Chapter Sixty-Four
Walking further into the inner city of Leeds, Henrietta was on her way to her ex-husband John's house. She was feeling rather melancholic and just wanted some company from a familiar face. Reaching his house (for he lived about twenty minutes from her), the street he lived on was rather grim. He lived in a back-to-back house, he was rather proud of getting it at the time (in 1990 after their divorce came though). Mainly because his history obsessed daughter Maya loved it, the eleven year old would talk his ear of about what would have went where back in times gone by. Now he no longer found joy in it, he found the house to be a burden. No, he felt as hard done by as the house itself. His neighbours would occasionally shout things at him, reminding him at every turn about his 'nasty daughter' being dead and telling him that they hope he drinks himself to death. The Stepney family were now deemed as 'filth' and nothing else around that urban area. Henrietta reached his house, his bin was painted over with red paint. Clearly somebody has written something on it and John just covered it up with red paint. His recycling box filled with empty beer cans and food tins. He's been living on microwave dinners and tins for quite a while. Some middle-aged looking woman was just standing in the garden next door with a cigarette in her mouth. She was just watching Henrietta opening up the gate and walking up the pathway. Henrietta trying to avoid her gaze as she began knocking on John's door. The man in question making his way over on this late afternoon as he swung open the door, wearing nothing but black trousers and a white tank...
"Yeah?" John answered; barely looking to see who it was he took a swig from his can. Henrietta clearing her throat
"Oh hello Ettie, excuse me...I was just having a nice drink" John then spoke.
Moving away from the door so she could come in. With a slight tut, she shoved past him. His living room was not much better, his house was filled with empty alcoholic beverages. His television playing some old 'On the Buses' episode. Though his fireplace did have a couple of photographs on it, his wedding to Henrietta and some old school photograph of Maya. She looked about thirteen in it. The rest of the house just had the basics and that was it...
"What do you want?" John simply asked her; sitting himself on the couch. Putting his feet on his table.
Before she could answer, he let out a loud laugh as he pointed at the television and exclaimed..."Look at him, he missed his spot because of those legs!"
"I just wanted to see you" Henrietta finally spoke; though why she bothered. She doesn't know.
He was clearly drunk already and it was barely 4 o clock. She really did miss him sometimes but then she sees him and is reminded of why she got a divorce from him. John looked at her again as he patted the spot on the couch besides him and told her...
"Come and sit down then sweetheart...We need each other"
With a slight pause, the woman did just that as she sat besides him with a sigh. She noticed him about to put his arm around her and that she didn't want so she just slapped his hand and said..."Off"
Making him tut as he looked back towards the television. He really was a waste sometimes, it was a shame. He was quite handsome as a young man, he was a property developer. He was never a major success in the business but he had enough youthful spunk to get some nice new houses built in the local area in the 1970s. Some of them are still there now and he walks past them sometimes, wondering how he got from there to where he is now. He really had it made at one point with a wife and daughter however it all went wrong when Maya was about nine. She began to rebel quite early on and would constantly argue with her parents. Fourteen year old Ethan use to make tales about them and she would believe him. He didn't sexually abuse her until she was thirteen but he did abuse her mentally way before then. The grooming didn't start suddenly on her 13th birthday after all. The point was that he began making up lies about how she was a mistake and whatnot. How they were only being nice to her because they felt guilty. John however didn't understand why his daughter changed towards him and he began to find comfort in the bottle. Hence why he and Henrietta got a divorce a few years later in 1990. Ethan really did wreck the family through his actions.
"So, what brings you here?" John questioned.
"I just wanted to see you if you were still alive" Henrietta teased.
"I am...Just about"
It's how he felt at times, he was alive but not living. He barely remembered what he did and where he went the day before. Everything was just a blur, those who knew him half-expected to find him dead every-time they visited. He drank until he passed out most days, would spend a few hours sober before life got too much for him, thus he would drink a stupid amount again.
"Do you not want help?" Henrietta asked him.
"I tried that but I broke out of rehab after a week, couldn't hack it. I'm too old to change Ettie, you know that"
She just gave a shrug.
...
Unlocking the door for he had a spare key, Eric walked into his son's house. He was worried, Priya told him about her concerns and he agreed to talk to him. If anyone could get through to him, it would be him. He walked in to find David laid across the couch watching television. David only briefly looking up.
"Oh hi dad, I'm just watching a bit of telly; is everything okay?" David asked him.
"You tell me"
"Yeah I'm fine...Apart from everything going wrong, I'm fine"
With a sigh, Eric walked over towards the remote and turned the television off. He wanted to talk to his son properly. "Hey, I was watching that!" David spat.
"Don't treat me like everyone else David, I know when you're not yourself and right now, you are not yourself"
After a brief moment, David forced himself up from the couch. Standing up to finally face his father. No, he wasn't acting like himself lately. Nobody really spoke to him about how he might feel because they all focused on Jacob. Rightfully so but they did tend to forget David was affected too. Eric took Jacob's absence as an excuse to finally have a proper conversation about how he is coping. He was told by Priya about how he had a one night stand and whatnot. How it didn't help but made him seem worse...
"What do you want me to say, dad?" David asked with a defeated sigh.
"I want you to tell me what you're thinking...How you're feeling; you can't just bottle it up and hope it goes away. It doesn't work like that"
"You wanna know how I'm feeling? Fine...I feel like an idiot and a bad father. I also feel like I can never trust a woman again, that good enough for you? Because let's face it...Why the Hell would I want to be a relationship again? I did Tracy a favour"
"You're not an idiot...None of us noticed! And you're not a bad father, Amba adores you. You only have to see her face light up when she sees you to see that"
"I let Jacob down big time and all because I let Maya pull the wool over my eyes. I was too loved-up with the fake personality she made up. Anyone else would have seen past it but not me"
"She fooled us all, David" Eric reminded him.
"Well she wasn't possibly carrying anybody else's baby was she?! That baby she died with could have been mine!"
Now it made sense why he was so riled up lately. Ever since David found out she was three months gone, he's just gotten worse. If she just died on her own, he could get over it better but she didn't. She was pregnant and he knew it could have been his, he wishes he did things differently in hindsight. Maybe if he tricked her into meeting him, she could have been arrested but that's all there was now; what ifs.
"Oh David, you didn't know she was pregnant; none of us did" Eric tried to tell him.
"I should have seen the signs...When I saw her be sick, I just passed it of as the flu! How stupid am I?!"
"David! Listen to me...Maya was a lying manipulating sick woman. She only let you see what she wanted you to see, of cause you didn't notice. Why would she tell you? She knew the chance was fifty-fifty"
"It doesn't matter, I should have noticed! She killed herself knowing she was pregnant, I believe that she knew. And she just wanted to punish us all one last time, didn't she? Well she's succeeded!"
"I'm so sorry...I didn't think you were that much affected by the news. I'm so sorry" Eric spoke gently, giving his son a much needed hug.
Everyone has been so focused on Jacob and Henrietta that they forgot David was struggling as well. Tracy never would have so harsh with him had she knew. It didn't totally excuse his reaction but it did explain it. No, he panicked when she left him and found comfort in the first woman who would have him.
"I don't know how to get over it...I can't stop thinking about it, the baby would have been fully formed at three months. I just feel sick to my stomach, I can't do it on my own anymore" David lamented.
"You don't have to...Oh David, you should have told me. You kept it in for all these months"
"Yeah well Jacob needed me more, didn't he?"
Eric pulled apart as he just gave his son a quick pat. How he thinks he's a bad father, he doesn't know. He's been better then him, he didn't do anything for David until he was a grown man. So he wasn't having that...
"Of cause he did and you did it because that's what decent fathers do. Now let me do it for you, I'm staying here tonight, we can just watch a bit of television and talk. Okay?" Eric suggested.
"Yeah sure...Thanks dad"
...
"Something smells nice" Liam spoke as he entered the home. He finally finished at the surgery.
He walked in to find Ethan cooking some dinner while Leanna was laying out the table. The girl seemed happy to see her father as she looked up at him. Not much happened during the day, just watching television and checking up on Rosa. Though some housework did finally happen as the living room looked much cleaner.
"I'm cooking us a pizza with a couple of chips, hope you don't mind" Ethan replied.
"No, I'm not bothered...You been alright, Leanna?" Liam then asked. Walking over towards his daughter.
"Yeah, I just been watching TV...Ethan took me to the shops so I got some snacks and a notepad"
"Oh that's good to hear he's been looking after you...I told you he wasn't that bad"
She just rolled her eyes slightly. Ethan really had them both fooled then, he had a talent for fooling people it seemed. Liam briefly walked over to Rosa to check on her, she was fine as well; currently sleeping. Everything seemed fine because the monster was currently at bay, Ethan was currently pretending to be a normal human being. As long as he did that, Liam would have no fear.
"Pepperoni pizza and sleeping on somebody's couch...I feel like I'm back in college" Liam spoke up.
Making Ethan chuckle.
"I bet you do...Like I told Leanna before, you will find somewhere much nicer soon" Ethan answered.
"Oh yeah, I never been a city boy to be honest; I much prefer the country. I already been looking up places and I'm thinking of moving to Skipdale. It's close to my surgery and it's close to Emmerdale so Leanna can still see her friends"
"Skipdale?" Leanna questioned.
"Yeah, Skipdale...You been through there before" Liam reminded her.
"There is so much more to do there so I'm not going to complain. When will I get to go back to school anyway?"
"Ah, well I rang 'Hotten Academy' and they said they will be delighted to see you on Monday. I just told them we had family problems...You will have to repeat some of Year 11 again but it will be worth it"
"Great! Now everyone is gonna think I'm thick...I can't wait to share a class with Sarah Sugden and Samson Dingle! I'm going to get mocked for this"
"Look Leanna, it won't even be a full year; you will be leaving the same time as them"
"It's not fair, Jacob gets to go to college and Liv never had to repeat a year...She got to go to college to do her GCSE's too!"
"You're unique then" Liam teased.
Making her just scoff as she nudged him slightly.
...
TBC
