Rosie's Story

The story beggins

I'm not sure when my story begins. It could be when my father left sixteen years ago, leaving my mother an emptiness. Or it could be when she was pushing my stroller down the street a year after my father had left, when I was two, and she saw an advertisement for fostering. Or it could be when Carly, one of the foster kids, turned eighteen and no longer needed a place to stay. Anyway the point is that I have a story, like everyone else in the world, and this is mine.

I don't remember all the details of that day, I don't remember if it was sunny or raining but I do remember the way he just sat there glaring at the floor with his thick, curly hair covering his eyes. There was no denying that this guy came from a good gene pool. He had the bad boy look down to a T.

As my mother and the social worker continued to talk about the technicalities of the foster process it was up to me to make the new guy feel welcome. A role played on my behalf many a time. It definitely gets old. Especially in these kind of scenarios when a sense of volatility is seeping from every pore of a persons being. This guy is definitely intimidating...

"Uh, hi my name is Rosie, it's nice to meet you..." I waited for him to reply.

It was a long wait.

"Okay. So how was your journey, did it take you long to get here?" He kept staring at the floor. It was as if he didn't hear. What if he actually didn't hear me, what if he was deaf? I knew that the foster agency gave my mother the complicated cases but we'd never had a deaf person before.

"So...uh... How...uh" I stuttered not knowing how to continue, if he was deaf then he wouldn't be able to hear me but I can't just assume that he's deaf because if he's not then he might take offence. "Uh...do you...can you..."

"Liam, dear, Rosie is trying to talk to you. Don't be rude." The socially worker, Karen, came to my rescue. Well he wasn't deaf, but somehow this offended me more as it dawned on me that he chose to ignore me. He looked at Karen and saw the seriousness on her face before turning to look at me and started sizing me up. I had never before felt as self conscious as I did in that moment. It felt like an age had passed before he finally met my gaze. I felt a shiver run down my spine as his eyes continued to bore into mine. His eyes were filled with contempt and a ferocity I had never seen before, nor will I likely ever see again. I shrank back into my chair, hoping it would swallow me up so I could escape him.

"You see, Grace, he has a...hard time adjusting to new surroundings. But I'm sure he'll settle in in no time" Karen continued talking to my mother. The guy, or Liam as I now knew he was called, turned to look at Karen as she continued to talk, lowering her voice a little as if that's all it took for us to not be able to hear her. It didn't work. "He's had a bit of a hard start to life, he's been in care since he was nine. He has issues with authoritative figures, especially of the male gender" she covered her hand with her mouth and lowered her voice even more as she said that. "Which is why we think this would be the perfect place for him."

"It'll be lovely to have him here." My mother replied raising her voice so that Liam and I could hear her. "Won't it Rosie?" Everyone turned to look at me, including Liam.

"Yeah it'll be great" I answered with a reassuring smile on my face. Somehow I had trouble believing my own words.

********

"Well everything looks in order. I'll be back soon to see how everything is going and if you've settled in, Liam." Karen said as she about to leave. "Don't forget to go to your therapy sessions now. Dr Williams will let me know if you miss any. Try to stay out of trouble okay? Come here!" She opened her arms for Liam and I stared in amazement as he moved to return her hug. Well maybe that was a bit of a stretch, he just stood there as she wrapped her arms around him. But still it was more than what I expected of him. "I'm going to miss you Liam. Try and stick this one out okay? Ms Reynolds is a nice woman. And try to remember all those coping mechanisms Dr Williams tells you. Be good! She continued without letting go of him. I could see him becoming more uncomfortable. She finally let go of him and with her final goodbyes she was gone. Now it was just the three of us standing in the hall with the boxes of Liam's possessions around us. There wasn't much there if I'm being honest. There was an awkward silence filling the room and I was wondering who would break it. Not Liam, that was for sure.

"Well then... Rosie why don't you show Liam to his new room, and help him carry some of his boxes up. I'll get started on food. Pizza okay Liam?" My mother asked.

"That'll be nice, thanks." He offered a smile in return. Wow! It was the first time I had heard him talk. He had such a deep, husky tone, it definitely suited his 'bad boy' look he had going on. I picked up a box and smiled at him. " I'll show you your room then."

As we climbed the stairs I started nervously explaining the situation in this house. "So after my dad left she started to foster, the first one was Carly, you'll be having her room. She's eighteen now and she's got a job in some production company. She comes back to visit sometimes. She's really nice, you should get on with her well. In the room next to yours there is Mattie. She's eleven years old and has been with us since she was four. She's obsessed right now with One Direction, just to warn you. George, who's six is in the room opposite you. He's a bit shy so he might not talk to you for a while but when he does, oh my gosh, he is so cute! He has this cute little lisp and he's missing his front teeth, he has the whole cheeky little boy look going on." I stopped outside his room and opened the door for him. "My mothers room is down the hall so if you have a problem or anything in night that's where you'll find her." I watched him nervously as he just stared at his room. I was beginning to see that he was a man of little words.

"It's pink" was all he said. He turned to look at me with a 'you've got to be kidding me' look.

"Well...yes. My mother, Grace,likes it for everyone to make their room personal. Carly really liked pink. You can change it. We can go get some paint today and paint over the pink if you want?" A grunt was all that answered me.

We finished bringing all the boxes up to his room before we went back down to have pizza. Everyone was sitting by the table and just staring at Liam. Mattie was gawking at him like he was a teen heart throb. I can imagine that really getting on his nerves. George just sat there playing with his food, obviously not comfortable enough in front of a stranger to be his adorable self.

"So Liam, is everything okay with you room?" My mother asked trying to break the silence enveloping the room.

"Yes, thank you." Liam replied. Really? It's a pink room. I'm pretty sure my mother was expecting him to voice his concern about being stuck in a pink room.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't have thought the colour would be of your liking? You can change it if you want. Rosie, you wouldn't mind taking Liam to get some paint for his room would you?" I was right. This guy just must hate making conversation.

"Of course I wouldn't. I've already offered. I was thinking we could go after we've finished food." I answered my mother. The room returned to its silent state after that as all five of us returned to our food. It was weird to once again have a household of five. I had missed it.