Part Two

As the years passed Darcy was cared for by a variety of well meaning relatives (and some not so well meaning, as it turned out) until finally they wanted their own lives back and she was placed into the care of the state.

There were children of all ages there and they tried to look out for each other, but the ‘powers that be’ did not encourage such bonding. The children were moved from place to place pretty regularly, and it was unlikely that any of them would meet the others again.

There was no heart to these places, you understand. The staff members were merely cooks and cleaners, caretakers and laundresses; there to do their days work and then go home to their families. To them, those children were no different to prisoners, hospital patients or packages, to be counted, dealt with and moved on.

Once immersed in the state system, Darcy was nothing more than a file that had to be accounted for.  A series of overcrowded children’s homes and never ending waves of staff members became her childhood world, a world in which she had no identity.

She was expected to sit when told, eat when told and sleep when told, but was never encouraged to think for herself, act for herself or develop her own personality, and when she tried to accomplish such things, she was punished and labelled a ‘difficult’ child.

 In the face of this, Darcy did what she did best. She rebelled.

Bewildering world of textbook care

Offering slender paper platitude

Where mother’s love resides no more

Builds only bitter attitude

No time to bond, nor ponder ties

As nest to nest, the little bird flies

In a bid to sample normal life

Peers and pastimes in the park

Girlfriend’s houses, hobby halls

Forbidden ventures after dark

Confined to quarters, caged within

In case she found a life of sin

They called on her mother to come and try to pacify the situation, but her mother would not be drawn in, sending Uncle Perv in her place.   

After several visits, during which Uncle Perv  made a great show of bringing Darcy into line, he arranged weekend visits at his home to ‘create a change of scenery’, which the authorities were only too pleased to sanction, but he had an ulterior motive. Darcy was no longer a small child ...and Uncle Perv was aptly named.