Finding Stevie: Part 3 of 3: A teenager in crisis

Finding Stevie: Part 3 of 3: A teenager in crisis
Cathy Glass

Part 3 of 3Finding Stevie is a dark and poignant true story that highlights the dangers lurking on online.When Stevie’s social worker tells Cathy, an experienced foster carer, that Stevie, 14, is gender fluid she isn’t sure what that term means and looks it up.Stevie, together with his younger brother and sister, have been brought up by their grandparents as their mother is in prison. But the grandparents can no longer cope with Stevie’s behaviour so they place him in care.Stevie is exploring his gender identity, and like many young people he spends time online. Cathy warns him about the dangers of talking to strangers online and advises him how to stay safe. When his younger siblings tell their grandmother that they have a secret they can’t tell, Cathy is worried. However, nothing could have prepared her for the truth when Stevie finally breaks down and confesses what he’s done.

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Copyright (#ub24fa4ab-0a4c-53d5-a78e-ca70f3198e29)

Certain details in this story, including names, places and dates, have been changed to protect the family’s privacy.

HarperElement

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First published by HarperElement 2019

FIRST EDITION

Text © Cathy Glass 2019

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2019

Cover photograph © Mark Owen/Trevillion Images (posed by a model)

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Cathy Glass asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

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Source ISBN: 9780008324292

Ebook Edition © February 2019 ISBN: 9780008324346

Version: 2019-01-10

Contents

Cover (#ufeeb62a5-0c9e-5436-8d60-d2c349a65d8b)

Title Page (#ubf7d9b1e-0f09-553f-9d03-4bc3588b73ec)

Copyright (#u10125b57-1093-5e51-a32f-d2d39123b5ab)

Chapter Twenty: A Dreadful Mistake (#u7494b99d-ef82-5a86-b6eb-370a10ffb8f3)

Chapter Twenty-One: Waiting for News (#ua1c1ef8e-22d6-5252-914d-ce20f8692d10)

Chapter Twenty-Two: Angry and Upset (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Three: Prosecute (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Four: Lost (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Five: Life’s Not Worth Living (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Letter (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Moving On (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Proud (#litres_trial_promo)

Suggested topics for reading-group discussion (#litres_trial_promo)

Cathy Glass (#litres_trial_promo)

If you loved this book … (#litres_trial_promo)

Moving Memoirs eNewsletter (#litres_trial_promo)

Praise for Cathy Glass (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty

A Dreadful Mistake (#ub24fa4ab-0a4c-53d5-a78e-ca70f3198e29)

I checked on Stevie after everyone had left his review. He was in his bedroom, more angry than upset. There wasn’t much I could say to him about Fred beyond what I’d already said – that he loved him, but he didn’t think before he spoke. Stevie knew his grandfather far better than I did. Having made sure Stevie was OK, I told him not to sit alone brooding and to come down when he was ready. He didn’t come down until I called everyone for dinner. He was very subdued at the table, didn’t contribute to the conversation and just shrugged when Lucy asked him how his review had gone.

After dinner, as we were clearing away the dishes, I suggested to him again that he might like to invite a couple of his friends back from his class at the weekend, or go out with them – bowling, swimming, cinema or similar. Some months ago he’d mentioned he had two good friends in his class and I thought he needed to socialise, which would give him something to think about other than the police investigation. I did see the irony in what I was doing – trying to persuade Stevie to go out. When he’d first arrived, going out, staying out and ignoring his grandparents’ boundaries had been an issue, but now he wasn’t going out socially at all. He didn’t seem keen on my idea, but agreed to think about it, then spent the rest of the evening in his room. I kept a close eye on him, for while Stevie maintained he didn’t need to see a counsellor or doctor, I was worried his anxiety was building, which could spiral into a deep depression or worse. I think it is easy for teenagers to allow problems to escalate and dominate their thoughts so they can’t see a way forward. But there is always a way forward, hope and a solution, whatever the problem, which is why I wrote Happy Adults.

It was no great surprise that once Peggy had put Kiri and Liam to bed that night, she telephoned me. I took the call in the living room where – not unusually – I was alone.

‘Fred just can’t keep his mouth shut,’ she began. ‘But he doesn’t mean any harm by what he says. He loves the kids.’

I felt that excusing Fred like this was starting to wear a bit thin now and that he needed to channel some of that love he felt into accepting Stevie for who he was, and stop making snide remarks, or he’d never have a positive relationship with his grandson. I thought Fred would benefit from a self-awareness or emotional-intelligence workshop, but I didn’t say so.

‘You see, Cathy,’ Peggy continued, ‘Fred can get his head round supporting Stevie in the police investigation, but not the other stuff. His dad did something similar for Fred when he was a lad and got caught trying to hotwire a car him and his mates were going to steal. But a boy wanting to be a girl he can’t hack.’