Crying in the Dark Read Online Free PDF

brother. Size aside, they were very similar, except that Bobby had the hard, adversarial gaze and firmly set mouth of his father, while Micky retained the melancholic, gentler visage of his mother. They stood in the doorway of the room, side by side, watching me with exactly the same trepidation and worry their mother had displayed on my arrival. I had the toys (mostly cars and figurines) and drawing equipment spread out on the floor before me.
    ‘Boys, I’m glad to meet you. Come on over and let’s have a chat.’
    The children did not move, but Biddy gently pushed them towards me. Obediently they moved forward and stood in front of me. I smiled at them and motioned for them to sit. I was already cross-legged on the floor. Bobby threw a look over his shoulder at his mother and, when she nodded, lowered himself to the carpet, followed by Micky.
    ‘You can leave us, Mrs Walsh. Keep the door open, please. I’ll give you a shout when I’m done.’
    She left. I looked at the two boys.
    ‘Well, lads. I’m Shane. You‘ve met some other people, haven’t you, who’ve come to chat with you since you’ve started having some problems at school and whatnot?’
    The boys listened, wide-eyed. Micky gave a slight nod.
    ‘I’m not really here to talk. I’m going to be meeting you every day for the next few weeks, just to play. We’ll have one hour every day at this time, and in that hour you can do whatever you like. It’s your time. I’ve brought some toys and games with me, as you can see, but we can use your toys too, if you want. We can play in here or in the garden; it’s completely up to you. This is your special time, and my job is just to be here and make sure you have the best time you can.’
    The boys looked at me, still keeping whatever they were thinking or feeling to themselves, although I could see Micky eyeing the toys longingly.
    ‘So what do you want to do today? I thought you might like to play with the cars and trucks and things, or maybe we could do some colouring and drawing? It’s up to you.’
    I did not want to prompt them any more than that. I stopped talking and watched. There was a great deal of communication going on between them, but it was all non-verbal. Micky, with his eyes, was imploring his older brother to give it a go, but Bobby was staunchly refusing, remaining po-faced and impassive. Micky reached out a hand and tugged his brother’s sleeve. The gesture was met by a very slight shake of the head. Micky sighed in exasperation and seemed to decide to take the situation into his own hands. On his butt, he scooted over to the toys and picked up a yellow truck. Casting occasional looks at his brother, who was observing him in disbelief and disapproval, he began to examine the vehicle. After a brief once-over, Micky started to push it on a winding path in and out of the other toys I had laid out on the floor, making a loud engine noise to accompany its progress. Bobby could not stand this mutinous behaviour any longer.
    ‘Micky, you shouldn’a done that! We said we wouldn’ talk to these peoples no more! They wants to take us away from Mam.’
    ‘I din’ talk to him, Bob. Looka the toys he’s bringed. None o’ the others bringed us toys. He said he doesn’
want
to talk, anyway. All we gots to do is play. Come on. You take the digger!’
    Bobby was jiggling up and down on his haunches at this stage, obviously really wanting to get involved in his brother’s game but feeling that he shouldn’t. Micky seemed to be enjoying his brother’s discomfort, and pushed the truck over so that
it
rolled right past Bobby’s feet. This was too much for the older boy, and he too scooched over and picked up the digger. The game was afoot.
    For this first session I simply sat back and made very little comment about what the boys were doing. ‘Play work’ is about using children’s play as a kind of psychoanalytical experience, so the play-worker will record what has occurred and will then try