Part 11 (1/2)

Sophia's second entrance was equally dramatic. She really did look beautiful in her costume. She was also in her element with all the compliments she was getting, and dutiful I noticed how she went round every guest individually, thanking them personally for coming and for all the gifts she was given. She was thrilled to bits with her new mobile, and once again threw her arms around me, and though she once again nearly decked me she was just so much taller than I was I was quietly thrilled myself to see how tactile she was becoming and, most of all, in a non-s.e.xual way. 'Oh, I just love it,' she said. 'And I promise to save plenty of pocket money for credit. I'll never ask you for credit for it, honest. Ooh, my friends are going to be soooo jealous. It's wicked!' With which she skipped off to find them, bright eyed and beaming.

Jack Boyd had bought her a new leather handbag, which looked expensive, and perhaps a little over-extravagant, but it wasn't for me to comment, and she did look so thrilled with it. He too was the recipient of a giant bear hug. He had the grace to blush and gently extracted himself, even if, on this occasion, it looked entirely innocent.

He had to be on his way then, so I did take the opportunity to see him out. I'd barely spoken to him since Sophia's arrival and it would be good to have a word.

'Thanks for coming, Jack,' I said. 'It's so obvious how much it means to her.'

'I do try,' he said. 'I kind of feel I'm the closest link she has to her mother. I'm not really, of course, it's just that I've been there since the beginning. I like to think she sees me of one of her few ”constants”.'

'I'm sure she does,' I agreed. I paused. 'Jack, can I ask you something about Sophia?'

'For sure.'

'Well, it's just that she acts out around Kieron and Mike in a really full-on way and it's caused, well, a couple of dramas.' Gold medal for understatement there, I thought ruefully. 'And when she does it, it's almost like she becomes someone else. It's really marked, and, to be honest, a little scary a little spooky. Do you have any experience of that sort of thing yourself?'

To my surprise, Jack's face coloured. You could see the blush so clearly. 'I'm afraid I know just what you mean,' he confessed. 'To be honest, for a while I was quite concerned about it. So much so that I stopped taking her out in my car unless there was another adult in there with us. It was uncomfortable, to say the least. But it stopped. After a couple of months she just stopped doing it. I don't know why perhaps she realised it wasn't getting her anywhere ... But definitely unsettling. Especially for so young a girl. And of course I always had the business with the boyfriends on my mind. And then the family placement breaking down ... But you know the background ...'

'I do now,' I said, nodding. 'And it explains a great deal.'

'Terrible tragedy. Still, you seem to be doing a marvellous job with her.'

'We're doing our best,' I said. 'It's pretty challenging, but I'd like to think Jean will see a difference when we hand her back.'

'Um, well, yes ... Anyway, better let you get back to your party. Thanks for inviting me. Say goodbye to Mike. Speak soon.'

I went back inside. What did 'Um, well, yes' mean? Well, no matter. I was just pleased to find Sophia still in such fine fettle. She was now entertaining her friends with some funny quotes from Wicked. My nieces and nephews were with her too, and they all seemed to be having fun. Time to slip out into the back garden for a sneaky f.a.g with Riley.

'Isn't it great to see her like this, Mum?' she said, gesturing to the chair beside her. 'It's so sad that she can't always be so happy.'

'Riley, love, no teenager ever stays this happy.'

'Oh, you know what I mean. I mean n.o.body would imagine, seeing her now, would they? No one would guess that she has so many problems so much sadness in her life.'

I sighed. I knew exactly what she meant. It was tough, seeing the girl that she could be that she should be yet knowing the turmoil and distress of the girl inside. No family well, no family that wanted anything to do with her, and having to spend her birthday in the company of virtual strangers. No, I thought. Shake it off, Case. Just do the very best you can for her. Make sure the time she spends with you is at least as happy as it can be. She would be safe, she would be cared for, she would be given all the guidance I could muster. Anything to help her move on and live a happy, productive life.

As I closed the door on the last of my guests that afternoon, I did so with renewed pa.s.sion for my job. It was silly perhaps unrealistic for me to want to try and move mountains. But if I couldn't make a huge impact on every child that came my way, I could at least try to and so often it was the little things that mattered. Helping them to trust again, to feel secure, to know they had a place of safety, would never be harmed here.

Mike was at the door with me, my very own handsome prince, and I knew he knew exactly what I was thinking. Perhaps he was thinking it himself, even. He certainly didn't seem to mind when I gave him a hug and a kiss and smeared green face paint all over him. I didn't have to say anything. I knew he understood the emotions I was feeling. I felt energised, motivated. Like I was doing what I was born to.

Which, unbeknown to me, was just as well. I'd soon need every ounce of those resources that I could muster.

Chapter 15.

They say life is what happens when you've made other plans, don't they? A great expression, and particularly apt in my line of work. Because one thing you can always expect is the unexpected. But, high on a successful party, and flushed after an hour's cleaning, I think I took my eye off the ball.

The garden and conservatory clear now, I decided to pop up and have a quick shower before tackling the kitchen. We had plenty of green jelly, but inexplicably no milk, so while Kieron went to buy some, in order that we could all have a much-needed coffee, I thought I'd take the opportunity to scrub away my sticky green face. Not to mention the witch's hair, liberally coated in grey spray paint by my darling daughter, which had horrified me every time I'd glanced in a mirror. If this was what I was going to look like in old age, I decided, you could forget about growing old gracefully. Thank heavens for the miracle of hair dye.

I felt much better once I'd managed to restore my raven tresses, and having tied them back and pulled on a pair of trackies and an old T-s.h.i.+rt, I went down to join Mike in the kitchen.

Sophia was apparently up in her room, sorting her presents, but Kieron was with him, having returned with the milk. And as my lovely hubby had already made a sizeable dent in the was.h.i.+ng up, the three of us spent a pleasant twenty minutes at the table, just chilling out and chatting about the success of the day. I loved those family moments, just relaxing, after an industrious but productive bout of team work. Though, in this case, it was the calm before the storm.

'Casey?' Sophia's voice. 'Can I borrow your curling tongs, please?'

We all had our backs to her and all turned as one. And, to my dismay, she was standing there, made up to the nines and wearing nothing bar a black lacy bra and minuscule matching thong. And the smirk on her face was equally revealing.

Kieron spoke first, his eyes blazing. 'Go and get some clothes on, you little idiot! What the h.e.l.l d'you think you're doing?'

I stood up and pushed my chair back. 'Sophia,' I said calmly, anxious not to allow this to flare up. 'Room, please. You know the rules in this house about appropriate dressing. Go and get dressed, please, and then you and I shall have a little talk, and then I shall dig out my tongs for you.'

She took a step, but not out of the room closer to us. 'What is wrong with you people?' she wanted to know. 'It's only underwear, for G.o.d's sake!' She turned to Kieron. 'And don't you come over all horrified with me, Kieron. I'm sure you've seen Lauren dressed like this.'

Mike, who had been silent up to now, was seething. I could see it. He practically launched his chair at the wall opposite as he stood up. He marched wordlessly past Sophia, out of the door and up the stairs.

Kieron, too, was pale faced with anger. 'Don't you dare,' he said to Sophia. 'Don't you dare talk about my girlfriend like that! Mum, I'm sorry, but I'm off. I'll be at Lauren's if you need me.' He too marched past Sophia, but as he did so he turned. 'No one wants to look at you like that,' he hissed at her, 'with your tarty underwear and your cheap permatan. Not me. Not Dad. Not anyone. You just have to go too far, don't you? Pathetic.'

'Oh, p.i.s.s off, Kieron,' she said. 'You little wimp. You probably don't even know what a woman looks like!' And with this, to my consternation and horror, she put her hands on her hips and began to gyrate them, thrusting her pelvis out provocatively. Kieron's words all those weeks ago came back to me, then. It was like The Exorcist. It was like she was possessed. Where'd the sweet girl of just an hour ago disappeared to? It was horrible to watch. Just horrible.

'Sophia!' I yelled at her. 'Stop that right now! Get up to your room, do you hear me? I mean it!'

Kieron had already marched off to the front door and I felt tears well in my eyes as he slammed it. What the h.e.l.l was going on? This was just awful.

'I'll go to my room when I'm good and ready!' she shouted, spit flying from her mouth towards me. 'And you can tell that pathetic son of yours that this is not a ”permatan”. It's f.u.c.king melatonin, okay? And I can't f.u.c.king help it!'

I gaped, unable to think of a single thing to say to her. But she hadn't finished anyway. 'And,' she continued, 'I am 13 years old and can wear what I f.u.c.king well like!'

'Not in this house, young lady!'

Mike. Back from upstairs. He threw a bathrobe towards her. 'Put that on right this minute! And fasten it! How many times do we have to tell you, eh? Eh? If you're only wearing underwear then the decent thing's to cover yourself up!'

'p.i.s.s off!' she said again. 'You can't make me!' Sophia was looking scarily angry now, almost out of control, her stance rigid, her expression hard. She wasn't so much speaking to as snarling at Mike. She'd ignored the bathrobe and it had fallen to the floor. He retrieved it, then slung it unceremoniously over her shoulders. 'Room!' he then bellowed at her. 'Now!'

'No!' she screamed at him. 'You want me to move, then you'll have to f.u.c.king move me!'

I couldn't quite believe what happened next. To my horror, Mike simply picked her up from behind, and, holding her by the elbows, carried her out into the hall and up the stairs. I followed him out of the kitchen and gazed on in shock as she screamed at him, kicked him and head-b.u.t.ted him all the way. He's a big man, my husband, but Sophia was a big girl, and, in her fury, fired up with so much adrenalin, she was fearfully strong, too. It must have hurt him.

'Put me down, you f.u.c.king animal! I f.u.c.king hate you! You old b.a.s.t.a.r.d!' She never stopped screaming abuse at him, not once, all the way to the unintended return journey to her room. I felt sick as I watched the scene unravel. How had our lovely day managed to turn into this?

I felt helpless as well. This didn't feel right, was not right. He had no choice, he was angry, he was only human. Only human. But Mike had laid hands on her. He had physically removed her. This was not supposed to happen. All our training had taught us that. De-escalate a confrontation. Defuse anger. Deflect violence. Walk away. Walk away until everything calms down.

But I didn't blame him. Training was fine, but all the training in the world couldn't prepare you for the real thing, the here and now. Not for a situation such as this, where no matter how hard you try to keep things calm, you just know it's still going to get worse. And I did know that. I'd known it the minute she'd arrived in the kitchen, near-naked, just as soon as I'd seen the expression on her face. Sophia was ready for a fight. Spoiling for one. And wasn't going to stop until she got one.

I thought, desperately. Why? What was the b.l.o.o.d.y 'trigger' here? Was it the contrast? As she sat in her room amid her presents, did the contrast between her day all the fun, all the gifts just prove too much, when set against her real life, to bear? I tried to put myself in her shoes, walk the proverbial mile in them. Was that it? She just had to let her anger out? Justin, her predecessor, would attack his own body, would sit with a knife and tear off his own toenails. Was this Sophia's version of exactly the same process? Look I'm a monster! Look how easily I can make you hate me!