My name is Sam. Here is a little bit of background to my story.
I was an unplanned son. My parents had decided that one child was enough for them, but received a shock when I came along sixteen years after my sister, Elaine. It never bothered me. My parents always made it clear to me that unplanned did not mean unwanted or by any means unloved. It did mean that I grew up quite apart from my big sister but, as you will hear, we had other children in the house.
As an only child until the age of sixteen, Elaine may have been somewhat spoilt. She certainly went off the rails a little after I arrived. I fully believe that was on the cards anyway and, though it may have been prompted by my arrival, I was not the cause.
She fell pregnant two years after I was born and, probably foolishly, immediately married the father. By the age of twenty one she had two daughters and was already divorced. As a single mother she was very reliant on our parents for support. This meant that the two girls, Sophie and Kristen, spent more time at our house than they did at their mother's flat, which was a few miles away on the other side of town.
For me, it was almost like having two younger sisters at home. For my parents, it was tough. They went from having one teenager to worry about to having three children under five in the house. Kristen, Sophie and I always got on well together. Kristen, the younger of the two, really looked on me as an older brother as we grew up, often confiding in me and looking to me to help solve her problems. Despite, or perhaps because of, her being closer to me in age, Sophie was never as dependent but we got along fine.
Never a great student, I left school at sixteen and found work in a local engineering firm. I worked hard and did well, so that two years later I was able gain some independence by moving out of my parent's house and renting a small one bedroom flat in the middle of town.
Sophie and Kristen were smarter than me and both continued their education to a higher level. Sophie had gone on to University and was away from home. Kristen was still living with her mother while finishing her school studies before also going on to a degree course next year. She had just turned eighteen, while I was now twenty three and the two of us were still pretty close.
Let me move on to the story I have to tell. It was almost 2am, just into Saturday, a few summers back. I was necking a beer, my third or fourth, and watching some comedy show re-runs on late-night TV.
I don't recall what the shows were. By rights I should have been out on the town on a Friday night, but I had split from my long-term girlfriend a few months back and was still sulking somewhat about it. This was odd really as Anne and I had not been getting along for some while. We should have split six months earlier than we did but had both allowed things to drift along, neither of us willing to make the decisive move. Eventually Anne told me she was seeing someone else and it was over between us. Now, not used to being alone, the evenings tend to drag so I was sitting, half awake, scanning the airwaves for something I recognised on TV, even though I was really not taking anything in.
Quite unexpectedly, the doorbell rang. I moved cautiously to the door and checked the spy-hole. Living in the centre of town, you can't be too careful when someone arrives at your door in the early hours. Through the small lens, I was surprised to see Kristen standing outside. I opened the door immediately. "Kristen. Hi! Come on in".
Kristen stepped into the hallway and I closed the door behind her. I noticed she was dressed for a night out but, more importantly, she was clearly very upset about something. I put a hand on her shoulder as I asked "Is everything OK? I mean, what's wrong?"
"It's Nathan" she sobbed, "we've split up." With this the tears started to flow as Kristen leaned back against the wall in the small hallway.
Nathan is Kristen's 20 year old boyfriend. He has just completed his first year at University studying for a degree in Sports Studies. Nathan is a fine athlete, regularly competing in football, tennis, running and swimming but he also has a well-known propensity for binge drinking on a fairly frequent basis.
Kristen is a bright and breezy girl and they usually made a fine couple but I knew from previous conversations that his behaviour when drunk was a real issue for her. She had been going out with Nathan for over a year, starting when she was in the year below him at school. They continued the relationship when he went away and she was studying for her final exams. Kristen loves her sports too, but she was planning to study to be a doctor.
"We went out tonight to celebrate me finishing my exams" Kristen went on, between sobs. "It was supposed to be my night but, of course, he had to get totally smashed again. He's a total dick-head. We had a huge row because I wouldn't get in the car with him that drunk. He just drove off and left me. I came here because it was close by. It's OK isn't it?"
"Kristen, of course it's OK," I said. "I'll call you a cab to get home. You can talk to Nathan in the morning and clear things up."
"No, it's over between us," Kristen said with some resolve. "I've had enough. I don't want to put up with it any more. I never want to see him again!" With this Kristen slowly slid down the wall until she was huddled on the floor with her long, lithe legs pulled up towards her and her chin resting on her knees. She wrapped her arms around her knees and a track of tears ran down her cheek from each eye as she quietly sobbed.
I squatted down in front of her so that we were almost on the same level and putting a hand either side of her head, I gently wiped her tears away with my thumbs. Inwardly I was cursing Nathan for the hurt he was causing my Kristen.
