Well, it wasn't actually my moral dilemma.
I was 17 years old, this was my first boyfriend and I was free to see whoever I wanted. Though it seemed the world knew, before I did, that he was already married. When my best friend Suzanne told me, although I didn't doubt what she said, I still couldn't quite believe it.
I'd been involved with a married man for ... 6-7 months?
How had that happened?
All the odd comments, attitudes, and references suddenly fell into place.
I told Kev I didn't want to see him again. He begged to explain personally, told me there was more to it than I could possibly have been told.
I was still 17 and curious.
He took me for a drive in his car, we went to somewhere private where we could talk. Kev told me about his wife Charu.
He explained that, after leaving school he'd been offered a place in a specialist college in Nottingham, where he'd met Charu. Her marriage had already been arranged but, they were both young and, soon involved with each other. He'd spent just under 2 years at the college when Charu's family began the preparations for her marriage, at this point, Kev told me, he'd been 19. Charu told him that she did not want to marry anyone other than him. He told me he'd thought this was probably the only chance he'd have of getting married and settling down. They were both disabled and both used wheelchairs.
Charu had contracted Polio as a small child. Kev had been born with spina bifida and following an operation at the age of 16 (to correct his stance) he'd been a wheelchair user since. He told me that Charu was two years older than him (she was now 25). After much discussion and suggested pressure, they'd both agreed to leave college together. Charu lived with Brian, one of Kev's brothers for a few months while they arranged their marriage and accommodation. After marrying, some 3 months (or so) later, they'd lived in a bungalow, which had been adapted specifically for their disabilities, in the relatively new town of Skelmersdale.
Kev managed to make it sound like he'd rescued Charu, as a friend. Saving her from an unwanted marriage by marriage.
