Caged & Framed: Part One

James inhaled frost. It tasted disgusting. Throat burning, fingers twitching he let himself into his house for the first time in seven years. An overload of leaflets and envelopes greeted his feet. He kicked them out the way and locked the door behind him. A picture of a blonde girl suntanning in Thailand caught his eye.

James and Halie were due to be married and spend the rest of their lives in Tenerife. They should have been living the dream. Fate had other plans. The engagement ring on the step was a painful reminder of what could have been.

It wasn't the dust that overwhelmed him, but the memories of the good times. The tiny kitchen where James and Halie had their greasy takeaways. Pizza boxes and beer cans overflowing on the table.

He dreaded the mouldy delights behind the fridge. All his ex-girlfriends complained about the mess he made. Even his son used to call him a scruff. To this day, he still didn't understand what caused Halie to go to the police. What was going on in her head to make her lie the way that she did?

He went over to the sofa with the thoughts running through his head. Skin strained from the cold, he stood up to his heater under the stairs. As he waited for his house to warm up, his eyes caught attention to the bars on the staircase. Flashbacks of prison blues froze him again. A wise person said to him that time was the best healer, but the wounds still hurt. Seven was meant to be a lucky number, but it brought him pain. Halie broke up with him on the 1st of July. He was arrested July 7th. James spent seven years as a misfit in prison.

Comparing himself to the mirror and how he looked in an old photograph, he saw two different people. The newer him was slimmer than his past chubby self. That was when he decided that enough was enough.

Once his phone was fully charged, he tried calling his relatives to let him know he was safe. Neither his mother nor his father answered the phone. His son, Leonard hung up the moment he realised it was him talking. The family that was meant to take his side and support him through the thick and thin believed the lies about him instead of listening to his side of the story.

That hurt him more than what Halie did. It was not her that was raped, it was him. Even the solicitor laughed in his face. He had no chance. Every thought about the past made him shiver. He knew it was time to put it behind him.

A part of him told himself that he was better off without him, but there was another part that wanted his family back into his life. Leonard was a mummy's boy, always wearing the same brand clothes as Halie, but

He promised himself he would clear the house, get rid of his old clothes and made room for the new James O'Quinn. Seven was going to be his lucky number. Browsing through his phone, he found one last relative that he could contact: his Uncle John who always used to smuggle him out on day-trips when he was grounded. The only one who visited him in jail.

"John!" James said with a smile on his face. He rammed the phone close to his ear. "It's me, I'm finally out."

John's voice had softened with age. "Good for you. You should never have been there in the first place. How are you feeling?"

"So much to take in."

"Well, a lot has changed in seven years, sweetie."

"Tell me about it: I've never known it to be so cold before."

"And by the way: my name's Heather now..."