Call Me Cruel Read Online Free Page B
sheâd been brought up by Louisa and Maxine Cahill, the hold-up and the counselling sheâd had afterwards, and a policeman sheâd gone out with for a short time until something happened at work; one night he had pulled out his gun and threatened her. Another boyfriend, she said, had been violent towards her. She appeared to have got over these experiences and was generally bright and bubbly, which Sean liked. At times, though, there was something a little forced in her cheerfulness, and occasionally sheâd become angry for no apparent reason. But these were only minor things.
By April 2001 they had left Melbourne and were living together in a flat at Erina. Kylieâs relations with her family picked up, and now Sean and she spent time with Louisa, Carol, Leanne and her two young daughters, and Michael. In Melbourne Kylie had been concerned about what he would think of her family. His own was intact and pretty typical, while hers, obviously, was not. But at Erina they got on well enough: each side made an effort, and Sean soon felt accepted.
He discovered Kylie didnât have any friends on the Coast, or even in Sydney. She told him everyone sheâd been to school with was either dead or in prison. This solitariness was unusual but had its benefits for a sailorâs wife: Kylie was independent and happy to fit in with Seanâs postings around the country, at least in those early days. Not all partners were so flexible.
Kylie got a job at a nursing home in North Sydney, and Sean was stationed at HMAS Penguin , conveniently nearby in Mosman. She would turn up at the base during the day and sometimes in the evening, expecting to be able to hang out with him. This was unusual and he had to explain that she couldnât come to his work all the time because he was getting in trouble. She had difficulty understanding this and they argued.
As Sean got to know Kylie better, he found she had a frustrated desire to help people. Whenever she met anyone of any age who was in some sort of strife, sheâd do her best to assist them, sometimes even taking on too much. At work she would ring patients once their treatment was finished to see how they were. Once she got to know Seanâs family, she took an interest and would call them on their birthdays. At Erina she would sometimes look after Leanneâs girls and buy them presents. Sean found all this very appealing. She began to talk about studying to become a registered nurse. She hadnât done it before because sheâd thought she wouldnât be able to handle the demands of university, but the more she worked in nursing homes, the more confident she became. She was fascinated by people in uniform, and gradually her desire to become a nurse grew.
As they became closer, Kylie told Sean more about her unstable upbringing, which included plenty of experience of violence and other effects of alcoholism. She still seemed to resent her mother for what she had done, although she didnât talk about it much. As he came to love her she seemed happier, and he wanted to make her contented, to give her a settled home. They decided to get married, and to announce this at Kylieâs twenty-first birthday party in September 2001.
Kylie wore a dark-blue satin dress for the event; her hair was dyed a light blonde and elaborately teased into curls. She looked happy but also a little startled, as though nervous at being the centre of attention. Compared with his wedding photo of some twenty-eight years earlier, John hadnât changed much, at least outwardly. The warmth was still in his eyes, but if you looked carefully, the confidence of his earlier years was diminished. Heâd remarried and just come through a bad divorce, the emotional effects putting him into South Pacific Private Hospital for a while at the beginning of the year. But he was getting over it now, and for the next six years would work part-time as a volunteer in the hospital,
By April 2001 they had left Melbourne and were living together in a flat at Erina. Kylieâs relations with her family picked up, and now Sean and she spent time with Louisa, Carol, Leanne and her two young daughters, and Michael. In Melbourne Kylie had been concerned about what he would think of her family. His own was intact and pretty typical, while hers, obviously, was not. But at Erina they got on well enough: each side made an effort, and Sean soon felt accepted.
He discovered Kylie didnât have any friends on the Coast, or even in Sydney. She told him everyone sheâd been to school with was either dead or in prison. This solitariness was unusual but had its benefits for a sailorâs wife: Kylie was independent and happy to fit in with Seanâs postings around the country, at least in those early days. Not all partners were so flexible.
Kylie got a job at a nursing home in North Sydney, and Sean was stationed at HMAS Penguin , conveniently nearby in Mosman. She would turn up at the base during the day and sometimes in the evening, expecting to be able to hang out with him. This was unusual and he had to explain that she couldnât come to his work all the time because he was getting in trouble. She had difficulty understanding this and they argued.
As Sean got to know Kylie better, he found she had a frustrated desire to help people. Whenever she met anyone of any age who was in some sort of strife, sheâd do her best to assist them, sometimes even taking on too much. At work she would ring patients once their treatment was finished to see how they were. Once she got to know Seanâs family, she took an interest and would call them on their birthdays. At Erina she would sometimes look after Leanneâs girls and buy them presents. Sean found all this very appealing. She began to talk about studying to become a registered nurse. She hadnât done it before because sheâd thought she wouldnât be able to handle the demands of university, but the more she worked in nursing homes, the more confident she became. She was fascinated by people in uniform, and gradually her desire to become a nurse grew.
As they became closer, Kylie told Sean more about her unstable upbringing, which included plenty of experience of violence and other effects of alcoholism. She still seemed to resent her mother for what she had done, although she didnât talk about it much. As he came to love her she seemed happier, and he wanted to make her contented, to give her a settled home. They decided to get married, and to announce this at Kylieâs twenty-first birthday party in September 2001.
Kylie wore a dark-blue satin dress for the event; her hair was dyed a light blonde and elaborately teased into curls. She looked happy but also a little startled, as though nervous at being the centre of attention. Compared with his wedding photo of some twenty-eight years earlier, John hadnât changed much, at least outwardly. The warmth was still in his eyes, but if you looked carefully, the confidence of his earlier years was diminished. Heâd remarried and just come through a bad divorce, the emotional effects putting him into South Pacific Private Hospital for a while at the beginning of the year. But he was getting over it now, and for the next six years would work part-time as a volunteer in the hospital,
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