The Men's Camp

Chapter 22 Maria - Sue's relapse

Sue was not around much for the next few weeks, she was with Ben all the time. The mothers were delighted for her.

Finally, they said to each other, she's found a good man.

But when Ollie came to school late or not at all, and he looked tired and dirty, the gossip turned and there were whispers of drugs and parties. Eventually, when Ollie stopped coming to school, Maria decided to pay Sue a visit and find out what was going on. She felt responsible for the situation and she was concerned that Ben might be mistreating Sue in some way.

As she walked up the path to Sue's house, Maria noticed how miserable the garden looked. The lawn was overgrown, and weeds were everywhere. She knocked at the door and waited. The door was slightly ajar.

"Sue? Are you home?"

Maria pushed the door a bit further open. The house was a mess. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she saw that someone was sitting on the sofa in the lounge room. Without hesitation Maria headed over to Sue who was wrapped in a blanket and staring into space.

"Sue? The front door was open, and I wanted to see if you..."

Sue turned slowly to face Maria. She was ashen and sickly looking. Maria could see she was hungover or worse.

"Where's Ollie?"

"Ollie is gone. His father took him away. This house, it was for Ollie but now it is going to be sold so I'm leaving too. Ben and I are..." The rest of her speech was fairly incoherent. Maria listened to her for a while. Sue had strong grudges and was angry about her life. It wasn't long before Maria decided to leave. This was not the Sue she knew anymore, but was the old Sue, the one who used drugs and had no empathy for anyone else.

"You never did find my Bella, did you?" Sue spat out. "You just went and had your own lovely family and forgot all about mine. Well, thanks for nothing."

Maria felt stabbed to the heart. She had thought about Bella for years and wondered about her fate. When she met up with Sue again years later with a new life, Maria felt so guilty about Bella that she over-compensated with invitations and kind gestures to try and make up for everything. Now Sue was throwing it back at her and making her feel like she was somehow responsible for not finding her child.

"Sue, we tried so hard." Maria tried to explain. "Why are you doing this?"

Sue looked at Maria with anger blazing in her eyes.

"I am sick of you and those other mothers treating me like a charity case. I am not your friend and I don't need you to make over my life. I don't want to be like you, and I will never be like you!"

Maria stood up quickly and backed out of the room.