Читать книгу Cruel to Be Kind: Part 3 of 3: Saying no can save a child’s life - Cathy Glass, Cathy Glass - Страница 9

Chapter Nineteen

When Will I See Mummy Again?

I decided to return home while Max was seeing his family, as there didn’t seem much point in going to a local park without Adrian and Paula. A tight knot had formed in my stomach as I thought of Caz laughing at one of her favourite television programmes, blissfully unaware of the ball I had started rolling, which would reach her very soon. While she didn’t know yet, it wouldn’t be long. If Jill hadn’t managed to speak to Jo about the concerns I’d raised then she would have spoken to her line manager. Child protection issues – which Dan’s abuse of Paris was – can’t be left until the next day. Paris and Summer hadn’t been at home, but I thought nothing of this. It was their school holiday, so they would be out making the most of it.

I let myself into my house, which was resoundingly silent without any children. Straight away I saw the light on the answerphone on the hall table flashing, signalling a message. Pushing the door to, I pressed play. The message was from Jill: ‘Cathy, can you give me a ring, please, as soon as you get in? I’m at the office.’ Timed fifteen minutes before.

It was urgent. Although Jill hadn’t said much, I knew from the terseness of the message and the tightness in her voice that something had happened. Remaining by the hall table, I picked up the handset and pressed the agency’s office number. Jill answered with, ‘Homefinders fostering services.’

‘Jill, it’s Cathy. I’ve just got in.’

‘Is Max at contact?’ she asked.

‘Yes. I’ve just dropped him off.’

‘What time do you collect him?’

‘Three-thirty.’

‘Can you collect him earlier this afternoon? I’ve just finished speaking to Jo. She is on her way there now and she thinks it’s better if he is with you.’

‘Yes, of course. What time?’

‘As soon as we’ve finished. There has been a development. Paris has put herself into foster care.’

‘Really? When?’

‘Late this morning. She and Summer went to the social services’ offices and asked to speak to Jo. Paris told Jo that her father has been sexually abusing her and she didn’t feel safe at home any more. She asked if she could live with you, but I had to tell Jo you didn’t have the room, so we’ve found another carer. She’s going with Jo now to collect some clothes from home.’

‘So just Paris is going into care, not Summer as well?’ I clarified.

‘That’s right. Summer is returning home, for now at least, but obviously there will be concerns about how safe the other children are. Summer and Paris share a bedroom and Summer substantiated what Paris said.’

‘So it’s a coincidence that this has happened today? It’s not a result of what I reported?’

‘Correct. About an hour after I’d spoken to Jo in respect of the concerns you’d raised, Paris and Summer arrived at the office. Caz hadn’t been told then. Apparently Kelly knew they were going and tried to stop them, but Paris said she’d had enough. It seems the incident Caz told you about wasn’t the only time Dan abused Paris. He’s been going into their bedroom a lot and trying to get into bed with Paris, usually when he’s been drunk. Paris said that although her boyfriend put a lock on the bedroom door, she didn’t feel safe at home any longer.’

‘No, indeed. Thank goodness she had the courage to report it.’

‘Yes, although she might have opened up when Jo interviewed her after what Caz told you. Paris and Summer are saying their mother didn’t know what was going on, and they didn’t tell her because they didn’t want to upset her when she was ill. But the girls are covering up for her, because we know from what Caz told you she was aware of at least one incident of abuse and that Dan had been talking to Paris inappropriately – referring to her breasts – for some time.’

‘So despite all Caz went through as a child, when her mother failed to protect her, she’s done the same,’ I said sadly.

‘Worrying, isn’t it? Max will obviously remain with you for now. If his parents do try to remove him – he’s in voluntary care – the social services will apply to the court for a care order. The police will take a statement from Paris, very likely tomorrow, and then, if there are grounds, Dan will be arrested.’

‘All right,’ I said with a heavy sigh. ‘I’ll collect Max now and try to explain to him what is happening.’

‘Yes, please. You know where we are if you need us.’

We said a quick goodbye and, replacing the handset, I opened the front door and returned to my car. It’s not unheard of for a young person of Paris’s age to ask to go into care. Their request is usually taken seriously, unless it’s the result of a minor fallout with their parents, which can be resolved, and the young person feels able to return home. It must have been bad for Paris to have gone to the social services and ask to go into care – clearly a last resort. So often in fostering, situations change and aren’t as they first appear. Max had originally come to stay with me while his mother was in hospital after his sisters had left him home alone. There’d been no mention of him being unhealthily overweight, which had been a shock, and the first issue I’d had to address. Now plans to return him home were on hold. Summer and Kelly might be brought into care too, for if one child in a family is known to have been abused then the other children are considered to be at risk. In covering up for Dan, Caz stood to lose all her family, which was heartbreaking, but protecting one’s children has to be paramount for any mother. Sadly, I could see only too clearly how this had happened. If Caz had not been burdened by ill health and her mother had set a good example in protecting her, she would have been in a much stronger position to protect her own children when it had become necessary. Yet, while Caz was a victim as much as Paris, it didn’t excuse her. Indeed, having suffered herself, surely she should have been more alert and protective of her family?

It was just before 3 p.m. as I drew up outside Max’s home. My pulse had stepped up a beat and my mouth was dry. Jo’s car was already there, parked directly in front of mine. I hate confrontation, but I couldn’t see how it could be avoided given what must be going on inside the house. Opening my car door, I got out and began walking along the pavement and then up the short path. The front door was closed, but a downstairs window was open and through it came raised voices, one of which I knew was Kelly’s, shouting hysterically. I pressed the bell and waited. The voices stopped for a moment and then the front door opened. A cat shot out and a woman of middle age with a careworn expression looked at me questioningly.

‘I’m Cathy Glass, Max’s foster carer,’ I said.

‘Oh yes. Come in,’ she said, her voice flat. ‘I’m a colleague of Jo’s. We’re in the living room.’ Social workers sometimes work in pairs.

The shouting had begun again. I closed the front door and followed Jo’s colleague down the still-dark hall. Mayhem greeted us in the living room. Kelly, Paris and Summer were standing at various points around the room, shouting accusingly and jabbing their fingers at each other. Caz was sitting on the sofa, red in the face and her eyes bloodshot from crying. Jo sat next to her, trying to console her but looking stressed and out of her depth. There was no sign of Dan or Max.

‘What about Mum?’ Kelly was now shouting at Paris and Summer, her bottom lip trembling. ‘You didn’t think about her when you went off and reported Dad, did you?’

‘Of course I did, but what else could I do?’ Paris cried, throwing up her arms in despair. ‘I can’t force her to chuck him out, so I’ve got to look out for myself.’ I assumed ‘him’ was Dan.

‘Me, me, me!’ Kelly retaliated. ‘Never mind the rest of us. He’s going to be furious when he finds out. But you won’t be here, so you needn’t worry.’

Jo went to say something, but Paris was already answering. ‘You can come too, if you want. You don’t have to put up with his shit. Jo told you she could find you somewhere to go.’

‘And who’s going to look after Mum?’ Kelly yelled back, her eyes glistening with tears.

‘Why don’t you come?’ Paris now asked Summer.

Clearly Summer, thirteen, and the youngest of the girls, didn’t know what to say or do for the best. She looked lost and was visibly shaking. ‘I want us to stay together,’ she said and began sobbing.

‘Now look what you’ve done!’ Kelly accused Paris.

‘Girls, this is not helping,’ Jo’s colleague, who was still standing beside me, said.

‘It’s not me!’ Paris shouted at Kelly. ‘It’s him you have to blame.’

‘But we’ve managed this far,’ Kelly said, her voice dropping slightly.

‘I know, but I can’t take any more,’ Paris replied, tears springing to her eyes. ‘I’ve had enough!’

‘Where is Max?’ I asked Jo’s colleague.

‘He went to his room.’

‘Shall I go and collect him now?’ Clearly I couldn’t do much to help here.

‘Jo,’ she called. Jo looked over. ‘Probably best if Max goes now?’

Jo nodded.

‘I want to say goodbye to Max,’ Paris said, tears spilling onto her cheeks. ‘I don’t know when I’ll see him again.’

‘We’ll arrange something,’ Jo’s colleague said.

I turned and left the room, greatly saddened by witnessing a family being torn apart. Paris came with me. ‘Are you all right?’ I asked her, touching her arm. She gave a small nod. ‘Jo will arrange contact so you can all get together.’

‘I hope so,’ she said, her voice breaking. She began walking up the stairs and I followed. ‘I hope I’ve done the right thing,’ she said anxiously, turning to me as we arrived on the landing. She looked so worried and upset, but of course putting herself into care and reporting her father was a momentous and very painful decision.