Chapter 13: JJ's Joy

“Mum, it’s Sally, how are you?”

“Oh, Sally, dear, I was so worried about you. The line went dead this morning and I wondered how you were coping with the news. It was such a shock all round, but I really didn’t think, dear, blurting it all out like that, I was just so ... happy.” Ann put down her stirring spoon and turned the gas off under the pan, where she had been browning off some chicken pieces for her tea.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, Mum, it was such a shock that I was overwhelmed and ... I fainted. I feel silly really, I was expecting the worst news when you hinted at something affecting both Brett and me but not that. John found me spark out on the settle. I had to go have a lie down I was in such a tizzy, I couldn’t do anything at all. The Doc came and gave me a pill to knock me out.”

“So how are you now, dear?” Ann asked, “You sound so much more cheerful.”

“Yeah, that’s cos I am a whole lot more chipper now that I’ve had time to think about it. Do you ... has he said ... Does he say why he left me and Brett, Mum?”

“Not a thing, Sally, sweetheart, the last thing he says he remembers is going up the shops, from your little flat, to buy some milk. Next thing he knows he was waking up in hospital a couple of days ago connected up to all these tubes and monitors.”

“So just how badly is Tommy injured, Mum?” Sally enquired.

“Not so bad, Sally, dear. The doctors say he can go home in a day or two. It’s all depending on the results of his blood tests.”

“That’s something to be thankful for then. Tell me, Mum, what does he look like, after all this time?”

“He looks very good on the whole, or he will do when the bruising goes down. He’s a bit of a mess to look at, if I was honest,” Ann surprised herself by laughing, Tommy had actually looked pretty good she recalled, “His black eyes would make a panda bear jealous, and the rest of his face is black and blue from all the bruises and cuts on his face, so he’s a bit puffy still.”

“No lasting damage, then?”

“No, but they’ve had to shave his head, cos they had to operate on his skull to relieve the pressure on his brain, so he has got a lot of stitches in his head. His hair is starting to grow back already, so not much’ll show once it’s all grown back.”

“Is he still blond or has he gone grey, Mum?”

Ann giggled, “Oh, the new growth is very grey, which has upset him because, er, his wife said that he had held onto his natural colour pretty well until now, other than the few odd grey hairs!”

“Wife!” Sally exclaimed, “Of course, he’s married. Has he any kids?”

“Yes, Sally, dear, he has three other children, two boys of 18 and 14 and a girl of 16.”

“Did his wife say when they got married, Mum?”

“She did say they were going to be celebrating their twentieth anniversary in February next year, Sally. She was saying that they needed to get a venue booked so that all his family and friends could get together. Jennifer, his wife, was led to believe that Tommy, who she calls Bob, didn’t have any other family.”

“So he changed his name, did he, when he disappeared?”

“Yes, he changed it to Robert Mark, I think Jennifer said his middle name was, with the surname of Morris. Robert Mark Morris. Everyone calls him Bob.”

“I wonder what he has been up to all these years. Did she say where she met him?” Sally asked.

“I think they worked for the same company at the time they met. He was a maintenance engineer. I think she said she worked in the admin office possibly in personnel. Anyway, she said that Tommy was like the ice-man, all the girls in the office fancied him and he didn’t really want to know any of them.”

“Tommy always had the gift of the gab. Always cheeky and able to get away with murder because he had such a beguiling smile. He was always handsome. I assumed at the time, Mum, after he had been gone for a while that he must’ve run off with some other bird.”

“Well, there was never any other girl for him than you Sally, dear, that I was ever aware of. And that was all the way through from when he was still wearing short trousers until the time he disappeared. And there was no other women in his life when Jennifer first knew him. I get the impression she had to work on him for a long time before he responded to her charms.”

“What’s she like, this new wife of his, this Jennifer, Mum?”

“She’s quite short, maybe a bit above my height, blond, quite glamorous looking. She’s posh, or at least talks very nicely, takes care of her hair and make up. She’s very well groomed. I guess that she might have a little trouble with maintaining her weight. She did mention that she goes to the gym two or three times a week. She works part-time down at the local doctors’ surgery.”

“Have you met your new grandchildren yet?”

“No, not yet. I’ve seen their photos, of course, Jennifer brought them to the hospital this morning. The boys are tall and slim and very handsome. The girl is a bit camera shy and covers herself up in the photos. When she doesn’t know she is being photographed though, she is quite petite, like her mum only dark and very pretty.”

“So Tommy has ended up with a nice family and life for himself then, has he?”

“Yes, dear, I think he has,” Ann continued, “Jennifer says they have a nice house, virtually completely paid for, he has a well-paid job and the kids are bright and we’ll-behaved. The two youngest are going to go to college when they are old enough and the eldest boy is getting married in January, apparently his girlfriend is pregnant.

“Well, it’s probably more than Tommy deserves, but I wouldn’t want to wish him anything ill. I’ll ring you again in a couple of days, Mum, once I’ve had a chance to talk to Brett properly.”

“Alright, dear, please take care won’t you? Bye, pet.”

“Richard, that you, sweetheart?” Emma called down the stairs as she heard the front door open.

“Who else would it be, now?” Richard called back up as he dumped his holdall in the hallway, before pulling his empty sandwich box out of the top.

“True,” she shouted down, “My lover never ever risks coming around here at this time of day!”

“So long as I don’t meet him,” he shouted back, moderating his voice as Emma appeared at the top of the stairs and descended.

“Your dinner is in the oven, Hon. It’s a casserole and should be ready in about twenty minutes or so. Help yourself to half of it, and I’ll sort the rest out for the freezer when I get home.”

“Where are you off to then, Em?” Richard asked, “That’s the second night you’ve gone out in a row.”

“No more than you were last week! I’m off around Jen’s to start with again, then I’m going out with Jen and the kids, to give her some moral support if the kids need it. You know they found Bob, don’t you?”

“I did hear a rumour, Em, but nothing really definite. What’s the latest?”

Emma reached one step from the bottom of the stairs and briefly kissed Richard on the lips, “I know you’ve really been concerned, sweetheart, after all, he is your best mate.”

“Not that concerned-” he protested.

“Come off it, Rich, you can’t hide from me how concerned you’ve been this last week. I know you’ve been ringing Jen on the quiet and going out evenings trying to find him, pretending that you’re working late. It’s obvious that you’ve had that guilty look on your face for a week now.”

“What d’yer mean ... guilty?” he spluttered, his skin darkening.

“It’s alright, honey,” Emma patted his cheek affectionately, “I know you’ve tried to protect me from all the worry, bless you, but I’m Jen’s best friend too, you know.”

“I know, sweetheart. So, what’s Bob been up to then?” he swallowed, “Seeing another woman?”

“No!” Emma exclaimed, “How can you even think something like that of our Bob?”

“It happens all the time, Em, he could be goin’ through a mid-life crisis, or somethin’.”

“Not Bob, surely? Anyway, know-it-all, he’s been in Chesterfield Hospital since last Sunday and is suffering from amnesia. He has lost his memory since before he was married. He can’t remember anything from the last twenty years. Jen told me all about it last night when she got home after visiting him. You were sleeping the sleep of the innocent by the time I got in. I didn’t see you this morning before you left for work, either, so I didn’t get a chance to tell you.”

“So he can’t remember anything from the last twenty or so years ... us, you and me, his best friend, his children?”

“Nothing, he can’t even remember Jen, but she reckons that once she gets him home his memories may start to be triggered by having all his familiar things around him.”

“That’s a bummer for all concerned, Em. So, when can I see him?”

“I’ll find out tonight.”

“Thanks, Em, for helping out tonight. I want Bob to see the kids but am worried how they will react to him not recognising them. I have to say, it is quite eerie talking to a man you have lived with and loved for over twenty years, when he looks at you as if you are a stranger and isn’t sure how to interact.” Her voice trailed off a little as she added, “Even his mannerisms seem different, no puffing and blowing out his cheeks all the time, which used to annoy me while we talked, have gone. He even seems to smile all the time now, as if he hasn’t a single care in the world - and you know how worried he always was about, well about everything.”

“Yes, I know, Rich is always saying that Bob worries about money, not for the cash itself, but worried about making sure both JJ and Tig have enough finance to get to Uni, especially as Tom seems hell bent on leaving college and going out to work to support the baby when it comes. He’s worried that Tom will never get the qualifications needed to get a job that pays enough to bring up a family.”

“We have more than enough savings to manage, Em. We could support Tom in his job or college, even if it meant stepping up my hours at the surgery. Anyway, you’re a life saver if you can take JJ in your car, that’s one less thing for me to worry about.”

“Jen, I don’t mind helping you out, of course not. You’ve told the kids about their Dad losing his memory?”

“Yeah, but not sure if JJ believed me. She’s very anti-Mum at the mo. That’s why I was hoping you could take her in your car, she seems to prefer your company to mine lately.”

“Sure, I’d love to have JJ in the car with me, she’s really great company and we have a good laugh together.”

“All we do, JJ and me it seems, is bicker.”

“Come on, Jen, let’s get them loaded up and get over there, I’d like to see Bob myself.”

“A- er Emma?” asked JJ as they pulled away from the Morris house.

“Yes, JJ?”

“What do you make of all this memory loss nonsense that Dad is putting on, then?”

Emma laughed, “Well I now know exactly what you think of it, JJ!”

“What I mean is, do you think Dad’s making it up just to piss Mum off, or has he genuinely lost his memory?”

“I really don’t know Sweetie, I think I’ll leave it for now and make my mind up when we get there and get to speak to your Dad. According to the SatNav we’ll be there in about twenty-five minutes.”

“I just want Dad to come home as soon as he can and kick Mum out.”

“He won’t do that, your Mum and Dad are the most stable couple I know, JJ.”

“Even when he knows she’s been sleeping around?”

“Where did you get the idea your Mum was ... doing that?”

“She was caught sleeping with a teacher at school, one of the PTA members, and graphic pictures were circulated around the school.”

“No!”

“Yes, why do you think that none of the nice boys want anything to do with me?”

“So sorry, JJ, I wasn’t aware of that.”

“It’s just that I think Dad caught Mum ‘at it’ and then Mum’s lover, or the pair of them, beat Dad up and dumped him in the woods far away, thinking he was dead, but somebody found him and saved his life.”

“I don’t think that’s right, honey,” Emma said quickly, shocked at the depth of feeling in JJ’s trembling voice, “I’m sure that your Mum mentioned that while she was visiting your Dad in the ward she spoke to the mother of a girl who was being attacked; your Dad was running by when it happened and went to help her, and in doing so saved her.”