Writing a novel must be a lot of work, so I feel kind of bad picking on the writing itself, but I find bits like this just confusing:<\/p>\n
The thought of telling Casey about the impending court appearance added further layers of anxiety to her already-laden soul. But she knew putting it off further was not fair to Casey. After all, the court order specifically directed her to bring her daughter to court. Walinski advised Casey to sit with her grandmother in a waiting room and\u00a0not listen to the bulk of the hearing. But she had to be in the building. The judge wanted her to be available and would hold Gwen in contempt if she failed to produce Casey at the time and place directed in the order.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
If Bill Walinski advised Casey to sit with her grandmother during the hearing, why is Gwen so worried about telling Casey they have to go to the hearing\u2014doesn\u2019t she already know? Farris must mean that Bill advised Gwen<\/em> to have Casey sit with her grandmother, but that\u2019s not what it says. Also, when did this advising happen? Has Gwen had contact with Bill again since they met on Thursday? Or did Farris not tell us the whole of what was said\u00a0in that Thursday meeting? If it\u2019s the first case, you\u2019d think Farris would have mentioned it. If it\u2019s the second, well, Farris never said \u201cThey talked for another half hour\u201d or anything to indicate that there was conversation he didn\u2019t provide us with. In the end, I\u2019m left a bit confused.<\/p>\nOh, and while we\u2019re on the subject, did Gwen ever take Casey to the doctor like Bill told her too, to get that affidavit signed? Surely she must have, but it\u2019s Monday now and the hearing is the next day and we\u2019ve heard nothing about the doctor visit. How did Gwen explain to Casey their sudden need to go to the doctor? What did the doctor say? Was Casey traumatized by having her clothes removed by the doctor, after the forced strip search? I want to know!<\/p>\n
Instead, all we got of Friday was that Gwen was glad to be at work filling out patients\u2019 paperwork to take her minds off things, all\u00a0we got of Saturday was that Stan wanted Gwen and Casey to come with them to Walla Walla for the weekend, and all we got of\u00a0Sunday was that Gordon had visitation and Gwen stopped by a church to pray. Now it\u2019s Monday and all we\u2019re getting of Monday is Gwen telling Casey about the hearing. Did the doctor visit happen? Did Gwen meet with Bill again, or speak on the phone? Why is this information considered not pertinent?<\/p>\n
Anyway, we\u00a0get some light-hearted interaction between Gwen and Casey\u2014Casey cleans her room, Gwen is\u00a0proud of her, Casey \u201cgiggled with delight at her mom\u2019s approval,\u201d and Gwen pulls\u00a0her into a tight hug\u2014and then Gwen gets down to business. She tells Casey that tomorrow they\u2019re going to go downtown and that \u201cthere is going to be a lot of talking between grown-ups called a trial\u201d and that Casey will sit with her grandmother.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy, Mommy? What are we going to talk about?\u201d Casey asked inquisitively.<\/p>\n
\u201cRemember those ladies who came here and frightened you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Casey\u2019s brow darkened at the mention of the \u201cbad ladies\u201d as she called them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Gwen tries to reassure Casey, but it doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n
Casey\u2019s lip began to quiver as she reached for her rag doll and clutched it close to her chest. \u201cMommy, I don\u2019t like those bad ladies. They scared me and tried to hurt me. Please don\u2019t take me. I don\u2019t want them to see me. They\u2019re mean.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCasey doll, Grandma or I will be right with you the whole time, and this time we won\u2019t let those ladies take you, no matter what. Grandpa will be with me and we have another man to help us, Mr. Walinski. He\u2019s a lawyer, and he will protect you, too. Nobody is going to take you from me, Casey. Nobody. Now, come here so I can give you another hug.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This seems like a really bad idea. Why would you make a promise you can\u2019t keep? How is that not obviously a bad idea? Gwen knows that if the hearing goes against her, Casey will<\/em> be removed from her, for a week for observation. I get not wanting to tell a four-year-old that when it\u2019s not sure that it\u2019s going to happen, but that\u2019s not what\u2019s going on here. Instead, Gwen is lying<\/em> to Casey.<\/p>\nI\u2019m trying to consider what I would tell my daughter Sally if she and I\u00a0were in this situation.<\/p>\n
Sally is five rather than four, but by the time she was four she already knew about social workers, not because we\u2019d had a visit but because I wanted Sally to know that there are other people out there with an interest in\u00a0helping\u00a0children. Sally has a friend who was adopted out of foster care. I have a friend who is a foster mother. I also don\u2019t want Sally to be afraid of social workers the way I was as a child (primarily as a result of Farris\u2019s rhetoric). I wanted her to know that if a social worker\u00a0ever does come to the door wanting to make sure she\u2019s okay, she needn\u2019t be afraid, and should simply answer any questions openly and honestly.<\/p>\n
But here things are a bit different, because Casey has already been traumatized\u2014and not by\u00a0her mother\u2019s hysterics but rather by Donna\u2019s forced strip search, which I\u2019m fairly certain violated a whole page of social services guidelines. I\u2019m not sure what I\u2019d tell Sally in this situation, but I\u2019m fairly\u00a0certain I wouldn\u2019t lie<\/em> to her.<\/p>\nCasey took her rag doll, held her up to Gwen and\u00a0said, \u201cHere Mommy, Annie needs a kiss. She\u2019s scared too.\u201d<\/p>\n
The trio kissed and hugged on the floor of Casey\u2019s bedroom.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Farris is laying it on thick.<\/p>\n
After a fitful night, Tuesday arrived.<\/p>\n
Stan and June Mansfield pulled into the driveway of Gwen\u2019s house at 8:45 Tuesday morning. Walinski had called and asked them to be at the courthouse at 9:30. It was a fifteen-minute drive to\u00a0the courthouse.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So, Bill called Stan? This goes back to my earlier question\u2014have he and Gwen talked again? Have they met again, or just spoken by phone? Are we to know anything else Bill said? Regardless, the hearing is at 10:00, so meeting at 9:30 leaves time for some discussion and planning beforehand.<\/p>\n
Also weird,\u00a0Farris has now spelled the word both \u201ccourt house\u201d and \u201ccourthouse.\u201d<\/p>\n
At 9:35, Walinski walked through the door looking every bit a poor man\u2019s lawyer\u2014blue blazer, gray slacks, red striped tie, unshined wingtips.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So, Bill is late\u2014and underdressed. Farris is taking pains to make sure we understand that Bill is incompetent and not at all a wise pick for a lawyer. And given that he\u2019s incompetent (and also lecherous, with designs on Gwen), I suspect we\u2019re to have a bad feeling about the coming hearing.<\/p>\n
He smiled broadly and went right up to Casey.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo this must be our little girl,\u201d he said in a loud voice.<\/p>\n
Casey cringed and clung more tightly to Gwen.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow ya doin\u2019, Sweetheart?\u201d Walinski said, winking in a friendly way at Casey.<\/p>\n
Casey admitted a slight whimper.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Poor kid needs a break. :\/<\/p>\n
Bill suggests going into \u201cthe conference room\u201d to talk, and offers that Casey can stay outside with Grandma. Poor Grandma. She always gets left out of the discussion when something important is going on!<\/p>\n
Casey wasn\u2019t thrilled about being separated from her mother and Grandpa, but she wasn\u2019t panicked because being with Grandma was OK. At least that\u2019s the way she felt until Donna Corliss entered the room at a quarter till ten.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ladies, the mean ladies! Grandma, help!\u201d Casey screamed.<\/p>\n
Corliss was embarrassed but said nothing. A twenty-something clerk who sat behind the counter turned to observe the commotion\u2014somewhat unusual even for the emotion-laden setting of the Juvenile Court.<\/p>\n
Gwen heard Casey\u2019s screams from forty feet down the hall and through a closed door. She immediately burst out of the room and scooped Casey up in her arms, glared at the CPS investigator, and marched quickly back into the conference room. June Mansfield quietly\u2014and with a bit of embarrassment\u2014gathered up their things and went to join the rest of her family in the conference room.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Poor poor Grandma! I\u2019m really starting to feel sorry for the woman.<\/p>\n
Farris is taking pains to make sure we know the depth of Casey\u2019s fear of Donna and Rita, the social workers who conducted the forced strip search. But if Casey\u2019s trauma is so obvious to us, it must become obvious to the others in this story as well. For instance, the foster parents who take Casey if the hearing goes against Gwen are sure to notice that Casey is afraid of Donna and Rita but not of her mother, and the child psychologist who examines her will surely notice this as well.<\/p>\n
I suppose what I\u2019m saying is that even if Casey is removed based on Donna\u2019s fraudulent report of fading bruises, I don\u2019t see that being permanent\u00a0unless more\u00a0individuals are willing to join Donna and her boss in baldfaced lying. I suppose a social worker, her supervisor, the foster parents, and a child psychologist could all<\/em> lie, but that seems a bit\u00a0difficult to pull off.<\/p>\nAt 9:55 Bill goes to check if the judge is ready. He comes back ten \u201canxious\u201d minutes later. \u201cGwen and Stan, let\u2019s go,\u201d he says. The last thing we learn in this section is this:<\/p>\n
The Juvenile Courtroom was very informal compared to the regular courtrooms in the main building . . . A place for a court reporter was on the left. They used a tape recorder unless counsel demanded a life court reporter. Walinski had not done so.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Somehow I feel like this is going to be significant.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This seems like a really bad idea. Why would you make a promise you can’t keep? How is that not obviously a bad idea? Gwen knows that if the hearing goes against her, Casey will be removed from her, for a week for observation. I get not wanting to tell a four-year-old that when it’s not sure that it’s going to happen, but that’s not what’s going on here. Instead, Gwen is lying to Casey. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[469],"class_list":["post-25149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-anonymous-tip"],"yoast_head":"\n
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