Lay Low

Chapter Forty

"Run, Kai, run. She is right behind you" I called out across the grass.

Kai's hair bobbed about in the sunlight as he tried to run as fast as he could whilst still taking the ball with him.

Hannah was gaining on him and got in front of him, trying to kick the ball from him.  He flicked it past her, but tripped over his feet and fell into her and they both fell into the grass.

Max and I jogged over, to check there were no injuries.  I pulled Kai off of Hannah, to hear them both giggling.  Max picked Hannah up and dusted her off.

"You okay Han?" he asked, smoothing her hair.

"Yeah, but I think it must be my free kick as that must be a foul" she said.

"We could start a new game called wrestling football, where you can knock each other to the ground." Exclaimed Kai looking at Hannah.  As she smiled, I gave Max a look over their heads.

"Maybe now is the time for a break and some ice-cream" said Max. "But I am not sure where the kiosk is."

The two kids jumped up. "It is over there" pointed Kai.

"We'll show you the way" said Hannah.

"I will just grab Jane and the blanket" he replied, "Lead on."

I followed on as they ran ahead.

This park held so many memories for me.  Good and bad.  All the times of my childhood I had come here with Max and Mum.  The last time I saw Max before he left, but then the first time when he came back.  The night when Max found out about the abuse.  And then there was today; playing in the park with my family.   Today was definitely a good day.

It had been a few months since the incident.  Hannah had been living with me at Max's since then and seemed to be thriving.  Tony had been good to his word and done all he could to help Hannah live with me.  She missed her Dad a lot at times, though she seemed to understand why he was gone:  she hadn't seemed too concerned about Mum's absence.  I guess even at her young age she had sensed Mum's cold indifference to her children.  Tony had a lot of faults but at least he gave her lots of love all of her life.  

Mum was still in a mental institution.  She had tried to commit suicide again and she was there indefinitely.  I hadn't been to visit her and going by how I felt at the moment, I doubted I would for a long time.  She had never been a proper mother to me and I felt no obligation to be a good son to her.  She had lost that privilege a long time ago.  I sometimes feel harsh when I think that.  But I have so many memories of the times she was horrible to me and encouraged Tony to hurt me, that the doubt soon goes.  

Tony pleaded guilty to all the charges against him and was awaiting sentencing.  He wasn't going to be seeing the outside world for a very long time.  For that, I was thankful.  

I didn't notice Max and Jane come up behind me.  Max laid his hand on my shoulder startling me and I jumped.  Some reactions took longer to go away.

His forehead wrinkled at my reaction, but he replaced it quickly with a smile, when he saw mine.

He put his arm around me, pulling me close to him as we walked.  He kissed the top of my head and released me.

"You Ok?" he asked softly.

I looked at Kai and Hannah, running in the distance, their hands entwined.  I looked at Jane smiling into the sun and then back at Max.

"Yeah Dad, I am good."

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Author's note

If you have made it this far then thank you for reading my entire book!

I hope that you enjoyed it.  As always, I totally appreciate any comments - either on the chapters or by message and of course votes are always lovely ;-)

If you are someone who is in the position of Jake, please find someone to talk to about it or contact Childline on https://www.childline.org.uk or call 0800 1111 (if you are in the UK.)  There is help out there for you.

If you have enjoyed this book, then consider checking out some of my other works:  'Given Up' and 'Bad News' are complete works and I am hoping to complete on 'Burden of Secrets' over the next few weeks.

Chapter Dedication for VismayVairagi as an extra thanks for the amazing cover he so kindly made for me!  Thank you!