Chapter Eleven
Robert Michael Hudson wasn't the kind of man you crossed – ever. He had served in the army for over fifteen years and now was retired into the used cars industry, he automatically thought that fear and intimidation was the way to gain someone's trust; or at least obedience. Somewhere along the evidently damaged road that was Rob's life something or someone must have caused him to take a massive U-turn and never allowed him to tread the path of good again.
He never had children; never wanted them and his extracurricular activities didn't hold him in very good stead to becoming 'Father of the year' but it didn't bother him. Julia his ex-wife once described Rob as a self-centred, arrogant excuse for a man and when asked if she thought that was a bit harsh she told them that she could have said a lot worse in the nine years she had been attached to that waste of space. Justified - Ste thought.
Then there had been Cassandra Elis a trainee accountant from Yorkshire and she was perfect - lovely long, straight brow hair, deep inviting hazel eyes and a figure envied by many. There was just one problem; she had a four year old daughter called Kayla. Rob never embraced the fact that she was part of his life – in fact that is an understatement – he never even acknowledged it. Cassandra knew that Rob had the maternal instincts of a slug however she wasn't too worried as long as he was civil and never raised a finger to her.
Ste charged down the corridors of Intensive Care; not bothered about how fast he was going he just wanted to face that man head on. Cassandra's room was towards the end of the second corridor on the right – Rob had demanded she was treated to the upmost privacy available although most rooms were single or only contained two patients at any one time. Cassandra had critical organ failure and was not predicted to live much more than a couple weeks. It saddened Ste as the thought of Kayla being alone in a world of violence without a mother sunk into the deepest corners of his mind.
Ste entered Cassandra's room tenderly so as not to cause an altercation between him a Rob, but deep down he knew it was inevitable anyway.
"Hello Rob" Ste announced with a deep streak of intimidation in his tone of voice
"Oh hey Ste what do you want?" Rob's cheerful persona was obviously contrived.
"I just seen Kayla" Ste raised his eyebrows in indication of his knowledge.
"Oh, where is she?" Rob knew where this was heading.
"Somewhere safe" Ste's eyes oozed power.
"What's that supposed to mean huh?" He started to come closer to Ste who was unshaken.
"I know what you did – you evil man!" Ste began to shout slightly but managed to reframe from doing so full on.
"I don't know what you talking about and I don't think you do either so just get out before you say something you regret, ok?" He came perilously close to Ste who remained unshaken and waved his hand as a sly indication for Ste to leave.
"I'm not leaving until this is sorted one way or another" Ste's face was a cold as stone.
"Well we are going to be waiting quite a while then sonny!" His smug face was almost unbearable to look at.
"I didn't come here to fight, I came here to make a deal" Ste thought this would trigger the desired reaction in Rob as he was a well-seasoned deal maker.
"I'm listening" His ears perked up slightly.
"I know you don't wanna look after Kayla and it's gonna to ruin your way of life after your wife dies and there ain't anyone to look after her, so I came here to get your consent to adopt her"
Rob contemplated Ste's proposal for a moment before answering. "You're queer ain't you?" He spat the words out of his mouth.
"Yeah but I don't see how that should make any difference, I have two kids already" Ste protested.
"Would it be you and Brendan?"
"Yeah"
"And what 'bout money?" Rob asked coldly.
"What 'bout it?" Ste replied in the same manner.
"You ain't expecting me to pay for her are you?" He seemed genuinely more concerned about his money than he did about Kayla which disgusted Ste.
"We don't want nothing from you" Ste replied disgusted at the thought.
"Fine I'll call me lawyers – sort it out soon as"
"And in the mean time?" Ste asked uncertainly.
"Take her" His voice was harsh and bitter.
"Pleasure" Ste smiled insincerely.
Walking back through the corridors to Brendan and Kayla Ste began to absorb what had just taken place, the sheer responsibility he had agreed to and the new way of life he and Brendan would have to undertake now they were new fathers once again. Although the situation was daunting Ste felt proud and relieved at the fact that Kayla was his – theirs – and that she would never have to see, speak or hear that man ever again but most importantly he would never hurt her ever again. Ste almost felt sorry for Rob; he started to wonder whether he too was 'damaged child' as one of Ste's teachers used to describe him one day. Nobody is born bad or evil. Murders don't automatically become murders; they are pushed by some event or situation – no matter how small or how big and it tips them over the edge. Ste's stepdad's mission in life from the word go wasn't to make Ste's life a living hell, something made him like that and it sent shivers down Ste's spine thinking of what the event or situation could have possibly been to made him do the things he did to him. Ste stopped; he couldn't go into the room with these dark thoughts smothering his mind so he shook them out and entered the room with a relaxed expression.
"You ok?" He said to a downtrodden Kayla.
She nodded slightly.
"I went to see Rob…" Ste began seeing the sheer terror in Kayla's face. "It's ok I have some good news" He managed to contain her fear and draw her closer to make her feel more secure. "Rob has agreed that you can come and live with me and Brendan when he is better" He smiled to reassure Kayla this was good news.
It took a moment for Kayla to reply but when she did it was quiet; almost non-existent. "Will I have to go back?" She asked with pleading eyes.
Ste shook his head. "Nope never again. If you want you can live with me and Brendan forever and we can take care of you. Would you like that Kayla?"
Kayla smiled and Ste knew it was genuine.
"What about mummy?" Kayla asked sadly.
Ste wasn't sure how to answer that question. He knew that Cassandra wasn't going to make it but he wasn't sure to what extent Rob had told Kayla of the harsh realities of her condition. He eventually knew he would have to answer as best he could; deriving from personal experience with Leah and Lucas. "Mummy will be sleeping soon in a very nice place called…"
Kayla interrupted "Heaven?" It was more a statement of realisation than a question.
"Yeah" Ste replied, relieved that he didn't have to answer for her. "We can stay with her until she does though and you can say goodbye" He tone of voice was pushing close to upbeat but it was shrouded by deep dark thoughts.
Kayla lived in a two bedroom council flat on the east side of Chester; it is a rough place to live for anyone let alone a vulnerable child. Ste got out of the car to be confronted with a gormless looking fifteen floors of identical flats; the only thing you could use to distinguish one from another was the graffiti tags on the outside walls; most of which represent the local gangs – not to be messed with. Kayla led the way up the many flights of stairs – because the lift was broken – until they got to the fourteenth floor. Ste could tell she had done this on many occasions because her stamina was extraordinary for a seven year old and when Ste asked if she would like him to carry her she simply brushed him off and continued climbing.
"Number 74A" Kayla told Ste as she continued marching along the balcony of floor fourteen.
"Right"
Kayla stopped outside flat 74A and reached into her pocket to produce a set of keys with a fluffy pink rabbit attached onto them. She raised herself onto her tiptoes and extended her arm towards the door.
"You have your own set of keys?" Ste asked out of curiosity. He believed you shouldn't have a set of house keys until you are old enough to walk home from school responsibly which he considered was acceptable at the age of nine.
"Yeah my mum gave them to me to let myself in when she was at work" Kayla replied casually as she pushed the ragged door open. "Come on"
Ste followed Kayla as she entered the flat. She picked up some post that had collected for several days and placed it in a little cardboard box labelled "Post". Through the front door there was a small hallway which had four doors off from it leading into different rooms, the first door on the left was the living room it was small and reasonably tidy. There was an out-dated telly placed on a small coffee table at the end and a three seat sofa with a quite frankly hideous floral pattern covering it.
"My room is this way" Kayla led Ste down to the end of the hallway and on his right there was a tiny little room which had the name 'Kayla' displayed in colourful block letters across the top of the door. The walls were painted mid-strength pink and the dark pink curtains allowed the sun to beam though; illuminating the whole room with a florescent pink glow. The carpet was faded into a creamy pink sort of colour and was littered with different stains; mostly from what looked to Ste like paint. In one corner there stood a pine set of drawers and in the other a handmade pine toy chest which had also been converted into a seat with a pink cushion covering the top. The bed was plain vanished pine with a pink net canopy draped from the ceiling and the covers were the mandatory pink in keeping with the design of the entire room. Kayla went over to the set of pine drawers and began picking clothes out.
"It's a nice room Kayla" Ste said as he sat down on the bed.
"Thanks" She replied her head buried in a drawer of clothes.
"Did you design it yourself?"
"No, mummy helped" She stood up and carried a pile of clothes over to the bed.
Do you have a bag for your stuff?" Ste asked.
Kayla scurried underneath the bed and pulled out a purple rucksack decorated with pink and white flowers.
"You are prepared" Ste joked.
Kayla smiled and continued folding and packing clothes into her backpack. She then moved onto her toys – what little she had – and placed the small ones carefully into the side pockets and the rest remained as hand luggage.
"This is my favourite" Kayla held a medium sized doll with long wavy brown hair and green eyes up to Ste face and smiled.
"She lovely, what's her name?" Ste smiled back.
"Queen Florence but you can call her Flo"
Ste smiled again. He couldn't help but feel a strange sense of acceptance by Kayla – the doll was her way of telling him that she trusted him, almost as if it was a statement of approval.
"Hello Flo" Ste said cheerfully.
"I think I got everything" Kayla announced.
"Ok well then if you're sure…" Ste began to leaver himself from the bed.
"Wait!" Kayla cried "I almost forgot" She leant over her bed and lifted up the pillow exposing a handful of photos; she snatched them quickly and looked meaningfully at them.
"Who are they?" Ste asked leaning in closer to Kayla.
"Daddy and mummy" Kayla's eyes dropped slightly.
"Where is your daddy?"
"I don't know" She admitted sadly. "But he's happy" She continued as she jumped from the bed.
"Good, come on then" Ste helped Kayla put her backpack on and then took the rest of her belongings.
As Kayla walked down the hallway she stopped outside every room, took one last look and closed the door. It was her way of closing the door of her old life and starting a whole new one with Ste and Brendan. She couldn't help but feel sad for what she was leaving behind in terms of the memories of her mum but she was glad to be free from Rob's clutches. As Kayla shut the front door and returned the key to her pocket she sighed.
"Are you going to miss it here?" Ste asked sensing her sadness.
Kayla didn't reply but Ste didn't need her to. They walked side by side down the balcony to the staircase and as they did Kayla's hand lingered closely to Ste's who opened his and allowed Kayla to slot her small hand comfortably inside. As they continued towards the stairs Ste rubbed his thumb soothingly across Kayla's knuckles in reassurance, when they reached the stairs Kayla's legs stated to tremor a little so Ste dropped what he was carrying and lifted Kayla onto his shoulders. He walled steadily down the many flights as Kayla drifted in and out of sleep trying to resist; though she eventually gave in to temptation a rested her head gently on Ste's soft dirty blonde hair, Ste's rhythmical breathing soothing her into sleep. Ste smiled as he felt Kayla's warm breath touch the back of his neck.
