May-Li returned to work after her two days off. She didn't really feel like she had just had two days off. She had spent the whole time worrying about the children, though it was nice to spend some quality time with her partner and two children. She missed them when she was constantly working but she would never change her job. Her mind had gone into overdrive about Farah. She was worried about how the girl had managed after the doctor's appointment. She was unsure of the affect that this would have on her behaviour especially as they were just getting her settled in.
May-Li was not due to start work until 10 o'clock. She had received a list of things to buy from Mike so was planning to get them prior to starting work. She also had a few ideas of things she wanted to buy for some individual children.
May-Li parked her car and knew that chaos was happening inside before she even walked into the house. She took a deep breath and opened the door.
"What's going on in here?" May-Li asked as she realised just how loud the house was and she was surrounded by children running past her.
"I'm so glad you are back. I'm ready for my day off tomorrow" He said rubbing his head. Together, they walked into the office and closed the door. May-Li was ready for her update.
"How have they been?" She asked.
"I can't get Farah out of her room. She's been there ever since the doctor's meeting. She won't even eat. I have tried everything. She is taking her antibiotics but that is it. Some of the children said they have seen her nip out to the toilet and come back with a glass of water so at least she isn't dehydrated. She isn't even lying in the bed. She's underneath it with her duvet over her heard. I've tried, Carmen, Tee, even the twins" Mike said running his hands through his hair "I had to phone her social worker. She said that if she doesn't come out by tomorrow then we will have to remove her by physical restrain. I really don't want it to come to that" Mike said, and May-Li agreed.
"Let me try" She said, and Mike nodded.
"I have some things which might help" May-Li said smiling.
"Good luck with that. I've already tried to bribe her to come out. I tried with sweets. It didn't work, Floss got into the room and ate them all herself" Mike said, and May-Li laughed. That did sound like Floss.
May-Li walked up the stairs, stopped outside Farah's room and knocked on the door. She waited a minute before opening the door. Wanting to give the girl some privacy. She saw that the girl's breakfast was still to the side of the door and as she entered the room it was clean that Farah was hiding underneath the bed. The same place she'd gone to sleep the first night. May-Li realised that under the bed was Farah's safe spot and the area where she felt most comfort.
May-Li lay down on the floor in line with the bed. She was next to Farah but ensured that she left enough room next to her so that the girl didn't feel enclosed. She knew that Farah was looking at her wondering what she was doing.
"I don't like the idea of you being on your own especially when you are feeling how you are. I'm sure you are feeling many different emotions and I'm sure it's hard for you to decide how to handle all of this. Talking is a good way to handle your emotions and I will also be here for you to speak to" May-Li explained. She kept looking at the ceiling so that the girl didn't feel any pressure.
"I'm going to lay beside you until you are ready, is that okay?" May-Li asked, and she sensed Farah agreeing.
"I will stay here until you are ready" She encouraged softly, and Farah nodded. They both lay in silence. Farah stole a few glances at May-Li to check that she was still there. She had never had someone act like this with her before. She couldn't believe that the woman was being so patient with her and not shouting. She was scared after Monday and needed time on her own. May-Li was correct, a lot of emotions were going through her head and she was unsure of the consequences for allowing people to see her back. She was waiting to be punished. This upset her as she liked it here.
After 15 minutes of silence, Farah slowly moved out from underneath the bed. May-Li smiled when she sensed the movement and sat up allowing more space between them. She didn't want to push Farah too much too quickly.
"I got something for you that I thought you might like" May-Li said as she went to the bag. She pulled out a lovely, yellow notebooks with a floral pattern on it.
"I thought it might be useful for you. Any questions you have or anything you want to speak about, you can write in here" May-Li explained and Farah agreed.
"Speaking isn't the only way to communicate you know; you can now use this notebook and you have your phone. You can text me or Mike at any time; I've heard that Carmen and Tee have been teaching you how to use it" May-Li explained, and Farah nodded still flicking through her notebook. The empty pages mesmerised her. May-Li smiled softly as she watched the girl. She was so happy with a notebook, sadly this was not uncommon with children who had just come into care. Gifts were a novelty for them.
"Do you have any questions you'd like to write down?" May-Li asked, and Farah nodded.
"How about you write them down while I put the cream on your back?" May-Li suggested. Farah nodded agreeing with the writing down part but suddenly stopped when she realised the rest of what May-Li had just said. She started ferociously shaking her head and trying to move away.
"Farah, the cream will help you" May-Li tried to explain. She quickly converted the girl's attention by handing her the new pen she had also bought her.
"Lay down on the bed and take your top off" May-Li slowly explained, Farah did as she was told.
"The cream was in the fridge so it will be cold. I will be as gently as I can" May-Li explained, and Farah agreed. At first May-Li could feel how tense Farah was but she relaxed as she started to concentrate on writing the questions. She didn't even hear May-Li speaking when she told Farah that she was just moving her crop top up slightly to get the welts underneath it. Relieved at Farah's reaction, May-Li leant back once she had finished to allow the cream to dry. This also allowed Farah time to finish writing her questions.
"Can I have a look?" May-Li asked once she was sure that the cream had dried. Farah nodded as she sat back up and placed her t shirt back over her head. May-Li quickly glanced over all the questions before answering them.
"So you can have a shower as often as you like. The water will always be warm. During the summer holidays there is not a rota. However, when you are at school, we will speak to everyone and come up with a rota to ensure everyone has enough time in the morning. It's best to shower every day but you don't need to wash your hair every day" May-Li explained before moving onto a range of other questions such as; could she go to the library, do you have to eat all three meals a day, how do you clean your bedroom and so on. May-Li could see that Farah instantly started to relax as they went through the list. She must have been keeping them worries for the last week. Hopefully now she would be able to relax and settle in better.
"Remember to write down any questions you have. I'll try to remember to come and ask you but if it's important just come to me and show me the question" May-Li said, and Farah nodded.
"Do you have any other questions or anything you'd like to say?" May-Li asked happy with how the last year had gone. She really felt that she and Farah had taken a massive step in their relationship.
Farah nervously looked at May-Li keeping her head down but slowly rising her head.
"Whatever it is you, you can tell me, you know that right" May-Li encouraged softly. She wished that she could pull the girl into her arms and hold her making all her memories disappear but she knew she couldn't do that. Instead she could only help and support the girl in any way she could.
Cautiously and nervously Farah opened her notebook. She took a new page and glanced at May-Li before writing. This was hard, the other questions had been easy to write. She thought for a minute wondering how to write this.
Do you think badly of me?
May-Li thought for a moment trying to understand what the girl meant.
"Why would I think badly of you? I think you are a lovely girl and we have found a way to communicate now. I don't mind if you don't speak, I just hope you soon get the confidence to speak to me" May-Li answered hoping that the reply would encourage Farah to write more.
Nothing has changed since the doctors?
Instantly May-Li understood what she meant.
"God no, never don't you ever think that. My opinion of you will never change because of your past. You had to do things to survive and people didn't treat you correctly or look after you. You are a brave girl. I would never change my view on you" May-Li explained, and Farah nodded. May-Li noticed the girl looking down deep in thought, she held the girl's hand wanting to offer some type of comfort. For once, Farah didn't recoil.
"You have been through a very hard time and when you are ready, I hope that you can speak to me about it. I am here for you and we, me and Mike, just want to help you in any way we can" May-Li explained, and Farah nodded looking down at her hands. She didn't move them but she was comfortable with May-Li holding them.
Suddenly Jody arrived at the door and told them it was lunchtime. Farah blushed with embarrassment due to Jody walking into them like that. May-Li shoot Jody a look telling her not to mention this to anyone. Jody nodded showing her understanding to May-Li
As they walked into the kitchen, Mike was surprised to see Farah and May-Li but was relieved just the same.
"How did it go?" He whispered as May-Li walked over to him and Farah took a seat at the table.
"Really well. I even managed to put the cream on her back" May-Li replied, and Mike's jaw nearly dropped open. He couldn't believe that she had managed to do that as well.
"I am so impressed" He said, and she smiled at him.
"It's just a little movement forward but we are getting there. She really is a lovely girl, who's had a really difficult start in life. Just like the rest of them here" May-Li said, and Mike agreed. This showed that Farah did fit in here. She was no different to the other children, they all had their challenges.
They sat down to eat, and Farah glanced around the table taking everyone in. She noticed that Toni was staring at her and Floss then elbowed her telling her not to stare. She continued to try to eat but was sure that they kept staring at her. Harry and Floss seemed to be involved as well. She tried to ignore them and once she had had enough to eat, she put her dishes into the sink and checked the cleaning rota. She noticed that she was on dishes so returned to the sink and started doing the washing up. She was with Jody who would be doing the drying.
As Farah washed the dishes, she kept seeing Toni and Billie watching her. She turned away and tried to ignore them and when she turned back around, she caught Floss and Harry tucking out of view. Jody was now drying the dishes beside Farah and noticed what they were doing.
"Guys, will you just leave Farah alone?" Jody asked getting pissed off. She felt bad for Farah and she definitely didn't need to younger children annoying her.
"Just ignore them, they can be like that, you know annoying" Jody said, and Farah smiled and nodded. Once the dishes were finished, Farah returned to her room. Se could see Floss and Harry whispering as she went up the stairs but she just ignored them.
About an hour later, she heard a knock at the door. She stood up to answer it expecting it to be May-Li or Mike. It wasn't. Instead Floss was stood there.
"Have you seen all the new books in the toy cupboard?" Floss asked and Farah shook her head.
"Come and have a look" Floss said as she encouraged Farah to follow her. Farah did so and they walked up to the toy cupboard and Floss opened the door for Farah. Farah walked in and heard a slam. She turned around and realised that the door was now closed. She tried to open the door but it was locked. It got worse, suddenly the lights went out. Farah dropped to the ground and wrapped her arms around her body. She started rocking back and forth.
"May-Li, Farah is due her antibiotics. Do you want to take them to her or shall I?" Mike asked.
"Don't worry, I'll do it" May-Li said as she grabbed the packet from the office and headed to the kitchen to get the girl a glass of water. She walked up the stairs but stopped outside the toy cupboard when she heard panicked breathing and humming. She tried to open the door but realised it was locked.
"Is someone in there?" May-Li asked but she didn't get a reply. She quickly ran to Farah's room and saw that she was no longer there. Jody heard the commotion and came out of her room.
"What's wrong?" Jody asked.
"Farah is locked in the toy cupboard" May-Li said panicking "Someone has removed the key"
"Talk to Floss, Harry or the twins. They have been watching Farah all day and being really weird" Jody said and May-Li sighed. She called Floss who walked out of her room looking all innocent.
"Do you know where the key is?" May-Li asked and Floss looked around.
"Floss, this isn't funny give me the key now" She said and Floss took it out of her pocket.
"I will deal with you later" May-Li said sternly as she quickly opened the toy cupboard door and noticed Farah curled up.
"Come on, I'm so sorry that was done to you. They will all be getting into trouble" May-Li said and with only a small amount of coaxing, she managed to get Farah to her room. She gave the girl her antibiotics and waited until she was sure that the girl had calmed down before leaving to speak to Floss.
"Why did you do it?" May-Li asked crossing her arms and leaning back once she had Floss in the office.
"We thought that she was a witch because she doesn't talk. We wanted to see if she could escape from the toy cupboard" Floss explained, and May-Li's mouth almost dropped. Why would they think that was an acceptable thing to do?
"I'm going to get Farah down here and you will apologise to her" May-Li said and Floss nodded. She called the others through as well as they had been involved.
"Why did you do it?" May-Li asked crossing her arms.
"We thought she was a witch because she doesn't talk. We wanted to see if she could escape from the toy cupboard" Floss explained, and May-Li's mouth almost dropped. Why would they think that was an acceptable thing to do?
"I am going to get Farah down here and you will apologise to her" May-Li said and they all nodded. May-Li knocked on Farah's door before waiting to enter. Once she opened the door, she asked the girl to come down the stairs. Farah shook her head in disagreement.
"Can you tell me why?" May-Li asked softly. Farah opened her notebook.
I'm embarrassed
May-Li looked confused.
"You have nothing to be embarrassed about. They had no right to lock you in a cupboard. I'd be upset if they'd done that to be" May-Li explained. Instantly Farah felt a bit better and agreed to go down the stairs with May-Li .
They went down the stairs and Floss, Harry, Toni and Billie all apologised. They agreed to do Farah's chores for the rest of the week and the toy cupboard was to be locked and only May-Li would have the key. That meant the four of them were not to get anything from the cupboard for the rest of the week.
Farah was happy that May-Li had taken her side and that the others had been punished for doing wrong. She smiled softly at May-Li for the first time. A proper smile, May-Li smiled back. She had a special place for that little girl. Farah headed to find Carmen and Tee wanting some company now. They were more than happy for the girl to join them. It had been a few days since the girl had joined them. She was really starting to settle in now.
Hope this is okay :) Please review and let me know what you think. Someone wanted more Jody so hope this is okay :)