by Griff Hosker
“Mum never liked the flat. She didn’t like heights and she wanted a garden.”
“That’s yer mum for you, always wanting something she can’t have.” She looked down at the little boy. “Do you miss her?”
“I did at first but not now,” he snuggled in a little closer to his grandmother’s arm. “I think I‘m going to like living with you.”
“Well that’s lovely and I know I’m going to like having you live with me.”
“I just hope I don’t let you down that’s all.”
“Let me down. You could never do that.”
He shook his head. “Mum said I was always letting her down on account of I was too thick at school and couldn’t get anything right. She said that all our family were thick.”
Suddenly becoming angry; she turned to her grandson. “Now let’s not have any of that. Ooh our Deb! If I had you here young lady I would give you the hiding of your life. Thick family indeed! Is that what she told you?” Wayne nodded and the old lady closed her eyes. The train began to pull away from the station. “Well I am glad we’re leaving London because we can leave all those ideas behind too.” Almost to herself she added, “That’s what that nice young lady must have meant about new start.” Diving into her bag she pulled out a packet of fruit gums. “Here I thought you might like some sweeties for the journey.”
His eyes lit up. “Thanks. I love these. My favourites are the purple ones.”
“Good. Now listen young man, let me tell you now that our family is not thick. Did your mam tell you anything about us?” He shook his head. “I thought not. Thick indeed! Well the reason your mam doesn’t have a good job or a good education is because she kept nicking off school to hang around with her mates on Seaton seafront playing in the arcades. But she was clever. At primary school her teacher, Mrs Bates, said she was clever enough to go to University. It was at that secondary school where things went wrong. And I know that I left school at fifteen. Well we all did then, but I did get good qualifications, GCE and CSE and I got a good job in an office, ICI. If I hadn’t fallen pregnant, I could have done well at that company. I would have had a lovely pension by now, not the couple of bob I get from the state pension. I don’t regret having your mam, but in them days when you left to have a baby that was it, you didn’t go back. Now my mam she was really clever. She worked down in Whitby, for a sea captain and she was the personal tutor to his two children. Now you don’t get that job if you‘re thick do you?”
“I suppose not.”
“So you are not thick. Forget what your mam said.”
“But at school I was in the classes that were special and the teachers there said I was dumb.”
Outraged she ranted, “Any teacher calls you dumb you tell me and I’ll give them what for. You can read can’t you?”
“Yes but not very well.”
“Right well it’s a good job I brought this,” reaching into her bag she brought out a library book. It was a worn library copy of ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’. “I got this from the library yesterday when I knew I was picking you up. Have you read it?”
He shook his head. “Saw the films though, both of them. The one with Johnny Depp and the other one, the good one with, oh I can’t think of his name.”
“Well this book is better than the films, both of them. I read all the time. So do you want to read it to me?”
He suddenly looked shamefaced. “I don’t read out loud very well.” Brightening up he said, “I read better in my head.”
“Well good for you. You read in your head and if there are any words you can’t read just ask me.”
His little head was buried in the book and Maggie watched him ready, to offer assistance if he needed it. She was amazed at the speed at which he read. She had expected him to struggle but he was totally engrossed. He only asked for help five times before the train pulled into York. “Are we there yet nana?”
“No son but not far yet. Are you enjoying the book?”
“It’s great. I mean, I know some bits from the films but there are bits in here that aren’t in the film.”
“I told you, didn’t I? You can always trust Nana Thomson.”
As the train pulled out of the station, she pointed out the Minster and the Roman walls. “We can have a day out down to York if you like. It’s a lovely old place. Would you like that?”
“Yeah. It looks great. We never did day trips in London.”
“You mean you never went to Buckingham Palace or the Houses of Parliament?” He shook his head. “Well we’ll make up for that. We can get the train to Whitby. That’s in the Dracula books did you know that?”
“No nana. Nana Thomson, will I really like Hartlepool?”
“I think you will but be prepared, it‘s nothing like London.”
“Do they have a Tube?”
“No but we have buses. We can walk from the station, it isn’t far.”
The last part of the journey was the most exciting for Wayne. The sea and coast line were just visible out of the window and he could feel the anticipation in the pit of his stomach; this was his new start. This was where he would be comfortable and happy, where people knew nothing of his past mistakes and he could start again. Perhaps his nana was right. He might not be thick. He had enjoyed reading the book. It hadn’t been like it was in class with the teacher making you read a page and then correcting every mistake you made and always asking you questions about characters and sentence structure. It just took the enjoyment away. If the journey hadn’t been so interesting he would have almost finished the book by now.
As they left the station in Hartlepool and made their way down past the pizza shops and bars of Church Street, Nana Thomson kept up a commentary about what it had been like when she was growing up. It sounded like an exciting place but on a wet Thursday afternoon it was hard to see the excitement. “Now the only thing about my house is it is little. It is what they call a two up and two down. But you have your own bedroom and there is a bathroom now. When I was growing up we had to do with an outhouse.” They turned into a little street where all the houses opened on to the street. “The other thing is there aren’t many kids your age here. The street has some lovely neighbours but they are either my age or young couples starting out. Still, when you get to school you’ll make friends won’t you?”
Gripping his grandmother’s hand a little tighter, he nodded but inside his stomach was doing somersaults. He had that awful first day at a new school to face. But that was at least three weeks away and nana had promised him days out before that.
Halting at a smartly painted, black door she said proudly, “Well here we are. Home.” Just as they were about to go in the door adjacent to nana’s opened and an even older lady then Maggie Thomson opened the door. Her wild white hair framed her toothless bright red face. Yet Wayne found it a friendly face and found himself grinning back at her. “So this is the bairn. What a bonnie lad!”
“He is that. This is my neighbour Mary Burns. We’ve been neighbours for over thirty years.
“Pleased to meet you Wayne and if your nana is ever out, just knock on my door. I never go out.”
“I will do Mrs Burns and thank you.”
“Bye Mary.”
“Bye Mrs Burns.” As the door closed Wayne said, “She seems a nice lady.”
“They don’t come any nicer. She’d do anything for you. She’s nearly eighty you know? Lovely lady.”
The house seemed enormous after the tiny flat he had shared with his mother and it even had a staircase! It seemed strange to walk off the street straight into the living room but he thought he would get used to that. In one corner stood an old fashioned TV, the huge kind that took two men to lift. He noticed with some disappointment that there was no Sky box however in the flat the Sky package had come and gone depending upon how much money they had. “Right pet, I’ll show you your room.”
Wayne raced, with the legs of youth, up the stairs and waited on the small landing for his grandmother,
who heaved her lumbering frame up the narrow staircase. “I wish I had your legs son. Here it is.” She opened the back bedroom door and he saw a small bed, a wardrobe and a bedside table with a lamp. “I know it is a bit bare but we’ll get you a few things. You put your things in the wardrobe and I will get some tea on.”
By the time he had got downstairs he could smell and unusual smell, fresh food cooking. “What we having nana?”
“Just corned beef hash. Do you like that?”
He looked blankly at her. “I‘ve never had it.”
“I don’t know why. It used to be your mam’s favourite before she went all pasta, curries and Chinese. I think you’ll like it and if not you can nip round to the chippy.”
Wayne found he did like the meaty, potatoey concoction and his grandmother was gratified to see him wipe the plate clean with a piece of bread. “We’ll soon have the meat on you young Wayne. Sorry we haven’t any pudding. It has all been such short notice. We’ll nip over to ASDA tomorrow; it’s only round the corner. We can go and look at the marina and the boats. Would you like that?”
Yawning, he said, “Yes please.”
“You look tired, how about a bit of telly and then an early night eh?”
He watched as she flicked through the half a dozen available channels and said, “If you don’t mind nana I’ll go to bed and read a bit.”
“Good idea. Come and give your nana a kiss.” The old lady hugged him until he thought his bones would crack. “I‘m so glad you are here and believe me Wayne you are going to have a much better life now, I can feel it.”
“I know nana and I‘m glad I’m here. Thank you for coming for me.”
“You are family pet. I couldn’t let a stranger look after you and you never know your mam might get better eh?”
Having seen his mother try to get better many times, the young boy was sceptical but politely said, “I suppose so.”
After she had watched her soaps and tut-tutted at the latest news she went upstairs to say goodnight. Her small charge was sound asleep and the book was lying on the bed. Putting the book on the bedside table and kissing the top of his head she turned out the light and went to bed happier than she had been since her husband had died ten years earlier. She had a purpose in life once again and this time she wouldn’t make the mistakes she had made with Debbie.
The next week was exciting for both of them. She showed the Londoner the Trincomalee which he loved, especially when they fired the guns. He went to the beach at Seaton Carew, which was so close they walked. His favourite place was York with its Roman walls and castle and the Jorvik centre. The journey back on the train saw Wayne chattering like a machine gun spitting bullets. As he went on in an animated fashion, she marvelled at the change in him over the past week. She also detected a change in herself; she was finding it hard to keep up with the young boy who seemed to have boundless energy now that he was getting good food inside him and she had noticed that his clothes were a little tighter which wasn’t a problem as she was going to have to buy him new ones anyway. He would need a new uniform for whichever school her went to. Maggie was determined that he would be fitted and kitted with everything he needed. She went to bed that night with purpose in her heart. She was useful again.
Chapter 3
The social workers arrived the next day. There were two of them. One was from the education department, Anna and the other was a man, Peter, from the main Social Services Department. As soon as they entered, Maggie was on her guard. She noticed how the man flicked his eyes around the room and Anna inspected Wayne even when she was talking to Maggie.
“Well it is very good of you to take Wayne in temporarily Mrs Thomson.”
“Temporarily? We thought he would be here permanently.”
Anna immediately saw the look of disappointment on Wayne’s face. Before she had met them she had looked at the house and the age of the woman and decided that foster care would be a better option. Now she wasn’t too sure. “Well we have to assess Wayne’s needs and, of course, your ability to care for a thirteen year old.”
Maggie bridled a little; here was a slip of a girl telling her what was needed to bring up a child. Before she could launch into a tirade, Peter spoke up. “Of course there would be no change for some time, if,” he emphasised, flashing a look at his young companion, “any change is needed. Could we see Wayne’s room? He has his own room has he?”
“Of course. Wayne, show the lady and gentleman your room and I’ll put the kettle on.”
While they inspected the room, the two social workers interrogated the boy. Peter had been doing the job for some years and he had an eye and an ear for problems. Their probing questions answered, they went downstairs. As Maggie was still in the kitchen, they took the opportunity to see if the kitchen matched up to the standard of the bedroom. They had visited some homes with kitchens which should have been condemned as health hazards but not this one. Maggie Thomson’s house was small but very neat, tidy and above all, clean. Mentally the old lady was getting all ticks.
As they sipped their cups of teas, Maggie had not given them a choice, Anna brought up school. “The nearest secondary is Spion Kop High just the other side of the Marina. Have you any objection to Wayne attending there? I realise it is a bit of a walk for you. I could always help out with lifts until he gets settled.”
“Thank you for the offer but God gave me these legs and while I can use them I will. Besides we’ll enjoy the walk, won’t we Wayne?”
“Yes nana.”
Anna felt just a pang of remorse about her judgements. This was a good environment for a damaged boy. “Well you can leave all the paper work to me. I know the head, Dave Campbell, very well.” She looked at Wayne. “You’ll like him, he has a great sense of humour. The kids all call him Willy Wonka.”
“Why?” asked a curious Maggie.
“He looks like Gene Wilder, the actor who played him in the first film.”
“That’s the film I like,” said a beaming Wayne, now actually looking forward to going to a school with such a pleasant sounding head.
“Right then Mrs Thomson. We realise that Wayne will impose a financial burden on you.”
She coloured a little. “I am not looking for charity. I can pay my way.”
Smiling Peter continued, “We know and this isn’t charity. This is your entitlement. We don’t want you having to spend your old age pension when we can help out.” He held his hand up to prevent her from objecting. “Clothes for example. It isn’t right that you should have to pay for school uniform; there is a grant for that. He will qualify for free school meals, which in this borough means breakfast at the Breakfast Club.”
“We have our porridge don’t we Wayne? He likes that.”
“Quite. Well the offer is there. In addition there will be a grant for things like books and a laptop. We don’t want Wayne disadvantaged do we?”
“I suppose not.”
“Well that seems to be the most important matters. We’ll be in touch as things move on. There are only two weeks until the start of term so Anna will arrange to take you to see the head next week.”
“Next week? Aren’t the schools off? The teachers on holiday?”
“Contrary to the Tory press many teachers do spend some of the holiday in school and Dave will be in next week to receive and analyse of the exam results. All to do with league tables and so on. Now any questions Wayne?”
Shaking his head, he just said, “No. I just want to stay with my nana.”
“Well we’ll see. Thanks for the tea.”
As they walked back to the office, only a few hundred yards away they discussed the case. “Well I think we can save ourselves having to find a foster carer.”
“I don’t know Peter, she seemed quite old to me.”
“Everyone looks old to you. The woman is only in her sixties and there was an obvious close relationship in evidence wasn’t there?”
“You are right I suppose and tearing him away from a secure ho
me after the ordeal in London would be cruel. I’ll ring the head when we get back.”
Before the next visit by Anna, the close relationship between Maggie and Wayne had grown even closer. He accompanied her to the library and joined. His grandmother was obviously well known borrower, for they all greeted her and commented on her new family member. The librarian, Elaine, took a special interest in him and introduced him to some books he had never seen. “I think you’ll like these. They are very popular with boys, G.P.Taylor. Try this one. If you don’t like it, bring it back and I’ll find something else for you.”
The whole experience was new to him. Living in the tower block in London he had never spoken to anyone in the whole block, even their next door neighbours. He just scurried into the lift and kept his head down, it was the safest way. The one or two friend he had had lived a couple of tower blocks away and he rarely got to see them for it meant crossing gang territory. He had no idea where the library even was in Hackney! Here he could walk a few hundred yards and be at the seaside or watch the boats in the marina. He actually found that he didn’t miss the television. He had never had a computer so he couldn’t miss computer games. When he wasn’t reading or running along the beach, he was learning from Maggie who showed him how simple cooking could be. He was finding the tastes of new dishes like Sunday Roast and Yorkshire puddings was fantastic. Home-made fish and chips were a new taste to him and even shepherd’s pie, the non-Iceland variety, was a revelation.
The day of the school visit, Maggie went to town on Wayne’s appearance ensuring that he was, as she put it, ‘as bright as a new pin’. She trimmed his hair and made sure his polo shirt was crisply ironed. Anna commented on his smart appearance as she opened the car door for them both. She could already see a difference in the boy before her.
Spion Kop High was the last of the old style school buildings. All the rest had been replaced by brand new state of the art glass and concrete palaces. Spion Kop High hearkened back to the days of grammar schools and technical schools. It had, in fact, been a grammar school until 1970, when it became a comprehensive, since when its fortunes had declined. There was something reassuringly substantial about the old-fashioned brick built building, with quadrangles, wide corridors, fire places and girls’ and boys’ entrances, no longer used, of course, in this modern age of equality. All of the classrooms were enormous compared with the ones Wayne and even Anna had experienced in her time at school. The new ones had low ceilings with incredibly small rooms but they were environmentally friendly and therefore acceptable.