Nowhere to Go by Casey Watson Page B

picked up by him straight after school. They were off swimming – something Will suggested and to which Tyler had grudgingly agreed, on the basis that there might be a pizza in the equation. We were being lazy as a consequence – sharing a rare Chinese take-away.
    ‘I know I don’t,’ I admitted, ‘but it’s so hard to see it any differently. She seems determined to expunge him from their lives, don’t you think? And this court situation is a gift.’
    ‘He did pull a knife on her, Case.’
    ‘I know, and I’m never going to condone that. But he maintains that he never meant to stab her and I believe him. Just like I believe what he says about her systematic cruelty. God, Mike, isn’t it cruel enough that he wasn’t even allowed to call her “Mum”? Can you imagine how that must have eaten away at him? He was three, and it was made clear that he and Grant were not even
remotely
equal. That’s extreme mental cruelty right there!’
    ‘I know, love,’ Mike said again. ‘But –’
    ‘And what about his father?’ I said, pushing my plate away irritably. ‘What did you make of him? How could he stand there and say what he said in all conscience?’
    ‘Because he’s weak? Because he’s piggy in the middle?’
    ‘Exactly,’ I said. ‘You’ve hit the nail on the head. I know it might not be that simple, but it doesn’t seem that complicated, either. She’s the one calling the shots and her ultimatum’s clear. Tyler or her. And, of course, he doesn’t know the half of it, does he? That’s why I’m so ambivalent about Tyler’s disclosures not being read out in court.’
    ‘But do you really think it would have made any difference? They had one job to do – try an assault case against a juvenile – and they did that. Would knowing he’s had a rubbish start in life have changed the outcome?’
    ‘Possibly not, but now it’s so obvious she’s determined to be shot of him anyway, it would have been good to let that particular cat out of the bag, and let the court –
and
his father – know what’s been going on in his absence.’
    Mike shook his head. ‘Yes, but how do you know he
doesn’t
know? I know Tyler chooses to believe she’s telling lies to his dad about him, but you know how these things work – what’s to say he isn’t all too aware? Just chooses to turn a blind eye so as not to upset the apple cart?’
    ‘So you think he’s in on it?’
    ‘He could well be. And even if he’s not, he could still be quietly condoning it – putting his head in the sand rather than risk confrontation. But love,’ he added gently, ‘what can we do about any of it anyway? It may well be that he doesn’t love Tyler either – let’s face it, it’s been known. He didn’t bond with him as a baby, did he? Just got handed him and told, “Here you are – these are your genes, mate.” And if they don’t love him, either of them – which
is
how I see it, to be honest, however much of a show Dad puts on – then of course they don’t want to take care of him, so what’s the point in even dwelling on it? If that’s the case, surely the best thing is to stop flogging a dead horse. That’s the reality of the situation, is it not?’
    It was chilling to hear it but, of course, he was right. Which was what made it all so depressing. No matter how hard we worked on Tyler, how much time we all spent helping him fight his demons and move forward, what he might be moving on to might be the loss of such family as he had – the little brother he so obviously loved, and I felt sure loved him. How in all conscience could we let that happen?
    ‘We’re not going to,’ said John, the following morning, when he was finally able to pop round and talk things through. I’d already emailed him my statement, together with an up-to-date copy of my usual log, so between them he had the clearest picture to date of both how things had been with Tyler since he’d come to us, and how life had been up to the