Chapter 25:We all did

―Amelia, it's Adam. I want...‖

―Oh, I figured it was you.‖

―I know, you've got caller ID. That's how you deliberately avoid my calls, isn't it?‖

―Get used to it.‖ I was cuddling Lucas close to my chest. He gave me a gorgeous smile.

Yeah, that smile softened and melted my heart. ―Adam, I don't want this day of all days

to be spoiled. Give me some peace, so I can christen my little miracle baby without

worrying about you.‖

There was a noticeable change in the tone of Adam's voice. Was it sadness? Christenings

were a family event, one that always seemed to touch him in a special way. I've

mentioned that he treated all the family children with a special affection he could not give

to his own. What a pity.

―Well, at least you have yours,‖ he managed to say after a long pause.

―That's right, I do, and it will stay that way.‖

―Congratulations, Amelia, have a great day,‖ he said.

I did, we all did. We had a fantastic day, and I didn't think about him, not once.

Adam was released in early October. He joined Susan and their three youngest, living in

different hotels, upsetting staff wherever they went, pulling their usual uncooperative and

confrontationist stunts whenever challenged with requests that did not suit them.

As reported in the court document on page 160, housekeepers had a difficult time getting

into their rooms to carry out their cleaning duties. The stories were always the same.

They were doing ‗things' and did not want to be bothered, or someone was sleeping.

They slept a lot during the day.

Eventually, they would have to leave. At one place, they lost the financial assistance they

were getting from a particular welfare group. Certain standards of behavior were required

and one transgression was all it took to lose any assistance. Adam knew that, but the

pathological sense of self he had of being special meant he was excluded from the rules

and more to the point, he was entitled. He and his family paid a huge price. We all did!

October continued with him doing battle with the whole state of Maine. They weren't

making any headway in the battle to get the children back. No wonder, Adam and Susan

were belligerent, rude and extremely self righteous!

Of course, the children were suffering most. I thought about their future and worried

about them being able to function successfully in society. Whenever the CPS would make

some progress with the children's schooling, Adam and Susan would act as saboteurs.

Why in God's name they would want to deny their children an education was

confounding to me. The more I learned, the angrier I got.

Ms. Reed9 often observed the children in their classes. There were periods of cooperation

and at times the children seemed to be enjoying school and their peers. On one occasion, when Mrs. Allerton asked the children how their school day was, they responded,

―stupid, we did what they wanted.‖ Ms. Reed noted that this response was in direct

contrast to the cooperative behaviors she had observed during the day. In Ms. Reed's

opinion, and the court so finds, the Allerton children were torn between what they

actually experienced and what their parents told them to believe and say. The court finds

that this sad dynamic was detrimental to the Allerton children.

Moreover, the children were socially isolated: they had no interpersonal skills beyond the

immediate family circle and would not interact with children and adults other than

themselves. Important childhood experiences for these children were lacking, such as

structured learning, friendships, and interactions with people other than each other. The

risks to these children of such social and emotional isolation are obvious: an inability to

function in society. The court concludes that the parents isolated the children to their

emotional detriment.

Instead of complying with the people who could help them, Adam and Susan just kept

pissing them off. It was unbelievable! Excuse my language, but what I know now to be

true, the details of what was really going on as documented in the Maine court document

makes me darn angry. Social Services helped them, or tried to, despite knowing they

were the number one problem in the way of the children's well being.

During October, they were able to have visitations with the four older children. The visits

were supervised, which really angered Adam. He constantly complained of the

supervised visits, saying the foster parents were stupid morons, using words I don't want

to repeat here.

―Don't ever refer to the foster people as foster parents,‖ he told me.

I nearly lost it. ―They are better parents for those children than you ever have been,

Adam. I keep hearing more and more stories of the neglect and deprivation they were

subjected to by you. How could you ignore court orders regarding their medical and

dental care appointments? You deliberately missed taking them for their immunization

program shots time and time again. God, you think that you and that pathetic creature

who calls herself a mother are worthy parents. Spare me, please.‖

I spoke with the children often. Social services wanted me involved, and I wanted to be

involved. I didn't want the children to feel completely abandoned. They trusted me. I

guess I had been a regular visitor in their lives who always stuck up for them. They had

so many questions. None of this should have been happening - it was so sad. They

thought I was working on getting them back to their parents. Secretly, I thought they

would be better off with foster parents, but I told them the social workers were trying to

work out a solution for everyone. It broke my heart when two of them asked me why

their Daddy was so mean and always yelled.

I begged Adam to help the children get through this easier by being nice to them. But not

him, he had to tell them not to listen to anyone, that they didn't have to talk to anybody,

and that they could do anything they wanted while they lived in other people's houses!

He literally made things worse for his own children.