Puppy Love That Shattered Her LIfe

By A K Francis

"Puppy Love That Shattered Her Life"

 

This novel is based on a true story of Claudia Peterson (Name Changed) who is the daughter of British parents who chose to settle down in Mumbai after Indian Independence.

 

Claudia's father was martyred fighting for the British against the Japanese in Burma.

 

Her four elder brothers were sparingly educated and alcoholics.

 

Claudia had a difficult childhood and adolescence. She had to approach blood relations and friends alike asking for financial support.

 

At a very young age of seventeen she takes up a job alongside men in a corrugated carton factory in Mumbai.

 

Because of her constant contact with several young men she gets pregnant. She keeps this a secret to herself and quietly marries a young handsome boy of French parentage.

 

When the first child is born before time, there is a disturbance in the relationship between her husband and herself. Her husband is sure that he is not the father of the child born.

 

Hence there are regular quarrels and fights between her husband and her. This results in frequent domestic violence in which Claudia is injured and bruised several times.

 

The relationship between Claudia's husband and her is that of a love and hate.

 

After several fights and serious domestic issues Claudia finally separates from her husband. Meanwhile she has a second child, a daughter from her husband. Her husband keeps the daughter with himself and turns our Claudia and her illegitimate son.

 

The biological father of her son now marries her and they start living happily.

 

This happiness does not last long. Her son meets with an accident in the garden in which he is crushed below a climbing frame. He is crippled for life and dies shortly.

 

After the death of her son, her second husband leaves her and disappears.

 

Again her first husband comes back and accepts her into his life.

 

Read on to see the other drama of love, hate, friendship and enmity unfold in Claudia's life.

 

You are welcome to share your feedback with me after reading at the email address given below.

 

A K Francis

 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: A K Francis
• Release date: May 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201113117

Book preview

Puppy Love That Shattered

Her Life

(Based On a True Story)

By

A K Francis

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Text Copyright© with Author

All Rights Reserved

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Dedicated to my parents, teachers and my beloved wife Farzana

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents

PREFACE

FAMILY BACKGROUND AND LOCATION

GROWING DAYS

RELATIONSHIP WITH ADOLESCENT BOYS AND MEN

JOB AT CARTON FACTORY

CLAUDIA’S MARRIAGE

FIRST CHILD WITHIN NINE MONTHS

GALVIN’S FIRST BIRTHDAY.

SPOILT RELATIONSHIP DUE TO DOUBT ABOUT THE BIOLOGICAL FATHER OF THE CHILD

MOTHER AND CHILD BEATEN AND TORTURED

SEPARATION WITH GILBERT

CLAUDIA’S RELATIONSHIP WITH RUSSELL IS REINSTATED.

CLAUDIA GETS MARRIED TO RUSSELL

HONEYMOON IN GOA

THE DAY AFTER THE SECOND HONEY MOON

GALVIN MEETS WITH ACCIDENT AT THE GARDEN.

THE FATEFUL DAY.

THE DEATH OF GALVIN

CLAUDIA’S HUSBAND RUSSELL LEAVES HER AND GOES TO WORK AT PUNE.

RUSSELL FILES FOR DIVORCE WITH CLAUDIA.

GILBERT AND FLORENCE CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS WITH CLAUDIA

THE DIVORCE BETWEEN RUSSELL AND CLAUDIA IS FINALLY OFFICIAL

A NEW HAPPY PHASE WITH HUSBAND GILBERT AND DAUGHTER FLORENCE

PREFACE

The story is based on my own observations and information received from my friend George and his wife Lily who are family friends of Claudia for over ten years. 

The novel is meant to make you rewind and relax. Though there are romantic scenes that normally take place in a family, I have tried not to introduce deliberate swift turns in the plot and violence to avoid a surge in adrenaline.

The novel may not be suitable for people below age 18 years.

Enjoy the novel over a period of two to three weekends and rewind yourself.

The Petersons used to stay in a house possessed by them before 1947. Claudia’s father was a soldier in the British Army who died in action. After 1947 her mother chose to stay on in India with her four children, Claudia and her three elder brothers. The eldest brother was Robert, followed by Robin and then Charlie. 

The eldest son Robert was hardly ten years old. Hence Mrs. Peterson had to fend for herself. She took up a job at a boarding school for boys at Panchgani about two hundred fifty kilometers from Bombay.

The children used to stay at Colaba by themselves.

Time passed unnoticed. Mrs. Peterson had to leave the job due to ill health. Her sons were not educated. They knew good English as it was their mother tongue. Mrs. Peterson had also taught them to write well. They could not get good jobs. Hence they started doing odd jobs. The eldest son Robert specialized as a Chimney Sweep. He used to be paid well; but he got work only during maintenance time in mills of Bombay. The other two brothers Robin and Charlie started working in Automobile Garages. 

All the three brothers took to regular drinking.

Robin and Charlie got married and moved out. Robert chose to stay with Mrs. Peterson and his sister Claudia. All was well for some years till Claudia grew up to be an adolescent. 

Around age twelve Claudia started moving out alone by herself. As she was a blonde she did not face any difficulty in making several friends among young boys and men. She made many friends both among Anglo Indians and locals.

Mrs. Peterson started having a difficult time making ends meet. Both Mrs. Peterson and Robert started taking advantage of the good relationship which Claudia built with boys and men. They often asked her to borrow money from her male friends which they never returned. 

Claudia was badly exploited and abused by her friends who lent her money. 

Time passed swiftly.

Claudia got married to an Anglo Indian handsome boy named Gilbert who was sparsely educated but handsome. 

All of Claudia’s major troubles started after this marriage. 

She has two children. Gilbert keeps the second child a girl with him and sends away Claudia and the elder son.

Read on to see how and why she was thrown out by her husband, gets married for the second time to Russell and faces every other difficulty in life later on.

While staying with her second husband her son Galvin meets with a serious accident while playing in the garden and is crippled for life. Galvin dies soon after.

Her second husband Russell distances himself from Claudia after Galvin’s death and finally divorces her.

Russell who is Claudia’s second child Florence’s father mends the relationship with Claudia and they start staying together as husband and wife.

Read on and enjoy every moment in Claudia’s life which is a story of exploitation, abuse and victimization by all and sundry.

See how Claudia faces every situation with silent resilience and overcomes every adversity in life.

You are invited cordially to leave your valuable reviews and comments after reading it. Your suggestions are most welcome which will be implemented in my future publications.

Hope you will enjoy the story.

Author,

A K Francis

BACK TO T.O.C.

FAMILY BACKGROUND AND LOCATION

George got married in 1983 and came to stay in building number 45 at Colaba in Bombay with his newlywed wife Lily. 

He is 27 years old and his wife Lily is 21. They are staying on the first floor. 

Every morning George leaves for work at 9:30 am. He works at Bombay Fort Area as clerk. After finishing his morning routine He is in the habit of standing in the corridor of the building and smoke a cigarette, watching at the traffic below and people walking on the footpath.

Yesterday and Today He saw an Englishman walking on the footpath holding the hand of a young blonde girl. 

He called his wife Lily and told her about the blonde girl and the Englishman. 

Lily : They may be tourists. Why are you concerned?

George : I am not concerned. I just mentioned you what I saw. I felt something odd because I felt that they are not tourists. 

Lily : Why?

George : Because within ten minutes they both return to the same direction from where they come. I feel they may be staying here. I would be happy to have English friends. I like their language and mannerisms.

Lily : Hope they come up one day to see you.

After this conversation for about eight to ten days they did not see the blonde girl and the Englishman.

Then today morning George saw them again. Today they looked up at him and came on the first floor. He saw the Englishman coming directly towards him. He was taken aback for a moment; but did not show it. 

He came close to George and said,

"Sir I see you daily standing in the corridor and smoking cigarette. How are you? I am Robert Peterson and this young blonde is my sister Claudia Peterson. Can I borrow a cigarette from you if you don’t mind? 

George pulled out the packet of Four Square cigarettes from his pajama pocket, opened it and offered it to him. Robert pulled out one cigarette and lit it with his own lighter.

George : I am George. I stay here with my wife Lily. We have shifted here only last month. 

Robert : Very nice for us. We now have good English speaking friends to talk to.

George : Welcome Robert. I am home by eight in the evening. You are welcome to come and share a cup of tea with me when I come.

Robert : Thank you very much George. I will come in the evening today. My sister Claudia though will be here later in the day to chat with your wife. I hope you don’t mind. 

George : No Robert, not at all. My wife too will feel better. Otherwise she feels lonely the whole day.

This conversion was the start of a long relationship between the Petersons family and George and his wife Lily. 

This relationship went through many pitfalls but lasted due to the need of support which the Petersons family always felt and Lily’s friendly nature. 

CLAUDIA BECAMES A PART OF GEORGE’S EXTENDED FAMILY.

Every evening when George came back from work he saw Claudia in their house either having some tidbits or chatting with his wife. He also had a fifteen inch black and white television which his wife and Claudia both enjoyed watching. Most of the programs were in Hindi. But that did not matter because both of them knew Hindi very well.

George and wife got so used to the presence of Claudia that her absence started disturbing them. She used to be a very good listener. She asked favors so sweetly that they could never refuse to oblige. The favors she asked were small; something to eat, or five or ten rupees for pocket money. They would always oblige. 

THE FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN ROBERT AND GEORGE.

As days and months passed Robert came over to their place several times for a cup of tea and for chatting with them. He was very gentlemanly. George liked to talk to him because just like Claudia he too was a very good listener. 

George too visited the Petersons quite a few times. A couple of times Robert offered him Fenny (Liquor from Goa distilled out of Cashew Fruit). George enjoyed it and he relished their friendship.

Meanwhile Claudia was growing up. She is now fourteen years old. Being a blonde of British parentage she looks quite big for her age and also very beautiful. This is the main cause of all her troubles.

BACK TO T.O.C.

GROWING DAYS

The year is 1983. Claudia is now an adolescent blonde of seventeen. 

George and Lily have no children as yet. They have started missing Claudia already because she has reduced the number of visits to their house. On a couple of occasions George and Lily went to the Petersons to check on what is wrong. Whenever they visited Claudia was not at home. Mrs. Peterson told them that she must be with her neighborhood friends. 

George has started guessing that something is not very right with Claudia; because on several occasions he has seen her walking on the other side of the road with adolescent boys of her age or older. He has started feeling that she must have found some friends who must be helping her with money and gifts. He thought it is fine for youngsters to behave that way. So he really didn’t mind and didn’t care.

BACK TO T.O.C.

RELATIONSHIP WITH ADOLESCENT BOYS AND MEN

Now it is about three months that Claudia has not visited them. George is annoyed and worried at the same time. This is because he knows that due to their poor financial situation Claudia is a soft target for exploitation. But because the matter does not pertain directly to his own family he has remained quite so long.

He learned from his wife, who heard from other neighbors that Claudia has been dating more than two boys of the neighborhood. These boys have been taking her out to movies and restaurants. 

She is being seen often with one particular boy who works in a garage nearby. His name is Gilbert. Though George has never met him he can easily say from his skin color that he is an Anglo Indian with British descent. 

The location is Claudia’s house down the lane.

Today is Sunday. The time is 11 in the morning. Mrs. Peterson has already made tea. She is now making something for breakfast. The sweet smell tells that it is bread roasted after dipping in a solution of milk and beaten eggs. They call it bread roast. 

Robert is sitting in the corridor and sipping tea. 

Claudia has gone out to buy some groceries and chicken. She is out for nearly two hours. She had gone out at 9 in the morning. Whenever she gets a chance to go out she invariably visits Gilbert and spends some time at his place. Mrs. Peterson and Robert don’t mind it because they don’t find anything wrong in it. Moreover they are also obliged to Gilbert because he has been helping them with money whenever need arose. 

Mrs. Peterson suddenly calls out to Robert.

Mrs. Peterson : Robert, come and see what your sister is up to.

Robert : Maa, Claudia is out for buying groceries. How the hell she can trouble you?

Mrs. Peterson : She is more than troubling me. You come and see what I found in her purse. This girl is careless. 

Robert rushes in and sees Mrs. Peterson holding Claudia’s purse in her hand. He pulls the purse from her hand and peers inside.

Robert : Maa, these are the fucking condoms Maa, what makes you worry so much. You should be happy that she is at least careful about what she is doing. Not like you. 

Mrs.