Tracy Beaker Returns: Profile: Gus Carmichael

I’m Gus Carmichael and I live at Elm Tree House. I used to put a line in my notebook for every day I woke up here. After a while, the lines were taking up too much space, so I stopped. There were more important things I wanted to write in my notebook, than how long I’d lived here. 

I keep notes so I can remember what’s happened and I make notes so I can plan what’s going to happen. If I don’t know something’s going to happen, then it’s a surprise. And surprises are bad, because I can’t plan for them. 

When I have to go to a building I’ve never been to before, I find out first how far it is from the entrance to the nearest boys’ toilet. Then I work out when I need to arrive, so there’s time for me to walk to that toilet for a Just in Case, before I do whatever I’ve gone to that new building to do. I have a Just in Case before I do anything, in case there’s a surprise. Because surprises make me need the toilet and if I can’t plan for them, I can plan for that. 

Another thing I can’t plan for is the future, because when you’re in care, you don’t know where you’ll be living. I want to stay at Elm Tree House. I like Mike. He looks after me and explains things when I don’t understand them.