A Quiet Street

[poliphilo]

A child stands in the middle of the road yowling.

We go out and talk to him gently. He says his mother has left him to go shopping.

He is wearing a school jumper and flimsy blue shorts. Ailz takes his hand. His hand is freezing.

We walk him to his door- a few houses down- where his slightly older brother comes out and talks to us.

(Why aren't either of them in school?)

His Brother takes him in and locks the door.

Peace again. This is a very quiet street. And the BIG question- did we do the right thing?

The mystery of other people's lives.

Comments

[dakegra.livejournal.com]

you got him home, and hopefully into the warm.

A better position than he was in, from what I can see.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Well yes,

To do more would have risked complications and serious mischief.

But was this just a case of a kid over-reacting and grand-standing or a symptom of serious disfunction in that family?

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

I'm glad Ailz took his hand and that he got home to his brother.

I'm guessing it was just an unfortunate isolated incident, and that the older brother wasn't being vigilant for a moment.

The mystery of other people's lives.

The older brother was probably unaware that his charge had gone off after their mother. I bet the children had a little argument and the younger child decided to go tattle.

Your appearance at the door probably shook up the older brother enough to be more careful.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That's what I'd like to think.

And it's probably the truth.

But how little we really know about our neighbours. It's a respectable street, going up in the world- all the serious hoodlums were driven out by rising property prices years ago- and yet who knows what horrors may not lurk behind those neatly tended front yards and replacement doors and windows?

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

yet who knows what horrors may not lurk behind those neatly tended front yards and replacement doors and windows?

Just this week, in our own town, over on Lincoln Street in a house with Christmas decorations:

(This article is from WBIR television's website this morning. This story has been making local headlines all week)

An Oak Ridge woman who was starved to death may have been dead more than two days before her family called police, according to Oak Ridge police at a press conference Wednesday night.

Paul and Debra McMahon and their daughter Kimberly are all charged with first degree murder.

Kimberly was arrested at her UT Chattanooga apartment Wednesday.

Police say they allowed 35 year old Karen Dreager, Debra's adopted sister, to starve to death in their home. Dreager had cerebral palsy.

She went from more than 200 pounds to 50 pounds when she died.

Police found her covered in filth, human waste, flies and sores.

"There was a very strong odor present within her bedroom," says Oak Ridge police chief David Beams. "Officers estimated over 50 scented candles were burned to mask the odor in the bedroom."

Police say the McMahons were receiving disability checks from the government for taking care of Dreager.

They're being held on $1 million bond each.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Stories like this are all too common.

I try to persuade myself that the evil-doers just couldn't cope, that they were out of their depth and allowed things to go from bad to worse because they were too stupid and ill-equipped to handle the situation.

But I know I'm kidding myself.

Here's a quote I stumbled on the other day. It gets attributed to Dr Johnson, but was actually said by Johnson's friend, Joseph Baretti:

"I hate mankind, for I think myself one of the best of them, and I know how bad I am."

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

I try to persuade myself that the evil-doers just couldn't cope, that they were out of their depth and allowed things to go from bad to worse because they were too stupid and ill-equipped to handle the situation.

I feel the same--surely no one could consciously say, Let's quit taking care of her. Just buy some more candles.

I think the rationalizations kick in--"tomorrow we'll call the doctor"--or one enters a sort of fugue state in which one blots out the reality in the next room.

I don't think they set out to murder this woman. I think they abandoned her slowly, and had an elaborate set of justifications--"She's going to die anyway; it's a blessing, really; maybe she's already dead..."

They didn't call the police because, probably, they had no other income but her checks, which would stop.

"I hate mankind, for I think myself one of the best of them, and I know how bad I am."

For some reason, I remembered this morning my abandonment of my ants in a jar, back when I was a child. I shoved the jar into a dark corner in the garage and forgot them--because I found them suddenly repulsive.

I don't know why I suddenly want to weep for those ants. I want to weep for everybody this morning. For that little boy who couldn't find his mother.

But Ailz took his hand, which was cold.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The affair has left me feeling somehow implicated-
though I don't know in what.

In the human condition I suppose.

There has just been a development. Two police vans drew up on the street and a policewoman went into the house in question or the house next door (I couldn't see which) and left with a young woman in tow. Is there a connection or is it a complete coincidence? I shall probably never know.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Something is wrong.

I think you will find out something.

I have a feeling this was the same house--

You did the right thing, the simplest and most sensible thing, to just take the child back to his house.

You didn't have enough information to assume anything else--and he was not even far from home.

The poor children. What will happen to them if their mother was taken away?

I am confused--I thought the mother had gone shopping. Maybe she came back home?

Or maybe it's just an amazing coincidence, that side-by-side houses both have Events taking place within the same period of time.

But I think something's happened.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I saw the woman on the street earlier. I don't think she lives here. She's a visitor perhaps.

There was no sign of the kids when she was taken off. I say "taken off" but she went of her own accord, without restraint.

But they sent two vans!

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Allow me to extrapolate:

- Two vans were sent so that, if necessary, the children could be taken to Child Protective Services

- The woman is a visitor at their home. She may be the mother's sister. She is very troubled, and is trouble.

- The friction she has caused brought about a blow-up today. The mother and sister got into it, the mother slammed out to "go shopping," the sister got drunk/stoned/abusive, or all of the above, and the smaller child ran to find his mother and the older child called the police.

- The mother is still "shopping" while all hell has broken loose at her house. The police would like very much to know where she is.

- She'll be sorry when she gets home.

- Or (better): the mother got home. The place was a wreck. The children were crying. The sister was drunk/stoned/abusive. The mother called the police. (In this scenario, I can't figure out the two vans.)

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Or:

- The two sisters got into an awful fight when the mother got home. They yelled, they slapped, they sent the children to their rooms. They began breaking up the furniture! And the older boy, crying, called the police.

That makes it work out--two vans, one for the adults, one for the children:

Kind policeman: Are you all right?

Boy: My mother is breaking things. My Aunt is drunk and is going to kill us all!

Kind policeman: Help is on the way.

Okay, that's the one that works. Now if you never find out another thing, at least I've got a sort of closure here.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It sounds very plausible.

I'm remembering that there was a police car parked just down from the house a couple of days ago. Whatever is going on has been going on for a while.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

The holiday season tends to escalate these things.

I've been thinking: would the police take small children away in a van? Surely they would simply put them into the back seat of a more friendly police car, and hopefully give them teddy bears.

Maybe there's a batch of drug dealers living there.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I don't think the children were taken, but of course I may have missed something.

I may have missed a whole lot. I only know about the police vans because my in-laws came to the door while they were there.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Oh, well.

You're not as good at lurking behind twitching lace curtains as I am...

I'll just have to make up a satisfactory ending to make everything come out all right for those little boys.

They move in with their REAL mother, who lives on a farm, and she gives them both ponies.

Everybody else goes off to jail, and good riddance.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Lovely.

And very improving.

[dakegra.livejournal.com]

I called the police on our neighbours a while ago. I didn't realise they were our neighbours at the time...

I was doing some decorating, then noticed two suspicious looking characters wandering up and down our street. We live in a cul-de-sac, so don't get any through traffic. I didn't recognise these two, looked like a mother and daughter. They wandered up the street, going to various doors, looking in gardens, looking at cars. I saw them wander back down the street again, so nipped out to see what they were after. We've had some walk-in burglaries in the area, so was suspicious. Saw a garage door open at number 35, so wondered if they'd gone in there. Phoned the Police, gave a detailed description of them. Police arrive in under 2 minutes, dog patrol and everything.

It turns out that they actually *live* at number 35. God knows how I've managed to not see them before. I feel v.foolish, so go round to apologise. It seems that they let their rabbit out in the front garden, and it had gone missing. It likes to hide under cars, in neighbours gardens etc....

The lady from number 35 was amused by the whole thing, and said that she was glad in a way to know that people were watching out for each other. I apologised profusely, and offered to help them look for their rabbit...

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Still, you did the right thing to call the police.

I once knew a woman whose daughter married a rich man. The daughter and her husband soon found and bought a wonderful house in the best part of the city, and my friend drove over soon after hearing the news to see the house for herself. She drove slowly up and down the street, looking at the beautiful yard and grand house, dreaming about her daughter's happy new life.

A police car pulled her over. The neighbors thought she was casing the place...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I don't exactly pine for the good old days when everyone knew everyone else's business and front and back doors were left open and children wandered in packs from house to house, but
we've lost some valuable things in the course of our retreat into privacy.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

My dad used to tell us about the old days, when travelers on the road would pull off at sundown, set up cots beside the road, and sleep under the stars.

Can you imagine a wonderful freedom like that? Wouldn't it be fun?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I did that a couple of times in my late teens- took off a walking tour and slept out in the open. The stars have never again seemed so bright.

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

I'm not really a "lover" of children per se, but ironically enough, I have a *very* strong maternal instinct. I think, were it me, I would have made note of the address, and called the authorities; your question about why the children were not in school is a good one, if indeed school is still in session and it was an appropriate time for them to be there. I presume that neither/both of them did not look ill, and thus there was not the excuse of them being kept at home due to sickness. Of course, if that were the reason, then one would have to wonder why the mother would leave two sick children at home...

I don't know. When it comes to children, I always err on the side of caution.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Ailz asked the child why he wasn't in school and he said "I don't go to school any more."

I did think of calling the authorities but (a) I don't know that I trust them and (b) I'm cautious of sticking my nose into other people's business.

As it is, it looks as though the police may have intervened.

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

Let's hope so - I don't know whether "home-schooling" has caught on in the UK? In which case, the child could have had a good reason for not longer going to school.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Home-schooling? I hadn't thought of that. Unlikely but still a possibility.

[morrison-maiden.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is a mysterious situation...He was pretty underdressed too, huh? Must have been freezing. I think it was the right thing to do. At least you got him back to the warmth of his home. Hopefully his brother is a decent kid and took care of him while his mother was away.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The brother had the air of having been left in charge.