Forgive me for my recent silence. An injury has prevented me from typing, but today I have a scribe – my beautiful sister, Ellie – and I feel compelled to write about truth, because “truth” surpasses all other qualities in terms of its importance within a relationship.
How often have you excused a small omission, a white lie or a twisted version of the truth on the grounds that, ‘what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him’?
This is not just about lies. It’s about the absence of truth. Failing to be open and honest at any level is as damaging as a lie; secrets and deceit will ultimately undermine a relationship’s stability, durability and longevity.
Friedrich Nietzsche said, “I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that from now on I can’t believe you.”
Honesty and trust go hand in hand. Once a lie has been told, deception practised or truth omitted, trust is destroyed. Some say that love is giving someone the power to break your heart, but trusting them not to. So without trust, what happens to love?
Never hide the truth from someone you care about. It is an act of cowardice that serves only to weaken and damage.
“There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.” Buddha
For the first time since the day of Sean’s death and Leo’s accident, Ellie felt the remnants of her optimistic nature fighting their way back to the surface. Perhaps it was because Leo was showing signs of returning to normal. This was the first time she’d displayed any interest in updating her blog since the accident, and her words were so appropriate that Ellie couldn’t help wishing that Leo had written the post sooner – and insisted that they all read it.
Or perhaps the improvement in the weather was making her feel more cheerful. It had been vile - constant rain, and not what anybody could call summer. But today, for a change, the sun was shining. Ellie took two cups of cappuccino out into the garden, and put one down on the table close to Leo on her right side. Her left arm was in a sling. As Mimi had catapulted forward through the gap in the seats, her knife had gone straight through Leo’s hand and the damage still needed some further treatment.
‘Did you manage to sleep any better last night?’ Ellie asked her sister.
‘Not really. I don’t want to start taking sleeping tablets, though, because I’m sure I’d get hooked and we know what problems that can cause. I’ve never been the world’s best sleeper, so while I can I’ll doze on and off throughout the day. I’ll be fine.’
‘Does your hand hurt much now? I can probably get Sam to prescribe you something for the pain, if you like.’
‘Yes it hurts. But it does serve as a reminder that I actually killed somebody, and I think I need that.’
Ellie looked at her in astonishment.
‘Leo, what you did was incredibly brave. Mimi would have killed you. You didn’t have a choice. She’d already murdered Sean, and tried to kill Gary. And we mustn’t forget that Mimi had already killed one daughter, and got pretty close to killing the other one.’
‘Do you think she really would have killed Abbie? I know she managed to get as far as her hospital bed - but would she have gone through with it?’
‘I guess that’s something we’ll never know. She had a lot to lose if her daughter lived, and apparently Abbie had made it abundantly clear that she was horrified at the thought of having Mimi back in her life.’
‘At least Abbie’s recovered,’ Leo said. ‘Do you think she’s going to be okay?’
‘She’s traumatised, and not for the first time in her young life. Kath says she was terrified when she found out who ‘Chloe’s mum’ really was. She’d been told she would never have to see her birth mother again after her tortuous early years. And if that wasn’t enough, then that bastard Gary knocked her over.’
Ellie was glad that the whole episode had given Penny the strength to kick Gary out. She’d said that when she realised she was more concerned about Smudge’s recovery than Gary’s, she knew it was time to say goodbye. And Leo had provided Penny with a whole host of contacts to help her to deal with the inevitable aftermath of so many years of abuse.