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It's a pleasant Monday morning when Evelyn gets the call from Darryl, her supervising social worker at the fostering agency. She answers right away, not sure whether to expect it to be about the training she's supposed to be speaking at on Wednesday or a new foster placement. If it's a new placement then she needs to think carefully about whether it's a good idea. Seven-year-old Lily (currently at school) has only been here for three and a half weeks, and while she's settling in better than she apparently did with her previous foster carers, she is by no means settled, and with her language delays she might be a target for bullying from children close to the same age, she certainly is at school.
"Evelyn," Darryl says - warmly, but with the tone that means he needs something from her. "Is now a good time?"
"Yes." She's at home, she's just finished cleaning up the aftermath of Lily's morning at home (thank god Lily is at least behaving well enough in school now not to get sent home early most days), and she had plans for the afternoon but they were mostly non-urgent errands that can be rescheduled. "- Before you ask, yes, I do have two bedrooms free. But I'm not taking a sibling group and I'm hesitant on taking a child close to her age at all, she's - well, it's still hard going."
"That's fine!" Darryl says brightly. "It's neither of those. Fourteen-year-old boy. He's had a lot of moves, but I'm sure he'll settle with you."
...Thaaaat is said in a tone of voice that makes Evelyn think there's a lot more going on. But at the same time, she always feels almost compelled to accept children whose previous foster placement has broken down, especially if it's happened more than once; they need stable homes even more than usual. "Right. I may have crossed paths with him, then - who's he been fostered with?"
- there's a noticeable pause. "You wouldn't know them. It's - a bit of an unusual situation - he's being transferred from the Social Services authority in Vegas, is the thing."
"He what?" That's a seven hour drive from here. "God. Why? Darryl, are you telling me he's run out of foster carers who will take him in the entire city of Vegas?"
Darryl clears his throat. "It's not entirely that. He's - gotten himself in with a bit of a bad crowd, and I think they're hoping that moving him out of the area, to somewhere a bit quieter, will help break the cycle."
And also no one in Vegas will take him, Evelyn thinks, this is breaking so many of the usual rules. "How does that even work? Doesn't he have contact with his birth family?"
Another throat-clearing. "Adoptive family, actually, and no. - I should start at the beginning. Wei Wuxian, he's Chinese - grew up in the US, though, he's perfectly fluent in English. His natural parents died when he was quite young, he was in foster care for a bit and then adopted, Chinese couple with two biological children. A year ago, it came out that his adoptive mother had been abusing him, quite seriously. All three children were removed, of course - there's a boy the same age as Wei Wuxian, and an older sister who was moved straight to a supportive living arrangement. Unfortunately, the two boys also had to be separated, and Wei Wuxian, well, hasn't been coping well. I think he took the worst of the abuse at home, though clearly there were also concerns about the siblings. Anyway, he hasn't settled."
"....Because...? Darryl, he's fourteen, how badly could he possibly behave?"
There's the sound of a paper shuffling. "Alcohol, drugs, theft, refuses to go to school, and he's an absconder. Kept showing up at his sister's group home, apparently, when he wasn't disappearing entirely for days." Darryl puts on a cheerful voice. "But I'm sure it won't be as bad with you. The hope is to separate him from the peer group leading him into trouble. And he's apparently quite a bright boy - if he can get his life back on the rails, he could have a successful future ahead of him." Pause. "- I don't have anything down saying he's been violent or angry at home, the problem is what he gets up to when he's not at home. I'm sure he'll be lovely with Lily."
Evelyn closes her eyes.
She is not sure of that, and - given how messy paperwork and records can be - is not at all trusting that a lack of documented violent outbursts means there haven't been violent outbursts. She's definitely worried that this is going to be a complete nightmare and she's going to regret it deeply. Once she agrees to take him, she can't change her mind and throw in the towel when his behavior turns out to be just as stressful and exhausting as it sounds. He deserves better than that. But Lily also deserves a calm, stable, predictable home where she can eventually feel safe enough to open up about her past.
Evelyn already knows she's going to say yes. This kid needs someone, just one person, to give him a chance. She's pretty ticked off with Darryl for putting her on the spot, but the last thing she would ever do is take that out on poor Wei Wuxian.
"I'll take him," she says, resigned.
"Great! His current foster parents want him moved today, so we're looking for a duty social worker who can drive him over. You'll have a room ready by tonight?"
