Jackson
Frankie led the way into a small room where a colleague of hers was sitting, talking to Jackson. ‘Thanks, Aaron,’ she said.
Aaron nodded, said goodbye and good luck to Jackson, then left.
Frankie sat in the chair Aaron had vacated. The room was just big enough to take a small desk, two office chairs and a filing cabinet. Kayla and I stood to one side. The room was on the third floor and looked out over the car park below.
‘Jackson, I know this is difficult for you,’ Frankie began gently. ‘How are you feeling now? A little less upset?’
Jackson shrugged despondently. He wasn’t holding his phone, so I guessed it was in his pocket.
‘I’ve talked to you about why you’re staying at Cathy’s for a while,’ Frankie continued. ‘Do you have any questions?’ Jackson shook his head. ‘OK. We think it’s best if you go straight to Cathy’s now and then I’ll bring some of your belongings later. Is there anything you would particularly like me to bring today?’
Jackson kept his head down and didn’t reply.
‘I’ll make sure I put in your phone charger,’ his mother said.
Jackson said nothing.
‘You’ll be able to collect some more of your belongings another day,’ Frankie said. ‘And obviously you’ll want to see your mother and sisters regularly. So we thought tomorrow and then Monday, Wednesday and Friday after school. You and your mother can also phone on the days you don’t see each other. How does that sound?’
‘Not fussed,’ Jackson said with another shrug, head down.
But of course he was ‘fussed’. He was hiding behind a couldn’t-care-less attitude to protect himself from further hurt. He’d be feeling rejected – most children coming into care do, even though the reasons for the move have been explained to them.
‘I want to see you,’ Kayla said touchingly.
‘What if I refuse to go with her?’ Jackson asked, raising his head and glaring at me. ‘You can’t make me go. None of you can.’
‘We think it’s best for you at present,’ Frankie replied sensitively. ‘It will be a bit strange to begin with, but it will allow you some space. You will be able to attend the same school, so you’ll see your friends.’
‘You could have some friends back at the weekend,’ I suggested, thinking this might help.
There was a moment’s pause, then Jackson jumped up and, barging between his mother and me, left the room.
We all went after him. Aaron was in the main office and, seeing Jackson run off angrily, gave chase. He went ahead, trying to catch up with him, as Frankie, Kayla and I followed. We went through some double doors and down a flight of stairs. Aaron and Jackson weren’t in view. I was even more anxious now. If Jackson felt he could behave like this with all of us present and in front of an open-plan office full of social workers, what chance did I have of controlling his behaviour when it was just him and me? I shuddered at the thought. Sometimes a child’s behaviour is so challenging that they can’t live in a foster home and have to go to a therapeutic children’s home to receive the help they need.
We went down a second flight of stairs and arrived in reception. Aaron and the security guard had Jackson standing between them. We went over.
‘Thank you,’ Frankie said to the guard and Aaron.
But at that moment the main doors automatically opened as someone came in and Jackson seized the opportunity and shot out. Kayla let out a small cry. Aaron went after him, followed by Frankie, Kayla and me. There was a busy main road not far away, but thankfully Aaron managed to stop Jackson before he got there. Lightly holding his arm, he began to talk to him, trying to calm him down.
‘Aaron is one of our outreach workers,’ Frankie told me and Kayla.
We waited a little way off as Aaron continued to talk to Jackson and slowly he seemed to calm down. Aaron took his hand from Jackson’s arm and continued talking to him in a low, even tone. Kayla’s phone bleeped with a text.
‘I need to go,’ she said anxiously as she read the message. ‘I promised my neighbour I’d be back by four-thirty to collect my daughters. I’ll catch the bus.’
‘I’ll wait until Jackson is on his way to Cathy’s,’ Frankie said. ‘Then I’ll come to see you later.’
Kayla went over to say goodbye to Jackson, but he turned his back. The poor woman – I felt so sorry for her. I instinctively wanted to tell Jackson not to be so rude to his mother, but he’d only just calmed down and I knew it would do more harm than good. Kayla seemed used to his rudeness and went on her way to catch the bus.
‘Where is your car?’ Frankie asked me.
‘Parked in a side road about a five-minute walk away.’
‘Could you bring it here? It might be easier to get Jackson in.’
I could see why Frankie thought that would work better than walking him to where my car was parked. There is a drop-off/collection bay at the front of the council building that takes one car at a time.
But as I went to fetch my car, I again wondered how I was going to manage Jackson when it was just him and me. I was already stressed; my heart was pounding. It’s always a bit nerve-racking meeting a child and their parents for the first time, but this was far worse than usual. Not because of Kayla – she was lovely. It was Jackson. I’d looked after children before with challenging behaviour, but his habit of bolting when he was angry or upset was very unsafe for him and difficult to control.
Arriving at my car, I engaged the child-locks on the rear doors so they could only be opened from the outside, just in case Jackson had any plans to make a dash for it if I stopped at traffic lights. I drove to the council offices, wondering if I was taking on more than I could manage, but then I chided myself. Jackson was only ten. He was angry and upset because his father and brother had died. I needed to concentrate on helping him through the grieving process so that hopefully he would eventually come to terms with his sad loss.
As I pulled into the collection bay at the front of the council offices, Frankie and Aaron came forward with Jackson between them. Setting my face to an encouraging smile, I got out.
‘OK, love?’ I said to Jackson, opening the rear door. ‘It’s about a twenty-minute journey to my house.’
He hesitated, glanced around, but then got in. I breathed a sigh of relief, as I’m sure Frankie and Aaron did.
‘Look after yourself,’ Aaron said.
‘I’ll see you later,’ Frankie told Jackson. But he was already concentrating on his phone.
I closed the rear door and got into the driving seat as Frankie and Aaron returned to the council offices.
‘Can you put on your seatbelt, please?’ I said to Jackson, fastening my own. He ignored me so I turned in my seat to face him and said more firmly,
