Even so, we had to make a decision and a damn quick one at that to get out of there. It was either stay there and be bashed or make a run for it and hope for the best. Run was the option! I then whispered to my friends we have to make a run for it and I mean run for our lives! I told them to get up on my count of three and do not look back until we are up on the highway but try and stick together just in case he catches one of us.
He was now getting even closer and his pace was getting faster so we had no choice but to act so I asked, "Are you ready?" They assured me they were more than ready so I gave them the one two three and with that we got up as fast as we could and ran for dear life. When we did, we heard Paul was hot on our heels swearing and cursing at us which made us run even faster.
When we reached the highway, we were yelling and screaming not to mention waving our arms in all sorts of directions trying to flag someone down to help us, but no-one would stop. Wonder why? I don’t blame anyone as we must have looked like a bunch of lunatics! We then realised the danger was over when he was nowhere to be seen so we stopped running and calmed down. I would say he gave up the chase because we were pretty fast runners back then and Paul being a lazy fat bastard couldn’t run to save his life. He probably passed out on the first sprint.
Once we knew we had definitely lost him, we raced back to Mum’s car and got in as quickly as we could and yelled, "Get out of here, now!" As we were speeding off we were laughing so hard, Gale almost pissed her pants, once again.
I look back on it now and think it was a pretty dangerous situation we had put ourselves in, not to mention, a quite frightening one at that. It may not have turned out the way it did and anything could have happened if he had caught us. I think we had some angels looking out for us that night. I guess when you’re young, you don’t realise the consequences and the real dangers, thinking you’re pretty invincible and it’s all a big joke. I’m just thankful it didn’t backfire on us!
After that night, the wanker would still come home from his so-called job and so-called days off and carry on as if nothing had changed. He was being even nicer than before but now we knew why and we were on to him. It was becoming sickening and to be honest, funny to watch. We think he must have been guilt ridden but he still didn't realise we knew about his affair and that we had one up on him and he was making an absolute dick of himself trying to suck up to all of us. It was just a matter of time before we rid of him. None of us could wait!
I remember the final straw between my Mum and Paul and it was a blessing in disguise I guess however; not a very pleasant memory for me.
While Mum was sleeping one night, he asked me if I would like to go for a drive to keep him company while he spied on some place he was going to burgle. I had nothing else to do so I agreed and went with him. While we were sitting in the car talking, he leaned over and kissed me and for some reason I let him. Why? I have no idea why! I then thought, “This man is supposed to be my mother’s boyfriend and protect us, not molest us. What the hell was I thinking to let him do this? Or more so, what was he thinking?” I felt disgusted and immediately told him to stop pushing him away at the same time. Later on I realised why I let him do what he did. He was the only one in my life at the time who was like a father figure. Fuck knows why I felt that way because he was nothing like my father! I loved my father but just never saw enough of him and I missed him and this hurt. I obviously needed that male attention I didn’t get from my own Dad in which I craved. The next day I told my Mum what happened and because she was so angry and disgusted, she had no choice but to approach Paul and tell him that he had to leave. My understanding is, she told him that no man ever touches any one of her children and I don’t care what you do to me, and I want you out! I think any excuse was welcomed by him to leave so he could be with this other woman because there were no arguments about it and he just agreed with her and said, "No problem, I will go."
We were actually amazed as to how easy it was for him to leave and thought he would kick up a big fuss about it, but nothing. It was obviously what he wanted to hear so he could go and finally be with his floozy. God help her and good luck is what we all thought! He eventually confessed he was having an affair and that he was sorry. Like hello? We weren’t! Good riddance!
It was the best thing that ever happened and to be rid of the mongrel forever, was the biggest relief. Mum and he stayed in contact for a little after that but only as friends and could talk about things that went down because it didn’t matter anymore. They even talked about how and when she found out he was cheating. He apparently felt guilty about that and how he had treated my Mum over time. Thank God he never found out about us three spying on him, until he left. He told my Mum, he thought it was three young teenage boys but when she told him the truth, he was rather amused and never thought anything more of it.
It took a while for us to get back to normal and even though he left scars, we had no choice but to try and forget him and get on with our lives. I will tell you though it has been throughout the years especially hard for me, because I saw most of the abuse.
Two years had passed since we rid of him and I was now seventeen and just when we thought our lives were getting back on track, the bastard had the audacity to turn up on our doorstep and we thought the worst. What was he doing here and what did he want? We just hoped he wasn’t going to try and come back but he wasn’t thank God. He had apparently come to pay his respects and give condolences to my older sister who had just lost her boyfriend Larry of five years to a motorcycle accident. Larry was loved and respected by the entire family and I personally, loved him like a brother. The only thing we all thought Paul was, was a hypocrite because him and Larry never got along with each other and it was just an excuse to come and have a sticky and to try and show he cared. I’m sure we all thought the same thing and that was, “Fuck off and don’t show your face again!” We never did see him again after that night. Hopefully he got the vibes and the bad ones at that!
Personally, if I ever do run his path, I will tell him exactly how I feel about him and how he affected my family and me. After being angry for so many years after he left, I have learned to forgive him through my faith in God. He or she has shown me how to not judge those who have a no idea that they are hurting others through their own pain and suffering. I was one of these people who hurt others because of my own pain, but now I have compassion for them as I do myself when I do wrong. I have forgiven myself for a lot of things because I thought I was doing the right things at the time. I'm not saying I'm an angel but I find I am free from a lot of my past anger and have a more of a positive attitude to life than I could before.
Noel
Two years after the split with Paul, my Mum met a man called Noel. He stood about 175cms tall, light brown hair but not a lot of it and not too bad looking with a reserved sense of humour. He was a painter by trade and seemed to work fairly hard from first impression. He had a nice car and he even had a boat which was impressive to us and he obviously had his head screwed on. My Mum seemed to really him and they were both quite happy with each other and the good thing was, from what we saw, he was treating her a lot better than the other mongrels had. After about six months together, they decided to get married. Personally I wanted her to be with someone who treated her well and could support her like a man should do and he was but was it too soon? I wondered whether she was on the rebound from Paul and my instincts turned out to be right. It took my Mum a few months after they were married to tell us kids that she had made a big mistake. She told us the morning after they got married, she woke up, turned and looked at him and thought, “What the hell was I thinking?” After that, she continued questioning herself over and over why she married him.
Her negative thoughts about him would eventually lead to the downfall of their marriage. I think she was starting to deliberately look for faults within him to start an argument because to her, the more arguments they had the easier it would be for her to piss him off so he would leave. He had some terrible bad habits as well which were becoming