Taking Care 4 (vii) - Day Centre

      We had coffee at just before three.  Most people had finished their painting by then.  We put the ornaments on the windowsill to dry in the sunshine.  Gary and Shirley got their cigarettes and went off with Maggie for a smoke.  I checked up in the lounge, where Steven was dozing.  He seemed to sense the time, though, and roused up.  He stood up quickly, like a puppet whose strings had been yanked, and came down to get his coffee.  People were sitting around chatting, and there was a relaxed, near-end-of-day feel to things.  I realised then how tired I felt all of a sudden.

       "After coffee, we'll have a bit of a general clear up," Thandie said.  "Then a story before everyone goes."

      

       Which is what happened.  Everyone sat around as Maggie read something out of a book - one of the Grimm's Fairy Tales.  It was remarkable how quiet they all were, though I didn't think many were concentrating on the story.  Even Greg had stopped playing with his cards, though, and was just sitting there, still as a rock.  Danielle caught my eye and feigned yawning, which made me chuckle to myself.

       At quarter to four, Maggie closed the book and stretched.  Which seemed to be a general signal for people to gather their things together.  Rex came back in then, still twiddling his CD.

       "I'm sorry about earlier, Laura," he said.

       "That's alright.  What did you do?"

       "I had a bit of a sleep."

       "Feeling better?"

       "Yes, thanks."

       "Just in time to go back over, then."

       Laura's people got up and made for the door while Maggie's lot went to put their coats on.

       I helped Thandie to get our folks ready.  Greg stood by the kitchen door to wait for the lunch-bag.  It was all done in a quick and orderly fashion, with no one making any fuss.  Steven, with that sense of timing he seemed to have, trooped down from the lounge again and headed for the door.  I helped Jamie to get up and supported him as we went out.  Maggie and Laura were waiting outside.

       "Well... what did you think of your first day?"  Laura asked me.

       "Great," I said.  

       "So... you're coming back tomorrow?"

       "Looking forward to it," I nodded.

       Jamie pulled on my arm.  The others were already at the Previa and Thandie was getting them seated.

       "AHHHHH!" he bleated.

       "You'd better go," Laura said. "Tomorrow we have cooking and games.  We'll probably send you out on a shopping trip, too."

       "Good stuff."

       "Have a good evening everyone."

       "You too."

 

       "Good day today, everyone?" Thandie asked, once we'd got going.

       "Brilliant!" Jake said.  "Brilliant day!"

       "That's nice to hear, Jake."

       Shirley piped up from the back.

       "Ha-Have I had a g-good day today, Tha-Thandie?"

       "That's for you to decide, Shirley," Thandie said.  "Well, have you?"

       "Yes," Shirley said, thoughtfully.

       Then she sat back quietly and looked out at the passing scenery.

       "I enjoyed it, too," I said.

       Thandie smiled.  "Good.  You seemed to settle in very well.  You took to it quite naturally."

       "I thought it was fascinating to see how people were and what they could do.  Everyone was so friendly.  I saw what you meant, too."

       She glanced at me.

       "Loud voices," I said, quietly.

       She nodded.

       "It has been brought up before.  But there are a few like it.  I don't think it's necessary, personally.  But there's a bit of an 'old school' thing with some people."

       I thought about it for a few moments.

       "This is the thing for me," I said, "coming into it as a complete newbie.  Difficult for me to comment.  And I don't know the people as well as the rest of you do."

       "No.  But you'll gather things as you go, and you'll find your own way with what works and what doesn't.  There's more than one way to get people to listen and do things."

       I could see what she was saying, without her openly saying it.  I felt the same, in a way.  I thought back to school years, with the teachers who were the strict disciplinarians - like Miss Quinsy, my first primary school teacher, who liked to shout in order to instil fear - versus the ones who were firm, but less explosive and in-your-face.  Both of them commanded respect, but in entirely different ways.  And I know which one I preferred.  I'd always been wary of shouters.  I'd always thought that anyone who had to shout in order to manage people was someone who shouldn't be managing people at all. 

      

      We got back to Remus Lodge at just after half-four, and Malcolm called me into the office for a quick de-brief.  Andrea had gone home and her seat was taken by a middle-aged, heavy-set woman who had a similar air of authority about her.  Yet there was also something casual and contemptuous in the way she sat there - like she shouldn't really be sitting there at all, but didn't care.  She had her hair tied back very tightly in a small ponytail, which made her face seem large and severe.

       "This is Sharon, one of our principal Leads," Malcolm said, with a bit of a smirk.  "And she also happens to be my other half - aren't you, my petal."

       She sat back and regarded him like he was something a dog had left behind.

       "His better half, he means," she said.  She quite a high-pitched voice.  Not as shrill as Maggie's, but not far off.

       He chuckled "Well, you wouldn't like to see my worse half, would you."

       She held up a hand to me.  "Pleased to meet you, Will.  I've heard all about you."

       "All of it complimentary, of course," Malcolm added.

       As usual with such comments, I couldn't help wondering if they were meant ironically.  Being quite reserved and sensitive by nature and temperament - not quite as worldly, perhaps, as many people - I'd endured more than my share of leg-pulling and piss-taking in my life.  I also had a pretty good idea of the impression I conveyed to others - and especially men.  And very especially 'he-man' alphas like Malcolm.  I'm sure he thought I was as soft as tissue paper.  My having no interest in football or motor sports probably didn't help.

       ("What are you interested in, then?" he'd asked me in one short conversation.

       "Reading," I'd answered.

       He hadn't bothered to ask me what I liked reading.

       "The only things you'll catch me reading are The Sun and my pay slip," he'd said.)

       "So... how did it go today?" he asked, sitting down at his desk.

       "I think it went okay," I said.  "I enjoyed it well enough."

       "Great.  That's what we like to hear.  Any problems with anyone?"

       "No, not really."

       Sharon piped up.  "Not even Shirley?  Didn't she bend your ear at all?"

       I shook my head.  "She was fine.  We had a few chats."

       They exchanged a glance with each other.  I saw Malcolm raise his eyebrows.

       "You've got to watch it with that one," Sharon went on.  "She likes to stir things a bit, so don't always take what she says at face value.  She tells a lot of lies.  She likes to set staff off against one another, too."

       This surprised me.  I hadn't noticed anything like that in Shirley.  She seemed quite guileless if anything.  But then again, I'd never been much good at reading people - and they knew her better.

       "What kind of things will she do?" I asked.

       Sharon swivelled the chair slightly one way, then the other, whilst keeping her head still.

       "She'll accuse people of taking things from her room.  Money, stuff like that.  Usually because she's put stuff down and then forgotten where she's put it.  There's always a proper explanation for these things.  She just likes to stir it up."

       "I see," I said.  "I'll remember that."

       Malcolm tapped his fingers.  "So... you reckon you'll like it.  Reckon you'll stay on."

       "Yes," I said.

       "Good stuff.  We're always here, of course, if you need any help with anything."

       "Thanks," I said.

       He clasped his hands together in front of him and looked at his computer screen.

       "Well," he said.  Then he paused, as if judging whether or not to say something.  Then he looked at me with his head to one side.  "In that case, you can go home, mate.  And we'll see you tomorrow."

       I got up and headed for the door.

       "Nice to meet you, Will," Sharon called after me.

       "You, too," I said.

       It was only once I was outside the door that I realised I was sweating.  It was the only time that day that I'd felt any unease at all.

       I wondered what that was telling me.

 

       On the way home, I popped in on mum and debriefed.  She gave me her usual reassurances.  When I got home, I went out for a short run.  Then I had a shower, ate some dinner, and sat down to watch a film. It helped to ground me again.

       I turned in early and laid awake for a while thinking through the day - the things I'd seen and learned. The people I'd gotten to know.  And, most of all - the thing that made a bigger impression than anything else - the smiles I'd seen and laughter I'd heard.  I saw all of those faces again. It was another piece fitted to the conviction I was building that I'd made the right move and done the right thing. I wanted to do it for them.  I was beginning to realise, though, that 'care' could be a two-way thing.

       With that thought, I turned over.

       I slept like the dead again for eight solid hours.

(continued) https://www.abctales.com/story/harryc/taking-care-5-i