Wednesday's Child

by Shane Dunphy

  Assumpta moved around the chair and out the door, which she left open. I heard a chair scraping the floorboards as it was pulled up outside. I stood, hearing my knees pop and slowly walked over to a chair by the wall, which I moved over to within a safe distance of Gillian. I nodded at Andi, who took a chair and moved to within a similar distance. At this proximity, I could see that Gillian had a fine growth of hair over her face and arms. This was a clear sign of advanced anorexia – it meant that she had lost her natural layer of body fat. The body compensated by producing the coating of hair, to keep in warmth. I had only seen this once before, and that child had not survived. People often forget that anorexia, if left untreated, can be fatal.

  ‘So, Gillian,’ I said, trying to sound as upbeat as possible, ‘how can I help?’

  She looked away from both of us for a moment, suddenly embarrassed by the attention and putting on the precocious huff of adolescence. I smiled to see it. At least it was normal behaviour.

  ‘I don’t want a worker,’ she said finally, her face flushing so much through the pallor, I was again worried she might pass out.

  ‘Is it because I’m a guy?’

  Again she looked away, gripping her sides tightly. Eventually she nodded, still not meeting my gaze.

  ‘Well, I can understand that. If I were a girl, I probably wouldn’t want me for a worker either. But you know, we’ll get used to each other. And we don’t have to rush into anything either. I mean, if you’re worried I might be weird or something, we can meet outside the school and go for coffee or something, where there’s lots of people around. You’d be completely safe. I’m not gonna try and get you to talk about anything deep or really personal or anything like that. Whatever you want to talk about is okay by me. It’ll be your time. But there is one thing that I do have to ask you to do for me first. I’m gonna have to ask your mam to take you to see the doctor.’

  She shot a glance at me that held a fair degree of venom.

  ‘I’m asking you as your new worker, but I think you know that I can make you go if I wanted to. You look like you haven’t eaten in a really long time, Gill, and you may need to take some medicine to help you to build up your strength again. You know, a tonic or something.’

  She looked at her knees, her lower lip stuck out in a ferocious sulk.

  ‘You seem pretty mad at me for saying that.’

  ‘You people always lie!’ she hissed.

  ‘Why do you say that?’

  ‘You tell me that we don’t have to rush into anythin’ and then you tell me that I have to go and see the doctor! And you tell me that Mammy will have to come and you don’t know my mammy. She’ll be mad and there’ll be trouble. And she’ll go mad when she knows that they have a man seein’ me and you’ll get it. She’ll do you good!’

  I tried not to look too bemused by this outburst.

  ‘Gillian, I’m afraid that your health can’t wait for us to get better acquainted. I wouldn’t be a very good worker to you if I let you go on right now without a doctor having a look at you. I’m not going to ask you to eat today – I said I wouldn’t – but you are very close to making yourself really sick. I don’t mind you being mad at me. And I expect that your mum will be cross about me seeing you at first, even though I think that letters have been sent out to tell her that I’ll be working with you, so she should know.’

  ‘We don’t always get letters because of the dogs.’

  ‘Oh.’

  I wasn’t sure what that meant, but figured I’d get a chance to ask about it later.

  She continued to sulk.

  ‘One thing that I will never do, Gill, is lie. I’m telling you right now about the visit to the doctor because it has to happen, and pretending that it doesn’t won’t help anyone. So I’m telling you straight up. With me, there are only two rules. When you’re with me, you don’t hurt anyone, me and you included, and you try your best. I follow those rules, and I’ll ask you to. Part of not hurting is no lies. Lies hurt, and I’m not into that. I reckon you’ve been lied to enough.’

  She made a kind of snorting noise.

  ‘So what happened today?’

  ‘With Maggie?’

  ‘Is that her name?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘So. You want to tell me what happened?’

  ‘Not really. She was makin’ fun of me, so I did her. Did her good too.’

  ‘So I hear. What was she saying to you?’

  ‘Nothin’.’

  ‘Must have been more than nothing for you to do her so good.’

  ‘She was callin’ me names and stuff.’

  ‘Bad names, huh?’

  A nod.

  ‘She was sayin’ that we’re all mad. That my mammy lets the dogs ride her.’

  I said nothing to that. There didn’t seem a right thing to say.

  ‘Them things aren’t true. Them are bad things to say about a person’s family.’

  Gillian looked up at me, and all the fight had gone out of her.

  ‘Will you take me home, please?’

  It was as sudden and as immediate as that. It was as if her battery had run down. I figured that in fact that probably wasn’t far from the truth: the outburst of the day, coupled with her anger at me for telling her of her imminent visit to the doctor had effectively used up all her reserves of energy. She had burnt herself out. She sat in the seat, her eyes glazed over, her shoulders hunched up. I called for Sister Assumpta and she got Gillian’s coat and bag, and we walked her down to the car. She said not a word, and climbed into the back without protest. I turned to Sister Assumpta before getting in myself. I couldn’t hide the anger in my eyes, and she stepped back a bit when she saw it.

  ‘How could she be allowed to get to this stage, Sister? You’d better tell me that you’ve been calling and calling for help, because I’ll chase this one up and someone will have to answer for it. You seem like a nice lady and this seems like a good school, but so help me if I find that she has been left to starve herself because she’s the local redneck’s kid and no one gives a good god-damn, I’ll be coming back out here with the fucking inspector and a fucking warrant and we’re going to have us a very, very close look at your child-protection policies and procedures. I’m not arrogant enough to believe that I can have the school closed down, but believe me, someone will lose their job.’

  She nodded, and I knew from the expression on her face that if there was any fault here, it didn’t lie with her.

  ‘I have been ringing your offices on an almost weekly basis. You are the first person to come out in two months of calling.’

  ‘I’ll check that, Sister.’

  ‘I would expect no less.’

  I nodded at her, some of the anger dissipating.

  ‘I’ll see you soon.’

  She turned and walked back into the school building.

  ‘You strapped in, Gillian?’ Andi asked as she started the engine.

  No response. It was really as if the Gillian I had seen for that short outburst was gone, had fled deep inside. I glanced back, saw that she was safely harnessed and nodded at Andi. We pulled out of the schoolyard and turned out towards the Dublin road.

  The O’Gorman homestead was a kind of shack set deep within many acres of farmland. It had to be accessed down a long dirt track with tall trees and overgrown ditches on both sides. The only sounds as we moved across the terrain was the cawing from the many rookeries dotted around the perimeters of the fields and the occasional burst from a song thrush coming from the ditches on either side of us. At one point a rickety wooden bridge had to be navigated, and I wondered if it would support our weight.

  The Mini’s arrival at the O’Gorman home was accompanied by the noise of furious barking and slavering from four dogs of indeterminate breed that were all tied up to dilapidated vehicles around the property. The front yard contained the remains of several old cars, and a pile of tattered couches towered over us near the front dry-stone wall. It was hard to tell how old the property wa
s. It looked as if parts of it had been built at various points in the nineteenth century, but one section to the rear certainly seemed to be contemporary. While the dogs were unable to get beyond the perimeters of the O’Gorman demesne because of the chains to which they were attached, they had free rein within its confines. It meant that no one without a death wish could attempt to gain access. The animal closest to my window was rearing up on its hind legs and doing its utmost to reach me. It looked worryingly like a Rottweiler, although there appeared to be traces of Alsation in the mix as well. It was truly the ugliest and most vicious beast I had ever seen.

  ‘I see what you mean about not getting the post,’ I said.

  Gillian was already climbing out.

  ‘Could you ask your mum to come out and see me for a moment, Gillian?’ I asked.

  She ignored me totally, wandering among the snarling dogs as if they weren’t there. The dogs for their part ignored her too. At one point she moved so close to one it collided with her as it leapt in the direction of the car, causing her to stagger, but the dog did not even so much as look at her, correcting itself and continuing to snarl and growl in our direction. She picked herself up and disappeared around the side of the house. Even to these animals, Gillian seemed barely worth a thought.

  ‘I suppose we wait for her mum to come to us,’ I said to Andi.

  ‘You’re the boss.’

  We waited.

  Half an hour later the dogs were still not tired of trying to get loose from their chains to devour us, and Gillian’s mother had still not appeared.

  ‘Well, any more bright ideas?’ Andi asked.

  ‘Let’s wait a bit more.’

  It was nearing four o’clock.

  I knew what was going on. We were being tested. Both Gillian and her mother were aware we were out there – from the noise of the beasts they had to be. The test was: how long would we stay? I could be a stubborn bastard, and I had nothing better to do.

  ‘What happened to you back at the school?’ I asked Andi, not looking at her as I spoke.

  I felt her shift uncomfortably in the seat.

  ‘Sorry. I wasn’t ready for how far she’s gone. Sorry I left you in the lurch.’

  ‘That’s okay. I’m getting kind of used to it today.’

  ‘Look in her file when you next get a chance. There are some photos of her … before.’

  ‘What she said about what that girl – Maggie – said about her mother. I take it that they’re just childish insults?’

  Andi rolled a cigarette and offered me the pouch. I took it from her and began to roll one for myself.

  ‘Well, the O’Gormans are the local shit-kickers, so it’s kind of a normal insult in these rural areas to suggest that you’re having relations with the livestock. But there have been stories.’

  ‘That she’s fucking one of the dogs?’

  ‘Yup.’

  ‘One of those dogs?’

  ‘The one at the back of the house.’

  I looked over at a beast that seemed to be mostly Labrador but with the pointed ears of a terrier. It was chained, just like the others, but there were also some boards nailed up to separate it from the rest of the animals. It was obviously considered different in some way, but I baulked at the notion that it was being kept for carnal reasons.

  ‘Handsome beast.’

  ‘Gorgeous.’

  Five o’clock rolled around. Andi looked at me.

  ‘I’m getting pissed off, Shane.’

  ‘Well, do you want to call it a day?’

  Andi leaned her whole weight on the car’s horn. And stayed there. The horn was surprisingly loud. It, incredibly, silenced the dogs for a moment. They stood there in surprise, their tongues lolling out over yellow teeth. Then the barking erupted again in competition.

  ‘Watch Countdown now, you bitch,’ Andi muttered.

  It took ten more minutes of barking and horn competing before the front door opened and a woman came out.

  I put her in her early forties. She was dressed in faded jeans and a raggedy woollen jumper, and her brown hair looked as if it hadn’t been washed in weeks. As soon as she set foot outside the door, the dogs became silent and stood quietly watching her. She approached us smiling, walking easily and in a relaxed manner, as if we hadn’t been there for an hour and a half waiting for her to deign to speak to us.

  ‘And here’s the lady of the house,’ Andi said, finally letting go of the horn.

  As Libby O’Gorman got closer, I saw that she had once been extremely beautiful. Harsh circumstances had taken their toll, but the residue of how stunning she had been was still very much in evidence. As she came to stand outside my window and Andi pressed the button to lower the glass, I became aware of a powerful sexuality. She exuded it from every pore, and I could see how she had such a huge hold over her daughter and how she had proven such a problem for so many Health Board workers. There was a strong intellect at play here – albeit tempered by psychiatric problems of deep complexity. She smiled at me, and I smelled alcohol from her. Cheap whiskey.

  ‘Well, I didn’t know you were here at all,’ she said. Her voice was husky and full of humour. We all knew she was lying. It was a game.

  ‘That’s okay, Mrs O’Gorman. We weren’t in a hurry. It’s a pleasant afternoon to be out of doors in the country. Those are some fine dogs you have.’

  She looked appreciatively at the animals, now sitting and dozing in the late-afternoon light.

  ‘They’re grand, aren’t they?’

  I smiled and tried to steer the conversation to the subject of her daughter. I needed to introduce the concept of me as Gillian’s new worker, and also instruct her to bring the child to the doctor for a checkup as soon as possible. I had to assert that, while I would try to work in partnership with her, I was, fortunately or unfortunately, in charge to a large degree. I had statutory power, and could have Gillian taken into care. This is a factor that is always underlying any interaction between a parent and a state-appointed child-protection worker. Since the development of the Child Care Act 1991, the Health Board and the gardaí have the power, if they feel that a child is at serious and immediate risk, to remove that child without a warrant. This means, effectively, that at any moment, if I felt that Gillian was in danger, I could call for garda assistance and have Gillian placed in care without reference to the courts or anyone else. I would have to secure an Emergency Care Order within three days of this, but that would not be difficult under the circumstances. I always had a policy of not pulling rank with a parent unless it was necessary, but I had a sense that Libby was going to give me plenty of cause during our relationship.

  ‘Mrs O’Gorman, my name is Shane Dunphy, and I’ve been appointed to work with Gillian for the next while. Did you receive any letters about that?’

  She laughed aloud in a great guffaw.

  ‘Do you think that any postman is going to want to bring letters out here? I pick up letters in the post office in town every now and again. It’s usually nothing I would have wanted delivered anyway.’

  She eyed me with suspicion and some interest. I wasn’t sure quite what to make of her inspection. It seemed almost an invasion.

  ‘They’ve sent you? That’s a new approach, I’ll give you that. She’ll not want to work with you, Mister. You might as well just fuck off back where you came from.’

  ‘I’d like the chance to try. I talked to her at her school today. She … talked back. It was a start.’

  ‘She’s a little flirt. She’s like her mother.’

  This was followed by a rolling of the eyes and a licking of lips in a mock of sexuality that was just a little disturbing, as I could see Gillian very clearly in her.

  ‘Mrs O’Gorman —’

  ‘Call me Libby.’

  ‘Thank you. Libby, Gillian is dangerously underweight. I don’t know if you’re aware, but she doesn’t look like she’s eaten in several weeks. Has she been eating meals at home?’