Page 43 of A Merry Little Christmas
I was recalling Will’s reaction when I’d suggested that Lewis was afraid of the dark. Or at least afraid ofsomethingthat madehim behave the way he did. Will had really started listening to me at that point...
Penny gave a long, shaky sigh. ‘Will’s terror of the dark started when Tom was in a new relationship, soon after we split. About five years ago, now.’
Glancing up at his bedroom, she whispered, ‘Let’s go and sit down. I’d hate him to hear us talking about him.’
Nodding, I followed her back into the sitting room and took the armchair while Penny sat on the edge of the sofa and began to explain, twisting her hands together all the time in her agitation.
‘Veronica, Tom’s girlfriend, seemed okay. He met her online. It was a weird situation, of course, but we kept it civil and Tom seemed happy. There was never any awkwardness when he came to pick Will up for weekends at his house, even on the odd occasion when Veronica came with him. I was determined not to show my emotions so I stayed calm and friendly, then I went and poured myself a big glass of wine once they’d gone! Will was always quite quiet. But that’s just Will, so I didn’t think anything of it. And at the start, everything seemed fine.’ She swallowed and looked down at her hands. ‘But I’ve since learned that’s the way with abusers and people with anger issues.’
‘Tom’s girlfriendabusedWill?’ Her words hit me full force in the gut.
‘Not sexual abuse, thank God. No, it was the most horrible psychological abuse. When Tom was out and she was supposed to be looking after Will, if he did anything she didn’t like – even something as harmless as holding his fork the wrong way – she would yell in his face and order him into the understairs cupboard and refuse to let him out.’
‘Jeez,’ I breathed, shaking my head in horror.Poor Will!‘How old was Will at the time all this was happening?’
‘He was six when we split and Tom began seeing Veronica soon after that. From what I can make out, the abuse began about six months after they got together?’ She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. ‘The relationship lasted just over a year.’
‘And presumably Tom knew nothing of what was happening when he wasn’t at home?’
‘He had no idea. Abusers are really cunning, you see. They build trust with their victim to start with and then they destroy it. They often seem so lovely and friendly to everyone else.’
‘I can’t believe she could do that to an innocent child. And Will was onlysix years old!’
‘It only emerged much later, after the damage was done, that the witch had threatened Will that if he ever told us what was happening, she’d break his arms and his legs.’
I closed my eyes briefly at the horror of it all. ‘God, that’s awful, Penny. The poor, poor boy.’
She nodded, tears in her eyes. ‘Tom has carried the guilt ever since. He obviously blames himself for not knowing what was going on, and so inadvertently allowing the abuse to continue for all those months.’
‘But why? Why would she do that?’
Penny gave a bitter snort. ‘Because she was jealous of the bond between Tom and Will. I guess she wanted Tom’s love all for herself.’
‘It’s hard to believe someone could be that twisted.’
She nodded. ‘Will started wetting the bed. In fact, that’s how Tom discovered what was going on. He had an accident in bed at his place whenshewas in charge, and when she found out, she was so furious, she ordered him straight downstairs into the cupboard. It was the middle of winter and he must have been frozen. But after being in there for a while, he managed to get out because she hadn’t locked the door properly. Veronicaheard him and came through, raging and screeching at him and pushing him back into the cupboard. And Tom walked through the door at that moment and saw everything.’
‘Unbelievable,’ I breathed, hating Veronica with every fibre of my being for doing what she’d done to a lovely, defenceless little boy. No wonder Penny was so suspicious of people on dating websites – always imagining they might be hiding their true character. Tom had met Veronica online and she must have seemed perfectly nice to begin with... but then look what had happened.
Penny gazed at me sadly. ‘I’d begun to hope that after all this time, Will might finally have managed to exorcise the terrors of that time in his life. But after hearing what happened tonight, when he was plunged into darkness during that power cut, I guess he’s still suffering the after-effects of being imprisoned in that cold, dark cupboard.’
CHAPTER TWENTY
Next day, I called round to see Penny, to make sure Will was all right after his trauma the night before.
She took me into the sitting room and we sat and chatted for a while.
‘I still think Will should audition for that part in the show and to hell with Lewis Hatcher.’ I took a sip of my coffee. ‘He would be brilliant.’
‘But he doesn’t think he would be.’ She sighed. ‘Isn’t it awful how fear stops us doing things that could turn out to be so positive?’
‘If only Will could believe in himself.’
Penny nodded sadly. ‘Last night I was all for marching down to the school to speak to the head teacher this morning. But would that just make things worse for Will?’
‘I don’t know.’ I shrugged helplessly, feeling her pain.
‘It’s such a horrible dilemma.’
