mercredi 22 octobre 2008

The singer - Part V

Shortly after the New Year, Jenny dumped K. He gave me no explanation, I didn’t ask for one. She disappeared off campus for a while, but when she returned she was as friendly to me as ever. I was obviously not implicated in their split.

Me and K? Well, he became a fairly regular visitor to my place, but always on a pretext – he didn’t want my housemates to know we were sleeping together, but they were no fools. He would tell them we were working on a university assignment together, that he was borrowing a CD, that he wanted to show me a new video he had bought.

And all of this – the ‘schoolwork’, the ‘CD playing’ and ‘video watching’ – we did behind closed doors, with minimal noise…we wouldn’t want anyone to hear anything that could incriminate him, would we?

University ended in the early summer. We both graduated (me with a first, him with a lucky 2:2) and I headed off to the Midlands to start a new job.

K got on a plane to Australia and there he stayed until the end of the austral summer. He wrote to me often and sent me photo’s of him looking tan, fit and healthy. He was working as a dive instructor in Queensland, and loving it.

We would see each other on and off for the next few years. We were great friends – friends with privileges, if you like.

One year, in January, he turned up on my doorstep. He was just back from another stint working in Australia.

He stayed at my house for 5 months, during which time we lived like any other couple – well, when we were inside the house, at least. He came to family dinners and parties, but always as my ‘friend’, my ‘lodger’. He met my friends, my colleagues, my neighbours. He always introduced himself as my friend from university, despite the fact that we shared a bed every night of the week.

During these months he didn’t work. I fed him and watered him and paid the bills. I bought him new clothes and took us out to the pub. I was a bloody fool.

Then, as the summer started, he moved to Cornwall. He’d got a diving job down there for the summer and would be back in the autumn. He told me he loved me, that he’d miss me, but that this was a great job. I was pleased that he had got a job – that would be a relief to my bank account. But I was sad that he had gone. I missed him.

In September, I got a call from the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary. He was being held in Plymouth and had given my name as his next of kin. Could I find him a lawyer?

The Police told me that he’d been arrested after he’d had an argument with his girlfriend (girlfriend? This was the first I knew about a girlfriend). They’d argued and she claimed that he’d opened the car door and pushed her out. He maintained that she had jumped.

At the time, they were travelling at forty miles an hour.

I rang round and got a lawyer to go and see him. I prepared myself to walk away from this awful situation.

Three days later he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

How could I walk away now?

24 commentaires:

Anonyme a dit…

Travelling, please tell me you are making this stuff up! I really cannot wait to read your book. Oh nice sneaking your first in there by the way hehe

travelling, but not in love a dit…

Big C, I wish I was making it up. It was a dark, strange period.

And if someone has to be my first, well, I'm glad it was you ;-)

Stew a dit…

What a great series.

At the end of every post my reaction is always "Oh shit!"

And to boot, it's not fiction. There's nowt queerer than folk.

travelling, but not in love a dit…

Stew, nowt indeed...and I usually think "Oh Shit!" way before I get to the end!

One more part to go and that's this one done with.

softinthehead a dit…

Oh dear - this doesn't bode well. (I noticed the "first" too - get you!!) :)

travelling, but not in love a dit…

Hi Softy, it doesn't bode well, at all. One more episode to go....

Anonyme a dit…

Double Yikes! I'm intruiged for the final part.

Who needs soap operas?

tornwordo a dit…

Yipes!

travelling, but not in love a dit…

Alan, one of the reasons for starting my blog was to share the soap opera of everyday life with a wider public....it's a funny world, no?

Torny, Yipes indeed!

Anonyme a dit…

I just so hope that this sint a tragic end , it feels as if you were being used hun, not nice.
But dont we all get a relationship like this,I know I have

travelling, but not in love a dit…

VM, it was a strange relationship. Looking back it seems like I was being used, but at the time I didn't see it. Love, eh?

travelling, but not in love a dit…

Oh Conortje, I get what you mean about the first (and you too softy)... ha ha, I just want to be sure you realise how clever I am.

It's admittedly rare to find someone who combines knockout good looks with a super sharp mind, but hey, if you've got it... ;-)

A Lewis a dit…

Sounds like The Singer needs a new verse to sing. It also sounds like you're a horribly gracious and caring friend.

Daryl a dit…

one foot in front of the other ... sigh .. but I know how impossible that is ... addictions are like that...........

:-Daryl

travelling, but not in love a dit…

Lewis, horribly gracious? I'm not sure if that's a compliment...I'm taking it as one...

Daryl, it was absolutely like that. For a long time.

Anonyme a dit…

People are odd things. Young people even odder.

Louise a dit…

Only one more to go? THEN what are we going to do?

I'm kind of with Stew on this. But I will disagree with Lewis saying that YOU needed a new verse to sing, not K.

I'm feeling totally non-clever since I don't know enough about the European university "first" stuff. I'll have to get Prince Charming to do some research for me.

Oh. I'm sure you can keep us entertained when this is over, by the way. And this isn't really entertainment, but it does make me check for a new post when I'm not doing any other blogging and don't have time to do it in the first place!

Louise a dit…

Ok, now I know what "first" is. (Isn't that Prince Charming efficient?) So I'm so impressed. And happy to know that your brilliant mind is combined with knockout good looks. The only way to be!

Anonyme a dit…

Oh, I'm not liking where this is going. Too close to home.....

travelling, but not in love a dit…

12OTI, I'm no longer young, but I hope that I'm still odd!

travelling, but not in love a dit…

Hey Louise, you know, brains and looks is the only combination! I wish I had both, truly I do - most days I have neither...!

travelling, but not in love a dit…

Rob, it'll soon be over, don't worry!

Louise a dit…

Why don't I believe that most days you have neither brains nor good looks? I just get the feeling you the type of guy who FEELS like he does, even if it's not all together. That's all that's important!

travelling, but not in love a dit…

Louise, I kind of usually feel that I have both, but the way I behave and the reactions I get - I'm not sure I have either!