Storms - 25. Michael

Mrs. Lawton was mid-sentence when the telephone on her desk rang. She frowned at it, like it had offended her by ringing in the middle of her class, and then answered. ‘Yes? All right, I’ll send him up.’ She hung up again. ‘Michael, you’re wanted in the infirmary.’

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. ‘Me?’

‘Is there another Michael here?’

‘No, Miss,’ I said, and stood. Why would—? Daniel. Daniel! I picked up my things and all but ran out of the classroom. I broke into a jog as soon as I was out and headed straight for the infirmary.

Without even thinking of knocking, I threw open the door to find Daniel on the bed, Miss Carter sitting next to him, currently checking his blood pressure. On the other side of the bed sat Mr. Griffiths, and he gave me a strained half smile as I entered. Mrs. Penn was standing in a corner looking concerned.

I rushed over to the side of the bed, and Griffiths stood, offering me his chair. I sank down in it, took Daniel’s hand, and without even thinking, kissed it. ‘What happened? Are you all right?’

He nodded. ‘I’m okay. I had . . . a panic attack, I guess. I was . . . they asked me about Mum. And then they told me my stepdad’s still my legal guardian, and I . . .’ Tears filled his eyes and he choked back a sob.

‘God . . . Danny.’ I kissed his hand again and leaned forward to kiss his brow as well. He sought my lips, clearly not caring that there were other people present. It was chaste, but I felt the desperation in it.

When I pulled away and looked around the room, I saw the surprised expressions of Mrs. Penn and Miss Carter. Mr. Griffiths, on the other hand, simply smiled. ‘I see,’ he said softly. ‘So you’re together.’

I blushed and nodded, and no one said anything else about it.

Miss Carter seemed content with her examination and stood up. ‘Nothing physically wrong with you, Daniel.’ She reached into a drawer and pulled out a bar of chocolate, offering him a piece. ‘You need sugar, though.’

While Daniel chewed, Mrs. Penn spoke up. ‘When you feel up for it, we should really continue our chat. It will help us figure out what to say when we . . . When we contact the relevant people.’

‘You can say it in front of Michael,’ Daniel said. ‘He knows everything anyway.’ He turned to me. ‘They want to contact social services. About me. About my mum.’

I nodded. ‘That . . . do you want them to?’

Daniel sighed, looking away at nothing in particular. Then he nodded. ‘I don’t want to go home. I can’t keep staying at yours all the time, either . . .’

‘You can come home with me tonight, it’s fine, I promise.’

Mrs. Penn cleared her throat. ‘That’s really for the relevant professionals to decide, Michael.’

I turned my head and glared at her, but her expression was sympathetic, and I sighed. ‘I guess I understand that.’

When Daniel felt composed enough to move, we went to Mrs. Penn’s office. Mr. Griffiths stayed with us, and Daniel insisted I be allowed to come along, to which they finally relented.

‘Would you like to tell us why you were so upset when we mentioned your stepfather?’ Mrs. Penn asked gently once we were all seated. I held Daniel’s hand, tightly.

Daniel swallowed, worked his jaw for a few moments. ‘He . . . he hit me. Not as much as he hit Mum, but . . . enough.’ His voice had taken on that oddly calm quality it had when he had told me about this stuff, and I realised with a jolt that it had only been a bit more than a week, even though it felt like much longer. ‘So, I really can’t go back there.’

‘Did he do anything else?’

Daniel scoffed. ‘If you’re asking if he raped me, no he didn’t. Did her, though. Probably.’ Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Griffiths flinch slightly. I knew how he felt. The matter-of-fact-ness of Daniel’s tone was heartbreaking. ‘Then he dumped her, and we moved, and she couldn’t deal with it, cause she still thinks he’s essentially God. Not that she was doing so well before, but now . . .’ He closed his eyes for a moment. ‘You’re right. She doesn’t take care of me. I take care of her. She spends most of her days in bed. She’s on benefits. When the money comes in, she perks up for a day or two, treats herself to something nice, maybe orders us a takeaway, and then she just . . . fades again. Lies in bed. Barely eats unless I cook. It’s . . . it’s shit.’

No one told him off for his language. Though, to be fair, if they punished everyone who said a bad word in this school, there would be no students left unpunished in the end. And probably not many teachers, either.

‘Well,’ said Griffiths, where he sat next to me. ‘Now that you’ve told us, we can try to help you. Right?’ He caught Daniel’s eye and smiled. ‘You’re not alone in this, Daniel, I promise. I’ll do everything in my power to help, okay?’

Mrs. Penn nodded. ‘The school is here to help you,’ she said. ‘We’re all here for you.’

Daniel looked like he might cry again, but he didn’t. Instead, he put his head on my shoulder, tried to snuggle up to me though my chair was a bit too far away.

‘I suppose I have a phone call to make,’ said Mrs. Penn.

‘I’d say you do,’ said Griffiths. ‘Daniel, you can stay outside until we know what’s going to happen next, okay? I’ll wait with you if you like.’

‘Can I stay?’ I asked. ‘Can I stay with Daniel?’

‘Of course,’ said Mrs. Penn emphatically, and I was almost surprised at her immediate consent.

‘In that case, I’ll stay in here, Mary. We can make the call together.’

Daniel and I sat down outside in the corridor together. It was empty, so I pulled him into my arms, and he kissed me. I was reluctant to make the first move right now, for anything other than cuddling. I knew he needed that. But if he kissed me, I reasoned, that was fine. I made an effort to keep it chaste, though. It wouldn’t do to start snogging properly at school. Then he curled up against me, picking at the hem of my sweatshirt absentmindedly.

‘You okay?’ I asked softly.

He nodded. ‘Yeah. No. But yeah. Thank you, for being here.’

‘I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.’ I kissed the top of his head. ‘You’re so important to me, Danny. I hope you know that.’

He looked up at me with a wry smile. ‘Keep telling me that, and I might actually start believing you.’

‘You’re important to me,’ I repeated. ‘You matter. A lot. And I’m in love with you.’ I hadn’t told him that before, not in so many words.

His smile widened. ‘Me too.’

‘What, you’re in love with you, too?’ I smirked.

Daniel elbowed me in the ribs, but gently. ‘You know what I mean,’ he said.

‘I do. I’d like to hear you say it, though. If you want to, that is.’

He closed his eyes and sighed, still smiling. ‘I’m in love with you, Michael,’ he murmured, and then he tilted his chin up towards me and kissed me again. It took every ounce of willpower that I possessed not to stick my tongue in his mouth and claim him as my own. He was my boyfriend, whether I did so or not, and that had to be enough.

* * *

It turned out to be a long day. The school day had ended by the time the social workers showed up, a man and a woman, who asked Daniel the exact same questions as Mrs. Penn and Mr. Griffiths had. I didn’t bother learning their names.

‘And your stepfather?’ asked the man.

Griffiths answered for Daniel. ‘Not an option. According to Daniel, he’s abusive.’

The woman nodded. ‘I see. Not an option, then, as you say. Chantal Fowler’s parents live in Dudley, according to our records.’

‘Please don’t send me to Dudley,’ Daniel all but whispered. He looked exhausted, eyes cast down. I squeezed his hand. ‘I’ve never even met them. Mum ran away when she was sixteen, before I was even born. They never tried to . . . I don’t even think they know I exist, so . . .’

‘Then that’s a dilemma for another time,’ said the woman. ‘And you said the mother . . . ?’

Griffiths spoke up again. ‘She’s taken no interest. I called her earlier, when Daniel was sick. She wouldn’t even come down here.’

The woman turned to her colleague. ‘Any ideas, John?’

The man sighed. ‘Emergency foster care, perhaps. Might be able to swing it by tonight.’

‘He can stay at my place,’ I said. ‘You could talk to my sister. She’s twenty. My parents aren’t home, but . . . He’s stayed over before when . . . when things have been bad. Right, Danny?’ He nodded, but still didn’t look up.

The woman smiled at me. ‘It’s lovely that you want to take care of your friend—’

‘Boyfriend,’ I corrected.

‘Boyfriend,’ she said, without batting an eye. ‘It’s lovely that you want to take care of Daniel, but there are procedures we need to follow.’

‘If I may make a suggestion,’ said Griffiths. ‘I . . . My husband and I—’ I blinked. Griffiths was gay? ‘—fostered a child for a few months a couple of years back. She returned to her parents, and we’ve been trying to adopt since, but it’s been tough to . . . Many agencies are reluctant to let gay parents adopt.’ He grimaced. ‘But we have a spare bedroom, and Daniel would be more than welcome to stay with us, at least until a more permanent solution can be found. He’s a good kid.’

‘Well, we’d have to make some phone calls,’ said the man. ‘Look you up, make sure you’re eligible. The fact that you’re his teacher . . . it isn’t ideal, but this might be the best solution for now.’ He turned to Daniel, who was now looking wide-eyed at Griffiths. ‘Is this something you would be comfortable with, Daniel?’

Daniel turned his gaze to him and nodded vigorously. ‘Yes. Definitely, yes.’ And for what felt like the first time all day, he smiled properly.

‘Not allergic to dogs, are you?’ Mr. Griffiths asked him.

Daniel shook his head, smile widening. He looked so hopeful, and I couldn’t help but ruffle his hair and place a light kiss on his temple. I felt the relief flow through me, too. He was going to be all right.

* * *

It took several hours yet to get everything worked out, for the social workers to sort out Mr. Griffiths’s credentials, print out the necessary forms and so on. I called Liz to let her know I’d be late, but by eight o’clock Griffiths took me aside and told me I needed to go home and get some rest.

‘I want to stay here with Daniel,’ I said stubbornly.

‘I know you do. But you need to take care of yourself, too. Let me worry about Daniel, okay? I’ll look after him for you. I promise. Your sister will want you home. Right?’

I sighed. I knew he was right, of course. I would stay with Daniel all night if I could, but that wasn’t realistic, and I was sure I could trust Griffiths to do what was right for him. Didn’t mean I had to like it, but eventually, I nodded. Daniel was sitting on the sofa in Mr. Hugh’s office. He had dozed off, which was unsurprising considering the day he’d had. I sat down next to him and put my arms around him, pressing my lips to his forehead, and he stirred.

‘Hey,’ I murmured. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘So tired,’ he replied, but smiled up at me.

‘Listen . . . Mr. Griffiths says I should go home. I think Liz is gonna get worried too if I don’t. Didn’t want to tell her everything on the phone earlier, so . . . Don’t want to leave you, though.’

‘I know.’ Daniel nuzzled my chest. ‘I’ll be okay, though. I think . . . I think this is good. I think Mr. Griffiths will take care of me. He’s tried to help me, you know. From the beginning.’

‘Yeah, I know. He’s good people.’

‘Go home,’ he said softly and craned his neck up to kiss me on the lips. ‘I’ll be fine. Tell Liz I said hi.’

‘I will.’ I kissed him one more time and stood up. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow, right?’

He nodded. ‘Yeah.’

* * *

I came home to find Liz waiting for me in the living room. ‘Hey, bear,’ she said when she saw me. ‘You okay?’

I threw myself down on the sofa next to her with a loud huff. ‘Yeah. I’m fine. Daniel, though . . .’

‘Did something happen again?’ Her look of concern was touching, and I leaned my head on her shoulder so she could comb back my hair. I didn’t bother with pretending I didn’t like it the way I normally did.

‘He got called to a meeting. They asked him about his mum, but he didn’t want to tell them what’s been going on. Then they mentioned his stepdad, and he had a panic attack, and he wanted me to come, so I did. Been with him until now. He . . . he needed me.’

Liz frowned at me. ‘Why did he have a panic attack?’

‘His stepdad was really abusive, of him and his mum. Used to beat them. It was awful. Apparently, he still has partial guardianship over Danny, so they suggested he could go live with him. That’s when he lost it a little bit.’

Liz put her arms around me and hugged me, and before I knew it, I was crying. I realised I’d been holding it in, tried to be strong for Daniel, but now it came pouring out, all of it. ‘It’s so fucking unfair!’ I sobbed. ‘Danny’s . . . He’s so good, he’s such a good person, and he’s had to go through so much . . . I just, I don’t get how anyone could ever want to hurt him . . .’

I lost the ability to speak for a while, and Liz laid me down with my head in her lap, stroking my hair like she used to when I was little and came into her room at night when I had nightmares. She murmured soothing words at me, and after a little while, I managed to calm down.

‘What happened next?’ Liz asked me when it seemed like I’d be able to answer her.

‘Well, like I said, he asked for me. When he was feeling a bit better, he told them everything about his mum and what it’s like for him at home. School contacted social services, they showed up and talked to Daniel. He said he didn’t want to go home, and the grown-ups all thought he shouldn’t. So then there was the question of where he should go. I tried to tell them he could stay here with us for the night, but they said that wasn’t possible.’

‘So, where is he staying, then?’

‘With Mr. Griffiths.’

‘Your PE teacher?’

‘Yeah. He and his husband have fostered kids before, apparently, so they’re already in the system or whatever. Temporary for now, but he’ll be living there for a bit. Griffiths is nice. I . . . didn’t know he was gay, though. I mean, he teaches PE. Isn’t he supposed to be all . . . toxic masculinity or whatever?’

Liz laughed. ‘Is he, in your experience?’

I shook my head. ‘Not even a little bit. He’s great. He sees his students, you know? Bothers to look at them and really see them. I think he really genuinely cares. So this . . . It’s a good thing, I think.’ I closed my eyes, felt the comfort of my sister’s hand in my hair. ‘Danny deserves a real family.’

‘Of course he does,’ she said. ‘Everyone does. Hopefully, soon he’ll have one.’

I nodded, and dared to hope.