Forever Is Over (80 page)

At some point early in that
‘
Styal
’
period, my brother, Jim started
dating Amy Perkins. Initially, this seemed really weird, especially when
they barricaded themselves into my bedroom, when Mum and Dad were
out for the evening, as unfortunately I knew what they both looked like
naked and had mental images even more disturbing than the ones I
’
d
had about Caroline
’
s heart shaped bush! They were noisy too, so if I was
ever in the house with them, whilst Mum and Dad were out, I made
sure my personal stereo was close at hand!

As the months passed though, I stopped thinking of Amy as the
girl I once saw naked and just saw her as Jim
’
s really friendly girlfriend.
My weekly visits to Jemma, also shamed Amy into overcoming her fears
about prisons and during Jemma
’
s last few months in Styal, Amy would
visit a couple of times a month. I think Amy was subjected to a Jemma
Watkinson tongue lashing the first time she visited, as I had been, but
once she had overcome that first obstacle, it became plainer sailing.

Once Jemma
’
s release date was announced, Amy arranged with her
Mum and Dad for Jemma to go and live with them on release. Martin,
Amy
’
s brother, was training to be an
actuary in London, so his room
was going spare. Most parents would baulk at the thought of having
an ex-convict staying in their home, but Amy
’
s parents were not most
parents, they were extraordinarily sweet parents, so apparently agreed
to Amy
’
s request without objection.

What the future held for Jemma and I, I did not know. On her
release, we shared a hug, I kissed her forehead, but we did not act like
a boyfriend and girlfriend would act. We had been very close friends,
there was no doubting that, the doubt was just whether we would now
make the next step. Two years earlier, my relationship with Kelly had
appeared to be an obstacle, but too much water had passed under the
bridge now for that to still be the case. It was just that if we made the
leap from friends to lovers, I knew it would be impossible to revert to
friendship if things did not work out.

Jemma was not Amy, she was a far fiercer creature! I was certain I
did not want to rush into anything, although I suppose it could hardly
be described as
“
rushing
”
, given that we had met platonically every week
for the last twelve months. I was just keen to avoid another
“
me and Amy
”
type scenario, where we ended up feeling awkward and embarrassed.

Jemma and I had talked about fate and destiny. I did not believe in
“
que sera sera
”
, however, I realised you could steer fate in a direction, but
if you forced its hand, it would buck you like a frightened horse.

We arrived at Amy
’
s Mum and Dad
’
s three hours after leaving
Styal, a journey that involved taking two buses and two trains! It should
have been a forty five minute drive! I needed to pass my driving test! We
walked to Amy
’
s from Aughton Park train station and as we reached
Amy
’
s road, we laughed as we saw a
“
Welcome Home!
”
silver banner
draped over their porch! We rang the bell, Amy answered, squealing
with delight and then gave Jemma an almighty hug before showing
her through to the lounge where Amy
’
s Mum and Dad and Jim were
waiting. Amy
’
s Mum and Jim had party poppers which they pulled the
string of, as Jemma arrived and Amy
’
s Dad popped the cork on a bottle
of Cava! I am sure not too many ex-cons, released after serving their
manslaughter sentence, have something similar laid on!

“
Welcome back to Ormskirk, love,
”
Amy
’
s Mum said,
“
the place
has not been the same without you!
”

Mrs. Perkins went over to Jemma and hugged her. I noticed Jim and
Mr.
Perkins did not follow suit, but both did seem genuinely pleased to
see Jemma.

“
Welcome home, Jemma!
”
said Mr. Perkins, as his wife pulled out
of her hug,

“
Our home is your home for as long as you need it to be.
”

“
Thanks Geoff!
”

“
How was Styal?
”
Mr. Perkins asked.

“
Well, it rained for the first few days, but after that it was great!
”

             
Jim and I chuckled, but the Perkins family lived in a shin
y, happy
world so did not quite grasp Jemma
’
s bla
ck humour. It was an old joke,
our grandfather used to use it when people asked him about the Stalag
prisoner of war camp in World War II.
The Perkins family just looked
confused, so Mr.
Perkins poured the Cava and our minor celebration
kicked off. Before handing Jemma a glass of Cava, Mr. Perkins checked
whether Jemma was OK with alcohol. I could never quite figure out why
he asked this, I suppose
it was in case Jemma had said,

             
“
I
’
d better not, it turns me into a psychopath!
”

Mr & Mrs. Perkins were so pleasant, they would probably just
have limited Jemma to half a glass on that basis!

Throughout the afternoon, irrespective of who I was conversing
with, I found my eyes drawn to Jemma. My brain could be very logical
about not pushing things and allowing them to run some sort of natural
course, but I was twenty one years old and overloaded with testosterone,
sperm and desire! The calm, pleasant, easygoing side of my character
would say all the sensible things about biding my time, but the lustful,
passionate side would find my eyes focusing on Jemma
’
s breasts, just
like I had done aged eleven in the Rachel Cookson infatuation stage,
thinking how much I would love to see them emerge from underneath
that shirt and bra. Those thoughts were pretty much echoed as my eyes
wandered further down Jemma
’
s body! Given I had been celibate for
two years, this reaction was hardly surprising, although I did resist the
temptation to run over, wrestle Jemma to the floor and chance my luck!
After all, the Perkins
’
lounge carpet already held some uncomfortable
memories!

Jim and I stayed at the Perkins house for a couple of hours, before
jointly deciding it was time to make a discreet exit. Jim had once
described Amy
’
s Mum and Dad as,
“
more twee than Tweety Pie!
”
, so he
wasn
’
t keen on hanging around for too long and I didn
’
t want to either,
as I was sure I would ruin my own
‘
playing it cool
’
tactic, if I stayed
in Jemma
’
s presence for any longer. I headed over to Jemma, who was
deep in conversation with Mrs. Perkins and Amy and politely tugged at
the back of her shirt. I let the conversation run its course, then Jemma
excused herself and moved a few steps away with me. We faced each
other, Jemma looking up at me.

“
Jim and I are going to get going.
”

“
Arrrr
…
.do you have to?
”

Jemma
’
s eyes were a little red. Two glasses of Cava were probably
taking effect. I doubted Cava was freely available at lunch time in
Styal.
“
We best had. You need to get yourself settled in.
”

“
It
’
s not like I
’
ve got six suitcases to unpack, Richie!
”

I knew this. I had carried Jemma
’
s only small bag of clothes and
belongings back from Styal.

“
I know but Jim
’
s keen to get going and I said I
’
d go with him. He
’
s
a bit uncomfortable around Amy
’
s Mum and Dad!
”

“
Why? Do you not like them either? Geoff and Doreen are lovely!
”

Jemma said this at a drunk pe
rsons volume. Mr & Mrs Perkins
naturally turned around. Great! I could now feel a little awkward with
every member of the family!

“
We
’
re going to go!
”

I no longer felt the need to explain any further.

To say Jemma looked despondent, would have been an almighty
exaggeration but she did look disappointed.

“
When will I see you again now then?
”
Jemma asked.

“
When do you want to see me again?
”

I am sure without the two glasses of Cava, Jemma would have
spotted I was testing the waters. Her ability to get the better of me was
at an all time low. At that very moment, Cava was Jemma
’
s sophistication
Kryptonite!

“
Now! I want to see you now! I don
’
t want you to go!
”

Playing hard to get when you
’
ve not had sex for two years and you
are looking straight down at possibly the best pair of breasts ever known
to man, attached to a beautiful, dark haired, blue eyed goddess is very,
very difficult!

“
I need to go, Jemma! Jim
’
s waiting!
”

“
Let him wait two minutes, Richie! I
’
ve waited two years!
”

“
I know, but what harm will one more day do?
”

I took a step back. If truth be known, I was now 100% sure
something would happen between Jemma and I, and sooner rather than
later. Neither of us had any patience and it seemed we were both keen
to get things kickstarted. I was prepared to wait one more day though,
as I did not want anything to happen at Amy
’
s house. Jemma was less
keen on waiting.

“
You never know what might happen in twenty four hours in our
crazy world
’
s though, Richie!
”

“
True. We
’
re going to have to chance it though. Come here, give
me a hug and I
’
ll be around tomorrow about twelve. We can have some
lunch and then properly celebrate your freedom!
”

Jemma took a few steps towards me and we hugged each other tightly.

“
See you tomorrow, Richie Billingham! I shall be counting the
minutes!
”

I broke out into a wide grin. I know she was drunk but it was still
flattering to have someone that stunning making a play for you! Given
Jemma
’
s rather loud comments, I let Jim thank Mr & Mrs Perkins on
our behalf and we headed home on foot.

Before we were halfway home, Jim, typically blunt, wanted to
discuss what was happening between Jemma and me.