A Mother's Word

Chapter Five

Adam, had grown into a handsome lad, and although we were just friends, he was very easy on the eye. He was definitely the type Jenny would have usually leaned towards, his wide broad shoulders showed strength and his arms bulged out of his top showing he had been working out recently to gain the upper body muscles, it's a shame Jenny hadn't seen him for so long as he was certainly oozing out boyfriend material. Adam had also got himself a job after school in the evenings on the boats down the local beach, he was a skivvy to the fisherman, but it paid well and obviously had great physical benefits. His bus pass came in handy as the job didn't involve transport, so he had to get there and back by himself and sometimes when the bus was delayed or didn't show, he would have to run there, as his boss was not the type of man that you wanted to mess around. He certainly took no messing, and Adam was fully aware of that. Adam wasn't just good-looking, he had a great personality to match, he was always so caring and kind, and although he had showed anger and resentment in the past, he was now the most chilled and contented person. He was great to be around, and I loved spending time with him.

Becki was also changing into a beautiful young lady, her ginger hair always shone so beautifully in the sun and although Becki was always on about dying her hair, I think she was secretly proud of it, and she lapped up the attention. As we were getting older our bodies started to mature, our features started to change and with that presented new problems, we had to buy bras, fitted underwear and worse of all spot and acne creams! It was part and partial of growing up, and we had to accept the changes! My mum and Amy were really helpful with this, and one weekend they took me and Becki shopping to buy our toiletries. Amy advised us on what sanitary items she had found the best, which deodorant had lasted the longest and which shampoos had stopped her hair from becoming greasy to early. We had our boobs measured correctly in store and then brought proper bras that fitted our body shapes. We had a great girlie day out, we stopped in the coffee shop for a treat and on the way home we sang our favourite songs at the top of our voices in the car, mum even smiled and joined in, the only thing we were missing was our friend Jenny.

I had seen Jenny a few times recently, and although we never spoke I did on occasion see her look in my direction and half-heartedly give a little smile, before her mum would usher her back into the house. Jenny's appearance had also changed, her once beautiful blonde locks were now a dull greasy mess, it looked thinner than normal, and I noticed that some areas had bold patches where the hair was missing. She was always slim looking but somehow even her figure looked different as if she hadn't eaten food for a while, and she was walking with a limp as if she had really hurt herself. She wore clothes that looked two sizes too big and most of the time she had worn sunglasses over her eyes, even when it was pissing down with rain. I had made notes already in my 'record book' but when I re-laid the information to mum, she also documented in her little black notebook.

Mum was still spending a lot of time at home, and although she said she was off work with sickness I had my suspicions she was still working, but with the case being so close to home she had to be really careful with her approaches and techniques. I had a gut feeling she was watching Jenny's family. She would sit outside with her notebook at different times of the day and night, and I had noticed her colleague Eve was also popping around more frequently for a cuppa!
I hadn't seen Eve for a while, the last time I remember seeing her was when dad had left our family home and mum was struggling to look after two children, work a full time job and provide shelter and food for us. Eve had very kindly stepped in, she was like a grandmother figure I never had, she cooked, cleaned, did our washing and showed us love and affection. She was a short lady, much older than mum, her brown hair sat so neatly on her head, she was plumpish and had such a kind face. I had missed her loving ways over the years and especially when I had been by myself so much, I would have loved to had been embraced in her warm loving arms once more. She spoke so wise and soft, and I would hang on to every word she said. I could remember Eve always liked a good cup of tea, however; some could disagree, as she barely dipped the tea bag into her hot milk, she would tut if you had made it wrong, so I stopped offering and just gestured that she made it herself instead.
Her husband Tony was also very kind, although apparently according to Eve he had now turned into a 'miserable buggar' and she worked more hours to get away from him. Eve was a dedicated and committed social worker, she had helped many families during her decade of years within the job and was very well liked in the community. She had a great way with working with children and their parents and even when she had to sadly take children away from their homes, there were hardly any confrontations. She had been recognised within her job and had several certificates for her hard work and service to the job. She was at the grand age where she would be able to retire, but she loved her job that much that she couldn't stop. I had overheard Eve saying to mum one day, "If I stop the job I love, then what is left for me? What would make me wake up in the morning, how would I help people? Imagine the children that already slip through our net, there could be more, lots more, I can't, I just can't".
Eve always felt like this when it came to her job, she wanted to be able to save every single child who had been neglected, and although she did a very impressive job, unfortunately in their line of work they also witnessed children who couldn't be saved and would unfortunately die. That was the harsh realisation of being a social worker.