Mother Be The Judge (4 page)

'All women become like their mothers; that is their tragedy.

No man does; that's his.'

Oscar Wilde, The importance of being Earnest, 1895.

October 2003

Adrian had recovered well from his operation with no emotional scars as far as Jocasta could tell. He continued to be educated in the special needs school which was tucked away in Bustle Corner, Elisworth. You wouldn't know it was there unless you had a child in the school, there were no signs to advertise that this was a place the undesirables were educated.

The school seemed to understand Adrian's needs; he had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder but Jocasta was still of the belief that it was the Education board's way of ensuring Adrian would not be allowed back into mainstream education. She believed that calling Mr Cross a prick had been a huge mistake and he had obviously planted his poison wherever was necessary due to his bitterness towards her.

No matter, Adrian seemed happy where he was. He was not the brightest child; Jocasta knew that; she was no Einstein herself. This didn't worry her; she was managing perfectly well on benefits. Her rent was paid, her house was clean and they had food in their bellies. Holidays only led to trouble; she was a good example of that, so daytrips to the park, free museums and walks around London were holiday enough for them. If Jocasta could support both of them on her benefits then Adrian would easily cope when he left school. It's not as if he had to leave home, Jocasta was prepared to look after him for all of her living days.

-x-

10:22am

The cheap mobile phone Jocasta had purchased from the local supermarket interrupted her daydreaming. It rang with the tone it had been programmed with as Jocasta did not have the internet or any desire to 'download' a new tune onto her phone. She looked at the phone and pressed the button Adrian had shown her she would need to press if the phone ever rang.

"Hello?" she enquired in her best phone voice.

"Hello Mrs Brown?"

Jocasta winced at the mistake but decided not to correct the caller.

"Yes."

"My name is PC Judd calling from Olinsbury Police Station."

Adrian was safely in school so Jocasta knew the call could not be about him. Living on the Fern Bridge it would be no surprise to her if this was another courtesy call advising her to keep her doors and windows secure at night.

"We need you to come to the police station please Mrs Brown; we have your son Adrian in custody."

"In custody, why, what has happened?"

"It's best if we speak about it when you arrive at the station Mrs Brown."

"It's Miss Brown and please, tell me what's wrong? At least tell me if he's alright, has he been fighting?"

"No Miss Brown, not fighting, all I can tell you is it's been alleged he has assaulted a young girl. As he's only thirteen we can't progress with any legal matters until he has an appropriate adult with him. Can you read and write Miss Brown?"

"What sort of question is that, of course I can read and write."

"You would be surprised how many people can't." PC Judd paused, Jocasta thought he may want her to react to that statement in a jocular fashion but
she
did not find it funny so remained silent. "When can we expect you at the station?" PC Judd enquired.

"I can be there in half an hour, but I have to catch the H24. If it's late then I will be longer."

"Ok no problem, in order to save time and reduce Adrian's waiting time, may I ask, do you want us to call a duty solicitor for you or do you have one of your own?"

"Why on earth would I have my own solicitor? I'm not a criminal PC Judd."

"Just doing my job Miss Brown, I'll call you a duty solicitor shall I?"

"Will he need one?"

"It's his right to have one and considering his young age and the seriousness of the offence it would be advisable."

"Fine, then yes please phone one for him. I will be there as soon as I can."

"Thank you, bye."

"Bye." Jocasta fumbled with her mobile phone, not sure if she had pressed the right button to finish the call but there was no sound coming from the earpiece so she assumed she'd got it right. She could feel the beginnings of a headache making its way up her temples. This could not be happening again surely?

A young girl assaulted by her son?

Serious enough for the police to be called and with no prior warning from the school either; it surprised her that they hadn't contacted her first, surely anything that had happened could have been dealt with in the head master's office?

Dazed and confused Jocasta went through her usual motions of leaving the flat; she turned off the television, retrieved her coat and her handbag, made sure all the doors were closed in the flat in case of fire and then went out through the front door, double locking the door as she left. She went down the two flights of stairs and out into the car park, through the children's playground, then walked around to the bus stop on Summervale Road. All the time she was doing this she was thinking, 'Not Adrian, not again, why do they hate him so much? Fucking people, why can't they just leave us alone?' Nothing in her mind made her believe that Adrian was capable of assaulting anybody; he was a sweet and gentle child, persecuted because his face wasn't handsome and his mother wasn't pretty or socially acceptable.

-x-

11:05 am

Jocasta arrived at Olinsbury police station. Although she had walked past it many times whilst shopping in the area and had a quick glance through the window; Jocasta had never actually been inside a police station before. She walked laboriously up the ten or so steps wishing she had made the longer journey up the cement slope which snaked its way up to the door alongside the stairs. Now short of breath and perspiring Jocasta felt she looked a wreck where she had wanted to march into the station calm and dignified. Thankfully the reception area was quiet and Jocasta walked up to the counter, presenting herself in front of the bored looking Asian officer who lounged on a chair, feet up on the desk. When the officer saw Jocasta he removed his feet from the desk slowly and greeted her with a sigh.

"Yes madam, what can I do for you?" he asked.

"I'm here to see my son." Jocasta stated.

"Has he been arrested?" The officer enquired.

Feeling a bubble of shame creep inside her, Jocasta meekly confirmed that her baby boy had been arrested.

"Well I'm afraid they're not ready for you yet madam, you are his mother I presume?"

"Yes."

"Name please?"

"Miss Brown."

"
Miss
Brown." The officer's face was screaming 'typical' at Jocasta only adding to her shame. This was probably one of the only times in Jocasta's life where she wished she
did
have a husband who could come and support her, she felt bad that Adrian was being tarred with a brush that she could not clean. Having no response to his gesture and not knowing what to do next, Jocasta stood meekly waiting for the officer to lead her.

"Ok, well it's just a case of sitting and waiting till they are ready." He told her gesturing to the blue plastic seats bolted to the walls of the waiting room.

"But can't I see him?" Jocasta asked, she couldn't bear knowing he was just a few rooms away from her, "He's only a young boy, he needs me."

"I'm sorry madam; custody areas are dangerous places, no room for people to be hanging around. He is in a cell where he is safe and you are much better off out here safely waiting." He then walked away from the counter, his duty to Jocasta dismissed.

She went and sat in the uncomfortable chair and spent the next hour watching the comings and goings at the station. It was actually quite engaging; an endless procession of humanity walked, marched, ran up to the counter demanding to be dealt with. A car accident, a theft from somebody's car, little Jimmy had set his carpet on fire at home and Jimmy's mum wanted the officer to reprimand him as she 'didn't know what else she could do with the little fucker'. There were people signing on and people signing off and all other manner of stuff which Jocasta had no knowledge of. The officer maintained his bored look, sighing before each sentence and looking as if he carried the whole world on his shoulders. Jocasta couldn't imagine how she would react to having the job he did, but she could understand how such constant pleas for attention would either drive you to become a screaming stress-head or a bored acceptor of your fate.

When even the novelty of watching a day in the life of a station officer started to grate on Jocasta and failed to distract her from worrying about Adrian, she began to pace up and down for what seemed an interminably long time. Finally a man far too well-dressed to be anything other than a solicitor, arrived at the counter and quietly announced himself to the officer as Mr Brown. He was pointed in the direction of Jocasta and he walked over to her, holding out his hand in greeting.

"Mr Brown, no relation." He smiled at her. Jocasta was in no mood to be making jokes, she wanted action, she wanted her son back and she wanted him back fast. Jocasta began to ask Mr Brown a question, but was interrupted by a police officer coming to greet them. How ironic, Jocasta thought, now I want a bit of time, I can't have it.

Introductions were made and finally the officer who introduced himself as PC Judd, walked them through to the custody suite where she found Adrian, looking very much like the little boy he was, sitting on a wooden bench at the back of the room. Jocasta went to him and pulled him into a loving embrace, but he pushed her quite forcefully away and turned his face from her.

"Not here mum." He said to her.

"Are you ok?" she asked him anxiously.

"Yes fine." He said, looking at the floor.

They were led to a high counter - almost shoulder height - where they were looked down upon by a custody sergeant, with a very red face and a round belly fighting to escape the off white shirt which caged it. Sergeant Clarke, read Adrian some rights and entitlements which were lost on both him and her, but Jocasta was confident the solicitor would explain things to her if he felt it necessary. Adrian was then asked some ridiculous questions; "Do you self-harm?" "Do you take drugs?" "Do you ever feel like killing yourself?" Jocasta did not believe that any of these questions were ever answered honestly; who would admit to self-harming, drug taking and attempted suicide, even if they
did
feel like that?
'Oh yes, I stuck a knife in my wrist just the other day officer.'
Ridiculous, she thought.

"Ok, I would like a quick consultation with my client before interview." Mr Brown announced to Sergeant Clarke and PC Judd.

"Yes that's fine, do you need a room or what?" PC Judd enquired.

"No over there is fine," said Mr Brown pointing to the bench Adrian had previously been sitting on and he hustled them over to that area. "Just quickly," he said quietly to them. "I have read the disclosure and it seems to be the girl's word against Adrian's."

"But he hasn't done anything." Jocasta protested.

"Please Miss Brown, I'm sure you're right but we need to get the procedures out of the way." Mr Brown looked at Jocasta over the top of his half-moon glasses. Jocasta relented and he continued.

"When you are in interview I think it would be best for now if you just make no comment. All you have to do is say, "No comment," after everything the officer asks you, ok?"

Adrian nodded; he hadn't yet looked Jocasta in the eye, or allowed her to cuddle him. Jocasta was proud that Adrian wasn't crying. Under the circumstances Jocasta had expected him to be very upset and tearful but he was quiet and respectful; it gave her a small frisson of pride.

PC Judd invited Jocasta, Adrian and Mr Brown though a heavy wooden door, immediately followed by another door, literally inches apart from the first one. They walked into a box-like room containing only a black wooden desk and four chairs; two either side of the desk. By the wall on the desk was an antiquated machine which looked as if it had been well used and abused at the hands of many. Jocasta could not think what it was for, it looked capable of torture. The room had a strange atmosphere, it made Jocasta's ears pop and as PC Judd began to speak, she could hear a slight echoing in her ears, she supposed the room must be sound proofed which caused the anomaly in her hearing.

They all sat down and PC Judd produced two cassette tapes which he removed from their cellophane packaging in front of them. He placed the tapes into the old machine and pressed a button which caused a loud beeping to vibrate around the small room. PC Judd began to speak, "Ok, we are in the interview room at Olinsbury Police Station, I am PC Judd 234TX. It's Friday 10
th
October 2003 and the time by my watch is 12:46 hours. With me is..."

The introductions continued and PC Judd read from a sheet of paper in front of him, outlining Adrian's rights and again giving the standard police caution.

"Now Adrian, we have had a report from a girl at your school, Charmaine Sprint. Do you know her?"

"No comment," came a muffled reply from Adrian who sat looking at his hands.