Pat Ritter. Books

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'Confessions of an alcoholic' - Page 29:

He manoeuvred up the front stairs and held onto the railing to steady him from falling over; he stepped up inside of the house. Inside is a long hallway leading to his bedroom. Now stand up straight and walk to your bedroom without staggering and you should be alright, he thought and attempted to walk unnoticed toward his bedroom.
He was doing okay until, he noticed in the light at the far end of the hallway, a silhouette of a person, who reminded him of his father. It was his father. He continued to attempt the journey toward his bedroom which was only a few more steps, when he heard his father call out to his mother, ‘Hey Mum your son’s home and he’s drunk.’ He was 'laughing aloud as he called out and continued to 'laugh seeing it as a joke.
Bundy felt embarrassed by what his father said. He finally got to his bedroom falling on top and wanted to forget all that had happened to him that afternoon. Drinking beer had made him happy, but also it had made him feel sick and sorry.
Many a time, he witnessed his father in the same state of intoxication and felt it was odd of his father, not to say anything to him about drinking alcohol.
He was only fifteen years old. Bundy went off to sleep hoping the bedroom would soon stop spinning.
Bundy loved his father, but he found it extremely hard at times when his father came home drunk from a night of drinking. It was always late when he came home. His father always worked during the week, not drinking alcohol, but made up for it on the weekends.

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He was the eldest in his family of himself and two sisters. He also loved his mother who always felt compelled to make excuses for his father’s drinking. She’d always tell Bundy, ‘He’ll be alright in the morning when he sleeps it off.’
Sunday was always a sobering day for all the family. Bundy wanted so much for his father not to drink, but he couldn’t do anything to make him stop drinking. After his father arrived home drunk from the hotel, at times there were arguments between his parents, which was loud enough to awaken the children. These arguments continued until his father fell to sleep. The following morning no mention was made of his father’s behaviour or of the arguments.
Bundy was a timid person; he resented violence of any kind. When angrily confronted by any person he quickly went into a defensive mode, shutting down all forms of security to protect him against violence. He hated any type of confrontation. During his adolescents he tried in vain to learn self-defence by taking boxing lessons but to no avail. Each time he sparred with an opponent, he’d freeze frightened he would be hurt, or hurt his opponent. He didn’t have the heart or the courage to face conflict.
Bundy rather than argue would prefer to talk his way out of an argument than become involved in one. He was that type of individual. He felt, because he was the eldest in the family, he needed to find a solution to protect his mother and sisters from any arguments or harm, which may come to them, when his father came home from the hotel, drunk. He didn’t know what to do.

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One night his father arrived home late at night from the hotel, drunk. He overheard his parents arguing. Bundy was in bed and awakened by the arguments. Suddenly, he heard his mother shouting she was leaving. He heard footsteps run down the hallway, and out of the front of the house. His father yelled for her to stop.
Bundy got out of bed and quickly dressed. He left his bedroom; his father was standing at the front door, looking out into the street. Bundy rushed past his father standing in the doorway, and said to his father, ‘I’ll go after her.’ His father allowed Bundy out of the house to look for his mother.
His father’s car was parked on the street. Bundy looked inside of the car and saw the keys were still in the ignition. He opened the driver’s door, quickly seating himself behind the steering wheel. There was one problem; Bundy had never learnt how to drive a car.
He’d seen his father drive many times before and remembered to push his foot onto the clutch pedal, depressing it to the floor, he switched the ignition on to fire up the motor. To his amazement the motor burst into action. He moved the gear stick into a gear, not quite certain which one it was, at the same time releasing the clutch with his foot. He felt the car move off.
With his right foot he depressed the accelerator as the car moved off from the parked position. He couldn’t tell what time it was, but it must have been late, because thankfully there wasn’t any traffic on the streets. As he manoeuvred the car down the street, he sighted his mother walking alongside of the road. Bundy stopped the car and called to his mother to get inside the car. She opened the door to see it was Bundy, and said, ‘When did you learn how to drive a car?’

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‘I haven’t yet.’ he told her, as she sat beside him in the front seat of the car. He was about to drive off, when he released the clutch too soon, and caused the vehicle to stall. It stalled on the road at a steep climb. Bundy didn’t know what to do. He’d seen his father clutch start the car before, by leaving the ignition on, and placed the car into reverse gear, releasing the clutch when the car was going fast enough, to start the engine.
By the time he tried to put his foot onto the clutch, the car was reversing out of control, back down the road swerving from one side of the road to the other where he had come from. It was lucky the car didn’t overturn.
He tried to look back to see where he was going, at the same time trying to put the car into reverse gear and have his foot on the accelerator. Suddenly the car hit the kerbing and rolled onto the footpath, narrowly missing scrubs growing nearby.
As the car-gathered speed backwards going down the hill, Bundy released the clutch, causing the motor to come alive. His heartbeat almost out of his chest, when his mother screamed, ‘Stop the car - Stop the car. I want to get out. I’ll walk home. It’s safer.’
The car came to a standstill. Bundy was relieved to have stopped the car without causing too much chaos. Slowly, he gathered his wits, carefully driving around the streets near to his home. All he wanted to do was to keep his mother away from home, until his father fell to sleep. After a while his mother wanted to return home.

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'Confessions of an alcoholic' -
He parked the car near to the same spot where it was parked before he’d taken it; they heard no noises coming from inside of the house and decided to go to bed.
The following morning Bundy decided, which would change his life forever. HE WAS LEAVING HOME. He’d had enough. He couldn’t change anything his father was doing. He had no control and couldn’t see anything was going to change and didn’t want that type of life. That morning he’d tell his parents of his decision.
By the time he built up sufficient courage to tell his parents about his decision, they bombarded him with questions. ‘Where are you going to live? Have you thought about the cost?’ and many more questions trying to change his mind.
It was of no use he was determined to make a break for it. He wanted his independence. He wanted to learn the value of living by himself. It was going to be tough at times. He wouldn’t know if he didn’t give it a go. He wasn’t certain where he was going to live. There were many options available to him. He could live in a flat by himself; board with a family he knew; live with a relative. He had plenty of options to choose from.
When anything of any significance happened in the Quicksilver family, such as their eldest son deciding to leave home and live with someone else, it was sombre. Nobody wanted to talk about it.

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'Confessions of an alcoholic' - Page 34:

The following morning Bundy made a decision, which would change his life forever. HE WAS LEAVING HOME. He’d had enough. He couldn’t change anything his father was doing. He had no control and couldn’t see anything was going to change and didn’t want that type of life. That morning he’d tell his parents of his decision.
By the time he built up sufficient courage to tell his parents about his decision, they bombarded him with questions. ‘Where are you going to live? Have you thought about the cost?’ and many more questions trying to change his mind.
It was of no use he was determined to make a break for it. He wanted his independence. He wanted to learn the value of living by himself. It was going to be tough at times. He wouldn’t know if he didn’t give it a go. He wasn’t certain where he was going to live. There were many options available to him. He could live in a flat by himself; board with a family he knew; live with a relative. He had plenty of options to choose from.
When anything of any significance happened in the Quicksilver family, such as their eldest son deciding to leave home and live with someone else, it was sombre. Nobody wanted to talk about it.
After a few weeks he found lodgings at a friend’s home with their family and shared a bedroom with his friend Malcolm. It was quite strange at first for he’d never lived anywhere else other than living with his parents.
Bundy continued with his apprenticeship making friends with other people around his own

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After a few weeks he found lodgings at a friend’s home with their family and shared a bedroom with his friend Malcolm. It was quite strange at first for he’d never lived anywhere else other than living with his parents.
Bundy continued with his apprenticeship making friends with other people around his own age group. At night he’d meet up with these youths at the local shopping area. Bundy felt comfortable being in his group of people. He couldn’t understand why he was suddenly attracted to this group.
Malcolm wasn’t one of the groups. He didn’t fit into the ways of how the group reacted to different things they were doing. Often Malcolm told Bundy in no uncertain terms of how he was ‘heading for trouble’ being with these kinds of people. Needless, to say Bundy didn’t take long before he had to find another place to live. He wasn’t about to go home. He decided to find his own place.
Bundy was growing up quickly, probably more than he would have likened. He failed to understand WHY he was drawn to a person. It may have been because this other person was like himself; and he felt comfortable in their presence. He didn’t know.
His group consisted of five youths all similar age, except for Stephen who owned his own car and had a driver’s licence. They all worked at the same factory. At night they’d meet at the shopping area and drive around in Stephen’s car wondering what to do next. During winter all the youths in the group played football – rugby league. It was a group who bonded together sharing their lives.