Anonymous Tip: Meet the Foster Family

A Review Series of Anonymous Tip, by Michael Farris

pp. 66-68

Okay, so you know what’s interesting here? Farris portrays the foster family very positively. He says that “the transfer of Casey was tearful, but without hysterics,” and explains that “the foster parents, Tom and Brenda MacArthur, were kind people who seemed to understand the trauma of all concerned.” This seems to run a bit against the whole “foster care is horrific and scars children” narrative so common in anti-CPS circles. In fact, Farris tells us that:

They also arranged a time for Gwen to call each day to talk with Casey. CPS hadn’t told them to do that; the MacArthurs simply took the initiative out of compassion for both Casey and her mom.

Wait a minute. Is that actually allowed? Foster parents arranging for contact between a foster child and her biological parent without CPS permission seems kind of iffy to me. Actually, more than “kind of.” I mean, what is going on here? Are the MacArthurs so taken in by sweet mom Gwen that they’ve decided to assume she’s innocent and throw the rules? Are they unaware that courts only order a child into foster care when they think something is wrong? This is just confusing.

Farris tells us that after the MacArthurs leave with Casey, Gwen has a cry in Stan’s arms.

When she had calmed down a good deal, Stan said, “Gwen, she’ll be alright.”

“That’s right, honey,” June added. “They seem like real nice people.

She speaks! June Mansfield speaks! It simply took her until *checks page number* page 66 to do so! (For anyone confused at this point, June has played so little role in this book that I operated under the assumption that Gwen’s mother was out of the picture until page 25. Since then, June has done a lot of silently existing in the room as things transpire and dialogue takes place.)

“Gwen, I’m dying to know what happened with Walinski and all about this new guy. What in the world has been going on for the last couple of hours?” her dad asked.

Because right after Gwen has lost her daughter and immediately following “her most violent cry of the day” is a great time to ask her about something you know is sensitive.

And so, once again, Gwen rehashes “Walinski’s indecent proposal,” as Farris terms it. Stan gets angry—really angry. So angry he’s glad Bill is not present in the courthouse, in fact, because if he was he might just go kill him and then end up being “the next one in trouble—for murder.” This whole protective dad thing is a well worn trope, but okay. I feel fiercely protect of my children as well.

It’s perhaps because of that that what happens next feels slightly odd.

Gwen explains how she ran into Peter, and all about Peter’s plans to “blow the case wide open.” Stan is impressed, but June is concerned.

Her mother spoke. “Well, he seems like a wonderful young man and a very competent lawyer. But who can tell these days? Are you sure that he is on the level? He’s very handsome. Maybe he’s on the make as well, but just more subtle.”

Yes! June weighs in with an opinion! Go June!

“I said something to him that brought up the same issue you’re asking about. He went into this long explanation that he’s a born-again Christian and an’t marry divorced women—or something like that. But he said he was only telling me all this so that I would know he is safe after the incident with Walinski. I didn’t understand all his Bible talk, but he seems totally sincere, very aggressive as a lawyer, and just very, very nice. And what other choice do I have?”

This is where Stan ought to burst in with something like “What? He said he’s too good for you? How dare he say that! As though you’re damaged goods! No one says that about my daughter!” Or, maybe, something like “Who said anything about marriage?! What, did he think you were proposing to him? The cad!” Or even, “Does he take you for a fool? It doesn’t take intentions of marriage to prey on a vulnerable young woman who feels she has no other choice!”

But no, protective-father Stan says none of this. Instead he asks how she’s going to pay him, and Gwen explains about Peter’s payment plan, and then we get this:

“Well, that’s pretty generous really,” Stan said, seeming convinced.

Stan’s protectiveness seems to be highly selective.

And then June, determined not to be outdone, speaks for a third time:

“What are we supposed to do next?” her mom asked.

Gwen says she’s to write down every detail of what happened each time “those CPS witches” visited her and Casey, and that Peter is going to start gathering reports and issuing subpoenas.

Oh wait! June speaks again! Gwen explains that in one meeting Peter has more plans than Walisnki had the whole time, and then this exchange takes place:

“I think he spent his time plotting something else,” Stan said with jaws clenched. “That bird is going to pay for that.”

“Now, Stan,” his wife said, “let’s not do anything in anger that will only cause us all more trouble with Casey.”

“Humph,” Stan replied. It was the standard answer he had developed in over forty years of marriage when he was giving in to his wife’s position in an argument, but still wanted to cling to another minute to his own view.

Healthy, that.

Still, Gwen brings up “Peter’s idea of pursuing a complaint with the bar association,” so I think that’s actually going to happen.

I know I promised this section would be about meeting the foster family and I’ve made it mostly about Gwen’s conversation with Stan and June afterward, but honestly, that’s because so very little is said about the foster family, except that they are a good, loving, well-meaning couple sympathetic to Gwen’s plight. Perhaps the import is similar to that with the Judge, who is also portrayed as kind—perhaps, like him, they are meant to be good people stuck in a bad system that unbeknownst to them corrupts their desires to help people.