My partner just never come home
Alex had always been there for Kellie and the kids so when her partner went missing one day, an unfathomable mystery began.
“It’s OK”, the policeman had said on the phone. “If you tell us where your partner is, we don’t need to tell anyone”. They didn’t believe I didn’t know where he was, but then nor did Alex’s mother; I could hear it in her voice. ‘”Are you sure he hasn’t gone off with someone else” friends would ask. The truth was, after a month of worry and sleepless nights, I had no idea where my partner had gone.
Alex and I had been together six years, had three beautiful children, Nirvana, 5, Ozzie 4, and Pheonix 2 and for the most part had been really happy. Of course we had our ups and downs, we’d even split up for a while last November when things got tough. Alex had moved in with his mother for a bit, but by January we were working things out. It was February when he went missing. He was staying over at his mums but was supposed to be taking the kids to school that day. He never turned up. It had never happened before so I assumed he’d just overslept or something. I phoned his mobile and his mother’s house, but got no reply. I was sure there was some rational explanation, so cancelled my doctor’s appointment and took the kids to school myself. A few days later I was really starting to worry. After a week I was thinking the worst.
The kids began to feel unsettled too, began getting up in the night where they never had before. Ozzie started wetting the bed, would cry that it was my fault that his Dad had gone. Nirvana blamed herself. Alex had told her off before he left, so she told my parents he’d gone because of her. I tried to reassure them, but we were all beside ourselves.
I often imagined he was dead, it’s hard not to think that way when someone goes missing, but something told me I’d know if he was.
It was a week before my birthday at the end of April when I finally heard the news. Alex had been missing three months. “I’ve seen him”, his sister told me on the phone. “He’s on his way over to you now.” I waited and waited, my heart in my mouth, but he never turned up.
Of course I was relieved to know he was alive, but when you don’t know what’s going to happen next, it’s hard to not be anxious.
I guess that’s why I called up Foxy radio that week, to speak to the show’s psychic Valetin. “He’ll come home soon”, he told me. “It wasn’t his fault. He had to go away but he still loves you.”
Two days later Alex came home. I was all a bit awkward when he first arrived, my mother was there and I was really anxious. But then he stayed with us, in the spare room. Obviously I asked him what had happened. He just said that he couldn’t tell me exactly. The worst part was that the kids were all over him like a rash and ignored me completely. It was as if I was invisible.
I’m not sure if something happened to him or he witnessed something, but whatever it was I could see it had messed with his head.
On the 5th of June he went missing again, this time for two months. When he came back on the 7th of August he told me he’d been ill with a bad chest, hadn’t wanted the children to see him like that. He stayed home for 2 weeks, then left again.
The kids have been fine since he came back the first time and somehow I’ve managed to find peace too, just learned how to go with the flow. I could be angry of course, but the way I see it there’s no point in building hatred towards him, I’d just make myself ill.
The strange thing is that it’s so out of character for him, it’s like the aliens abducted him or something. I know he’s not with another woman or anything but it’s hard to understand what is actually going on in his head. For someone who used to be there day in day out for his kids, he’s done a total U-turn.
I wont leave it unspoken forever though. At some point I’ll press the issue, because obviously there’s something that needs to be addressed. I’m pretty sure he’ll be back for Pheonix’s birthday later this month, but for now, the way I see it is, he’s got a problem that he needs to deal with himself. Hopefully he just taking the time he needs to do just that.
[ends]