Will You Love Me?: The Story of My Adopted Daughter Lucy: Part 2 of 3 by Cathy Glass

Author:Cathy Glass
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Family & Relationships, Personal Memoirs, Adoption & Fostering, General
ISBN: 9780007533190
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
Published: 2013-09-05T04:10:08.624000+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Testing the Boundaries

Adrian and Paula appeared on the landing, wondering what the noise was. ‘It’s all right. Lucy’s table fell over,’ I said. ‘I’m going to have a chat with her now and then I’ll make us some dinner.’ We’d been fostering long enough for them to know that a loud noise coming from the child’s bedroom and a chat meant that the child was upset and angry and needed me. They both returned to their bedrooms and I returned to Lucy’s room. The light was on and I sat on her bed, close, but not quite touching. She was now holding Mr Bunny in a sitting position on her lap facing her, as though she’d been talking to him. Neither of us spoke for a few moments, and then I said, ‘Stevie says you can start going to school by bus next week, so that’s good news.’

Lucy shrugged, as though it no longer mattered.

There was silence again and then I said, ‘You know, it’s all right to be angry and upset sometimes, but it’s better to talk if you can. I think there’s a lot going on in your thoughts that needs to come out. Have you tried talking to your social workers?’

‘There’s no point,’ Lucy said firmly, her expression hard. ‘They don’t listen.’

‘I’m sure the social workers do listen,’ I said, ‘although they may not always be able to do as you would like them to.’ Many children in care want to go home and blame their social workers for not making this happen, although I didn’t think this was the reason for Lucy’s hostility.

Lucy shrugged dismissively. ‘Mr Bunny thinks the same as me, don’t you?’ she said, looking at him. ‘He doesn’t talk to social workers, either. He’s always with me when they visit. He was before. He knows they don’t help me.’

‘Mr Bunny has been with you a long time,’ I said. Lucy nodded. ‘So what do you think Mr Bunny would tell me if he could?’ I asked. Children can sometimes share their worries by using a favourite doll or toy as a mouthpiece – to say what they can’t.

Lucy sat very still for some moments, her eyes still glistening with unshed tears as she concentrated on Mr Bunny. ‘Do you think there’s something he’d like to tell me?’ I prompted.

There was more silence and then, still looking at Mr Bunny, Lucy said: ‘He’d tell you that social workers came to see me lots of times, but they didn’t help me. He would say I was often hungry and cold, and I had to do all the washing in cold water. He’d say my aunts and stepdad were horrible to me, and that I wanted to live with Sammy, or someone else, but they didn’t talk to me. He’d say they talked to my aunts and stepdad, but not to me. I was so unhappy I wanted to die.’

A cold shiver ran down my spine at Lucy’s last words. This is when it would have helped to have known more of Lucy’s past.

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