Dermot Fox - Mum Please Help Me: A True Story of Child Abuse

This is a True Story. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are true. Any resemblance to other persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Copyright 2014 by Dermot Fox

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce

this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

First Edition May 2014

The following story contains mature themes, strong language,

and sexual situations. It is intended for adult readers.

My name is Dermot, I was a normal boy growing up in Wood Green, London, England. I was around ten when my life changed.

I was taken from the street outside my house to my mums employers house and it was here I was abused.

His name is David George Holding and run a bakery on Middleton Road, Bowes Park, London together with another in Southgate, London.

My first memory when I was standing in my cot looking out of my parents bedroom window.

The curtains were closed but there was a slit of light were the curtains came together at the top.

It was not morning, neither evening, somewhere in-between. I could hear people talking in another room and felt that I had been forgotten, even though I could not yet speak? I was never a person to cry.

The next thing I remember was my first day at school.

I was always very quiet at infant school and loved the trips to the castles where I found my love of drawing and painting. We went to the Tower of London and seen the crown jewels, whether they were the real ones I dont know, but on our return to school we were tasked with replicating one of the items out of cardboard and whatever else we could find.

I chose the Crown.

Here I learned to read quite quickly, there was only one other person in the class that could match me in all subjects, Debra. (Who plays the guitar for Beyonce when she is in England).

I also taught myself to write joined up and slanted like adults (italic) instead of a childs handwriting.

I soon became the milk monitor, whether this was due to my ability to read and write? I think not.

Many of the children from this school would carry on to the same junior school and later senior school.

I am still in touch with some of them now.

I had a lot of good friends and we would often go to Dernsford Swimming Pool, a large open air pool, very Victorian. We had great fun.

The pool had a first floor level around the edge for sunbathing, the floor was concrete with glass bricks as were the walls.

Some of the glass bricks were broken so you could see the girls getting changed from above which was a childhood thrill for us lads.

If were not at this swimming pool we would go to the indoor pool which was near Southgate tube station. It wasn't as good because the smell of chlorine could be overpowering but obviously better in the cold weather.

As with many small children, life was easy going and everyone was having fun.

It was 1976 and on the way back from the swimming pool there were ladybirds everywhere, the houses, roads and pavements were red, we could only see a few patches of brick on the houses and on the roads where you could see track marks left by the cars, like you see in the snow.

The following year was also strange, instead of ladybirds it was crane flies. We thought they were dragonflies at the time and if it wasnt those two it would be flying ants.

My friends and I would wander around and always find things to do. Many parts of London were still derelict from the war. We found air raid bunkers which still had broken cups and other brick-a-brac inside.

Looking back this was quite dangerous as the buildings could collapse at any time.

There were derelict factories and even a disused Polytechnic where the phone was still working, I didnt know anyones telephone number so couldnt use it, plus I didn't know anyone with a phone.

This was usually during the holidays especially the six week school holiday period, we explored everywhere and played games.

Sometimes a grumpy man would come out of nowhere and shout things at us, I think at the time he was telling us to fuck off; probably for picking apples from his garden?

My mates by now had bicycles and I begged my dad for a Raleigh Chopper, they were expensive but one came up for sale around the corner for 5 and he bought it for me.

I loved that bike and would carry it up to my bedroom at night and clean it then stare at it until I fell asleep. It was the purple one which to me was the best coloured one.

I put tassels on the hand grips and other flash accessories you could get from the bicycle shop to make it look the coolest.

I did not live too far away from Alexandra Palace (Alley Pally) so we all would bike up there and play on the swings.

They also had a boating lake and when we could afford it we were allowed on the small peddle boats in a sectioned off area.

One day on the way there we caught site of a cat that had a small bird in its mouth. We chased the cat from front garden to front garden until the cat give up and let us have the bird. It was not in good shape and died by the time we got to Alexandra Palace so we threw in the lake.

The firework displays they held were very impressive but it would get very cold as the Palace is on top of Muswell Hill. You can see all or most of London from the front, they have them binoculars that you put a coin in to see further.

You probably know of Alexandra Palace as its where the first TV broadcast was made from, you used to see it on newsreel adverts.

Alexandra Palace

I also took my first girlfriend to Alley Pally?

The days usually started with porridge; which I am still not too keen on, yuck.

Whoever was out of their house first would meet, or ring the doorbell of, one of the others. It was usually me that was out first. We would get our little group together and decide what we would do that day.

The buses and tube were cheap then, it was only 1p to go anywhere on the bus or tube so we could just go, sometimes in to central London.

Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace was always popular as we could get a few pennies out of the water fountains that people would throw money in, this would pay for a bag of chips and the bus fair home. We never seen any harm at the time and no-one told us off, we did not know why people were throwing money in the fountains?

Soho was also a fun place to go as the people their were weird. Punk Rockers were about then, I found them intimidating with chains attached from their ear to their nose and silly hairstyles, I did not know what they were except weird.

The sun was shining, we were always thirsty or hungry but we would not go home as you may miss something; plus it took too long so we put up with the hunger pains if we had no money.

Arnos Park in Arnos Grove was a favourite also.

It was a long walk to get there but worth it.

A rope was attached to a tree so we could swing across the stream or climb the tree and swing out from a higher point. I was sitting in that tree for along time with other kids getting annoyed as I wouldn't jump, it was high up and scary. Many times I climbed back down but eventually I put the knot of the rope between my legs and jumped out, hooray.

There were lots of kids playing there during the summer holidays. One day my brother was teetering on the edge of the stream about to fall in backwards, he begged me to grab him but I was too slow and he fell in and got completely drenched, he was not amused. It was very hot though so it did not take too long to dry out.

There was table tennis, golf together with cricket matches. So much to do!