He Stole Her Virginity:
The Journey Home: Part 1
Disturbing memories:
Shutting the door for the very last time on what had been her mother’s home for the past four years or so was not the thing that upset Emma. After all she had never lived there and had no emotional attachment to the place other than it had been her mother’s home. She was upset because her mother’s life, which had ended suddenly several weeks earlier, had come down to nothing more than a few items in a green suitcase. With no other family to help, Emma had arranged her mother’s funeral, dealt with all the paperwork and sorted out her belongings.
Most of her clothes had gone to a charity shop, some bits and pieces were given away to her mother’s friends and neighbours, some sold for next to nothing and the rest disposed of at the tip. There was nothing of any great value other than a little jewellery that she would keep for sentimental purposes along with some photographs from her childhood before her father died. She found a few boxes of unsorted letters and postcards that she would look at later and a number of old diaries that her mother had kept. Emma put the suitcase into the boot of her car and with a final glance at the cottage she drove away.
During the drive back home, she reflected on the events of the previous five weeks but mostly on why she and her mother had drifted so far apart over the last few years. Up until then they had always been close, especially as her father had died when she was only four. They did so much together and her mother was always there to support everything she did from her horse riding to the concerts she played in; she would encourage her at the swimming club, she would watch her play in netball matches and always helped with her schoolwork if she could. Each year they planned and looked forward to going on holiday together and her mum always did something special for her birthday. They had very few arguments and enjoyed each other’s company.
Things began to change when Emma started seeing more of her boyfriend Kevin and got worse when she announced that instead of going to university she would take a year out to think about her options. It surprised everyone, especially as the term was just about to start but she had her reasons and for the time being at least, she would keep those reasons very much to herself. She hadn’t told her boyfriend of her decision as he had already left for university the week before; that would have to wait until she knew where he was living. In those days before e-mail and mobile phones, communication took a little longer although Kevin had promised to write to her with his address once he had settled in. Day after day went by then a couple of weeks but still no letter came.
Even as she thought of it all those years later, on her drive back towards York and the nearby village where she lived, she began to cry. They had been so much in love at the time or at least she thought they had. He had meant everything to her.
After more than two weeks of waiting, Emma went round to see Kevin’s parents to ask for his address at university so she could write to him but found the house completely empty. A next door neighbour who was just parking his car told her they had suddenly ‘upped sticks’ and moved away three days earlier but had no idea where. He said it was a mystery to everyone in the neighbourhood and had caused quite a lot of speculation but nobody seemed to know anything. He didn’t even know if they owned the house or rented it. She asked some of Kevin’s school friends who had not gone to university if they had his address but they couldn’t help either. She tried everything she could think of. Kevin couldn’t even ring her at home because her mother had suddenly had their number changed after having what she called some ‘funny’ phone calls. By then Emma was three months pregnant and not a single person knew apart from her
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