Hey another chapter, hope you are still enjoying, and enjoy this chapter, I know where this is all heading and am up to chapter 7 already.
Chapter 3 – Realisation
Boyd seemed to drive for ages, he couldn't face going back to work, his head was spinning, the thought of being a father again something he couldn't cope with, couldn't even contemplate.
He pulled his car into a public park, not even sure where he was, he got out of the car and walked to a bench that over looked a football pitch. His heart felt like it was gonna burst out of his chest, the anger swirling around inside him so fast he thought he would explode.
He realised the time must be gone 3pm, as there was a steady stream of school kids walking across the grass not far from where he sat. He watched them, boys fighting and kicking footballs, swinging school bags at each other, laughing as the strap on one of the bags broke and the bag hit one of the girls, who in return gives the gang of boys a fowl mouthed response. Another boy and girl walk along hand in hand, they only look about 13, he smiles to himself as he remembers what it was like to be a teenager in love, thoughts of a pretty young girl with blonde curly hair called Suzy who held his hand as he walked her home from a local youth club, she dumped him the next day for a boy who wore a leather jacket.
Another girl walked past him on her own, still in a school uniform, a slightly adjusted uniform to accommodate the large bump that she carried, he figured she was about 15 and about 6 months pregnant, he felt sorry for her, what kind of life was she setting herself up for by getting pregnant so young.
"Kylie wait up?" a voice called, the pregnant girl turned around and waited for a tall boy also in a school uniform, he ran up and took her bag from her, "You shouldn't be carrying that." he said sweetly, and then kissed her and rubbed her tummy.
Maybe I'm wrong Boyd thought to himself, maybe they are blissfully happy, and will go on to have 6 kids and be happily married until they're in their 80's, but then again, probably not.
His thoughts turned quickly to his own son, the last 2 years of wondering where he was felt like a life time, always wondering what he was doing, if he was okay, whether he'd straightened himself out and was living a normal life, or whether he was living on the streets, pumping drugs into his body and doing god knows what to feed his habit, a shiver ran down his spine at the thought.
"Daddy, daddy look at me." Boyd turned quickly as he heard the little boys voice, a child of about 5 years old was swinging upside down on a climbing frame. A memory of a time that seemed like a life time ago, flashed through his mind.
It was a sunny Sunday morning when Boyd had taken Luke to the park, Luke was about 7 at the time, he had run into the adventure playground, climbing on the frames and running around, as his Dad supposedly looked on. But as always Boyd couldn't forget work and was talking on his phone about the case he was working on, he didn't even notice the screams of a child that had fallen off one of the climbing frames, let alone notice that it was his son who had split his head open. The mother of another child was holding a cloth to Luke's head to stop the bleeding, whilst Luke tried to get the attention of his father. Riddled with guilt Boyd rushed Luke to the hospital where he had 6 stitches in the cut on his forehead, Mary raised the roof when he told her what had happened, his plea of "I only turned my back for a second." falling on deaf ears.
From the day of his sons birth, Peter Boyd seemed to make being a terrible father an art form, his son had been in the world 6 hours by the time he made it to the hospital, Mary had been through labour on her own, and was sleeping by the time he arrived. She wasn't a forgiving woman at the best of times, and she never forgave him for abandoning her on the day that she brought their son into the world, and in an effort to get her own back she named him and registered him before her husband even arrived. Boyd had wanted to name him Joseph after his father, but Mary named him Lucas John, after her father. It was pure spite, but what could he say when he couldn't even get there to see his son born. Most men would have made it a priority, but not Boyd, he was working on a case and waited to make the arrest, before turning up at the hospital 12 hours after his wife had phoned him to say that her waters had broken, and 6 hours after his son had been born.
The relationship between father and son did not improve with time, and Luke Boyd got used to his father being absent from all the important events in his life. From playing football in the back garden of their home to school parents evenings, he was always too busy to give him his full attention, there was always a phone call or a case that needed his undivided attention, always the case and never Luke. School plays and sports days that he always missed, the Sunday league football team that he never got to watch because he was always needed elsewhere. Luke was so proud when he captained that team and when they won the season, but his Dad couldn't even make it to the prize giving evening to see Luke get the golden boot for scoring the most goals in the season, or being voted the most valuable player on his team. After a while, when he couldn't get his Fathers attention for the good things he did, Luke stopped trying and started getting into trouble, he quickly worked out that he got more attention when he was bad than he did when he was good.
His father always seemed to be around for the bad things he did, he picked him up from a supermarket when he was caught shoplifting, and from school when he was excluded for fighting, he reported him missing when he started running away, sometimes he even found him, other times the local constabulary brought him home. He also sat in on an interview when, at 12 years old, he was arrested for possession of cannabis, not his fathers proudest moment as a police officer, but for Luke it felt like a victory, and he revelled in the glory of watching his father squirm. So he did it again, and again, he stole from them, first money, then belongings, at one point even stealing and selling his fathers most precious possession, his grandfathers watch. It was the straw that broke the camels back, and Boyd reported him for theft, more in the hope of recovering the watch than in punishing his son, although he had to admit he wanted to punish him too. He never recovered the watch, and at 14 years old, Luke Boyd was sent to a young offenders institute. Boyd hoped he would get help to straighten himself out, but it worked the other way, Luke distanced himself from his parents, he told his father he hated him and never wanted to see him again, and when he tried to visit him, Luke refused to see him. Luke served 12 months of an 18 month sentence, not just for the theft of the watch, he was already on a suspended sentence for theft and handling stolen goods, Boyd had known when he reported his son that he was condemning him to a custodial sentence.
On his release, aged 15, Luke was older and wiser, but not in the ways his father had hoped, he'd continued to obtain and take drugs inside, as well as fighting and dealing drugs. His parents now separated, Luke was released into his mothers care, where he stayed for just 2 days before running away again, but this time he didn't run away for attention or effect, this time it was because he could no longer stand to be around his parents, and he had no intention of being found.
Boyd sat back on the bench, he looked around the park again, unsure of how long he had sat there thinking about his son. The school kids had now gone, just the stragglers who had probably had detention walking past him now. The adventure playground was almost empty, some older kids now sitting on the swings swigging from beer cans. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, his actions from earlier now coming back to him, he'd acted like a complete shit, and worse had treated Grace appallingly. He needed to explain things to her, to apologise and let her now how he felt. He only hoped she'd let him.
TBC