I am thinking about one of the boys in the taxi that collects the urchin for school. I call him 'the smiler'. He always smiles at me and waves at me when I bring the urchin out to the taxi.
Marion, who is the chaperone to school told me that one of the boys has had a really terrible home life. She said his parents don't care, are often not around when they drop him off and he has had several beatings. She said he was likely to be taken into care by social services. She didn't say who the boy was. She couldn't. I had no reason to think it was the smiler until Christmas. At the school Christmas fayre all the children were there with their parent/s and I noticed the smiler was with a representative of Birmingham City Council.
He wasn't in the taxi this morning and I am hoping he is OK. He looks very cheeky but absolutely lovable.