Mummy Told Me Not to Tell: The True Story of a Troubled Boy With a Dark Secret by Cathy Glass

Author:Cathy Glass [Glass, Cathy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Personal Memoirs, Child Abuse, Family & Relationships, Abuse, Foster Children, Abused Children, Therapeutic Foster Care
ISBN: 9780007362974
Google: 6-kLCT_6gkMC
Amazon: B0044DE92E
Publisher: Harper
Published: 2010-10-13T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven:

An Uncertain Start

I took a photograph of Reece the next morning before we left for school. He stood in the living room, grinning proudly and posing in his new school uniform with his PE bag over his shoulder. Because we were going into school early we were leaving before the girls. They stood behind me as I took the photograph, telling Reece how smart he looked and wishing him luck on his first day. It was a real family occasion for all of us, and Reece knew that we would all be thinking about him and rooting for him as he completed this milestone.

I was also looking pretty smart in my suit, as I too would be in school for the morning and presumably meeting some of the staff. With Reece chatting about all the things he anticipated doing — PE, eating lunch, making new friends and even some work — we said goodbye to the girls and got into my car, parked on the driveway. Lucy and Paula waved us off, and I drove up the road, and then took a number of ‘back-doubles’ to avoid the traffic in the high street. Reece was now telling me what he thought he would be having for his school dinner — beef burgers and tinned spaghetti hoops, for while reducing the number of times he ate these, I hadn’t eliminated them from his diet. He ate healthily the rest of the time, so processed was all right once a week, and it was still his favourite meal.

I parked in the road a little way from the school and held Reece’s hand as we walked along the pavement and up to the main gate. It wasn’t security locked, as the children would be arriving shortly to wait in the playground until the bell rang at the start of school. I heaved open the massive iron gate and we crossed the playground. Reece was holding my hand very tightly now and was uncharacteristically quiet. I could feel his nervous anticipation, as indeed I could feel mine. It was a big day for us both.

True to her word, Mrs Morrison was waiting for us in reception. ‘Hello,’ she said, smiling first at Reece and then at me. ‘Lovely to meet you, Reece.’

‘Hello,’ I said. ‘Reece, this is Mrs Morrison, the lady who will be looking after you in school.’

Reece smiled sheepishly but didn’t say anything. I was reminded again of how much progress he had made, for had this meeting taken place three months previously he would have pulled his hand from mine and run off, making lots of loud and silly noises.

Mrs Morrison bent forward so that she was at eye level with Reece. ‘I’m going to show you round the school first,’ she said. ‘Then we will join your class. Your teacher is called Miss Broom. She is new to the school like you.’

Reece nodded, while I thought of the maxim of new brooms sweeping clean. I also thought that Mrs Morrison, despite her inexperience as a TA, was pitching her introduction exactly right.

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