NO MAN'S LAND

Looking back on my childhood I noticed a pattern in my Mother's behaviour.

Basically if she didn't have a man in her life we were ignored or battered.

My Dad left us when I was about 7. That's when all the batterings started. This went on for a few years until she met my stepdad David.

Things were good at first, I can remember laughter and me and my brother Kenny playing games on the livingroom floor and most of the time David would join in.

I was close to my stepdad and called him Dad. I always used to cuddle in to him especially on Saturday's when there were films on after kids TV. I didn't enjoy the films but sat there anyway just to be close to my 'Dad'

After a while though things started to go wrong. He like to drink and started to go missing for days at a time. He was also stealing to get money for alcohol.

My Mum and David were always splitting up then getting back together, this went on for years.

When he was away from the house things would go back to normal with my Mum ignoring us or snapping and battering us. And when he was back she was kind of human.

When I was 11 she got back with my real Dad and we moved to Dundee. That lasted a year before he buggered off again and she went back to zombie Mum.

Then she was in a relation ship for a few years with a neighbour called George. G was fun and had a lot of time for me and when my Mum was with him she was the most normal I had seen up to that point.

But George was a doorman in town and he was always with other women behind her back and they would split up a lot, so the batterings would start again... Until I'd had enough (I will write about that tomorrow tho.)