Nobody’s Son: Part 3 of 3: All Alex ever wanted was a family of his own
Born in a prison and removed from his drug-dependent mother, rejection is all that 7-year-old Alex knows.When Cathy is asked to foster little Alex, aged 7, her immediate reaction is: Why can’t he stay with his present carers for the last month? He’s already had many moves since coming into care as a toddler and he’ll only be with her a short while before he goes to live with his permanent adoptive family. But the present carers are expecting a baby and the foster mother isn’t coping, so Alex goes to live with Cathy.He settles easily and is very much looking forward to having a forever family of his own. The introductions and move to his adoptive family go well. But Alex is only with them for a week when problems begin. What happens next is both shocking and upsetting, and calls into question the whole adoption process.
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Certain details in this story, including names, places and dates, have been changed to protect the family’s privacy.
HarperElement
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First published by HarperElement 2017
FIRST EDITION
© Cathy Glass 2017
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2017
Cover photograph © Deborah Pendell/Arcangel Images (boy, posed by model); Shutterstock.com (background)
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
Cathy Glass asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
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Source ISBN: 9780008187569
Ebook Edition © February 2017 ISBN: 9780008187613
Version: 2017-01-09
Contents
Chapter Sixteen: Say Something Positive
Chapter Seventeen: Not to Blame
Chapter Nineteen: Conflicting Emotions
Chapter Twenty: Not Mum and Dad
Chapter Twenty-One: The Family
Chapter Twenty-Two: The Line Went Dead
Chapter Twenty-Three: Before It’s Too Late
Chapter Sixteen
‘What’s that?’ Adrian cried in alarm from the living room.
‘It’s Alex. I’m going to him now.’
I hurried up the stairs to his bedroom as one crash followed another. After giving a perfunctory knock on his door I went in. A toy car zoomed past my head and crashed into the wall behind me.
‘Alex! Put that down,’ I said as he picked up another toy ready to throw. ‘You’ll break it.’
‘Don’t care!’
He threw it. The floor was already littered with items he’d thrown in the short time it had taken me to leave the kitchen and come upstairs: toys, books, his new trainers: in fact, anything that had come to hand.
‘That’s enough!’ I said as he raised his hand again. A box of crayons flew across the room. I went over and, taking him by the arm, drew him away from the toy box.
‘Leave me alone!’ he cried, struggling.
‘No. You’re going to regret breaking your toys. I know you’re angry and upset, but this isn’t the way to show it.’
‘Yes, it is!’ He pulled against me, trying to reach a book, possibly to hit me with.
‘No, Alex. Come and sit down and calm down.’
‘I hate you!’ he cried. He was easily held, he was so small and light.
‘Alex, if you’re angry punch the pillow,’ I said, directing him to the pillow on his bed. ‘It’s better than breaking your toys or hitting me.’ I thumped the pillow hard with my fist to demonstrate. ‘You can hit the pillow as hard as you like.’ I’d encouraged other children I’d fostered to pillow or cushion thump when they needed to let go of their anger. It was one of the techniques I used. ‘Go on. Thump it hard, like I am,’ I said, pummelling the pillow. He followed my example and thumped the pillow a few times, then turned his anger on his soft toys and thumped them too. He immediately regretted it and burst into tears.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said, picking up Simba and hugging him. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.’
I eased him down to sit on the bed and I sat next to him. ‘Simba will be OK,’ I said gently. ‘Lions are very strong.’
Alex buried his face in his soft toy and cried quietly, his anger spent for now. I slipped my arm around his waist. ‘It’s OK,’ I said. ‘You’ll be all right soon.’
Footsteps sounded on the stairs and then Paula appeared at Alex’s bedroom door, looking very worried. I threw her a reassuring smile. ‘You go down with Adrian. Alex and I will be down soon.’ She gave a small nod, turned and went downstairs.
‘We’re all worried about you,’ I said to Alex. ‘Adrian, Paula, me and Debbie.’
‘I’m not going to my review,’ he said through his tears.
‘If you really don’t want to, you don’t have to. You can tell me what you want to say.’ But I knew this wasn’t the only reason for his anger.
He sniffed and drew his hand across his eyes. I reached for a tissue. ‘You can tell them I don’t want to be adopted again,’ he said tightly.
‘OK. But I think Debbie has already told you that she’s looking for a special foster family for you where you will be the youngest or only child.’
‘Because of what happened with James?’ he asked astutely. I wiped his eyes. ‘I tried to get on with him, honest I did.’
‘I know, love. It wasn’t your fault. You need to believe that.’
‘They lie at my reviews,’ Alex said bitterly. ‘At my last one they promised I’d have a forever family. I’m not going to any more reviews because they lie.’
