heartache she kept on believing that one day her husband was going to change. She had unbelievable faith in Mr. Malinowski. She was a devout catholic woman who believed marriage was for life. Naomi respected her views on marriage but she was unsympathetic of Mrs. Malinowski stubbornness in staying married to a lay about husband. Mrs. Malinowski worked part-time at Waitrose and sold Avon perfume on the doorsteps to make ends meet. She was a former employee of the Shepherd Bakery for more than twenty years but she left the bakery after the fire.
Finally, Mrs. Malinowski returned indoors closing the front door of the house. Thank God for normality. Tranquility was wonderfully restored to the streets of Upper Ashworth. Naomi returned back to her bible reading before the telephone rang several times and Naomi picked up the phone on the twelfth ring.
"Hello."
"It's me, Jill."
"How are you, Naomi?"
"I'm fine."
"Is it okay to talk?"
"Yes."
"I just wanted to talk to you about Jayne and the photo incident this afternoon."
"Am all ears, Jill."
"It's a long story, Naomi."
"Well, why don't you start from the beginning?"
"It's difficult, Naomi."
"How is the truth difficult?"
"It just is."
"Wasn't it you who told me that the truth shall set you free."
"Actually it was Jesus."
"It's time to be serious and you need to be more transparent with me, Jill."
At that point, Jill did not want to open up old wounds. She knew she needed to disclose to Naomi about her personal life even though it felt uncomfortable to her.
"Who is Jayne's father, Jill?"
Fourteen
Jill took a deep intake of breath and said, "Mr. Bate is the father of Jayne."
"Wow!"
"I was meaning to tell you the identity of Jayne's father years ago."
"Why have you kept this secret from me so long?"
"I made a vow with our dad to keep the identity of Jayne's father a secret."
"Dad was so cruel to make you do this."
"He was trying to avoid another scandal" and "He wanted to protect his ministry."
"He did a bad job of protecting his ministry with all the alleged sexual assaults of female members of the church exposing him."
"I guess he is a bit of a hypocrite."
"Jill, you are my big sister and I love you no matter what. But...."
"But what is it, sis?"
"Don't you think Jayne have a right to know the truth?"
"Yes, but not now, Naomi."
"She is fifteen and is old enough to know the truth."
"If the truth came out it would break Jeff's heart."
"Haven't you told Jeff yet?"
"No, Jeff believes I had adopted Jayne."
"Jeff' is a grown man who is strong enough to hear the truth."
"I'm scare to tell him. He might leave me. I love him too much."
"Despite what I think of Jeff, he is a good man. He loves you, dearly and he would never leave you."
"Anyway, how did you meet Mr. Bates?"
"I had a crush on Mr. Bates during our student days at college. There was a strong chemistry between us. We were young and single without a care in the world. We mapped out our future together on the canteen paper towel. We were truly in love with each other without looking too closely at our warts."
"What went wrong, Jill?"
"I didn't read the small prints or paid attention to his shortcoming."
"What do you mean love?"
"Mr. Bates was a control freak."
"What did he do to warrant such a label?"
"He monitored all my telephone calls, letters and emails to cover up all his insecurities. I felt like a trapped woman living a jail sentence. I was literally fighting for my life."
"It sounds to me that he was a brutish man."
"Mr. Bates hurt me real bad. I hated him during those earlier days when he punched, kicked and abused me for talking to male friends. I had enough of him and had reached my breaking point and left him pregnant with Jayne."
"Why didn't you tell me about him? You must have been going through torture."
"I was much too ashamed and afraid of him to tell you."
"You know I am always there for you, sis."
"I know you are, Naomi."
"I would have never experienced panic attacks and anxiety if it was not for Mr. Bates."
"Sometimes my thoughts change from being rational to suicidal."
"It's okay. You can tell me. We're sisters."
"I didn't want to travel down that dark path anymore so I threatened to stab him with a kitchen knife when he pulled up his sleeves and shouted abuse at me. He ran for his life. I was four weeks pregnant with Jayne and my hormones were all over the place."
"Did Mr. Bate know you were pregnant, Jill?"
"Yes. He told me to abort the baby. He didn't want to know me, Naomi."
"I am so, so, sorry. What an irresponsible man."
"I was very depressed and had nowhere to live. I agreed with dad to stay with my grandma in Jamaica to keep my baby. Jayne was born in Jamaica. Mum and dad were very upset with me for having a baby out of wedlock. They were ashamed of me."
"Why did they send you to Jamaica?"
"In those days, my pregnancy was viewed by the elders in the church as a disgrace. Never mind that the minister's daughter had backslidden. It was a blot on dad's ministry."
"If Jesus can forgive Mary Magdalene for her sins then he can surely forgive you of your sins too, Jill."
"I know that darling. I'm a lot stronger now. It's all in the past. The experience of living with Mr. Bates initiated my anxiety leading to panic attacks."
"Mr. Bate is a wolf in sheep clothing."
"It is all in the past now. Let it stay in the past Naomi."
"How did you meet Jeff?"
"We were friends at a local church in New Kingston and we talked about practically everything. His first wife died in a tragic car accident. Eventually, we drifted into each other arms and it felt right. We couldn't leave each other so we got married."
"Was Jeff driving the car?"
"Yes. What are you implying?"
"I don't know."
"You're not thinking Jeff had anything to do with the murder of his wife?"
"Whatever gave you that idea, Jill?"
"And it has never crossed your mind, Naomi."
"I just know you too well. You've never liked Jeff."
"Well there is something fishy about him."
"Like what Naomi."
"Prior to the accident Jeff was a letch. He was having numerous affairs."
"I know everything about Jeff."
"Doesn't that bother you, Jill?"
"Not really."
"He is a flirt."
"He was a flirt. He's now a changed man since converting to Christianity."
"Once a man is an adulterer he will always be an adulterer."
"Not Jeff."
"How do you know he is not cheating on you at work?"
"Most women know if their men are unfaithful. If he ever cheated on me he wouldn't be sharing my bed. Trust me."
"How is your love life, Naomi?"
"There was once someone in my life" and "He was called Jim."
"Oh Jim, he was a sincere and decent gentleman."
"I wish he was."
"He was always friendly with me."
"We are definitely not talking about the same Jim, who is a philanderer."
"Never was. What happened to you and Jim?"
"He had a weakness for long legged blonds. He was far too flirtatious with other women for my liking. The truth is I wanted him to value me and appreciate my worth. I felt he was too preoccupied with other girls and in doing so he had disrespected me as a person."
"Are you over him?"
"I don't want to talk about him anymore?"
"Okay."
&n
bsp; "Thank you for being so understanding."
"Are you sure you don't want to talk about Jim."
"Yes."
"We've all been hurt sometimes in our lives. Our hearts and emotional well beings will begin to heal again as we open up the channels of communication to God. You must stop living in the past and start living from today, Naomi."
"I am truly over, Jim."
"I feel that there is someone else other than Jim which you are not sharing with me."
"What do you mean, Jill?"
"I know you far too well. You are hiding an affair from your big sister."
"There is no one in my life anymore, Jill."
"Ever since mum went into hospital and whilst dad was imprisoned, you went quiet on me. We didn't meet up as much as before. You changed from being a bubbly young lady to a wry woman of the world."
"What do you want from me, Jill?"
"Who is he, Naomi?"
"I have told you before, it was Jim."
"Come on sis, it is me who you are talking to."
"You're not letting go of this. Are you, Jill?"
"No. I am all ears."
"And nose as well."
"Don't be so cheeky. I am now relaxed and have settled into my armchair. Now, you can start from the beginning, Naomi."
"Have you got your popcorn next to you, Jill?"
"Yes. Now start from the beginning and please don't leave out any details."
"It was a cold and windy day in December."
"I don't mind the details but I don't want to hear about a weather forecast."
"Okay, Jill. Do you really want to know?"
"Off course I do. Now tell me everything."
"I was extremely low at the time when mum went in care."
"Didn't I give you enough support?"
"Darling, you were quite supportive. I knew you were busy with Jayne and a friend of our family came around to see me. We spend a great deal of time talking about everything and anything."
"He sounds like a nice young man."
"What make you think he is a young man?"
"Isn't he?"
"No."
"No way girl," shouted Jill.
"I never would have guessed that you are into the older, wrinkly and grey hair men. I hope for your sake Naomi, he has the exact image of Sean Connery prototype?"
"He is more like a Denzel Washington lookalike."
"Denzel is a married man.