Mummy’s Little Soldier: A troubled child. An absent mum. A shocking secret.. Casey Watson

the one in my head.

      Happily, Cody seemed to be something like a tap, and with or without my encouragement – it really wasn’t clear – the noise that had filled the room suddenly stopped. Although, as I helped her up and into a seat, it didn’t escape my notice that to be alone in here, day after day, with this particular trio, might have me feeling similarly inclined to scream, particularly if Ria – whom I’d hoped would become a stabilising influence – refused to engage.

      ‘I know,’ Kelly said, when I shared my concerns with her, once we’d got the three of them busy with the first task of the day: to write and decorate labels for their work trays. ‘Can you believe we’ve been in here less than ten minutes?’

      ‘Really?’ I said. ‘Going to be a long day then …’

      ‘And, um, brace yourself,’ she said, with an apologetic expression, ‘because I think you’re getting a fourth kid coming down after first break.’

      ‘What?’ I said. ‘How did I not know about that? Who?’

      ‘Another new kid,’ Kelly said. ‘And it’s literally just been decided. I only know because I happened to be there when Don came to talk to Julia. His name’s Carl. That’s all I really know. Got mild learning difficulties.’

      ‘So why here, then?’ I asked suspiciously, simple ‘mild learning difficulties’ being a prescription for Learning Support, not my Unit. Not on its own.

      I said so.

      ‘I don’t know, Casey,’ Kelly admitted. ‘I mean, I agree there must be something – they were certainly talking about his home life. And I heard Don mention something about the report that had come from his primary. Maybe he’s been bullied, something like that. It would figure, wouldn’t it? Anyway, I’m sure Julia will fill you in once she brings him … And at least he’s the same age as Darryl,’ she added helpfully. ‘So, you know, at least those two might bond …’

      We both looked over at Darryl, who was busy colouring his label in – though in one-second bursts, between glances at the clock, his feet thrumming a beat on the floor beneath his chair. Bless him, I thought, as Kelly and I exchanged glances, the word ‘bond’ – perhaps the last verb likely to apply to Darryl – still hanging in the air.

      With a new lad potentially joining us within the hour, I decided that I’d forget about the first lessons I’d planned; relatively unstructured, get-to-know-you, socially intimate activities just felt all wrong, at least for the moment. No, what this disparate group needed was some immediate structure, and because they were all at different levels, both in terms of age, and also socially and academically, quiet work alone seemed the best course of action. Well, at least until I’d had a chance to gather my thoughts about the probable group dynamic and so make a plan.

      Which was relatively easy to achieve. Having Kelly to myself – at least for the morning – was a real plus, as Darryl was obviously happy to have her undivided attention as he sat and worked through his numeracy book. Similarly, Cody was thrilled when I asked her if she’d like to make some leaf decorations for our giant borders, and set to work with both focus and enthusiasm. Even Ria turned out to be reasonably biddable, in that she admitted that she had her geography book with her and would be happy to spend the first period working on the project she was currently doing on waste disposal and recycling.

      With everyone gainfully employed, I then took myself off to my desk, where I gathered both my thoughts and my tattered notebook – one of the staples of my giant satchel – and began scribbling down my first impressions. It was one of those regular parts of my working day that I did almost automatically now, and was the best way to start to build up profiles of the kids so that I could decide how best I could be of service to them.

      It also helped unscramble the muddle of incoming data those first minutes and hours with a new group always brought. And this lot really were a mish-mash of personalities. So, if I were to have any order in my classroom at all this term, I had to think fast about how best to address the problem of fitting lessons in around their different needs.

      Because of all this the next thirty minutes or so passed a lot quicker than the previous ten, and the appearance of break on the horizon (heralded by the sight of Darryl standing up) came as something of a shock to me, having been so engrossed in ‘quiet work’ myself.

      Break being universal, in that every minute counted, there was the usual flurry of frantic activity so that not a single second of it was wasted. Even Darryl, whom Kelly would return to the Learning Support department rather than the playground – not just yet – was happy to be manhandled into his coat. I asked Cody and Ria not to be late back – another autopilot utterance – and was pleased to get a nod and half-smile from Ria in return. Perhaps she’d surprise everybody and have a change of heart about her couldn’t-care-less attitude.

      ‘See you in the staff room?’ Kelly asked as she led Darryl towards the door.

      I shook my head. ‘No, I’m just off to see a man about a new boy.’

      ‘Ah yes. Good luck, then!’ she said, grinning. ‘I reckon you’re going to need it …’

      ‘What??’ I called after her. ‘You flipping do know something, don’t you?’

      But when I got outside, she’d already disappeared.

Chapter 5

      ‘Ah. You’ll be here about Carl Stead,’ Donald said, glancing up and smiling sheepishly as he shuffled some reports on his desk.

      ‘Spot on,’ I said. ‘You’d like me to have him, I hear.’

      He motioned me to sit down. ‘If you feel able to, Casey. I know you’ve got quite a demanding bunch already. Not that I anticipate him giving you too much trouble,’ he added quickly. ‘Yes, he’s disruptive and inclined to fisticuffs, but Julia and I both feel he’ll be a lot less so in a smaller group.’

      ‘That’s good to hear,’ I said. ‘So what’s his background? Do we already know much about him?’

      ‘A bit,’ he said. ‘Truth be known, he did come with something of a track record. He has mild learning difficulties and a penchant for being cheeky, getting into rough stuff in the playground, that sort of thing, but you know what it’s like – sometimes these boys just outgrow their environment, get too big for their boots being top dog in primary …’ He grinned. ‘And being back at the bottom of the heap here settles them down. Which was what we’d assumed might well happen with this lad, so we thought we’d see how we went with mainstream classes, but unfortunately it seems to run deeper than that.’

      ‘But it’s only his third day today,’ I pointed out. ‘Just how bad can he have been, Don?’

      He picked up his glasses and held them slightly in front of his eyes as he scanned the papers in front of him. ‘Let’s see. He was sent out of his registration group on day one, and by the looks of it, he’s disrupted just about every other class he’s been in since.’

      ‘Class clown type of stuff,’ I asked, ‘or worse than that?’

      ‘A bit worse. And, yes, it is more than that, Casey,’ Donald said. ‘It’s also the state he is coming to school in. I know some parents can’t afford the whole kit and caboodle – uniform, decent shoes, PE kit and so on – and Carl’s mum evidently falls into that category. His clothes are clearly second hand, perhaps passed down by an older relative, or maybe from a charity shop, but it’s not just that he looks shabby; he comes to school dirty and obviously having not washed. The things he says, too; inappropriate things – a couple of teachers have remarked on it. I don’t know, Casey, there’s just something. Which is why I want him to spend most of his time with you rather than just going to Learning Support.’

      ‘To what end? Do we have a specific plan? To try to find out if there’s more to it than just moderate learning