She was angry.

"I feel like I've been played like a card," she said, climbing into her van.

She tracked Bridges down in the emergency room at St. Christopher's Hospital. The young mother was watching television. Her 2-year-old, Keshawn, was sitting quietly a few yards away.

As soon as she saw Soloman, the mother scooped up the boy. "Time to be up front," Soloman said.

Before they could talk, Bridges had to register. While Soloman lingered in the waiting room, she met another DHS worker, accompanying a teenage client.

"If I need to take this child, can I use you as backup?" Soloman asked.

"No," her colleague said. "What will I do with mine?"

It was past 5 p.m., the end of Soloman's shift, when the hospital gave them a room to speak in private.

Bridges denied ever punching her son, and lifted his shirt to show his pristine belly. "I won't lie. I do slap his thigh or pluck his fingers, but I don't hit my baby in the chest," she said.

As she tried to explain herself, her tone shifted with adolescent frenzy from indignant to defensive to plaintive, then dreamy.

"There's a lot I want to do," Bridges said. "I want to be a pediatrician. I want to do cosmetology. Or be a cook. Or a fashion designer." And above all, she said, she wanted to keep her babies.

"I want to put my kids in day care and work, to where my sons can love me. I want to get off welfare. I have real big dreams of going to my prom and the dresses I'll wear."

Her boy nuzzled her neck and stroked her arm.

They have been living like hermit crabs, she admitted, staying with relatives and for a while, squatting in an abandoned house. But they were about to move in with her new boyfriend.

Soloman asked Bridges to get the guy on the phone. She did, and Soloman asked him about his intentions. He said Bridges and her boys were moving in, but that he was just a friend.

Bridges hurriedly explained that he was probably afraid of leveling with DHS. After all, she said, the man was 47 and she was only 19.

Bridges squirmed. "Can I tell you something?" She began to cry.

"I know what you're going through is hard," Soloman hushed.

"When I first had my baby, my DHS worker came out and said I was one of the best damn mothers she's had."

"You need to show us that... . I'm not looking to judge you. I'm just looking for a way to help you."