Taken: Part 3 of 3. Rosie Lewis

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      When I entered the small conference room where the meeting was to be held, the first person I noticed was Alex Stone, a mature but wiry black man with a smooth bald head and brown eyes magnified by the thick-lensed glasses he wore. Standing at the head of a long oval table, Alex was shaking out a light grey overcoat, brushing at the suede collar with his free hand.

      I had met Alex several times before and when he looked up and saw me he draped his coat over one of the nearby chairs and then strode over to shake my hand. Shunning the casual jumpers and cords popular in social work circles, Alex was dressed immaculately in a well-cut dark-blue suit and crisp pale-pink shirt, his tie a duskier, deeper pink. Still clutching my hand, he asked after Emily and Jamie, whose names he miraculously remembered, even though it must have been over a year since we’d last met.

      Veronica met my eye only briefly as I skirted the table. I forced myself to offer her a smile, though I could only conjure a weak one. She nodded and smiled back, though seemed uncomfortable and quickly glanced away. ‘We’re still waiting for the child’s social worker,’ Alex said in a deep baritone voice as he took his own seat. ‘She called to say she’d be a few minutes late. I plan to begin soon after she arrives. I haven’t heard anything from the child’s mother, but one would hope that she’s on her way.’

      Veronica gave a tiny, almost imperceptible snort. Annoyed, I glanced at her, but she kept her eyes focused on her notebook, her pen hovering above it. At the sound of a mobile going off, Alex lifted his hand in apology and left the room to take the call. Silence took over. Apart from the intermittent sound of car tyres on wet tarmac outside, there wasn’t a sound in the room. I found myself studying the empty aluminium chairs dotted around the table and piled high in one corner of the room. They put me in mind of the riverside café near our home, where hot drinks and pastries were served throughout the year from a wooden hut by a hardy soul who didn’t seem to notice the cold. I found myself wishing I was there now, Megan skipping around while I bought some pellets for the ducks (a profitable sideline for the tea hut), Emily and Jamie waiting for a bacon sandwich.

      The sound of the door creaking transported me back into the room. Hazel came in first, a sodden umbrella hanging from her wrist by a handle of thin rope. Christina blasted in afterwards, following Hazel around the table and sitting in one of the chairs I’d been staring at. Christina’s eyes ran around the room. I smiled when she settled her gaze on me. ‘That got me here,’ she said, banging her hand on her chest. ‘What you did for me yesterday really got me. It was so nice.’ She must have noticed my blank expression because just as the door opened and Alex re-entered the room she said, ‘The photos.’

      ‘I’m glad you liked them,’ I said softly, as Alex cleared his throat. He waited for silence and then interlinked his hands, resting them on the dark-blue file in front of him.

      ‘Thank you, everyone. I’d like to start now, if I may. I’m Alex Stone, Independent Reviewing Officer for this meeting today.’ I remembered then that Alex was a stickler for following the proper procedures. There were only five of us in the room, but he asked that we announce our names and roles to the group, inclining his head first to Veronica. After Hazel and I introduced ourselves, all attention fell upon Christina.

      She scowled. ‘It’s fucking obvious who I am.’ It was an accurate reply, honest and succinct. Veronica looked up from her notes, nostrils flared.

      Alex dipped his head. ‘Indeed, indeed. And we’re very grateful to you for attending the meeting today, Christina. May I call you Christina?’

      ‘It’s my fucking name innit?’

      Unruffled, Alex nodded. ‘Indeed. Precisely. Absolutely correct. Before we move on, may I say, Christina, that we appreciate this isn’t going to be an easy meeting for you. That much is acknowledged by all of us, I’m sure. Your attendance will be recorded in the minutes, and when Megan is older, if she chooses to read her file, she’ll know that you made an effort to attend.’ His eyes lingered on her for a moment, but when there was no response, he moved on. ‘The purpose of this meeting is to update ourselves with Megan’s progress and discuss the plans being put in place to secure permanence for her, now that a Full Care Order has been obtained. Hazel, would you bring us up to speed in terms of our legal position, please?’

      Hazel opened her mouth to speak but Alex lifted his hand. ‘I beg your pardon, Hazel. May I just add, Christina,’ he looked across the table to where she was sitting, ‘that you have a right to call a halt to proceedings at any point if you hear something you don’t understand. I will endeavour to explain, but if we can’t resolve any misunderstanding between us, there are systems in place for you. I’ll furnish you with the details after the meeting, should you want details of leave to appeal.’

      Christina stared at him with the hopeless expression of someone who didn’t have much confidence in anyone or anything, let alone the system. Was she right? I wondered. I was still hoping for someone in authority to overturn Veronica’s decision. I may have disagreed with a few social workers along the way, but my faith in the department as a whole was still intact.

      Hazel clarified the legal position – a Full Care Order meant that Christina had been stripped of her parental rights, and no longer shared responsibility for Megan’s care with the state – and then went into detail about future contact with her birth family. Christina and Greg had both been granted two letterbox contacts a year, providing them with the opportunity of writing letters to Megan, which would be forwarded to her new family via the adoption team. Adoptive parents were expected to respond twice a year with letters of their own, and perhaps drawings or something personal from the child. As Hazel spoke, Christina stared around the room with slack-jawed disinterest, intermittently scrolling through her phone. ‘Has the final contact taken place?’ Alex asked, when Hazel eventually fell silent.

      The social worker nodded. ‘Yes, yesterday. And I have to say, Christina dealt with the situation extremely well.’

      ‘What fucking choice did I have?’ Christina demanded, though she spoke the words mildly, her attention absorbed by something on her screen.

      ‘Well, you’d be surprised, Christina,’ Hazel said, staring at the top of the young woman’s head. ‘You held yourself together for Megan’s sake. Not all parents are able to do that. We were very grateful.’ Christina looked up, snorted with disdain and lowered her eyes again.

      ‘Indeed. Well done, Christina,’ Alex chimed. She didn’t respond. ‘OK, so,’ he turned to me, ‘Rosie, would you tell us how Megan is doing at the moment, please?’

      It was a task I had been expecting, but when I tried to find my voice, a lump rose in my throat. I waited a beat or two, trying to concentrate on the rain running down the windows opposite. It worked, and for the next five minutes I spoke clearly about Megan’s day-to-day routines and the things she enjoyed doing, capturing the essence of her with no outward sign of the turmoil going on in my chest. Hazel’s eyes widened when I told them that Megan no longer wore nappies during the day, surprised to hear that, even though I’d only introduced the potty last week, she was already dry.

      Alex smiled warmly as I spoke. Christina looked up intermittently, and Veronica smiled insipidly. ‘What you’ve said concurs with the report I’ve received from the paediatrician who conducted Megan’s health-care assessment,’ Alex said, when I fell silent. ‘She seems to be doing very well.’

      ‘Absolutely,’ Hazel chipped in. ‘She’s a very happy little girl.’ I might have imagined it, but there seemed to be an edge to her tone, as if she had a point to make.

      ‘Indeed, very pleasing. Hazel, would you care to update the meeting on current plans.’

      Hazel СКАЧАТЬ