold”
“Who wants to go first?”
One by one the scouts took the Seat of Honor while her friends heaped admiration and praise on her. Then it was Sophia’s turn. Valerie had that feeling of dread that none of the other girls would have anything to say about her daughter.
“Sophia are you ready,” Courtney asked with a smile.
Sophia nodded, but kept her head down.
‘Erin, would you like to start?”
“Sophia is my very, bestest friend!”
The next scout spoke.
“Sophia shares her cookies with me at lunch. She is really nice.”
And so it went…
“Sophia has pretty hair, I like her curls.”
“Sophia is really smart, she helps me with math.”
“I like how Sophia laughs, it sounds like a silver bell.”
“She draws really good. She gave me one of her drawings once.”
It continued as the scouts said something nice about Sophia, each one eager to tell their friend how much they liked her. As the circle came back to Valerie, she was stunned, barely able to speak. Her daughter was now sitting up straight, with the biggest smile she had ever seen on her face. Sophia stood up and leaped into her mother’s lap, wrapping her arms around her neck.
“This has been the best day ever.”
“Is has been for me too baby girl, for me too.”
