LEZZIE-ASON CHAPTER TEN

"Is this some sort of sick joke?" I asked.
I felt a bit angry, why on Earth did May lie that her daughter had gone missing? It was the most lowest thing anyone could do.
"I... I, well, I..."
I raised an eyebrow.
"I just wanted to get you over here, so we could be alone, together," May said.
My heart softened.
"Oh, May! Is that all? You know you could have just said something."
"Well, I couldn't just say I wanted you over here so we could have an intimate evening together. I wanted to, honest! But, when it came down to it, lying to get you here seemed easier."
"What does intimate mean?"
We both looked towards the stairs, we'd both forgotten that Lauren was standing there.
"Well, it just means..." May looked towards me for help.
"A girlie night in," I finished.
"Okay, I'm going to watch a film in my room. Night, Mum. Night, Sarah."
"Goodnight," we chorused in unison.
May turned towards me. Looking at her pretty face made me realize I wasn't angry with her anymore, and I decided to pretend nothing had happened.
"Coffee?"
"Yeah, sure."
We went into the kitchen, where May set about boiling the kettle, and heaping out coffee granules into two mugs. I saw a box of chocolate doughnuts on the kitchen coun ter. My mouth watered. Chocolate doughnuts are my favourite treat. Especially when there's a whole box of them.
The kettle boiled. May poured water and milk into the mugs, and stirred. She gave my mug to me. I looked at what was on it. It said: "I LOVE YOU!" in pink, flowery letters.
"Sorry," said May. "I know it seems a bit inappropriate. Given our, er, relationship."
"No, no." I smiled. "It gets the message across."
We both looked at each other.
"You do know I love you, don't you?"
"Yes," I answered. "I love you too. When I'm with you, you make me feel special. Even more special than Gerry makes me feel."
"Same with me, Sarah. Tom used to belittle me whenever he got the chance, and boss me around. But you make me feel that life is worth living."
"How did you break up with Tom?"
"Well, as you know, he used to beat me up. He would often come home from work and demand his dinner on the table in exactly twenty minutes. If the dinner wasn't on the table, he'd slap my face, and then head off down the pub. He would stay there for hours. Then he would come rolling in at one in the morning, pissed as a fart. I would be in bed, reading, but he'd demand the light be switched off so he could get to sleep. He would punch my face repeatedly until I'd switched off the light. There were times when he didn't beat me up. I later found out this was when he'd gotten into a fight down the pub. I didn't mind him taking his anger out on me, but I swore I'd leave him if he ever touched Lauren."
"And he did that?" I asked shocked.
"Yes. One night, Lauren was writing in her diary at the kitchen table. I told her to put it down because dinner was served. She told me she wanted to finish the sentence she was on. I said that was fine, but Tom told her 'to do as your mother tells you'. Then he smacked her face, grabbed her diary and read it!"
"Swine!" I said.
"It turned out that Lauren had written that she knew her dad beat up her mum, and she was scared of him. He told her he'd give her something to be scared of. Then he pushed her off her chair and she hit her head on the kitchen cupboard, and fell unconcious to the floor. Well, at that moment, I saw red, and screamed at him to get out. He said 'with pleasure' and headed out the front door. I raced upstairs then, packed a few things for Lauren and I, I woke Lauren up. I took her down to the hospital, where they fixed her up. And then I stayed with my mother, til we were stable enough to buy our own place."
I listened to all of this, shocked. How could one man be such a monster as to beat up his own daughter? Sure, Gerry got mad at Larry and Lisa from time to time, but he'd never hurt them.
I loojked at May. She was now sitting, head in hands, sobbing.
I sat down beside her, and prised her head out, and reassured her everything was going to be fine. We would be together, just us two, quite soon. My mobile rang, but I ignored it...

Meanwhile...

I knocked on his door. He answered.
"Gerry! Glad you could make it. Come in."
He showed me in. The TV was blaring out that "Millionaire" crap, and a case of beers was situated on the table next to it.
Tom threw a can to me, I took it; opened it up, and started drinking.
"So, why'd you invite me round?"
"Like I told you, I wanted to get you here, so it could just be us two."
"I see."
"You see, to tell you the truth, I'm only staying in town because of two reasons. One, because I really like you."
"Thanks. And number two?"
"To try and see my daughter, Lilly."
"I thought your daughter was called Lauren?"
"No. My darling wife, Steph, or May, as your wife knows her, changed their names when they ran from me. Steph renamed herself May, and she renamed Lilly, Lauren."
"Why did they run from you?"
"Well, to cut a long story short, we was all having dinner, and Lilly was writing in her diary. I told her to put it down, because we were going have a meal. She wouldn't put it down, so I grabbed it off her; she ran upstairs, crying. May then told me this was the straw and told me to get out. I went down the pub for a couple of hours, and when they came bgack, they was gone."
"Your wife sound totally unreasonable," I told him.
"Yes, I know."
"How did you find them?"
"I got a phone call one day, and it was Lilly. She told me her new name was Lauren, and she told me she'd made a new friend, Larry. Then she told me where she was living now, and asked me to visit her, so I did. But that bitch won't let me anywhere near her. Everytime I go round there, she tells me to fuck off out of their lives, and slams the door in my face."
He sat down and buried his face in his hands.
"Look," I said. "My wife's round there right now. I'm going to ring her up, and demand she talks to May and make her let you see Lauren."
I rang Sarah's number. It went straight to answerphone.
"It's gone to answserphone," I said. "That's funny, she always answers her phone whenever it's switched on. Don't worry, I tell her tonight."
"Gerry. It was good of you to come over. It gets so lonely here sometimes..."
"Hey, no worries, buddy. I enjoy being here with you."
I remembered the reason she went to May's.
"Actually, I don't know if I'll tell her tonight. We had a bit of a barmy, and she'll still be sore with me til tomorrow morning."
Tom looked up at me.
"Will you?" He said. "Will you help me try to visit my daughter?"
"Yes," I said. "Anything for a mate."

Find out what happens next in Chapter Eleven...