Great Granny's Ghost

by Griff Hosker

  The door opened slowly at first and the old lady peered fearfully around the edge.” Oh it’s you Wayne love. Whatever is the matter?”

  “It’s nan. She’s lying there and not saying anything.”

  Without another word the eighty year old rushed, as fast as her old legs would manage, up to Maggie’s room. Wayne could see that his nan’s eyes were still open but her breathing was even more laboured. “Did you ring for an ambulance?”

  Wayne said, “Yes. And they are sending a policeman.”

  Just at that moment they heard a knock from the front door which was still open and a voice shouted. “Ambulance, paramedics.”

  “Upstairs.”

  The two paramedics raced up the stairs and took in the situation in an instant. “Could you take the bairn downstairs Mrs?”

  “Burns, Mary Burns.”

  “We’ll need a little room.”

  As they left they could hear the other paramedic on the radio, “…intensive care possible heart attack.”

  Wayne and Mrs Burns sat in the living room both of them too shocked to cry and too numb to speak. The policewoman who arrived popped her head in and said, “I’ll just go and check with the ambulance crew; back in a moment.”

  When she returned her face betrayed her thoughts. This was not going to have a happy outcome. “Mrs Burns do you live here?”

  “No love I’m the neighbour. Wayne came for me. He’s a clever lad.”

  “Wayne is there anyone else in the house?”

  “Just me and nan. Will she be all right?”

  The lie was in her eyes if not her words. “She’ll be fine. They are just going to take into hospital to keep their eye on her.”

  “Can I see her? Can she talk?”

  “No they have a mask on her. She’ll be better off in the hospital.”

  Wayne could contain his tears and emotions no longer and he burst into tears and ran for the door. “Nan! Nan! I am coming with you.”

  The policewoman easily restrained the small boy. As they heard the front door slam she said, “They need to get her there quickly now is there anyone I can phone to come and stay with you? Any family?”

  He shook his head and Mary said, “He’s just come up from London a few weeks ago. His mum is there but she isn’t well.”

  The tone of voice and the exaggerated expression told the policewoman that she needed another avenue. “So there’s no-one responsible for you?”

  Between sobs he managed to say, “I have a social worker, Anna. Her number is in the kitchen.”

  The policewoman came back clutching the piece of paper which Anna had given to Wayne. “This one?” He nodded. She took out her mobile and dialled. Anna Allen? This is the police. I have a Wayne here and his grandmother has just been taken into hospital. “

  “Oh no! Maggie? Is it Wayne Johnson, Hope Street?”

  “Yes it is Hope Street. Is your name Wayne Johnson?” He nodded. “Yes that’s right.”

  “I’ll be right over.”

  By the time she had arrived the constable had made a cup of tea. Anna came straight over to Wayne. “Are you all right?”

  He nodded. “Nana will get better won’t she Anna?”

  Anna glanced at the policewoman who gave the slightest of shakes with her head. “She’s in the best place isn’t she Wayne? I mean if you are gong to be ill then hospital is the best place. You finish your tea and I will go and talk to the constable outside for a moment.”

  Mary spoke up. “She’s right you know. Hospital is the best place.”

  Wayne looked at her, “I know but I want to be with her. She needs me.”

  “I know son. I know.”

  The social worker returned and the front door closed. “The constable has gone to the hospital to see what the situation is. I will stay the night Wayne and then, in the morning we should have some news.”

  “I’ll get off then.” Mary put her arms around Wayne. “If there’s anything you want bairn, just come and get me. She then kissed him on the forehead and went to the door with Anna leaving Wayne alone in the front room with his cup of tea. He didn’t remember putting the cup down but he must have but before the front door had closed behind the neighbour he was sound asleep on the settee.

  Anna walked in and put his dressing gown over his tiny body and said softly more to herself than her sleeping charge, “You don’t deserve this Wayne. You have had it too hard already. I just hope that you are strong enough to cope with this. If anyone needed a guardian angel it is you.”

  Chapter 7

  When Wayne awoke, he was disorientated. He was on the sofa. How had he got there? And then it all came flooding back to him. “Nan!” He jumped to his feet and Anna came rushing in.

  “Oh you gave me a scare then young Wayne. Sleep all right?”

  “How’s nan?”

  “I found some cereal in the kitchen. Would you like tea, milk or coffee?”

  “Where’s nan?”

  He ran towards the front door but Anna cut off his escape route and enfolded him her arms. How could she break this news to him? She had attended the courses, she had read the books and she knew the theory but in practice she had a tiny boy in her arms and all she wanted to do was to cry with him and not give him the worst news it was possible to give. Forget the theory, this was real life not a sociology seminar. She sat on the sofa with him, still sobbing in her arms. “There’s no easy way to tell you this Wayne. Your nana died last night. She had a heart attack and she was too weak to fight it. The doctor said it had been a massive shock.”

  Wayne suddenly sat bolt upright in her arms his eyes wide with terror. “It’s me! It’s me! I did it I killed her. Why would anyone bother with me? I am just trouble. I should never have left London. My nana would still be alive if I was still in London. It’s my fault.”

  Anna was shocked by his reaction. “Wayne, your nana loved you. She told me you were the best thing that ever happened to her. You didn’t kill her.”

  “I did. I did. You said she had a shock well I gave her the shock.” Anna looked at him in amazement. What did he mean? He suddenly stood up and lifted his pyjama top.

  The social worker was visibly shocked by what she saw and all colour drained from her face. “When did this happen? Who…?”

  Wayne told her the whole sequence of events right from the first incident and he described its effect on his nan. “Wayne had Maggie complained of anything in the past week?”

  “Well she said she was tired and had funny pains in her arms but that was all.”

  “Wayne it seems to me that your nana had been having minor heart attacks for the past week. It wasn’t you.”

  “Yes it was. Every time something bad happened at school she went tired and her arm hurt. It didn’t happen before I came here.”

  Anna was stumped for an answer. “Look get washed and dressed and we’ll go down to the office. We’ll have to make arrangements for you. You can’t stay here on your own.”

  “Can I see nan?”

  “I am not certain that is a good idea.”

  For the first time Wayne Johnson became an angry young man. He was going to stand his ground. “I want to see Nana Thomson. I want to say goodbye. I never even said good bye.” His resolve crumbled in a flood of tears and Anna found herself relenting.

  “Okay love. Just get dressed and I’ll see what I can do.”

  Anna had already sent a text to her boss. She knew that the alarm bells would be sounding. Wayne’s mother was still not able to look after him. That meant a foster carer. Suddenly Anna’s workload had been increased. She would be doing a daily school run but on the positive side she should be able to detect any warning signs of further problems early. She made a mental note to ring Dave- he would need to know about this problem. If nothing else his professional pride would be offended. Someone in his school had made a vulnerable pupil a target and within days of arriving in his apparent haven of hope.

  The hospital loomed in the distance. “Now liste
n Wayne I will have to speak to the doctors. They may not allow us to look at your, Maggie. Nothing to do with anything other than procedure but”, she looked at him intently, willing him to believe her, “I will do my best.”

  Wayne looked at her and nodded, “I believe you Miss and thank you for trying.”

  The doctor at first was vehemently opposed to a visit until Anna led him by the arm away from Wayne. “Listen doctor this young man has had so many problems you cannot conceive the magnitude and scale. He was the one who raised the alarm and tried to save his grandmother. All he is asking is to say goodbye.”

  The doctor blustered, “But we have to do an autopsy.”

  “All the more reason to let him see her now before you begin. Do you want to wait until after the autopsy? Come on doctor think of that small boy over there. “She could see the doctor wavering. “ Has the autopsy started?”

  “No.”

  “Right then let’s go. Wayne!” Wayne came around the corner so quickly Anna thought he must have been eavesdropping. “The doctor has agreed but it will be a brief visit. You okay with that.”

  “Yes Miss and thank you doctor.”

  If the doctor had been vacillating before he now conceded defeat. “Follow me.”

  The morgue was a cold empty place and the doctor pulled back the sheet. Wayne looked at the two of them and said, “I’m all right.” They moved back a discreet distance. Wayne straightened Nana Thomson’s hair. “I wish I had known about your heart condition, I wouldn’t have rushed so much and I would have done more to make your life easier. You deserved someone to help you, not cause you more pain, like I did. I wish I could have known you longer. You were the nicest person to come into my life. I was lucky to have known you. And thank you for coming to London for me. I am just sorry that my arrival meant you died. It’s not fair. I am so sorry.” Briefly breaking down he laid his arms around his nana’s neck and cried. “I asked Anna to bring me here so that I could say goodbye. I know that you will look after me wherever you are. Goodbye and thank you Nana Thomson.”

  Back at Spion Kop, Dave had called a meeting of his senior staff and Ros Jarvis, the head of Special Needs. The senior staff could always tell when Dave was angry; a blood vessel on the side of his head would throb. It was throbbing now like a strobe light at a disco. “We look stupid! What is our boast? Every child can achieve their potential at Spion Kop, a safe and secure environment. And look at this. A few days in and a child at risk is beaten up in a changing room while a PE teacher orders a sandwich! This child was a looked after chilled! You know what that means in terms of Ofsted. I went through, on the PD day, the list of all the students on the looked-after register. Was Mr Jennings not listening? Joan I want to see Mr Jennings first thing this morning! Stupid, we look stupid!” He looked at each face. “This could trigger an Ofsted. I want to know how this happened. I have a name, Michael Roberts.”

  John, the assistant head in charge of Pastoral said, “A nasty piece of work, well we all know the family and he is no different from all the ones who preceded him. The thing is he is in the football team, the town team too so it is no surprise that Andy Jennings favoured him.”

  “Ros. No criticism, your team has done a cracking job. God alone knows what would have happened if we had allowed him out at lunchtime and break. So, well done. What can we do, damage limitation?”

  “When he comes back,” she looked keenly at the head, “he is coming back?” The head nodded. “I thought how about introducing him to Jane in the library? According to Jo he loves books. He could go there before school, break, lunchtime and after school; safe as houses and Jane is rock solid on discipline.”

  “I like that but what about this bullying?”

  Ros had often had to go into every classroom in the school to speak to the children from the unit and she was less visible than the senior leadership team. She knew what the reality was and she knew she had to tell the head. “We need all the staff to not only follow our rules and systems but do it consistently. It’s not just the PE staff who don’t arrive on time and don’t supervise the students in the corridors enough; it is teachers all over the school. I think we all need to get out there and monitor. Make sure that all the staff are doing it.”

  “Good idea. Do it. Now Keith Green came to see me about the merits. I bring it up only because he gave the kid one and it was the first one that he had received. Get on to the dinosaurs and chase them up.” He sat back and put his hands behind his head. “I am worried. We had done really well. GCSE’s including English and maths up and the intake of pupils up. If this hits the press we are in trouble. And even worse, if Ofsted come in, well you know what that means. Ros you are the ray of sunlight here, anything you can pull out of the bag?”

  “Well…”

  “Go on, the phrase clutching at straws springs to mind.”

  “Jo has found out about a residential. Larpool Hall near Whitby. She was thinking about taking a group of Y10 there for a week in the spring term. Apparently Sian said she could get funding.” The bursar Sian half nodded her head and waved her hand a little.

  “Well if we changed it to Y8 Jo could take a small safe group and give Wayne a week there. It would look good and would keep him out of general population until we have sorted out the bullying.”

  “Good shout. Any idea when the funeral is?”

  “A week’s time.”

  “Right tell Jo to go ahead and book it for two week’s time. Sian find the money. I don’t care how find it. Kevin, get us some good publicity for this. With any luck we can ride this storm and Ofsted will never know. I want you, all of you out on the corridors especially in the corridors Wayne is using. It is the start of term. Let us put a marker down. We want zero tolerance of misbehaviour in our school. The young people have a right to expect to be safe and we have a duty of care to ensure their safety.”

  Wayne always felt small, insignificant. That day was the worst day in his young life. He felt as though he was at the bottom of a pit. Everyone else was concerned about him but he felt alone and unimportant. The issues were more important. He had read the wash your hands poster on the wall fifteen times; he should have brought his latest G P Taylor he would have had something to do. He felt numb inside like when you have a filling, you know there is pain but it seems dull as though it belongs to someone else. He suddenly realised he would be sleeping somewhere different tonight. He couldn’t expect Anna to spend another night with him in Hope Street. Would he ever see Hope Street again? It had seemed such a lovely place to live and he had imagined himself living there until he got a job; Hope Street… that was a joke wasn’t it?

  Anna and her bosses were also having a hard time. Baby P had raised issues about looked after children and vulnerable children. The last thing Hartlepool Children’s Services need was a Baby P scandal. Geraldine Murray was the person directly responsible for child protection. She was ambitious; her power dressing with short skirts brightly coloured leggings and aggressive hair was legendary. She would brook no problem on her way to the top. This minor problem would not become a crisis.

  “Anna what went wrong?”

  “According to the school everything was fine. Moving Wayne in with his grandmother was a good solution and the head, Dave, was confident that he was settling in well.”

  “Well we know about the head’s opinion of himself. I want this chid placing with the best foster parent we have.”

  “Already in place, Mrs Woodward is very experienced and dependable.”

  “Good. Anna drop the rest of your cases; this is number one priority.”

  “Will do.” Anna was pleased with the brief. She felt guilty about Wayne. She had assumed too much about the school and had been let down. Worse, Wayne had been let down. Tomorrow things would change.

  Mrs Woodward’s house was nice, but it wasn’t nan’s. His room was bigger and his bed more comfortable, but it wasn’t nan’s. The food was good but it wasn’t nan’s. He spent his first two days there just plough
ing his way through his latest book and losing himself in the fantasy world. He had a television in his bedroom and he caught up with some programmes but he couldn’t have told anyone what he had watched. It was as though he was in limbo just waiting for Monday morning when he would have to return to the war zone that was school. He remembered a film he had seen, in black and white, about a pilot in World War One who couldn’t face going back in the air again. That was how he felt.

  Mrs Woodward was a lovely lady and caring and cooked well. But she wasn’t his nana. The food was good and tasty but it wasn’t nan’s and as Wayne cried himself to sleep he prayed and wished that it had all been a bad dream and he would wake up to porridge and nan.

  The next day when he woke up to the Transformers posters and smart wallpaper he knew he wasn’t in the old fashioned bedroom that had become home. It had not been a bad dream; it was a nightmare and the nightmare was his life. Mrs Woodward was a pleasant woman but she was not over sentimental and she ran an efficient foster home. Wayne was her only charge at the moment and she was keen to make sure he had clean clothes, bedding and good food. “What would you like for tea love?”

  It was on the tip of Wayne’s tongue to say Nana Thomson’s corned beef pie but instead he said, “I don’t mind Mrs Woodward.”

  “How about chicken and pasta? My children normally like that.”

  “Sounds lovely.” In his head he was saying, ’But it isn’t what nana would have done.’

  Anna came at her normal time. She exchanged a furtive glance with Mrs Woodward who shrugged as much as to say, ‘I don’t know’.

  “Well Wayne, ready for school?” A look of panic erupted on his face which Anna saw immediately. “Look Wayne I promise you, you will be safe. You have my word. Mr Campbell is more upset than anyone. The longer you leave it the worse it will be. You know that don’t you?”

  He nodded, “What about mum? Will she be coming to the …”

  Anna shook her head. “I don’t think she is well enough.” She paused, debating whether to be honest with this child. In the end she decided that if she were not honest with him she couldn’t expect him to be honest with her. “She doesn’t know yet Wayne. They don’t think she can handle being told. Sorry.”