Ingledene by David W. Adams

Author:David W. Adams [David W. Adams]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: DWA
Published: 2024-09-27T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

THE SOUND OF THE BATH RUNNING soothed River's mind somewhat. She wasn’t sure what it was exactly, but the now entirely separate nature of this little sanctuary made her feel like she was in her own little world. The builders had done a spectacular job, and even sourced an old Victorian style tub, set in the centre of the room and propped up on cast iron legs. It was everything she had always wanted.

What she hadn’t wanted, was to feel the way she was now feeling. Remorse tore through her like a freight train. The anger upon seeing the journalist woman had seemingly come from nowhere. It had been as if a dark presence had been standing behind her and operating her like a puppet. The anger was not hers. She had been curious about the woman, and yet she had lashed out. And then there was the fact she had shoved Cole down onto the floor.

River had only used physical violence twice in her life. She unfastened her robe, and switched off the taps. As she lowered herself into the scorching hot water, her eyes instinctively closed, the feeling of relaxation almost swallowing up all of her troubles. But she did recall those two times as vividly as if they were yesterday. The first time had been when she was sixteen. A boy in sixth form had been bet by his peers that he couldn’t grab her ass. Unfortunately, when he did, and she swung around to hit him, the boy ducked and she hit her teacher instead. No action was taken against her given the circumstances, but she broke the teacher’s jaw in two places. After that, the boy never bothered her again.

The second time was more painful. It had been her twenty-first birthday, and she had been in the living room of her parents’ flat, waiting for their celebratory takeaway to arrive, when she had heard her mother and father arguing, and then the shattering of glass. When she walked into the kitchen, she saw her mother strike her father in the nose with a closed fist. The amount of blood was nauseating. River had walked up to her mother and slapped her across the face as hard as she could, knocking the woman to the floor.

As it had turned out, her father had been receiving physical abuse like this for sometime, and yet River had known nothing about it. He sat with her one afternoon and confessed all, saying he didn’t feel it was right for a man to come forward about such things because nobody would ever believe him. River was the reason her mother was prosecuted for domestic violence. She had never come out of prison. Sentenced to three and a half years at His Majesty’s Pleasure, her mother Evie had taken her own life after just two months.

Although she never regretted vindicating her father and punishing her mother for what she had done, she would carry the guilt of her mother’s death with her forever.

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