It was a couple of days later and Mike was still suspended. They had brought Scott in to help them as they were down to only one full time care worker. Farah knew that some of the other young people were doing what they could to see if they could get Mike back. Farah had taken a back seat. It wasn't that she didn't want Mike back, she did. She just felt uneasy and couldn't pinpoint why. Whenever she didn't feel right, she would draw back completed. It had been a couple of days now since she had last spoken to someone.
May-Li was frustrated. She was by herself with very little support. A new support worker Scott was meant to be starting today and she hoped he was better than the others she had been given. They hadn't lasted long at all. On top of being acting head support worker, she now also had Farah back not speaking. She was unsure if it was due to having lots of new people around and the girl feeling unsettled or something more. She wished that she wasn't so busy with all of this mess or she would have put more time into speaking to Farah and getting to the bottom of the issue.
It was a half term but it didn't seem like it. None of the children wanted to do anything, they were more concerned about getting Mike back. Everything May-Li suggested they all sighed heavily about. She said that they all had to go out tomorrow. She would arrange a trip somewhere. She was met by even more sighs but they needed to do something.
Today, they were cleaning. The house was a mess and the children had really started lacking in their chores recently. Today, they needed to sort it out and get it up and running again before they went back to school.
May-Li ensured that everyone knew what they were doing and were pulling their weight before she returned to the living room. She was on her knees as she scrubbed the floor hoping to get rid of whatever had been spilt on the floor and not cleaned up. She felt the presence of someone near her. She looked up and noticed Farah staring at her. Her eyes were wide.
May-Li looked at her waiting for the girl to say something but she quickly realised that the girl was not in the right mind frame to walk. May-Li needed to calm her down first.
"Shall we go into the office or your room?" May-Li asked softly as she stood up. She took a hold of the girl's hand and then allowed the girl to lead where she wanted to go. They walked up the stairs. Simply having May-Li holding her hand was enough to help calm the girl down.
Once in the room, they sat on Farah's bed. May-Li allowed the girl to trace with her fingers on her hand. She knew this was what the girl did when she was trying to calm down. She needed to put her mind on something else and this tended to work.
"Are you ready to speak?" May-Li asked softly after nearly 10 minutes. Farah moved her eyes from May-Li's hand to look May-Li in the eye. She wasn't sure if she would be able to talk.
"Is there something you need?" May-Li asked and the girl nodded. She knew that she needed to speak. May-Li looked down at her own hands. She knew that taking the pressure off Farah by not looking at the girl often helped.
"I need help, I'm bleeding" Farah whispered quietly and May-Li nodded.
"Do you mean you have started your period?" May-Li asked just wanting to be sure she was correct. Though she was pretty certain that she was. Farah nodded.
"Come on, I'll show you where everything is" May-Li said softly as she guided the girl to the bathroom. She spoke the girl through the cupboard where all the feminine products were before leaving her to get cleaned up. She praised the girl for telling her knowing how much of a big deal it was for her.
May-Li waited outside and then encouraged the girl to come down the stairs with her. Once down the stairs, she made sure that Farah was feeling okay before making some hot chocolate. They went into the quiet room.
"Are you okay?" May-Li asked handing the girl the hot chocolate.
"I'm fine, thank you" Farah said finding it slightly awkward now. She knew that May-li was only doing this to make sure she was okay but she didn't know how to react.
"I'm proud of you for telling me. If you have any questions, I want you to know that you can always speak to me and I will answer you honestly and openly" May-Li explained. Farah nodded. She did trust May-Li. She was glad that the woman was working when it happened because she wasn't sure she would have told anyone else. She knew that she had Carmen and Tee but they were getting ready for college interviews and would be leaving soon. She couldn't rely on them.
"Did you complete your chores?" May-Li asked and Farah nodded.
"Well done, why don't you go and snuggle up on the sofa and watch TV? The other's should be too long" May-Li suggested. Farah nodded, she never got the TV remote, the boys always tok it from her. She was excited to pick something to watch on the TV.
She was just settling in front of the TV, when she heard the others come running in. She was just getting into the TV show she had picked, when Tyler grabbed the remote from beside her and changed the channel. She went to say something and then suddenly noticed that she couldn't. She got frustrated when her mutism came from nowhere. She wanted to speak.
Carmen and Tee could see that the girl was upset about it.
"Do you want to come up to my room with us?" Carmen suggested. Farah smiled, she loved when the older girls asked her to join in. She nodded enthusiastically and ran up the stairs with them. They sat with magazines and did the quizzes. By the end of the afternoon, Farah was able to speak to Tee and Carmen again. She was so relieved to have her voice back again.
Sorry it's not great! I just wanted to get it up tonight. Please review!