I hear the boys calling and sighing heavily, I lay the rolling pin down and dust the flour off my hands.
“Mum!!”
“I’m coming, I’m coming.”
Muttering under my breath, I stomp upstairs, ready to tear a strip off Ryan for daring to call me rather than coming and finding me himself. If it’s to bring him food, I would be wise to bring the rolling pin with me and bash him over the head with it. They think I’m a glorified servant in this house, and I’ve had enough.
As I push open the door to Ryan’s room, I hold my breath. Stale sweat, pungent odours and old food greet me as I venture inside a room he rarely leaves.
“Quickly.”
I see him looking out of the window, hunched over his computer as always, but something about the tone of his voice makes me curious. “What is it?”
“I saw something.”
“What?”
“Opposite.”
“What, the Armitage’s house.”
“No, that weird one next door with the pink door.”
Now I’m interested and head towards him and whisper, “What is it?”
He looks a little guilty and my warning bells ring loud and clear. Oh no, not again, I’m not sure if I can deal with it happening again.
“Please tell me you didn’t...”
“I’m sorry mum.”
The frustration, the fear and the sheer disappointment almost choke me as I struggle to form words, but Ryan doesn’t appear to share my concerns as he taps on his computer and I see something on the screen I don’t recognise.
“What is that?”
“It’s a camera and a weird room arrangement, don’t you think?”
As I peer closer, I see a room with a camera set up on a tripod before an enormous bed covered in nothing but a black sheet. My heart freezes as I see something that is most definitely not ok and say fearfully, “Where is this?”
“That house.”
Ryan points to the house behind Esme and I feel my heart rate escalate to breaking point and I can’t decide whether I’m angrier at Ryan, or more intrigued at what he found.
He leans back and says incredulously, “It’s a sex house, isn’t it?”
“Ryan!”
I can’t believe my eyes and ears and feel it necessary to explain this away as something ordinary because surely, it’s no such thing, not here, not in Meadow Vale and not in full sight of our sparkling windows.
“Don’t be ridiculous, it’s probably a photographer’s studio, the black sheet is like one of those green screens and I’m sure it’s all perfectly innocent. What isn’t though, is how you got this footage, honestly Ryan, I thought we’d sorted this, what’s the matter with you?”
“I’m sorry mum.”
He says the words but I’m not feeling the remorse and I say icily, “We will talk about this when your father gets home. Until then, I want you to shut down this operation, immediately.”
“But…”
“No buts, it’s wrong, Ryan. Wrong on every level, and I thought you had learnt your lesson after the last time. You cannot go around infringing on people’s privacy like this. It’s against the law and carries a stiff penalty if you’re discovered. You were just lucky they dropped the charges the last time this happened and I’m afraid of your future if this is how you get your kicks.”
“What’s going on?”
Owen pokes his head around the door and sees the screen and his eyes widen. “Wow, let me see.”
“Shut it down at once, Ryan, I won’t tell you again.”
Luckily, Ryan knows better than to push his luck as Owen cries, “I never saw it, what is it, are there girls on it?”
“Owen, go to your room and don’t breathe a word about any of this, do you hear me?”
“But...”
“Owen!!!”
I yell at him so loudly the neighbours must hear me and he slams the door behind him, shouting, “I hate my life.”
I glare at Ryan angrily. “Now look what you’ve done, he’ll be in one of his moods and I’ll be the one who has to deal with it as usual. Now, clean up this room and I want to see the colour of this carpet in exactly thirty minutes time, while I think about your punishment.”
I storm out before he has a chance to argue and feel my nerves reach breaking point. I suppose I’m so angry with him I don’t even register what I saw. In fact, I don’t give it a second thought at all, explaining it away as just what I said. A photographer’s studio. No, the most important thing on my mind is discovering that my eldest son has learned nothing at all. He’s still at it and now I have serious concerns for his mental health. We need advice and fast.
* * *
If I thought Adrian would be any help at all, I was deluded because as soon as I fill him in, he is more interested in what Ryan found than the fact his son has broken the law—again.
“It’s all a bit weird if you ask me, maybe we should call the police.”
“And tell them what exactly, Adrian? That our son is secretly filming the neighbours and we discovered what appears to be a sex room in the house behind us. No, that is most definitely not an option because this is something that stops now. You must lay down the law to your son and confiscate that computer of his. He can’t get away with it again because if he continues, he will end up on the sex offenders register and be somebody’s bitch in Pentonville prison. Deal with it, Adrian, or I will.”
Adrian knows better than to say another word and leaves me fuming while he heads off to deal with our out-of-control son. As soon as he leaves the room, I sit with my head in my hands and try to get my breathing under control. Not again, please God, not again.
I can’t help the memory return as I remember why we moved here in the first place. A fresh start, new beginnings, and as far away from Norfolk as possible because Adrian’s new job was not by chance. He applied for the transfer for a very good reason—Ryan.
I will never forget that night when Sarah Havilland’s parents came around with harmful words and viscous expressions. It turned out that Ryan had been secretly filming their daughter in her room at night and had uploaded the video to his phone and was showing his friends in the playground. It was all around the school and they assured me they would have no hesitation in calling the police and prosecuting him for everything under the sun unless he deleted the video and issued an apology.
If I thought it strange that her parents weren’t taking it further, I didn’t dwell on it. My only concern was Ryan, and as the weeks went by, the fallout from the incident didn’t diminish. He now had a reputation that followed him, and it was hard to shake. What was once a popular student turned into a recluse, a loner, and so we decided to leave.
I thought he had learned his lesson. I thought we were over this, but now it’s all come back to bite us because it appears that Ryan learned nothing at all. The fact he even showed me makes me wonder about his sanity. Does he really not know that this is wrong?
Then again, what about his discovery? I know what I saw, and that was sinister to the extreme. I shudder to think what’s going on there and wonder what else is going on around me that I don’t know about.
The boys calling and