Cruel to Be Kind: Part 3 of 3: Saying no can save a child’s life. Cathy Glass
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.
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