Chapter 7: I Wont Be Going Home Friday Night

Lewis’s termination request to the Super read as follows.

‘Reference - Mr Lee Thomas, age sixty-eight.’

‘I recently submitted a request regarding Albert Thomas who had raped eight teenagers and killed two of them, burying their bodies in his garden. He was terminated.’

‘There is no doubt that the rapes and the killings were carried out by Albert. However, since then I have had chance to talk to all of his victims who survived. It turns out that there was at least one other victim I didn’t know about.’

‘I can now confirm that there were nine victims in total. We can assume he raped the two he killed, because the surviving victims say he threatened to kill them if they reported him. One victim sensed danger soon enough to knock Albert out and escape. The last rape victim was attacked by Albert completely on his own, after he had run away from home.’

‘The remaining victims all tell the same story. After Albert took them home and tied them up, both he and his father raped them. I cannot be absolutely certain, but it is my belief that Lee Thomas did not take part in the actual killing. However, those who survived being raped all confirm that it was his decision who lived and died.’

‘He must also have known that the bodies had been buried in his garden, because within a few weeks of each death and burial, the family moved house.’

‘In my opinion, to act against Lee Thomas in any other way but termination would result in unnecessary distress being caused to the families of the dead boys. To the present innocent occupiers of the Thomas’s previous houses, and to the rape victims themselves, as it could result in it all becoming public.’

‘In fairness, I should add that it seems certain that Lee was frightened of his son, who was extremely violent. He also had great difficulty getting an erection and had to be assisted by Albert to do so. As a result, he is unlikely to be able to commit a further rape unaided.’

‘But for his complicity in the deaths of two teenagers, and the secret burial of their remains alone, I suggest termination is appropriate.

He submitted it to the Super for approval. Later that evening he received the same details on his special phone for his vote, which he sent immediately. Monday evening, he had the result back. ‘Termination Refused.’

At the foot of each request to jurors for a vote was a message asking that if they voted against, it would be helpful if they could give a reason. The Super had added a note to his message, ‘There were three votes against.’

‘Two felt that having two people in one family disappearing might stir up too much public or official interest. The third one decided that with his age, his fear of his son and him being unlikely to re-offend, termination was an unnecessary risk.’

Lewis texted back saying, ‘Understood, thanks for the information.’ Then he started to think of an alternative way to deal with him. Having interviewed the victims personally, he wasn’t happy at the idea of him getting away with it.

TUESDAY - LEWIS - CATHY

The next day he had a message from Cathy. ‘I’m so happy,’ she said, ‘Yesterday at work I did as you suggested. When I saw Stanley was well away from everyone, I went over to him. ‘I owe you a big apology.’ I told him quietly. ‘It’s too much to explain here, could we go somewhere private after work, a walk perhaps?’ His face lit up and he said, ‘Yes, of course.’ I felt so relieved.’

‘We went for a walk in the park. As soon as we left work, he offered me his arm which I took. As we walked along, I told him I had missed him so much. He told me he had missed me too and had been so upset at the thought that he had upset me.’

‘I really thought that you had done something bad to me,’ I said, ‘But now I know you didn’t.’ We were near a bench by then, so I said, ‘Let’s sit down and I’ll tell you what happened.’ As we sat down, he took my hand. I squeezed it and smiled at him.’

Turning towards him, I began. ‘Just before my eleventh birthday,’ I told him, ‘I was raped by a relative who was seventeen.’ He looked horrified and went as if to give me a comforting hug. Then he stopped, he must have thought about last time. ‘I’d love to comfort you,’ he said, ‘But you’ll have to tell me if it’s ok.’

‘I stood up and put my arms out. He took me in his arms and held me tight. It felt lovely. ‘That must be awful at any age,’ he said in my ear, ‘But being so young it must have been appalling.’ I lifted my head off his shoulder and kissed the side of his face. He turned his head to mine and we kissed.

‘Thank you, that was lovely,’ I told him. ‘But let’s sit down again now, there’s more you should know yet.’ When we sat, he put his arm around my shoulder. I looked up and smiled at him. ‘That feels lovely,’ I told him, ‘I’ve missed being close to you so much.’

‘I put my head back on his shoulder and cuddled up to him. ‘A day after it happened my periods started,’ I told him, ‘Somewhere in my mind I managed to block out everything except the terrible pain I’d felt from his rape and my periods. The pain from both got lumped into one giant pain in my mind.’

‘My mind associated this awful pain with an erect cock. Without realising it I kept clear of boys from then on. However, when I kissed a special friend on our last day at school, he got excited and erected. I went into such a panic and all I could think of was the pain I had suffered. I convinced myself it was him who had caused it.’

‘That just made me stay away from men even more. Until you arrived that is. I loved going out with you, I loved you kissing me, I loved you caressing my breasts. But when I felt you erect, a perfectly natural thing to happen, As, you know I went into panic mode.’

‘The memory of the pain came rushing back and I was convinced that you had just raped me. That’s why I broke off all but essential work contact. Contact which, strangely enough, always managed to brighten me up.’

‘I missed you so much that my flat mate realised something serious was up. I couldn’t tell her anything about it, so she sent me to see a counsellor she had heard about. He put me at ease immediately, and soon realised that you hadn’t done anything wrong.’

‘He took me back step by step through my life and when we got back to the time my periods started, it all came flooding back. I was able to tell him everything that had happened. He talked me through it all and I left. He told me that now I had brought it all out into the open, what had happened would never bother me again.’

‘I came away feeling so happy, yet sad knowing I might have driven you away.’ I sat up and looked him in the face, then said, ‘Please accept my apologies for even thinking you could do anything like that.’

‘He took me in his arms and held me tight. ‘There’s no need to apologise,’ he said, ‘Having heard why it happened, I can understand it completely. As for driving me away, my only thoughts since have been worrying what I did wrong and trying to work out what I could do to put it right. In view of what you’ve just told me, it’s me who should apologise for not trying harder.’

‘Anyway, we agreed that we would put it all behind us and he said we should go out for a meal to celebrate getting back together. We went out there and then. We had a lovely meal and never stopped chatting. After the meal he walked me home.’

‘We stood in the porch chatting and then I told him, ‘I want you to be certain I’m fully cured, so please do everything we have ever done up to now.’ ‘Are you sure,’ he asked, ‘Perhaps you should lead back in slowly. I told him I was sure and didn’t want to wait. So, we went into each other’s arms and kissed.’

‘After a while he went to move his hand but stopped. ‘Don’t stop,’ I told him. ‘So, he caressed my breast, it was lovely. Once it was clear how happy I was, he moved over and caressed the other one. Then he suddenly stopped and moved back. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, ‘It’s happened again.’ I looked down and saw the bulge in his trousers moving about.’

‘Does it feel nice?’ I asked. ‘Yes.’ he admitted. ‘Then please come and share it with me.’ I told him opening my arms. He moved close slowly. I pulled him tight to me and kissed. As we kissed, I could feel it throbbing against me, it felt lovely. He broke away from kissing and asked me if I was ok.’