Page 71 of Waiting for Ru
“Christ. They’re like kids.”
“Theyarekids. And they’re not all bad. I like Poppy and Rodrigo.”
“He’s pretty good. I’ll probably lose him to a team sooner or later.”
“When did you start playing polo?”
“I started riding before I could walk. I began playing polo, of a sort, when I was ten. My father used to play and wanted all of his sons to play. I was the best. How long have you been riding?”
“Since I was four. I come from a family of Travellers. Horses are everything to us. When we were on the road, we had a lot of them, but my mother wanted a more settled way of life for me and my brother. So my dad gave up his Traveller ways for her. He and his brother, the uncle who took me, ran a funfair. They had a big argument when my father sold his carousels and they never really got on with each other afterwards. Some argument about money too. My father went to work for a haulage company, did well and bought his family a proper house. But there was no more riding until I was taken to Ireland.”
Jasim turned off the main road and headed along a country lane. “Where’s your uncle now?”
“Hewasin hospital. When I went to see the Garda, I was told my uncle had claimed my parents had abused me and I’d begged him to take me away. And that I’d caused his quad bike accident. The Garda don’t believe him, but I was shocked he’d think he could worm his way out of what he’d done. My aunt’s in a psychiatric unit. She was never…right… well, sometimes she was okay, but she worsened as I got older. I don’t think she’s going to go on trial. She’s not well enough. My uncle will, unless he admits what he did.”
“I don’t know how you managed to stay sane.”
Ru sighed. “The horses. Once I’d come to terms with my parents and brother being dead, and that my life was what it was, the horses meant everything to me. Later, when things were just…hard, the horses—and Bela—kept me going.”
“How you could stand it?” Jasim glanced at him.
“What choice did I have? There was no escape. I had nowhere to go. I stopped feeling angry and instead became resigned. I learned everything I could about horses. I read the dictionary so I’d have words for everything. I memorised the bird book my uncle had. I learned to cook. I filled my time. I didn’t even miss the TV or music after a while, because I forgot how much I’d enjoyed them. I missed people. I missed having friends, I missed my brother, and my parents, but I made the best of what I had. It wasn’t all bad, just not the life I should have had.”
“I knew someone…”
When Jasim didn’t say more, Ru turned to him. “You knew someone what?”
“Someone who went through something similar.”
Ru waited for him to say more, but he didn’t.Someone who was kidnapped?
At the top of a winding lane, Jasim pulled off the road and parked in a layby. “We walk from here.”
When they were out of the car, the bag and blanket retrieved, Ru set off alongside Jasim up a track toward the top of a small hill.
“Are you going to tell me anymore about this someone?” Ru asked.
“He was like you. Is. He’s not dead.”
Ru slipped his fingers into Jasim’s hand. Jasim held tight.
“He was kidnapped when he was eleven and held in an underground room for twelve years by a sexual predator.”
“Oh God.”
“So not quite like you. He never felt the sun on his face, the wind in his hair, rain or snow for all that time. No TV, but he had books. He taught himself to dance. He filled his time.”
“Is he okay now?”
“Yes.” Jasim gave a quiet laugh. “He’s happy. He’s in a relationship with exactly the right person. I think he’s the strongest guy I’ve ever met. He should be the most damaged and somehow, he’s come through it all.”
“How did you meet him?”
“I’m not sure that’s a story I’d want to tell or you’d want to hear. Look up.”
Ru tipped his head back and smiled. “Red kites.”
“I like to come up here and watch them.” Jasim spread out the blanket and lay down.
