When my mum went missing, I had the sickening feeling a prediction I’d made had finally come true.
My mum, Tina, pulled a tray of homemade biscuits out of the oven.
‘They smell delicious, Mummy,’
I said, reaching for one.
She grinned and said: ‘Sorry love, they’re for the neighbours. Can you take them over for me?’
It was typical of Mum. She liked making people feel special. If someone was new to the street, down in the dumps, or sick, she was there.
‘It’s nice to help,’ she always told me and my brother, Richard.
She’d split from our dad a few years before, but we saw him regularly.
Our grandmother was around a lot, too. She and Mum ran a sweet shop together called the Sugar Shack. It felt like a magical place, full of treats, toys and gifts. Mum, of course, couldn’t help giving away free samples to the kids that came in.
Then, when I was eight, Mum started dating a bloke called John.
He was a giant of a man — and tough with it — and I took an instant dislike to him.
Mostly, I just tried to keep out of his way, scuttling off to my room whenever he was there. John took offence to that.
‘She’s spoilt and rude,’ I heard him rant to Mum.
‘She’s just shy,’ Mum insisted. The more John stayed over, the less I liked him, and it annoyed me that Mum did everything for him.
Even though he could drive, she drove him everywhere. She cooked and cleaned up after him, and made his lunches for work every day too.
When his family or friends dropped by, Mum was expected to put on a spread.
But if her friends or family came over, he’d get a mean look on his face, barely talk to anyone and slam around in the kitchen.
He’d get nasty with Mum, too. ‘You’re an ugly fat loser,’ he’d tell her. ‘Nobody else would be interested in you.’
When I was 14, I decided I’d had enough of John belittling her.
‘Don’t you talk to my mum like that!’ I yelled, after one of his outbursts.
He looked taken aback at being challenged, and Mum quickly ushered me away.
‘Why do you stay with him?’ I hissed.
‘You don’t understand,’ she replied.
Things got worse for Mum after she was diagnosed with a serious heart problem, and needed surgery.
She had to stop working and take it easy. But with no income, she was reliant on John.
‘You’re just lazy and using me for my money,’ he’d sneer at her.
He should have been looking after her, not making her feel worse.
In time, he bought a plot of land and built a beautiful new house that Mum decorated and loved.
It was her dream home, and I worried now that she’d never leave him.
