of looked-after children.) She turned back to the window. ‘I do hope Mike can get him inside. Maybe I should go out, too, and just try to get my car keys? I could jump in and drive off then, couldn’t I? I’m just thinking you’d have more of a chance of settling him if I weren’t here. Like I said, I don’t think he likes me.’
I had no answer to that, and I really didn’t know what to think. But she was right about one thing: I did think she was better off hopping into her car the first chance she got and just leaving us to it. If control and attention were the driving forces behind Miller, then the fewer people there were around to witness his provocative behaviour, the better.
After telling Tyler to stay put, I followed Libby out of the front door. Miller was continuing his bizarre behaviour and was also making squealing noises, presumably for added effect. I raised my eyebrows at Mike, who’d as yet to make a move, though he’d obviously been talking to him. ‘Come on, just chuck us those car keys, will you, mate,’ he said, ‘so that Libby can get her other bag out of her boot. It’s stuff she’s brought over for Casey and we need it. Our Tyler is waiting to show you his new PlayStation games as well. I think he’s got a dinosaur one, come to think of it.’
Miller stopped his pacing and regarded us all suspiciously. Then, bizarrely, like something out of a comedy movie, he stomped up and roared at me. Right at my face. I could almost taste the warm sweetness of his breath. He then placed the car keys on the window ledge by the front door, and returned to making exaggerated steps across the lawn.
Libby had clearly spotted her moment. Quick as a flash, she snatched up her keys and darted to the car – there really was no other word for it. Not until she was inside it, and had locked it, did she lower the window. And then, I noted, by no more than an inch.
The engine sprang to life. ‘I’ll give you a call in the morning, Casey,’ she shouted through the gap. ‘And, Miller, you be good, okay? I’ll see you soon.’
If we were aghast – which we were – Miller was galvanised. ‘Noooooo!’ he yelled, running full pelt towards the car, even kicking it as it moved out into the road. ‘Get back here, you lying bitch!’ he yelled. ‘You fucking liar! Get back here!’ He then bent down and snatched up a handful of gravel, and threw it hard at the car as it drove away. ‘Get back here! I’m not staying!’ he screamed up the street.
Everything became clear in an instant. I didn’t know what had been said between them, but between Miller’s fury, and the social worker’s hasty escape, I suspected no firm agreement had been reached about him actually staying with us tonight. If so, why on earth hadn’t she warned us?
Mike walked up to Miller’s side, making the most of the disparity in their sizes. Mike was a big man – six foot three – and Miller was short and skinny. ‘Come on, lad,’ he said, standing close but being careful not to touch him. ‘Forget social workers for tonight, hey? Let’s go in and meet Tyler. Then you can have a look at your room before settling in for the night. How does that sound?’
Some kind of switch must have flipped because Miller then turned to look up at Mike. For a moment, I thought he was going to kick him as well, for good measure, but he didn’t. He just inspected him, looking him up and down, calmly and minutely. Then he nodded, as if decided. ‘Okay,’ he said. ‘Can I have a drink?’
Then he swivelled and trotted back down the front path towards me.
Miller was definitely on the small side for twelve. He looked more like ten, in fact, an impression already heightened by his strange, child-like antics and apparent lack of self-consciousness. And he had strange darting eyes that never quite looked directly into mine. His hair was dirty and matted, and in need of a good trim, and his clothes were far too small for him. Not for the first time – and I’d seen a lot of kids, from all sorts of backgrounds – I wondered how a child who had been in care for so many years could look so urchin-like and dishevelled.
‘So, do I come in?’ he asked me. There was a note of challenge in his voice.
‘Of course,’ I said, smiling, but still wary. I stood aside to let him pass.
‘Up here, then?’ he asked. Then headed straight up the stairs as if he owned the place. And was now, at least, in it. Mike shut the door firmly behind him.
***
The bedroom we had hastily prepared for Miller was the one opposite Tyler’s. There was a double bed, the usual furniture of wardrobe, drawers and bedside table, and, as I’d promised, we had added a new television and a borrowed PlayStation, as well as a selection of books, and a bright green rug and matching cushions. I’d normally have chosen and bought a new duvet cover in a theme I thought the new child would like, as well as posters and a matching lightshade, but having had no time, I’d had to plump for something plain and pastel from the pile in the airing cupboard, and just hope it suited. Apparently it did.
‘Yeah, I really like it,’ Miller said, surprisingly brightly, once we’d trooped up the stairs after him, so he could make his inspection. I wondered how many homes he’d done this exact same thing in. ‘So is it okay if I set up the PlayStation?’ he asked me. ‘And can I please have the code for the internet, too? I usually play online.’
I noted the ‘please’. But looked quizzically at Tyler. Play online? I had no idea what that meant.
‘It’s just so he can join other players, Mum,’ Tyler explained. ‘Then you’re not just playing alone, and you can get into tournaments and stuff.’
‘Ah, I see,’ I said. ‘Fine. But first, love, find yourself some pyjamas out of your suitcase, then, once you’re ready for bed, come down for your tablets and a drink, and I’ll give you the password. You can’t be on it for too long, though. It’s already late. So just an hour then it goes off until tomorrow. Okay?’
‘Okay,’ Miller said, smiling up at me. ‘Deal.’ Then he sank down to his knees and began unzipping his case, humming to himself as if he didn’t have a care in the world. A very different child to the one who’d screamed abuse and thrown gravel. Different too, to the Shakespearean-level dinosaur impersonator.
I wondered what other characters would emerge from beneath his shell.
I woke up the following morning in an irritable, scratchy mood. Which is par for the course when you’ve barely slept a wink, obviously, but still unexpected, since the child currently residing in the spare room was apparently medicated to ensure that he did sleep.
But he hadn’t. Though that likelihood wasn’t obvious initially. In fact, after the fun and games in the front garden when he’d arrived, Miller had appeared to have accepted his new reality. I wasn’t naïve about first impressions. I was too long in the tooth for that. But, for the moment, it seemed he was happy to play ball. He’d come down in his pyjamas (Lego Batman ones, which, unlike the clothes he’d had on, fitted), eaten his supper without complaint and taken his pills. Upon which, I had kept my promise, and given him the WiFi password, so he could spend an hour playing his game before going to sleep – something I had a hunch had no small bearing on his cheerful demeanour.
He was also happy for Tyler to accompany him back upstairs to set everything up. Though it was only a matter of some ten or fifteen minutes before Ty reappeared in the kitchen, arms spread wide in wonderment, shaking his head.
‘I
