make her understand,’ he said. ‘I’ll phone Gran now and tell her I’ll make it OK.’ He had the phone to his ear.
‘I’ll be downstairs if you need me,’ I said, and left his room.
Five minutes later Stevie came down. ‘Gran’s mobile is off, so I tried the house phone. Grandpa answered and said Gran was too upset to talk. One of them will phone when they know what’s happening. Grandpa sounded like he was crying.’ Finally, the enormity of what was happening hit him.
Chapter Twenty-One
Stevie looked dreadful the following morning – pale, tired and drawn – so I guessed he hadn’t had much sleep either. He didn’t want any breakfast, just a glass of juice.
‘If you’re still going to phone Verity, make sure it’s not while your phone is supposed to be switched off in school,’ I said. ‘We don’t want any more trouble. If she’s not there, leave a message on her voicemail.’
He nodded dejectedly.
‘And please make sure you go to school,’ I added later as I saw him off at the door. ‘There’s nothing you can do, and we’ll be told when there is any news. Take care and phone me at lunchtime if you want to.’ Head down, with his shoulders slumped and school bag hanging desultorily from one arm, he went down the front path and out onto the pavement. A shadow of his former self. I closed the front door.
Before I did anything, I made myself another coffee. I felt shattered from worry and little sleep. Problems that affect the looked-after child affect everyone else in the family. As far as I knew, Stevie hadn’t told Adrian, Lucy or Paula about this new upset – that he’d been seen with Kiri and Liam – and there’d been no time this morning. I didn’t mention it to them. They were all busy getting ready to go to work or college. If necessary, we could talk about it this evening.
I was expecting Verity to phone at some point and she did at midday, her voice business-like, formal and efficient. ‘I’ve just come from a meeting,’ she said. ‘Stevie’s left me a voicemail message, saying he is sorry. I assume you know that Mrs Jones has been taking Liam and Kiri to see Stevie?’
‘I found out last night,’ I said. ‘Peggy telephoned me to tell me what had happened. She was very upset and asked me to tell Stevie. I had no idea prior to last night that Stevie had been seeing Kiri and Liam. I thought he understood he wasn’t to see them while the police investigation was ongoing.’ I felt I should make that clear in case Verity was under the impression I had colluded with them in seeing each other, which would have probably resulted in me being barred from fostering.
‘I’ll see Stevie tomorrow,’ Verity continued. ‘I won’t have time today. Can you send me the dates and times of when Stevie saw his grandmother? Also, any relevant information surrounding those meetings. What he said and so forth.’
‘Yes.’ This is one of the reasons why foster carers are expected to keep accurate log notes.
‘Email them to me, please, as soon as you can.’
‘I’ll do it now,’ I said. ‘Peggy and Stevie are very sorry for what they’ve done.’
‘I know. I understand that Stevie gave his grandmother his old phone and they have been in touch that way.’
‘Yes. Peggy told me you were thinking of taking Kiri and Liam into care.’
‘We will be. That’s what the meeting was about. They’ve given us no choice. If you could send through the details of when they saw each other as soon as possible that would be good. Sorry to rush, I’m really pushed for time.’
I replaced the handset and went into the front room where I sat at the computer, tears welling in my eyes. The decision had been made: Kiri and Liam were being taken into care. I tried to focus on the job in hand. I opened my log notes and did as Verity had asked, and typed the details of when Stevie had seen Kiri and Liam with his gran into an email, then sent it to Verity. I knew why she’d asked about Peggy having Stevie’s old mobile phone – in colluding in the deception of contact, it raised the possibility that she may have colluded with him in other matters. Now under suspicion, it was likely her phone would be examined by the police, and she and Fred interviewed. It was a shocking mess, and what had once been a stable, loving family was now being torn apart.
There wasn’t much else I could do now but wait, and then be ready to support Stevie when he returned from school or phoned during the day. I felt I needed to be active to escape from my troubled thoughts, so having cleared up the house I went into the garden and set about some gardening, my mobile phone close by. At 12.30 Stevie phoned during his lunch break (when they were allowed to turn on their phones). ‘Have you heard anything?’ he asked, his voice tight.
I went indoors to take the call so that any neighbours in their gardens couldn’t overhear. ‘Verity phoned,’ I said. ‘She’s listened to your voicemail message.’
‘Will it be OK then?’ he asked naively, believing his admittance of guilt and apology were enough to keep Liam and Kiri out of care.
I didn’t want to tell him now and have him upset at school where I couldn’t comfort him, so I said, ‘Verity was in a hurry and couldn’t talk. We’ll know more later.’
‘But she listened to my message?’
‘Yes, she did.’
‘Shall I phone her again and see if she’s there now?’
‘It’s up to you, Stevie, but I doubt it will make any difference to the outcome.’ A young person in care has the right to talk to their social worker whenever they want; it’s not for the foster carer to dictate.
‘Yes, I’ll do that now,’ he said. ‘I’ll phone her.’
‘All right, but make sure you have some lunch too. You didn’t have any breakfast.’
‘Yes,’ he said unenthusiastically, and ended the call.
I returned to the gardening and channelled my mounting anxiety and worry on the weeding and snipping. An hour later Edith telephoned and again I stepped indoors to take the call. ‘I understand Stevie’s siblings are coming into care later,’ she said.
‘That’s right.’
‘We are thinking of placing them with Terry and Bridget.’ I knew the couple, who, like me, were local-authority carers. ‘I’ve been looking on the map and they live about a mile and a half from you,’ Edith continued. ‘That should be far enough. You’re not likely to bump into them, are you? Stevie isn’t to have contact with his siblings.’
‘That should work,’ I said. ‘I’ll be vigilant.’ I knew carers were in short supply so there wouldn’t be much choice, but it was prudent of Edith to check. In the past I’d had a child placed with me whose mother had lived in the next street and we were forever bumping into each other, which was upsetting for her and the child.
‘Can you tell me a bit
