‘Laura, I’m angry too, but that won’t get us anywhere,’ Theresa said.
Laura gulped down salty tears. ‘I’ll leave work early and try and make her see sense.’ She wanted to punch the wall, at least then all the anger could dissolve into nothingness. ‘One day I will get that call from the police telling me she’s dead and there is nothing I can do about it.’ Laura counted in her head, but nothing calmed her. ‘I could go over there tell her she must come with me.’
‘It will do no good love,’ Theresa said. ‘We can’t act like your father.’
‘We’ve got to do something!’ Laura shouted out in frustration. ‘I know he won’t stop until he kills my mum.’
‘If I thought I could change her mind I would go there in a heartbeat.’
‘Why does Mum reject us?’ Laura asked. ‘She could have happiness with us, yet he wins every time.’
‘I wish I knew.’’
‘I remember when I was little.’ Laura took a deep breath. ‘Mum always shut me in my room when he got angry. To spare me. But I could always hear her crying afterwards.’
‘She wanted to protect you, still does. Your mum would be mortified if she thought for an instant that you knew what happened to her.’
‘She’s never listened to me, even when I spell it out!’ Laura’s eyes were like slits.
