The Foster Factory by David Learmont

Author:David Learmont
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Foster Care, Humour, Memoir, biography, family, relationships, adoption, fostering
ISBN: 9781785381126
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited 2015
Published: 2015-02-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

“It isn’t stealing if you intend to give it back.”

I used the words ‘short shrift’ a moment ago, and I realise that is how I have been dealing with Perdita. Up to now, she has been relegated somewhat to the role of the Prodigal Son’s sister, and her brother has been getting all the attention thanks to his attention deficit. Not that their father looked likely ever to turn up with a fatted calf under his arm for either of them, but Perdita deserves an amount of attention at least equal to her brother’s, for reasons you will see.

That prodigal son analogy wasn’t a bad stab in the dark for a biblical ignoramus like myself, because Perdita had spent most of her life in her brother’s shadow, isn’t that often the way when one is sane and the other is a loony, pardon my simplistic paraphrase. She was no trouble, while her brother was troubled; she suffered in silence, while he ranted and raved.

She was a skinny and agile child, a nine-year-old gymnast who attended the Brownies and liked rugby and cricket and football, which made one suspect a mixed British ancestry. She really wanted to be back living with her grandmother, but that was not going to happen, unless gran somehow managed to obtain a bigger house from the parish and a new husband from alcoholics anonymous. Until then, Perdita was remaining mostly silent. And possibly inwardly fuming, it was difficult to tell, because she wasn’t sharing.

She had good reasons, some might have said, for resenting her older brother. Not only was Cuthbert always the focus of attention from the various authority figures in her life, but he also adversely affected the possibility of Perdita making friends of her own. Socially disabled and inept, he would hang out with his sister and try to engage other girls in conversation whenever Perdita got close to them. Because of which, the ‘girl with the strange brother’ found herself more and more isolated and ignored by her peers. Few young girls wanted a friend who came with a ‘gayboy wierdo’ in tow - I’m quoting a social worker’s report, believe it or not, although I think to be fair she was already quoting someone else. I’m sure you noticed long ago that most social workers are a ‘she.’

And so - or am I reading too much into this, by using that word ‘so’? - Perdita acquired an interesting criminal habit of her own. She began to steal things.

This first came to my attention when I was hardly paying attention at all. Marsha and I had taken Cuthbert and Perdita to a local optician’s to have eye tests - one of the many and varied duties of Carers R Us. Gregory Pecks was rhyming slang rather than the proprietor’s name, and it was the sort of modern business that provided a collection of toys for bored brats to play with. (I’m speaking as a layman now, and not in my ex-cathedra capacity as a carer, you understand.

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