by Peter Martin
He threw the lamp onto the bed.
‘Come on, Mum, let’s get you out of here.’
Tentatively, they moved towards the open door in the attic.
‘That’s it, run away like everyone else,’ he said, and put his head in his hands.
They were gone, and Billy felt inconsolable. ‘I can’t believe this. What have I done?’ he shouted.
As he stood there, he heard the word ‘police’ mentioned more than once. He kept shaking his head, wondering how all his hopes had come to this. Somewhere in his brain, a little voice told him he had to make a run for it, quickly.
He got dressed and hurriedly threw the rest of his belongings into his suitcase, then he rushed to the door, but as he went down the steps, he slipped and fell down onto the landing. Having released his suitcase, it opened spilling all the contents on the floor. He’d twisted his ankle which hurt like hell. But first things first, he thought, gathering his clothing and putting it back into his case. He had trouble locking it, swore under his breath before finally managing it. Then with suitcase under his arm, he limped down the stairs, his face creased up in agony. Now, desperate to get out before the police got there, he tried to run but couldn’t.
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As he got to the hallway, almost in unison, the back and front doors burst open. In blind panic, he looked back and forward to see policemen coming towards him in both directions. There was no escape.
He fell to the floor whining like a demented soul. Then, roughly, he was pulled up and cuffed amid comments of, ‘I’m afraid it’s the cells for you now.’
Billy struggled to get free. But it was one heartbreak too many, and in his present confused state he knew there would be no way back, no moving on to better things as he’d tried so many times before. And as they led him out to the police car, he experienced a feeling of emptiness, a void inside, unable to contemplate his future.
EPILOGUE
How long he’d been there he didn’t know. But from the calendar to the side of the door, he saw it was 24 February. Spring was in the air.
His memory of the arrival was sketchy, except for the rough treatment and brute force used on him. Maybe this was his sixth or seventh month in jail, he wasn’t sure.
Through the barred windows, he saw the trees coming into bud. Over the last few days, his head had become clearer; now he felt trapped. But there would be an end to this, if he just did what he was told.
The gong sounded: dinner time. As usual, the inmates traipsed past the doorway as if by automation, en route to the dining room. He got up from the chair by his bed and tagged on to the end of queue. How had he ended up here with these deadbeats? Slow, slow, even slower, barely picking up their feet, trudging along the corridor, no doubt drugged up to the eyeballs, as he was too for the first few weeks. Since then he’d become wise to them and had been a model prisoner.
Before long, he’d be out. Freedom of a sort; to do what? Make a new life for himself, they said. They’d give him money, a place to live, and the chance of a job. So, he played ball, and they left him alone.
Eventually, they let him out early because of good behaviour. He still had visions of Edith and what happened to her afterwards. She’d suffered a blood clot on the brain and had almost died. She’d had surgery but would never work again. He regretted his actions but had now paid his debt to society.
For four weeks he was integrated back into society. He moved into a modest two bedroomed flat and started work as a postman. But he had something on his mind, something he had to do.
First, he bought a car. A Sunday night would be perfect. His arrival in the early hours went unnoticed. He parked a little distance away from where they lived and sat in wait.
Before him was the house where he once lived with Sarah; an old pre-war three-bedroom semi, now with a bedraggled lawn in front. It had been let go.
Strange how she used to compliment him in the early days about how he took pride in the place, inside and out. Even after all this time he couldn’t come to terms with where they’d gone wrong.
As he glanced out of the window of his car, he saw the front door was the same, apart from its bright red paint. He should leave but his compulsion was so strong he froze to the spot.
He looked at his watch: seven-thirty. They’d come out soon. He longed to see how much the children had grown.
An old Vauxhall was parked outside, Ryan’s no doubt. Did he still work at the supermarket?
The door opened and there they were. Ryan, chewing gum, with his balding head and gold earring. Sarah, stunning, her blond hair short, a little thinner perhaps. Then the two kids, Alice now six, the spitting image of her mother, growing so tall. And Aaron, with his cheeky laugh, running to the car.
This tugged on his heartstrings, and a tear slipped down his right cheek.
They all bundled in and drove off.
The house would be empty, and he felt the need to try something. Adrenaline surged through his body. Before long he couldn’t stop himself.
He got out and walked over to the door. The key he’d kept ever since he’d moved out fitted perfectly. He slipped inside.
The hall contained the same grey carpet as before, the wallpaper still the same anaglypta, painted light blue.
In the living room stood the same brown leather settee bought years ago. The blue-patterned carpet remained, along with the cream and pink flowered wallpaper separated with a dado rail.
His favourite armchair stood beside the log-effect fire. He sat down and thought back to the good times they’d enjoyed together.
On the mantelpiece were pictures of the children. Alice with that lovely smile of hers. He remembered Alice’s high-pitched giggles at Aaron’s ridiculous attempts at playing hide and seek. Oh, how he missed them.
Those two kids had meant everything to him and he was heartbroken to lose them. He’d love to tell them the truth but that would never happen.
Sarah took everything he had. But what did he do to her? Nothing. Perhaps he wasn’t the best husband in the world, but he tried to be. He’d have died for her, yet she stabbed him in the back.
He wondered when it started, but that didn’t matter now. If it hadn’t been Ryan, she would have found someone else. He should have seen this coming from the start.
Sarah was the only woman he ever wanted, but he lost her to that bully. Other factors such as his mum, dad and Katie dying, then his uncle dead, too, and his aunt moving hundreds of miles away from him hadn’t helped. Yet Sarah had loved him once, but once wasn’t forever.
He forgave her – but after they split up he was never the same again.
He ventured upstairs to their rooms, traipsing onto the landing, first to the bathroom to see towels strewn everywhere. The bath and sink were filthy as was the toilet.
Next, he entered Aaron’s room, with its Spider-Man bedcover, and posters of footballers all over the wall. Then to Alice’s. A proper little girl’s room with lots of Barbie dolls, teddy bears and a pony castle. It was tidy. Perhaps she took after him for that. Tears came into his eyes as he remembered all the good times they’d spent together.
In the main bedroom, clothes and underwear lay on the floor, toiletries on the windowsill. How could she leave him for this with Ryan? But they seemed in love and happy in their squalor.
When he came out, something dawned on him. The cupboard under the stairs. He remembered what she used to keep on the top shelf. And wondered if it was still there. So, he walked downstairs and opened the cupboard door. The inside was untidy, full of coats and bags and shoes. Magazines and newspapers were stacked up high and then, looking up, he noticed a box. And reached up to bring it down. Put it on the table in the hall and took off the lid. To his astonishment he found six files, which surprised him because when he’d lived there, there were only two. He opened them one by one, to find they were manuscripts, four of which he’d never seen before. In the bottom were a wad of photos; of him and her and Alice and Aaron before they broke up.
He wanted to read them, but it was impossible. Instead he picked up a pen and wrote an inscription in each of them: Bravo, keep up the good work, ten out of ten. B.
What would she think when she saw this? Hopefully, it would give her the courage to take her writing one step further. That was all he hoped for now so that he could finally be at peace with the world.
THE END
Also by Peter Martin:
AGAINST HER WILL.
Donna, a beautiful young woman scarred by an unhappy childhood, is brutally raped by a masked assailant on her way home from her job as a statistical analyst.
Unable to return to work due to the trauma, she sinks into a deep depression. When her boyfriend leaves her and her parents are unable to deal with her problems, she attempts suicide. This culminates in her spending a lengthy spell in hospital.
There her recovery is slow, but when she is befriended by a male nurse, a relationship begins to develop. Once she leaves hospital to live with the male nurse's parents, their relationship blossoms, and Donna thinks all her troubles are over.
However, on her honeymoon on the Spanish island of Torrelino, Donna discovers that she may have married the man who raped her. Could he be about to silence her for good or is Donna mistaken?
For fans of K. L. Slater and Louise Jensen, this twisty thriller will keep you guessing throughout.
Amazon Link : http://tinyurl.com/pga8bt6
MISSING – DEAD OR ALIVE.
When Tim, Maria and Bob’s fourteen-year-old apparently model son goes missing, they are baffled and distraught. A police investigation reveals Tim wasn’t quite the son they thought he was. Frantic attempts to find him fail, and when their quest becomes an obsession this causes problems between them. But they never give up, and are determined to find him DEAD OR ALIVE, even though it may cost them dear
Amazon Link : http://bookShow.me/B00W1Y8XYS
A DANGEROUS SECRET.
A secret hidden for forty years is about to come out. The man at the centre of this secret discovers from his dying adoptive mother that he has a family he knew nothing about. With nothing to go on, he is determined to find them whatever the cost. However, the more he learns, the more dangerous his quest becomes. But when he finds out the truth it is so shocking and scandalous, it may well cost him his life and the lives of his family.
Amazon : https://goo.gl/1fowuV
A MEANS TO AN END.
Raymond had known hardship from a very early age. He witnessed his mother’s suicide and his father’s alcoholism. Throughout his teenage years he had suffered pain and neglect and swore to make something of himself – whatever the cost. Driven by ruthless ambition and a passion for cooking almost as strong as his passion for women, he became a chef. But he wanted more.
Diane, a girl he met at a nightclub, seemed the answer to his prayers. Her parents had money he sorely needed. But he didn’t account for Madge, her mum. No one was good enough for her beautiful little girl. And she would stop at nothing to get rid of him. How could he win her over? And how far would he go to satisfy his ambition and greed?
A tale of love, loss, lust, about what people will do to satisfy their needs, and how it can make or break them.
Amazon Link : tinyurl.com/ybheu8zp
AUTHOR INTERVIEW.
***Tell us something about yourself. (Where are you from, what do you do to pay the bills, significant relationships, as little or as much as you want).
I come from the UK, and live in the outskirts of Birmingham which is the second city. I worked in banking for one of the big four banks, and retired three years ago after 42 years. I have been married to my wife for thirty-nine years. I have one daughter, and two grandchildren aged 7 years and 3 years respectively.
***At what point did you know you wanted to be a writer? (When did you write your first story, for example?)
I have always had a great love of reading from a very early age, and was brought up on authors like Wilbur Smith, Alistair MacLean, and Graham Greene. It wasn’t until my twenties that I got interested in writing myself, and began to pen books late at night and early morning in longhand. I finished at least a dozen, without really thinking about trying to get published or editing them, and it wasn’t until the last five years that I decided to do something about it.
Tell us about your writing process.
I don’t really plan a book as such, although I do have a brief outline in my head. When I begin the story just comes out of me and onto the paper. First I type it onto my computer, then once that’s finished I go through it several times for grammar typos and plot. Then my wife and I go through it together ironing out any faults we see. After that it goes to an editor for development edit, copy-edit and finally it’s proofread.
What is your favorite genre … to read … to write?
My favourite genre is Mystery/Suspense/Thriller for both reading and writing. But I will read anything so long as it doesn’t have graphic violence or sex. I don’t like writing series, as I’d find myself getting bored with the characters. I try to write something different, like the story of a rape victim from her point of view, and about a missing boy, from the perspective of the parents.
What are you passionate about?
Obviously I am very passionate about reading and writing, my family, music
What is something you cannot live without?
My computer which I use to write. It is so much easier to make alterations and get the ebook looking good. I would be lost without it, as I live and breathe writing each day
When you are not writing, what do you do?
I spend a lot of time with my grandchildren who I adore, I listen to music, folk rock such as Fleet Foxes, First Aid Kit and so on. And I love dogs, I have a border collie who is adorable.
Have you written any books that made a transformative effect on you? If so, in what way?
Yes, AGAINST MR WILL has had a profound effect on me. The trauma women and girls suffer due to this dreadful crime, and then afterwards the humiliation of facing your attacker at a trial. These women must be so brave to relive their ordeal again in front of all those people.
Where do you get the inspiration for your novels?
I get my inspiration from people around me, films, other books, and I find I get a lot of my ideas while taking the dog for long walks.
What sort of research do you do for your novels?
Obviously there is a need to get my facts right, so I google anything I’m not sure of, and there are always libraries.
If someone who hasn’t read any of your novels asked you to describe your writing, what would you say?
I’d classify my books mystery suspense novels that build up to a breath taking climax, and have lots of twists and turns along the way.
Do you have a special place where you write?
I always write in my living room, preferably with music in the background on my own without any distractions.
Do you find yourself returning to any recurring themes within your writing and, if so, are you any closer to finding an answer?
There is no particular recurring theme, except that I am on the side of people fighting against adversity, of them winning against the strong and evil.
Are you a plot driven or character driven writer? Why?
I am more plot driven, as the story is everything, and the characters are just instruments in that story.
Do you write from an outline or are you a discovery writer? Why?
I am a discovery writer, as planning is too restrictive. I never know what is going to happen until I write it on the paper.
What point of view do you prefer to write, and why?
I usual write from one or two points of view, third person, but I like to experiment, and am currently writing from first person an
d quite like that too, as it allows you to get into the head of the main character.
Do you head-hop?
I would never do it, but I have read some authors that do, and it does seem to work. However I prefer to sit on the fence at the moment.
***I’m going to drop you in a remote Alaska cabin for a month. It’s summer so you don’t have worry about freezing to death. I’ll supply the food and the mosquito spray. What do you do while you’re there and what do you bring with you? If you’re bringing books, what are they?
It would have to be a notebook, my computer and any number of books by Stephen King who is the master.
***Talk about your books individually.
Against Her Will is about a beautiful young woman who is savagely raped, and her struggle to overcome this terrible act. She descends on a downward spiral that ends up with attempting suicide, and she is sectioned by her parents in a Mental hospital. Here her recovery is slow, and when she makes another suicide attempt she is saved by a male nurse, who eventually she befriends. However the nurse may not be all he seems, and she
finds herself in great danger.
Missing – Dead or Alive is about a middle class family whose fourteen year old apparently model son goes missing. The family are baffled and distraught. A police investigation reveals Tim wasn’t quite the son they thought he was. Frantic attempts to find him fail, and when their quest becomes an obsession this causes problems between them. But they never give up, and are determined to find him DEAD OR ALIVE, even though it may cost them dear.
A Dangerous Secret is about a middle-aged man who finds out from his mother on her death bed that has been adopted. The story follows his search for his elusive real parents. What he finds out is both shocking and dangerous and could cost him his life.