Sunday 9 December 2007

Chapter 13

Jimmy had heard again from Corrine before the weekend. She had emailed him a couple of pictures, one of her and her girls (who were of a similar age but looked nothing like sisters) and one of her home. The house looked very impressive, it was a brick built two storey building. A winding path lead up to a wooden front door in the centre of the house which was given a symmetrical look by a large window with white painted storm shutters either side. To the side of each window was trellis, also painted white, which was covered in red roses in full bloom. On the roof were two dormer windows one of which was obviously the girl’s room due to the proliferation of cuddly toys on the sill. There appeared to be no other properties nearby, well at least not behind the house. This was more apparent in the picture of the girls. Their picture was taken by the side of the house overlooking their back garden which seemed to go on for miles until it reached a row of trees in the distance. Jimmy wasn’t sure if the land was all theirs as a short distance behind the house it looked like the ground had been cultivated for planting.
Corrine had written, saying she hoped he didn’t mind her sending the pictures as she wanted him to see the girls and where she lived. She was hoping he could do the same for her as she was very interested to see his home and children. In fact she was looking forward to finding out as much about him as possible.
So that’s what Jimmy decided to do on Sunday. He would dig out some photographs of the boys and take some of the local area and email them so she could see where he lived. He also thought it would be a good idea to get a map of England and mark out places of interest, where he was born, where he had lived and where he was living now. He also got a map of Europe and highlighted all the places he had visited and also Gibraltar where he had lived for three years when his stepfather had been posted there.
When Sunday came Jimmy got up finished off his chores then sat down to write back to Corrine. He had his maps and photos all ready and had borrowed his sister’s digital camera which he had used to photograph his house and some of the local area. This he all downloaded onto his computer then he wrote an email.
Jimmy told Corrine that he was very grateful to receive the photographs and was happy for her to send anymore she would like to share with him. He told her that he thought that she had a lovely home and asked if it was sat out there all on its own or did she have neighbours. He also said that she had two beautiful daughters, though, and not to take this the wrong way, neither of them looked like their mother, and asked their ages and names.
Then he went on to explain about the pictures he was sending her, telling her which boy was which and how old they were, also why he had sent maps with highlights and what the highlights meant. He also told her a little about his current situation. How he was separated and in the process of being divorced and how the boys lived with him for part of the week and with their mother the rest of the time. He asked her about her marital status and if she had the girls all the time. He decided this was probably enough information for one go, attached the pictures and sent the email.
By the time he had finished writing it was just past midday and he had thought to himself that’s about seven in the morning over there. He had been doing that a lot recently, looking at his watch and thinking what time it was in Virginia. As he had nothing else planned for the day he drove into town to get a bit of shopping, getting home around two hours later. He wasn’t expecting a reply from Corrine for a couple of days, so was surprised to see one when he checked his email that afternoon.
She had been thrilled to get the photos and loved seeing all the places he had visited, the maps by all accounts had been a big success. She thought the boys were very hansom and looked like their dad. Did this mean she thought their dad was hansom? Jimmy wasn’t sure, but was feeling hopeful. She then went on to explain about her current situation and why the girls didn’t look alike.
Corrine was married, and not for the first time, this was in fact her third husband! Her first marriage was a short lived affair, they had apparently married on a whim and it was a big mistake. He was a heavy drinker who would after going out and getting drunk would pass out and regularly wet the bed. If she complained about him pissing on her through the night he would give her a slap, sometimes more. She managed to get the marriage annulled. The second marriage lasted a bit longer and resulted in the birth of her daughter, Sandra. This guy used to hit her a lot and had even pushed her down the stairs when heavily pregnant. One day when Sandra was still a small baby he went too far beating the crap out of Corrine and putting her in hospital. When she got out with the intention of pressing charges he had up and vanished. He hadn’t had anything to do with them since, another divorce. Then came number three, he was called Adam and had seemed like a night in shinning armour at first. He also had a failed marriage behind him and also had a daughter, the other girl in the photo, Martha. Martha lived with her mother during the week and spent weekends with her father, or rather with Corrine as her father had nothing to do with her. Adam had taken Corrine and Sandra into his home, the one in the picture, and after a while they were married. This is where it started going downhill, he expected her to keep the house, the girls and hold down a fulltime job while he went out drinking. Jimmy was starting to see a pattern here! Adam wasn’t as physically violent as the other two, his was mainly verbal abuse, but did have his moments with his fists. Corrine just kept out of his way now and they both did their own thing. Apparently they slept in the same bed but she slept as far away from him as possible, this struck a chord with Jimmy! Her escape was the internet and making new friends and she hoped all this wouldn’t put him off. Jimmy wasn’t sure, there was plenty here for him to think about and he was going to have to sleep on it.

Copyright © Chopski 2007 - All Rights Reserved

4 comments:

ALF said...

found your blog from djkirkby's - just stopped by to say hi!

katy said...

i do beleive that some women are drawn to men like this, hope her and jimmy do become friends as it sounds like she could do with someone to talk to

DJ Kirkby said...

She sounds like trouble!

toby said...

WTF!!! One man wets the bed, another knocks her downstairs, none of them can hold their drink. God help the kids.