Apples of Life

Chapter Three ~ A Curveball

Now we were all settled into our new flat in Bushey Road, Mum and a new Dad too. Brother Andrew was back at Boarding School and I was back at School. All was really lovely and happy, and life was pretty special for us all.

Mum had a chat with me one day about calling Alan dad from now on and of course I was really very pleased about this! And so both Andrew and I started to call Alan, dad.

Problems however started to brew in our family within a short space of time and this was to be some very testing times for us all as a family unit.

My brother Andrew was suffering nasty migraines and blackouts at Boarding School, and mum had received a call one day from the school to say this was becoming more frequent as time went by. So mum left me with a family friend as she made the long journey by train to Andrews boarding school. I knew mum was worried as when mum was stressed she would walk around at home with her hand on her forehead and just wasn't quite herself. I kept quiet and did my best to be a good girl, although as I have already mentioned I certainly had my moments!

I was really excited as my big brother would be coming home for a little while, but I was also worried and a little part of me knew something wasn't quite right with my brother, but I hoped after he had been to see the doctor at the hospital that he would be ok and all better again. Little knowing just how wrong I was.....

Andrew came home and settled back in and I honestly loved having my brother back home now I was a little older and appreciated having him around, he truly meant the world to me, even if he was a bit stroppy and quiet and not his usual sunny self. I wondered what it was that was making him be like this?

When the postman came, mum always got me to collect the post and leave it on the telephone table if she was busy doing housework and washing and ironing. So every morning when the post came through the door, I trotted to the letterbox and collected the post like I always did. The first morning my brother was home he was up extra early, washed and dressed and ate breakfast before I had even had a chance to go and jump on him in bed to wake him up, which I sometimes was allowed to do. Well this morning he had beat me to it and was up in his bedroom at his desk.

I wandered in and sidled up to him sitting at his desk. What are you doing I asked? I am doing my homework sis, he answered distractedly, please let me finish it and we can chat after ok? I looked at what he had on his desk and wondered what kind of homework he was doing, as he had a pad and he had been writing what looked to me very much like the letters that mum wrote when she wanted to tell a teacher at my school I had a dental appointment or the doctors. Hmmm.....so I hung around for another minute or two and eyed my brother quizzically.

Head Bowed and concentrating, I piped up, then why, are you writing a letter like mummy does? I said questioningly, Andrew went bright red and replied, I am not, I am doing my homework please go and play with your toys joy, I will play with you later ok? Nope, i thought to myself, am not having any of this excuse and I edged a little closer to his desk, looking over his shoulder as he wrote in his neatest handwriting that he could.

Dear...., now I couldn't read properly yet but I knew it definately wasn't homework as who writes letters to people for their homework, no one that I knew of anyway! I noticed too that he had on a high polo neck jumper and it wasn't that cold today so why on earth was he wearing a jumper on a warm sunny day?!

My brother got up, sighed and shooed me out of his room and shut his bedroom door so that I wouldn't annoy or disturb him anymore.

Damn! I thought, now I have to go and amuse myself, and I only wanted to play for a bit with my brother but he was too busy writing to whoever he was writing to.......later on I would discover exactly who it was!