----------=BigCloset Retro Classic!=----------

Orphan Chapter 1 By Sue Brown Copyright© 2007, 2016 Sue Brown All Rights Reserved. As we travelled along in the car, I wondered what would become of me. I thought back two weeks ago and remembered with horror when I found out that my parents had died coming back from a new year’s party. It was 1969 when they left and it was now 1970.

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Admin Note: Originally published on BigCloset TopShelf on Monday 12-29-2007 at 03:21:08 pm, this retro classic was pulled out of the closet, and re-presented for our newer readers. ~Sephrena
 
Chapter 1
 
As we travelled along in the car, I wondered what would become of me.

I thought back two weeks and remembered with horror when I found out that my parents had died coming back from a new year’s party. It was 1969 when they left and it was now 1970.

I had been tucked up in bed and fast asleep. I had only just turned 11 and was considered too young to stay up very late; as my parents were not due to return until the early hours of the morning.

My babysitter, Rachel had been paid a lot of money to look after me on New Years Eve. She had just dumped her boyfriend and didn’t want to go clubbing.

It was about 3.00am, I think, things were a bit sketchy and disjointed, so can’t really be sure.

I was woken up gently by Rachel; even so I jumped slightly.

I opened my eyes, blinking in the glare of the bedside lamp.

I rubbed my sleepy eyes and then blearily looked at Rachel and noticed that she had been crying.

‘What’s wrong, Rachel?’

Just then, I noticed a woman standing at the end of the bed and a policeman and another lady, carrying a case, standing at the bedroom door.

‘Mark, this lady needs to tell you something and I’m sorry, it will make you upset.’

She sat on the bed and held my hand as the lady at the end of the bed came over, sat beside me and spoke.

‘Mark, dear, I’m sorry to have to tell you some very bad news. About an hour ago your mother and father were driving along the bypass. A van was coming the other way, lost control and hit your parents’ car, head on. The driver was drunk, we believe, but won’t be sure until later.’

‘How is my mum and dad, are they hurt?’

I could see by the woman’s face and the tears in her eyes that the worst possible thing had happened.

‘NO!’

Things got a bit confused then, I was being spoken to and hugged by Rachel but I was hysterical. I felt the jab of a needle in my arm and things went black.

When I woke up I was in a bit of a daze. I knew that I had been told that my mum and dad had died but I didn’t really believe it and felt numb. I found out later that I had been given drugs to help me over the worst of the horror.

Noticing that I was in a strange bedroom, I was told that I was in a foster home, an emergency one. I was to stay there until something could be worked out.

Being an only child; I had no known relatives alive except an aunt; my mothers’ sister. She lived up north somewhere, but Auntie Christine had been out of touch with us for years and I barely remembered her.

A series of people came to visit me, social workers, a doctor a lady police officer. I just wanted to curl up and be by myself. I wanted to cry but found no tears. I was surrounded by sympathy and felt stifled. I needed to grieve but didn’t have time to do it. I wanted to be alone!

My temporary foster parents were Sue and Phil, they were nice and gentle people and they must have realised that all these well meaning people were doing me more harm than good. Gradually, I was left alone to my thoughts and sorrow.

The following day Sue came in the bedroom and sat on the bed. I hadn’t moved from there for two days apart from using the toilet.

‘How are you feeling, Mark?’

I shrugged my shoulders and said nothing.

‘Are you sleepy?’

I nodded.

‘Well, that’s probably the pills and the fact that you are in shock over your parents' death.’

I looked up to her.

‘They’re not really dead are they?’

‘Yes, honey, I’m sorry, but they are.’

‘They can’t be dead.’

‘I know it’s hard, but you must come to terms with it. You are so young to have this happen to you, but you have to be big, brave and strong. Your parents are probably looking down at you now, hoping that you feel better and wishing that you move on with your life.’

I looked up at her; tears smarting my eyes.

‘So they really have gone?’

‘Yes.’

I fell into her arms and cried my heart out.

I felt a bit better after that. I still was upset, angry, hurt and all other things people feel when they have such a loss in their lives but crying helped to relieve the tension and pain.

I stayed with Sue and Phil for two weeks. The doctors said that it would not be good for me to go to the funeral and I agreed. I didn’t want to see two boxes with my parents in them. I wanted to remember them as my loving and happy mum and dad.

My Aunty Christine could not be found as she had moved from her last known address. So it was up to the local council to look after me. So here I was, being taken by Sue and Phil to the council office where a decision was to be made as to where I should now go.

We pulled up outside a drab office building and were soon walking up some lino covered stairs and along a lime green corridor, finally reaching a door marked "CHILDREN’S SERVICES".

Phil knocked on the frosted glass door and we walked in.

There was a lady typing loudly behind a wooden desk, she had a cigarette in her mouth and she looked up as we entered.

‘Hello Phil and Sue.’

‘Hi Mandy is he in? we’re expected.’

‘Yes, Phil, hang on a mo.’

Mandy picked up the phone.

‘Mr Rogers, your 2.30 is here.’

She placed the phone back on the cradle, looked at me and smiled and then said, ‘Won’t be a mo. Take a seat.’

We sat down on the cold hard plastic seats. I winced a bit. I was wearing shorts and the seat was a shock on my legs.

A few seconds later, a rather podgy, florid faced man came out.

‘Hello, nice to see you again and you must be Mark?’

I nodded shyly.

‘OK come in and let’s have a chat.’

We followed Mr Rogers into his office and after much scraping of chairs, sat down.

Mr Rogers shuffled some papers and then frowned.

‘Won’t be a moment.

‘MANDY,’ he shouted.

There was a faint scrape of a chair and then the door opened.

‘I wish you would use the phone Adrian… I mean Mr Rogers.’

‘Sorry, Mandy, forgot. Did you speak to Miss Phelps about young Mark here?’

‘Yes, she is going to ring me back in a few minutes.’

‘OK, let me know when you hear from her.’

‘Right.’

Mandy left, shutting the door quietly after her.

‘Now Mark,’ said Mr Rogers, smiling at me, ‘how are you?’

I was always a bit shy with people I didn’t know and I just whispered, ‘OK.’

‘I am so sorry about your parents. It must have been awful. We have been trying to contact your aunt with no luck, so far. That’s why you were placed with Sue and Phil here. Have they been looking after you alright?’

‘Yes, they have been very nice to me.’

‘That’s good. Unfortunately, they can only look after children for a short period as they are what we call our emergency foster parents. We now need to put you somewhere more permanent. We would normally place you with other foster parents but, unfortunately, there is no one available at the moment, so Mandy has contacted the Boys Care Home and will get a call back, hopefully in the next few minutes.’

I wriggled in my seat. I didn’t like the sound of that.

‘Don’t worry, it’s a nice place and it’s well run with friendly carers and a good bunch of kids.’

He turned to Sue and Phil.

‘It’s a pity that the Mixed Care Home was shut due to the cuts in funding. It’s put a big strain on resources. That’s the main reason why Mark here can’t go into a foster home. We had to use all available parents to fill the gap.’

Just then Mandy came in and went over to Mr Rogers. She whispered something in his ear. He frowned and said, ‘WHAT!’

She looked at me and then whispered something else that I couldn’t catch.

‘I’ll come out. Excuse me a minute.’

He left with Mandy and I could here a mumbled conversation outside.

Sue held my hand and looked encouragingly at me.

‘Don’t worry, Mark. I’m sure it’s just a glitch or something.’

The voices were being raised a bit and I could here Mr Rogers quite plainly now. He appeared to be speaking to someone on the phone.

‘Miss Phelps, you promised to keep a place open for Mark. You know what he’s been through. He needs a bit of stability in his life… I know… but….I…are you sure? Very well, goodbye.’

He slammed the phone down.

‘BUGGER!’

I went red and then suppressed a guilty laugh. Sue and Phil looked shocked at hearing a swear word in hearing distance of a child.

I looked at Phil who shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what to say.

Mr Rogers walked in and sat down, his complexion looked redder than before and he was sweating a bit.

‘We have hit a snag. You cannot go to the Boys Care Centre as there is now no room. They had to take a child back from a foster couple as one of the parents became ill. So that now leaves us with a major problem. You can’t go back with Sue and Phil as they have another child due to go back with them today. It means that we have to look at another alternative… MANDY!’ He shouted making me jump.

‘Mr Rogers, Please do not shout like that.’

‘Sorry, Mandy, could you take Mark down for a drink in the canteen while I sort things out?’

‘Certainly, but you had better say goodbye to Sue and Phil, Mark, as they have to go soon.’

I stood up and hugged my foster parents.

‘Thank you for looking after me.’

‘That’s OK, honey, I hope things work out for you,' said a tearful Sue.

‘Good luck, son,’ Said Phil, shaking my hand and then hugging me.

I left them with Mr Rogers I made my way to the basement with Mandy for a cuppa.

I decided on some coke while Mandy had a cup of tea and a cigarette.

‘Will they find somewhere for me?’

‘I’m sure that we will. It’s those cut backs though; we are finding it hard to place all the kids that need help. We may have to move you out of the area.’

‘PLEASE DON’T,’ I cried.

‘Why honey?’

‘It’s bad enough loosing my mum and dad, but at least I know this area and I go to school here.’

‘What school are you in?’

‘St Lukes Boys School.’

‘That’s the Church of England school off the High Street?’

‘That’s right.’

‘Have you many friends there?’

‘Not really, I’ve only just started there but it’s just that it’s familiar.’

‘Well, I can’t promise anything, but I’ll see what we can do for you.’

We stayed a few more minutes until we had finished our drinks and then we went back upstairs.

When we got back to the office, Mr Rogers was on the phone so I sat with Mandy as she got on with her typing.

‘MANDY!’

Mandy’s eyes rolled upwards and she said something under her breath as she got up and went into Mr Rogers’ office, shutting the door after her.

There was a mumbled conversation and then the voices rose a bit. I think that they were arguing about something and then there was silence.

Mandy head poked around the door.

‘Would you like to come in Mark?’

I went in and sat down in a chair. Mandy sat next to me and I looked over to Mr Rogers who was writing something down.

He sighed, put his pen down, looked up and smiled in a weary sort of way.

‘Well Mark, I have tried everything I could think of to get you placed in a suitable home, but I’m afraid that all enquires except one have failed to come up with a solution.’

‘Where will I go then?’ I said with visions of being put out on the street to fend for myself.

‘Erm, Mandy, can you explain?’

She looked daggers at him and then turned to me.

‘Well Mark, as Mr Rogers said, everywhere we tried could not help. We have no places at the Boys Care Centre and no foster parents are available to look after you. We can’t just pluck a couple out of the sky and parents have to be licensed before they are allowed to take children in. I would take you, but I’m not licensed, nor is Mr Rogers or his wife. So we have a big problem.’

‘What will happen to me?’

‘Well, we have a solution, far from perfect but doable. Apart form the boys home, we have a girls home too and Mr Rogers has spoken to the house matron there and they have agreed that you can go there until other arrangements can be made.’

I looked at her with relief and then it struck home.

‘A girl’s home, but that means that it’s full of girls?’

‘That’s right.’

‘But I’m a boy.’

‘Yes but, due to the circumstances, they are willing to take you in.’

‘OK.’ I said, not sure whether this was a good idea or not.

‘There is one slight problem.’

‘Yes?’

‘As it’s a girls home and the fact that there are children there who have come from broken homes and some being a bit fragile, we have to think of all the children and not just one.’

‘I’m sorry, I’m not sure…’

‘Well, the only stipulation that the matron has is that you dress and act as much like a girl as possible and not tell anyone that you are a boy.’

I looked at her with horror.

‘Dresses?’

She nodded.

‘Skirts?’

She nodded.

‘Blouses?’

‘Yes all of those things. You have to look and act like a girl. It’s going to be hard on you, but you are small for your age and your hair is long and you could pass for a girl if you wear the right clothes and if we do something with your hair. What do you think?’

I looked at Mr Rogers.

‘Is there nowhere else I can go?’

‘Sorry Mark. Believe me, I’ve tried. As soon as something comes up, we will transfer you.’

I looked down at my feet. I needed this as much as I needed a hole in my head, but it appeared that I had no choice.

‘OK.’ I said sadly, tears dripping from the end of my nose. ‘I’ll go if you want me to.’

‘Good boy. Now go with Mandy, she will take you to her home as she thinks that she may have some old clothes of her daughters that might fit you.’

A few minutes later, I left with Mandy and we were speeding along in her car.

I was quiet as I thought about the ramifications of what was about to happen and a bit of curiosity about how I would look as a girl. I wasn’t as upset as I thought that I would be, perhaps because I knew nothing about girls. I knew that they were different when they got older and had breasts and everything but kids of my age and younger looked fairly similar except the differences in clothes.

For some reason, I perked up a bit; perhaps it wouldn’t be too bad pretending to be a girl. I had lied to Mandy about St Lukes, I had been there a few weeks but I had been bullied about my size and the fact that I was one of the few boys still wearing shorts. I didn’t like St Lukes and I never wanted to go back. The reason why I wanted to stay in the area was that I wanted to be near my mum and dad and visit them at the cemetery. I thought that if I went away from the area, they wouldn’t be able to look over me and watch me as I grew up.

As we pulled up at Mandy’s house, I wondered how I would get along being a girl and whether I would give myself away as a boy when I moved into the Girls Care Home.

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To Be Continued…
 
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