A Sister's Secret by Debbie Grafham

Author:Debbie Grafham
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781473502246
Publisher: Ebury Publishing

Chapter 12

Haunted by the Past

As the kids got older, we started to want a change of scene.

‘I’d love to live by the sea,’ said Rob.

So we looked at Margate, Weston-super-Mare and finally settled on Eastbourne. I was all for it as I wanted to get as far away as possible from southeast London and the past. But the rest of my family was upset about us moving.

‘I don’t want you to go, Deb,’ said Laraine. ‘I’m really gonna miss you.’

‘We’re only an hour away on the train and I’ll call you every day,’ I told her.

David wasn’t happy about it either, especially when, a few months later, Mum decided to move down to be near us. I’d got a new job as a care assistant at Eastbourne General Hospital and she offered to look after the kids while I went back to work. She was looking forward to a new start as well, but there was one thing on her mind.

‘I’m really worried about David,’ she told me. ‘I don’t like leaving him up there in London. He’s drinking a lot these days.’

‘He’s always liked a drink, Mum,’ I replied.

‘But in these past few years since his marriage broke up he’s really hit the booze,’ she said. ‘I don’t think I’ve seen him without a can of Tennent’s in his hand.’

I felt guilty as since we’d moved I hadn’t had much chance to visit him. We hadn’t even seen him at Christmas as he’d said he couldn’t afford to come down.

Every New Year’s Eve David phoned and this year it was no exception. I could tell he was drunk when he rang, but if there was one night of the year when most people were sozzled, this was it.

‘Debbie, I’m not very well,’ he said. ‘Will you come up and see me tomorrow?’

It didn’t sound like my happy-go-lucky brother and I was worried.

‘If you’re not well, David, then you need to see a doctor,’ I told him.

‘I ain’t going to no doctor, Deb.’

I explained that I wanted to see him but that I was working the next day, on New Year’s Day.

‘How about I come the day after?’ I said. ‘I’ll get the train up on the second.’

‘OK,’ he said. ‘But if you don’t come up, will you promise me one thing?’

‘You know I will,’ I told him. ‘What?’

‘Will you tell the police about the abuse with the foster parents and what Dad did to you?’

I was taken aback as we’d never ever spoken about Auntie and Uncle before.

‘Do you remember what they did to us, Debbie?’ he asked.

‘Of course I do,’ I said. ‘You don’t ever forget something like that.’

‘Me neither. I often think about the awful things those sick bastards put us through but as a bloke, I find it really hard to talk about. I’ve never got over it, you know.’

Poor David. Why had he never told me any of this before?

‘Please, Debbie,’ he slurred. ‘Promise me that you’ll report them. That you’ll tell someone what they did to us.

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