Angela Alba’s having a baby Angela Alba lives in a small town, not so far away and she’s having a baby. Of that, there’s no doubt. All the tests in her white paper checklist have proved positive, and now, a few months down the line, she knows she’s going to give birth to a new life form. It’s all so very exciting, and Angela’s feeling pretty excited too. It will be a momentous day in her life and she knows it will change her perspectives and her ways of thinking forever. She also knows that after so many years of domestic abuse, she will finally be very happy. Angela has made a vow to herself and her unborn baby that she will do everything in her power to love him (or her) with as much mother’s love as she can. The baby will want for nothing and Angela will ensure that it gets all that it needs in support to ensure that it stands proud on its own two feet and look the world straight in the eye. These last few years have been a trial for Angela. Her husband, Jack Union (Angela had at least kept her dignity and her maiden name on marrying – but little else) is an abusive, boorish, uncaring man. He has often left Angela in the lurch by going on various boozy fuelled trips with his mates, in particular Sam Washington. Many is the time that Angela has heard that they’ve been involved in fights at various pubs – the latest one being a fracas in the Baghdad Arms. It came as no surprise to Angela that both Jack and Sam were no longer welcome at the Baghdad Arms – they’ve been banned from so many other pubs in town. Even the patience of the landlady of the European pub, Bea Russell, was wearing a bit thin, and she was on the verge of issuing a final warning to Jack Union, before excluding him entirely from her hostelry. Invariably too, Jack Union is an aggressive, selfish man. He keeps most of the money that he earns away from Angela in order to maintain his boozy, self-centred lifestyle. He rarely gives anything to her. Indeed, so uncaring is he towards his partner, that Jack Union is not averse to taking her money too, leaving Angela poor and upset at home. Far too often, Angela is also the victim of domestic violence at the hands of Jack Union. Angelas thought of leaving her abusive husband on many occasions. In 1979, she had attempted to break free of him, but through a cunning ruse and frightening her into thinking that she couldn’t live without him, Jack Union had ‘persuaded’ Angela to stay. Then, in 1997, after years of neglect, Jack bought Angela a new kitchen. Doubtless, he thought he was being very magnanimous towards his wife. But Angela saw things differently. Yes, the kitchen was a boon, it was a place of her own where she could do her own thing and think her own thoughts, but in reality it only served as a place where she continued cooking and slaving for her husband. She was not truly free of his influence even then, not independent, and invariably if Angela did something wrong in the kitchen – burning Jack’s toast, for example – Jack would bawl at her for being ‘too weak, too poor, too stupid.’ She couldn’t even get such basic things right, he’d shout. He would then storm out of the house and join Sam Washington in a local bar and get drunk, all the while decrying Angela. Angelas by now convinced that her relationship with Jack Union has broken down irretrievably. Their partnership is no longer one of two equals – if it ever was. She wants a divorce and she wants one quickly. But she’s also sensible enough to realise that she has to insist on her fair share of the assets of their marriage. She has consulted her good friend, Nicola, a specialist in family law, and she has advised Angela how best to go about it. Although she’s now pregnant, Angela can’t see that the baby will change anything or bring both her and Jack Union together. It’s gone too far for that, and indeed, knowing her husband’s behaviour, Angela’s aware that he didn’t want this baby . Jack Unions associating with Beattie, who has made a name for herself as ‘the village bike.’ She takes on all-comers, though it seems that Jack Union is her favourite ‘client.’ She’s a crabby, embittered woman (not unlike her sisters, Johann and Margaret) and is jealous of the fact that Angela Alba’s pregnant. Her own son, George London, has gone south and made a name for himself as a banker someplace in the City, where he has retained many of his mother’s egotistical characteristics. He has never given the town a second thought since as he has pursued his own selfish goals – but he has retained the affections of and for his mother, Beattie. This is only to be expected, but Beattie and her son still seem to be linked by an invisible umbilical chord, years after the latter’s birth. Beattie will have strong words with Jack Union about Angela’s forthcoming delivery. There are those in the little town who whisper darkly that Beattie and Jack are already conspiring to ensure that Angela abort the foetus before the end of her term or that they are trying to induce her to miscarry. There must be some truth in this, as both Jack Union and Beattie are often seen leaping out of the shadows, projecting fear onto poor Angela. But Angela is a resilient character. And aided and counselled by her good friend and lawyer, Nicola, who along with other members of the latters legal partnership of Jenkins, Canavan and Salmond LLP, is helping her maintain her dignity through it all. Angela Alba will stand tall, look the bullies in the eye, give birth in nine months time to a bonny, wee baby, divorce her husband and make a new life for herself and her offspring. The rest of the little town will be so happy for her – she will truly be an independent woman, and be free of the machinations of her soon to be ex-husband, Jack Union. Both he and Beattie will be run out of town. ______ (c) Siôn Rees Williams 2012-2014 All rights reserved
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 14:03:38 +0000
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