Forever Is Over (102 page)

“
What do you mean? She
’
s not in jail now! She
’
s been out for at
least two or three years! I saw her in Woolworths once, not long after
she was released, then I
’
m sure I saw her in a coffee shop in Ormskirk
too. Waiting on.
”

“
Do you know whether she still lives in Ormskirk now then?
”

“
I
’
m not sure. I
’
ve been living in Didsbury for the last eighteen
months so I was only nipping back from time to time to see my Mum
and Dad. I didn
’
t know her anyway, so it
’
s not like I would really look
out for her. I just spotted her a couple of times after her release because
she had become a bit of a celebrity figure.
”

“
Celebrity?
”

“
No, I suppose that
’
s not the right word,
”
Anna corrected herself,
“
I
suppose I mean she had become well known. Notorious.
”

             
“
Do people hate her then?
”

The guilt I had managed to stave off for five years was now growing
by the second.

“
Hate would be a bit strong, but the general impression was that
she should have served longer. I remember the Ormskirk Advertisers
front page headline after her release was,
“
Killer Back On Our Streets
”
.
I could understand the mild hysteria, the general consensus was that
she was guilty.
”

“
Did you think Jemma was guilty, Anna?
”

“
Until today I did. She was found guilty. It was natural to think she
was guilty, but I did have a nagging doubt, that
’
s why I wanted to hear
the truth from you. Can I get you another drink, Kelly?
”

“
I
’
ll have another Sambuca please.
”

Anna headed back to the bar. As she queued, I had some more time
to reflect. What had I been doing? What had been the point of spending
my life running around the world? I had been running away, but by the looks of things, no-one had been chasing. I had been oblivious to what
Jemma had had to deal with. As children we had been so close. She
must hate me now, I thought, she must really hate me now.

When Anna returned, putting the two Sambucas down on the table,
my desire to be back in Ormskirk continued to grip me. I needed more
information now. I was almost desperate for it. Romantically, I had had
several boyfriends, since I ran away, but had any of them matched up
with what I had at home? No. Not by a long way. Not only had I left a
loving sister behind, a sister who had been jailed for me, I had also left
a boyfriend. A boyfriend who had adored me. I felt overcome by my
emotions. I had screwed everything up, big time. Richie was
“
the one
”
,
I was sure of that now and I abandoned him. I needed to know what
had happened to him in my absence. I felt nervous, scared almost, to
ask Anna for the answer, but I knew I needed to.

“
Anna, you know how you said you didn
’
t know Jemma, so you
didn
’
t really know what she was up to. Well, what about Richie? You
went to school with Richie, you still used to run into him after that, I
know that myself as we both saw you on Clieves Hill. What
’
s Richie
up to these days?
”

I tried to ask in a manner which indicated that I was interested
rather than intrigued, but those nerves I felt kicking in, had really
taken hold, so I had become a little jittery. I was scared how Anna
might answer this. I suddenly felt overwhelmed by a feeling that my
destiny decreed that Richie and I would return to each other
’
s arms,
like a couple from a fairytale. I knew Anna could destroy this vision by
telling me that Richie was already with somebody else.

Anna laughed to herself a little.

“
Sorry, Kelly! I don
’
t really know what Richie is up to either. I
’
ve
not seen him since I ran into both of you together on Clieves Hill. I just
laughed because, without him knowing, Richie brought me here!
”

That struck me as such a bizarre thing for Anna to say. I needed to
understand what she meant
,

“
In what way?
”

“
Around the time Jemma was arrested, maybe just after, my Dad
had an operation. It was nothing major, just a routine hernia operation.
He was in Ormskirk Hospital, just for a few days, then he came out and
after a few weeks he was fine, drivin
g me around everywhere like he
had been doing before! Whilst Dad was in Ormskirk Hospital though,
my Mum had been to visit him and she had seen Richie, in his dressing
gown, in another Ward. Mum asked me if I knew why Richie was in
hospital and I didn
’
t have a clue, so she rang Dot, his Mum. They knew
each other from
‘
Maghull Operatic
’
. Poor Dot burst into tears as soon
as Mum rang, spilled her heart out. That
’
s when we found out about
Richie
’
s cancer.
”

Richie
’
s cancer? My first thought
was that I must have heard her
wrong. My second was that Anna was obviously somehow getting
things confused.

“
His cancer? What cancer?
”

“
You know, his testicular cancer.
”

“
Anna, Richie never had testicular cancer around the time Jemma
was arrested. I only left England just as Jemma was arrested. Richie
was fine.
”

As I said this, every memory of Richie suddenly started flashing
through my brain. I remembered how everything had been really intense
and then, for no apparent reason, he had backed off. Then there was that
time when Jemma was with him at Coronation Park, when I saw them
together. Could this be the missing link to everything that had confused
me so much at the time? Surely not. We told each other everything. If
Richie had been suffering from testicular cancer back then, I am sure
he would have told me.

“
Kelly, he did!
”
Anna continued,
“
I told you, Richie brought me
here. After Mum found out, she used to ring Dot every week, to see
how Richie was doing. He was in hospital when Dad was in, because he
had to have a testicle removed. Richie came through it all though. The
cancer did not spread and he was OK, but it was a massive awakening for
me. What do they call it? An epiphany. For someone my age, someone I
had been to school with, to have a life threatening illness, really brought
home to me how fragile our existence is. None of us will be here in a
hundred years and fate decrees how much time we have. I realised I was
wasting mine, so when I found out about Richie
’
s cancer, that
’
s when I
started saving for this trip. It took me four years, but eventually I went
to Spa Travel and booked myself on a
“
Round The World
”
trip with just
a backpack and a passport to keep me company. Richie
’
s illness inspired
me to travel. I would not be here now if it was not for him.
”

I tried to speak but I was temporarily mute. A tear gathered in my
eye and then rolled down my face like a tyre on a hill. Within seconds,
my voice returned.

“
Anna, it
’
s been lovely speaking to you, thank you for everything it
has meant a lot to me. Please believe me, Jemma was innocent and I let
her down. I need to go now.
”

Both Anna and I stood up. I gave her a hug.

“
I know it
’
s upsetting for you to hear about Richie
’
s cancer,
”
Anna
said,
“
I totally understand. Did you really not know?
”

             
“
Enjoy the rest of your trip,
”
I said without answering.

Did I really not know? Did I have an inkling? I quizzed myself,
tried to search my subconscious mind, but no matter how much I
searched, the answer was always going to be
‘
No
’
. If I had known about
Richie
’
s cancer, I would never have left him. Never.

Anna was tactful enough not push for an answer.

“
You enjoy the rest of your trip too,
”
she replied,
“
hopefully we will
run into each other around Ormskirk at some point in the future!
”

“
That would be nice!
”
I answered genuinely.

I was in a hurry to go. I needed to get back to our hostel to see Brad.
I had to finish things with him. Finish things straight away. I wasn
’
t
supposed to be with Brad, I was sure of that now.

Somehow I felt I had been destined to run into Anna. Destined for
her to tell me about Jemma and about Richie. I felt the urge to finish things with Brad, as I felt I should not be with him, should not be with
anyone, except Richie.

I knew now that I had to get back in touch with Richie. I needed to
see him. I knew now that it was my destiny to meet back up with him.
Meet back up and I knew exactly where and when we would meet. If
Anna
’
s destiny from Richie
’
s illness was to travel, mine was to return.
To return to Richie and to meet up, just as we had agreed we would.
We were going to meet again, just like we said we would when we were
teenagers, at midday, on the 4
th
July, on the
“
Sunny Road
”
.

It was my destiny. I know it probably sounds ridiculously slushy for
a man to say this, but I have concluded that everyone in life has
“
one
true love
”
. Now, I am not saying we all end up staying with our perfect
partner, there are too many divorce statistics to prove that theory wrong,
but at some stage in life, we get an opportunity to be with our ideal
partner, some of us seize it, others fluff their lines.

There is one thing I am certain about. I am certain Kelly Watkinson
is my ideal partner. I am also certain that now I have found her, I
will never, ever let her get away. Other people may fail to seize their
opportunity, but not me. I know I am destined to be with Kelly
Watkinson until my dying day.

Procrastination is a failing of mine! Often, I make snap decisions,
decide I am going to act on impulse and then, once I have time to
rationalise, I start thinking I have made the wrong decision, get caught
between one thing and the other and end up going around in circles
like a one armed canoeist.
When I came across Anna Eccleston in Ne
w Zealand, I felt 100%
certain that I needed to head home, mee
t up with Richie and re-kindle
the fires of a love affair that should ne
ver have burnt out. My destiny
was mapped out. I was going to finish
with Brad, head up to Auckland
and then jump on the first flight to the United Kingdom. Once there, I
would immediately track Richie down,
he would be euphoric, we would
sprint into each other
’
s arms on a sun drenched
“
Sunny Road
”
, make
love at dusk in a field of corn or sunflowers and then live happil
y ever
after. Using Richie
’
s
‘
Black Jack Theory
’
we would be the unbeatable
twenty one.