Chapter 29 – Otis #2
“Bring him here,” Kimber states. “Security is better. The press is going to be waiting for you both.”
“Will do. I’ll call you when I know the arrangements, okay?” I tell Kimber.
“Look after our boy,” Kimber says.
“I will.” And hang up the call. “Vincent,” looking over to him.
“I’m one step ahead of you,” Vincent replies. “Getting you on the next flight home.”
“How long do we have to wait?” I ask over to him.
“Couple hours, but I’m seeing if I can get a private jet quicker,” Vincent adds.
I need to get Jasper away from the track. Away from any prying eyes, but I also think that the press is already going to be circling to get a picture of him. Wanting a statement, and he’s not in a fit state to do so.
“We need to get Jasper away from here. Away from the press,” I state.
“At the moment it might be better if we stay here. The press can’t get back here,” Marcus replies.
“Okay,” I reply, turning my attention back to Jasper.
The rest of that afternoon went by in a blur.
Marcus tried to keep us updated with any information that was released, but my priority had been Jasper.
As the hours passed he became more and more quiet, and there was nothing I could do to help him.
I knew that he was hurting. Even after everything Clive put him through and put us through. Jasper had, at one point, loved Clive.
“How is he doing?” Kimber asks as I walk into the kitchen.
“Sleeping,” I confirm.
“I hate seeing him like this,” Kimber replies.
“Me too. But he needs to process this on his own time,” I tell her.
We’ve been back at Kimber’s for a week now, and Jasper is still quiet.
I’ve tried to give him space, but I know that I’m not able to stay here forever.
Vincent has confirmed that Jasper can take as much time as he needs.
He offered the same to me, but I told him that I need to keep going and that I would be at the race in the Netherlands at the end of the month.
“And you?” Kimber asks.
“I’m the same,” I confirm.
“Otis, I’m not sure if that is healthy,” Kimber says, concerned.
“I just can’t feel anything but relief. I know that it’s strange, and I wouldn’t have wished them dead, but they can’t hurt us anymore. They can’t hurt Jasper anymore, and that is all I care about.”
“As long as you’re sure,” Kimber pushes.
“I promise I’m okay,” I tell her.
I know that I have done nothing but cause my mum and Kimber to be worried about me over the last week.
They have been waiting for me to crumble, but it never happened.
What it did make me think is that even though I thought I loved Marj while we were dating, that my feelings weren’t that deep.
They were nowhere near what Jasper had felt for Clive.
Maybe this proved Mum right, that all along I was dating the wrong sex.
“Morning,” Jasper’s sleepy voice sounds behind us.
“Sorry, did we wake you?” I ask, as he comes over and gives me a kiss before going over to the kettle and turning it on.
“No, you didn’t,” Jasper confirms as he pulls a mug from one of the cupboards on the wall, opens another and takes out the coffee.
“Go back to bed if you’re still tired. I can bring you your coffee in bed,” I tell him.
Jasper doesn’t respond, but continues to make his coffee, and I don’t push him for an answer. I will just wait for him to tell me what he wants to do.
“Have we heard from Tina?” Jasper asks.
“Yeah, she texted. She wanted to know if you wanted the funereal details,” I tell him.
“No,” Jasper replies, “I don’t want to go near that man, even if he’s in a coffin.”
“Are you sure? It might give you a chance to say goodbye,” I say gently.
“Why would I need to say goodbye?” Jasper asks, looking confused at my statement.
“You did love Clive at one point,” I reply.
“But look at what he did to me. I should be relieved that everything is over,” Jasper adds.
“But you’re also allowed to be hurt,” I tell him.
“But I don’t want to be in pain over his death,” Jasper says, “I want to feel free that I never have to worry about him doing another story.”
“You will in time,” I tell him.
“So, do you think that we could maybe go see Tina?” Jasper asks.
“I can send her a text,” I tell him, and Jasper nods his head in agreement.
When we arrived in the UK, we had called Tina to see how she was doing and offered to come visit her, but she said that it was best to stay away. She explained that the press were camped outside her house. It had been hard, but we had agreed to stay away.
Pulling out my phone, I send Tina a quick text, explaining that Jasper is asking if we are able to visit now.
I want to add that I think that he wants to be in the presence of someone who might feel like him.
Someone who had loved Clive and wasn’t sure how to process their feelings, now that he was dead.
I keep everything crossed that Tina gets back to us quickly. I’m not sure how I’m going to cope if she isn’t able to get back to us for hours. I’m sure that she has a lot going on herself, but I mentally thank whichever deity was listening to me, when my phone beeps a few minutes later.
“What did she say?” Jasper asks.
“She says she’d like that, the kids would too,” I tell him.
“Great. I’m going to jump in the shower and then we can head off,” Jasper says as he picks up his coffee mug and walks out of the kitchen.
“You think this is a good idea?” Kimber asks when she is sure that Jasper can’t hear her.
“Yes, no. I don’t know, but I think Jasper needs this,” I tell her. “Tina and him share something we are never going to understand. Why don’t you come with us? I would love to introduce you. You’ll be able to judge for yourself what Tina is like.”
“You know, I think I will,” Kimber states.
Two hours later and we were pulling onto Tina’s street. She had sent me the address when I had texted her to say that we were leaving, and hoped that it was okay that Kimber was coming along with us. We’ve stopped at the bottom of the street looking at all the press that are camped outside.
“Fuck, look at all the press,” I mutter. “You’d think that they would be bored of this story by now.”
“There is no way that we’re going to be able to get past them,” Jasper confirms.
“Does she have an entrance at the back of the house we can use?” Kimber asks.
“Nope,” I confirm.
Pulling out my phone, I call Tina, who answers on the second ring. “Hey we’re here, not sure how to get past the press.”
“We can’t avoid them. I’ll open the door in a minute. Just pull onto the driveway and run into the house. It’s only the papers, the camera crews left a few days ago.”
Starting up the engine, we drive down the road and are pulling onto the drive as Tina opens the door. All of us rush out of the car and into the house, keeping our heads down.
“Vultures, all of them,” Jasper says as Tina closes the door.
“Yep,” Tina confirms, “but after the statement released by the police this morning, we are news again.”
“What statement?” I ask. Marcus hadn’t called us to tell us anything.
“News broke about an hour ago. The police have confirmed that Clive and Marj were drunk at the time of the accident. Clive was three times over the legal limit and driving. He lost control of the car, which caused the accident. They were killed instantly,” Tina explains.
“How could they be so stupid?” I mutter.
“Clive always said he could hold his drinks,” Tina replies. “To be honest, I’m amazed he hadn’t had an accident before now.”
“This could have been something much worse,” Tina adds. “The stretch of road they died on is busy during the day. The pair of them could’ve caused a huge crash if it had happened then.”
“Jesus Christ,” Jasper states. “The pair of them really didn’t care about anyone but themselves, did they?”
This is the first time since the news broke that Jasper’s voice hasn’t sounded sombre. It’s like this is the piece of news that he needed to hear. Maybe we all needed to hear.
“They didn’t,” Tina confirms, then pauses for a second, “I’m not going to his funeral.”
“You’re not?” Trying to hide the surprise in my voice, but failing.
“I thought about it. His parents are demanding that I bring the kids,” Tina starts, which causes both me and Jasper to say “No.”
“I’m not taking them. Eden doesn’t really understand, and Mason said he doesn’t want to go. I don’t want to stand there and pretend to mourn a man like Clive. We were divorced. He might have fathered my kids, but he wasn’t a dad to them. So, I decided I’m not going.”
Jasper goes over and pulls Tina into a hug, and as I look over to them, I see the pair of them healing and finally I feel that Jasper is going to be okay. That the Clive-shaped black cloud that had always been there will finally lift, and Jasper will be free.