Chapter One: August the 18th

The end of the beginning of my life.

Chapter One: August the 18th 2008, approximately 5PM.

   A blue Mondeo pulled up outside an attached three-bedroom house. The house had a pinkish tinge and pebble layering. The front two doors of the car opened and a thin man wearing jeans and a top came out. The driver, a very obese woman came out. She was wearing a ghastly flower coloured top that came down to just below her rather wide waist. 

   “Is this 47?” she asked.

   “Yes. Shall we go inside?” he replied. 

   “What is the plan?” 

   “Two checks done, this will be the third. We do an in out, grab and run. Wait until five-thirty to make sure solicitors will be closed. Make sure we call the police after coming out; we need to make sure that we can get them without a problem. Do the rest by the book.”

   They walked down a small mud slope and opened a broken wooden gate by poorly kempt hedgerows, overgrown to beyond reaching distance. The woman failed to place the gate back in position and choose to leave it hanging on its one remaining hinge. The garden was overgrown; grass two foot high; outside play toys left broken and mangled in corners, many of which covered by the overgrown garden. 

   “They make me feel sick,” the woman, said coughing into her hands.

   “Careful now, don’t say anything like that inside.” 

   “I won’t besides its not like anyone would believe them.”

   Stone dragons with one of its wings half off waiting by the left hand side of the door while three stinking bin bags on the right. The woman knocked loudly three times. A fifteen-year-old child opened the door. He had black hair that came down to his neck, brown eyes, large scruffy clothing, rather tall for a fifteen year old heading towards six foot with huge size 12 feet.  

   “Hello, who are you?” The woman and the man pushed past him and walked into the house. 

   “My name is Lyn and this is Steve and we are social workers. We are here to check the house.”

   They looked into the front room. A two-year-old girl called Eowyn was standing in a cot smiling at her mother. A green chair was in the centre of the room with Sam, a twelve-year-old twin with Connor who was upsides on the landing trying to clean up a layer of muck and dust with a dustpan and brush. Bin bags filled the front room and litter filled most of the house with a foot of rubbish and dirt; made up of toys, games, paper, food waster, bust bin bags filled to the brim and never taken out, DVDs and games as well as dog fir and nappies. A fifty-year-old man called Glyn sat on the sofa looking at the social workers, keeping an eye on the situation. Two more girls sat on the sofa hastily trying to shove rubbish in the bin bags. Shannon aged eight and Kaelie aged seven. Every unit in the house had stuff piled on top of it. The only reachable bit that was clean and kempt was a shelf near the ceiling. On the shelf sat a small cuddly teddy, not touched for almost four years. The teddy sat in front of several pictures. Overlooking the family. A woman sat in the corner. Her eyes were darting to and from World of Warcraft, an internet computer game. Her face was pale and she sat by a pair of crutches. A filled ashtray was next to a keyboard with all the gaps filled with grunge. She looked into the social workers eyes with hate and smiled at them through gritted teeth. She is my mother and this is my family. 

   “Will you show the social around John?” she asked me. I nodded in reply. 

   “Follow me.” I decided to go upstairs first, taking quick strides up the stairs trying to reach the top before them and grab lumps of litter, hastily shoving them I the bin. The woman almost tripped and fell on the stairs void of any rubbish. I had cleaned them up shortly before their arrival. Conner was at the top of the stairs tidying up the landing. 

   “This is the landing.” I explained to them. Lyn reached the top and briefly looked around. 

   “I have seen enough,” she said and swiftly heading back down the stairs. The man looked my sorrowfully into my eyes letting my heart sink. No, was the only thing to cross my mind. I ran down the stairs waiting for the social to begin talking to my mother. 

   “Well? What do you think?” Lyn asked. 

   “What do you mean?” 

   “The house? What do you think about the state of the house, is it acceptable?” 

   “I don know.”

   “Is it acceptable?”

   “I admit it’s not perfect but it’s not that bad.”

   “These kids are going to leave here tonight.” 

   “NO!” I told her.

   “You don’t have a choice.”

   “Where are they going to go?” asked my uncle engaging in the conversation.

   “The girls are going to their fathers.”

   “No you can’t!” screamed my mother. 

   “You can’t give them to Andrew.” I looked over to the chair to see Sam in tears. This is not right, this cannot be happening. I told myself repeatedly. I must stop this. I need to stop this. 

   “Can we go talk outside?” I asked. 

   “No, what needs to be said can be said here in public.” 

   “In front of my sisters?” She looked down at me and in the same truthful tone as she was speaking to my mother.

   “Your views do not count.” I shut up, Glyn and Helen continued the argument with Lyn who would not begin to budge on any of the matters. My sisters and my brothers were in tears. It was not the events hurting me; it was that my family were hurt. I was crying and I was angry and I did not know what was to come even in two hours time. Lyn left the house to go outside and make phone calls. After about ten minutes, my uncle and my mother left the house to try to reason with her. I stood in the living room, the smell of the roast dinner the only thing that I could smell. My brothers and sisters were crying and I looked around. 

   “I will sort this.” I said to them, I do not believe anyone heard me. I raced onto the internet and began typing in Google things like laws of social services. I quickly gave up and search for the sun. I found add story. I spent the next fifteen minutes trying to email newspapers about social services taking us away. My mother came back in and told us to pack up our stuff. She had tears falling off her face, felt like her stomach had been punched. At least that is what I think she felt as that is what I felt like. Glyn came in afterwards. 

   “Glyn, take them away! Anywhere!” 

   “I can’t.” 

   “Take them; they can’t go to their fathers.” 

   “I can’t. I don’t want them to go to their fathers any more than you.”

   Lyn came back in followed by a police officer. 

   “Where are the boys going to go?” 

   “Their coming round mine.” replied my uncle, “and the girls.” 

   “The girls are going to their father’s.” she looked at the three crying girls, “you want to go to your fathers? He’s looking forward to seeing you.” All three shook their heads. “Come on girls, you will love it. You haven’t seen him in ages.” She grabbed the bags of clothes and took them out to the car. The police officer waited inside surveying the house. A couple of minutes later Lyn returned and began trying to get the girls out with me, Sam, Conner, my uncle and my mum looking helpless. 

   The girls were strapped into the car. Lyn screeched her tires and pressed hard on the throttle screeching her car away. I stood watching my sisters trying to savour every glimpse of them. My hear felt crushed and my stomach empty. I just watched what I believed was the end of my life…

 

Author's Note

Rate this as a piece of literature, this may of happened to me but this is me wanting to show people what you can go through and still come out smiling. If you keep reading things will get worse but I promise a happy ending.

Reviews

[Raef C. Boylan]

OK, read the notes so will review it as a story.
You've done a good job of demonstrating how helpless a kid, old enough to feel adult but still a minor in the eyes of the law, can be made to feel when the authorities dismiss their views. It seems unfair, when Courts will take a kid's opinion into account when it comes to parental custody - a kid of whatever age, if they're deemed mature enough to understand what's going on - and yet in this situation 'John' is ignored.
Also, good descriptions of their environment, enough detail for the reader to build up a picture in their mind.

Overall, good work and welcome back man.

p.s.
"DVDs and games as well as dog fir and nappies" [dog fur]
"I quickly gave up and search for the sun" [if you mean the newspaper, best to write it The Sun so that people realise, especially people from different countries who might not know] [also, search = searched because past tense]