Chapter Thirty-Nine
After leaving the police station, Henrietta walked with Maya to Ethan's house. She had her bag packed and was moving in with him as originally planned. Though this felt so wrong for Henrietta, she was sick to her stomach deep down. She just feels like the worse mother in the world. Maya however was clearly broken beyond repair and that's what hurt her the most.
"You don't have to walk with me all the way mother...I know where he lives" Maya spoke. Making her mother just give a sad sigh.
"I want to...I want to see you go in"
They reached the house and instantly the mood went down even more so. The light in the window was already on which meant he was in. So with a slight look, Maya turned back towards her mother and told her that she can go now. Making Henrietta just give another sigh. How did it come to this?
"Are you sure you want to? You can come back to mine, I won't kick you out again. I never should have done that" Henrietta tried to say.
"Mother...I'm going to be fine; I'm not a kid anymore"
"Exactly, so I doubt Ethan is going to want you anymore...You're not even on his radar anymore, Maya!"
"Not this again...How many times do I have to tell you? Age doesn't matter when it concerns me and Ethan, we fell in love and that's it"
"You don't actually believe that rubbish still, do you?...You use to teach 13 year olds all the time, did they look mature to you? Because you even admitted yourself that you waited for Jacob to turn 16 because even you could see something wrong!" Henrietta hissed.
"I don't know what you want me to say"
"I just want you to make some sense, Maya! I want you to admit to me that what Ethan did to you back then was wrong. How are you gonna feel if one day your child grows up and is taken advantage of?"
"Maybe I found comfort in him because you were such a useless mother who didn't even notice her own daughter was raped on her 13th birthday!" Maya snapped.
Making Henrietta slap her from pure shock. Though she did regret it the moment she did so, it was so difficult to hear those words. That was the first time Maya every admitted that what Ethan did was abuse. Yet she still wants to go back to him, she still refuses to admit the entire relationship was disgusting. No, it was fine after a while she thinks.
"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to slap you, I'm just angry at you. You put me and everyone else through Hell!" Henrietta cried.
"You know that I really did love Jacob...Despite what everyone thinks"
"You can't possibly love him, you wouldn't have messed with his head while he was still a child otherwise"
"That's what you think...Now I'm going to Ethan's and I don't want to see you again, mother. Not ever!"
"Just know what you are, Maya and never forget that you destroyed Jacob's life. I would have hated to see what you would have done to him if you hated him!"
This just made her pause slightly before retreating to Ethan's.
...
"Jakey...I really want to speak to her soon, you're going to be here in about a week" Alicia spoke.
Once again, they were discussing the plan for Jacob and his slightly older girlfriend to visit. Alicia was practically begging by this point. She really thought this "Maria" was taking the mick, any normal girlfriend would want to put the mother's mind at rest. Jacob bit his top lip.
"Okay mum, I will go to her and ring you up once I'm with her. Alright?" Jacob relented.
"Yeah! Thank you! And please Jacob, make sure you do because I keep wondering why she doesn't want to speak to me. Because any normal girl would want to put their boyfriend's mum's mind at rest, do you know what I mean?"
"Yeah but Leyla was horrible to her when she found out, that's why she's a bit nervous"
"Look, I understand that and I get it! Being 21 and being accused of being something like that isn't nice but I won't have a go. Maria doesn't have to worry, okay?"
"So she's a bit older...I don't remember anyone having a go at Vanessa when she went out with Kirin"
"I'm not arguing with you Jacob. Alright? I just want to speak to Maria"
The lad just gave a sad sigh. He hated lying to her but he felt like he had no choice, he just agreed to let Alicia speak to when he sees her again. Though he was honestly frightened about telling Maya. She was never going to agree with this, was she? His plan looked like it was going to go to pot already.
...
The following morning began rather normally, everyone was getting in the Christmas spirit. Laurel was currently outside near her home, Gabby and Arthur both inside with Dotty. She was just planning on checking on the old pirate ship. Make sure it was fine in case of some last minute booking or whatnot, just before the Christmas season really got in the way of things. It was the 16th of December currently, not long now at all. Though she noticed the door to the ship has been slightly lodged open, this wasn't totally uncommon. Sometimes the homeless would find shelter in there and that's why she thought had happened. A small bit of blood drips outside the door made her stop as she shouted...
"Dad!"
Returning to the house, not wanting to risk it on her own. The person inside was awoken by the sounds of Laurel's calling for her father Doug. Which resulted in a panicky escape from said person, pans dropped besides them as they forced themselves up. They put their hood back up and forced themselves over the nearby hedge. So when Laurel and Doug returned (with a bat in one hand). They opened it up to find the pirate ship empty...
"They must have scarpered the moment they heard you" Doug remarked, lowering his bat down.
"I just saw the blood and panicked...Who knows who was in there, should I ring the police?"
"And say what? It was likely just a person who's been in a fight. If they come back, we will phone the police but I don't think it's worth the hassle"
"Yeah, you're right dad...I really should keep this place locked up though"
The same person from the ship made their way towards the field, limping their way towards the 'Cricket Pavilion' and making their way in. Of cause however, Josh already claimed it as the lad quickly got up with one of the bats...
"Oi! This is my place!" Josh exclaimed; acting as if it was his house and not some public place he broken into.
Though the person seemed to not be hearing him as they sat on the nearest chair. Josh could see now it was a woman. Her lip was cut badly, her eyes bruised and her feet looked sore. She has clearly been walking all night, she was wearing white trainers but you could see bruises just above the exposed skin above the trainer and under the trouser leg. She finally removed her hood to reveal a messy curly hair with chunks clearly ripped out. Maya Stepney has been beaten badly again.
"Can I use your phone?" Maya managed to ask him.
"Depends who's asking"
His cockiness was still obvious, his stint in juvy didn't stop that. Maya had no time for his youthful cheek. As she just pleaded..."Please, just one call"
"Hmm...Fine, I could easily outrun a slightly pudgy woman who limps like you anyway. There you go" Josh mocked, passing her the phone.
He had no idea the person who she was going to call was Jacob. He's been told about this woman for weeks but never once pictured she would look like this. No, he pictured her as something else. To him, this woman just looked rather dowdy. She began to dial his number and to her surprise, it was already in his contacts...
"You know Jacob?" Maya questioned him.
"Yeah? Wait...No, you're the cougar? No way! Amazing...You best ring him then Mrs Robinson"
She just rolled her eyes as she began to ring him. Josh just kept looking at over with small laughs of disbelief. He couldn't believe this was her.
...
TBC
