EPISODE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-THREE
Mike had managed to
organise hair-cutting for six clients all on the same day in Rusthall, and
finished just after three. He stood at the bus stop outside One-Stop and
discovered there was a 281 bus due at five past the hour. He looked at his
watch and saw that it was almost ten past, so he decided to have a drink in the
White Hart, before they shut at four, and then he could catch the bus due at five-past four.
As he entered the pub, he put on a smile, and greeted a few regular
customers with: ‘Usual suspects, I see.’
‘Hi, Mike,’ one of them said, a woman called Mirabelle, looking at him through
sad, inwardly focused, eyes.
He bought himself a pint of Harvey’s, then looked towards Mirabelle. He knew she was
only in her late fifties, but she looked nearer seventy, and could easily have
stepped off the set of Planet of the
Apes. Her skin was a weather-beaten
dark brown, and was wrinkled like screwed up parchment.
‘So how’ve you been, Mirabelle?’ Mike said.
Mirabelle shook her head. ‘It’s bad,
Mike. Bad news. Larry’s gone to the Kent and Sussex.’
Larry was Mirabelle’s partner.
‘Sorry to hear that,’ Mike said. ‘What’s
the problem?’
‘Heart attack.’
‘Oh dear. How is he?’
‘He’s gone. Passed away.’
Mike shuffled uncomfortably, and thought Mirabelle was about to start weeping.
‘Can I get you a drink?’ he offered.
She emptied the rest of her pint rapidly and thrust her glass towards him.
‘Cheers, Mike!’
He noticed her distress had suddenly disappeared.
*
Kelly finished work at the chocolate factory at lunchtime, so she wandered
around the Royal Victoria Centre, until it was time to meet her boyfriend,
Danton, later in the afternoon. She had
arranged to meet him in a pub in Camden Road and arrived slightly ahead of him. Although she
started work at the factory at five in the morning, she felt bright and alert. She had treated herself to a new gold
bracelet from the jewellery section at Argos, which had cheered her up enormously.
She bought herself a vivid blue alcopop and sat in a corner of the bar. She was
hot and blew upwards with her bottom lip. She took off her Burberry check
baseball cap and threw it on the seat beside her. Over at the bar, one of the regular customers
smiled at her in a lascivious way.
Kelly, although chubby in the face, and fulsome of figure, had large brown
eyes, and full lips, and was considered by most men to be quite sexually
attractive. And although she had in the past welcomed these lecherous stares,
since she had met and fallen for Danton, she found them annoying, as if they
were an invasion of the space which was now exclusively reserved for her rather
possessive boyfriend.
She scowled at the man giving her the eye, until he was forced to look
away. She was relieved when Danton strolled
into the pub. He was carrying a
newspaper, and she waited for him to buy another alcopop for her and a pint of
lemonade top for himself.
She kissed him on the lips as he slid into the bench seat next to her. Then she
noticed the worried expression on his face.
‘What’s wrong, sweetheart?’
‘Have a look at this.’
He put the copy of last week’s Kent &
Sussex Courier on the table. ‘Read this story on the front page,’ he said.
It was news about the pornographic videos in the charity shops, and there was a
description of the suspect and his tattoos, and police were asking anyone to
come forward who could identify the man.
‘Who do you know with tattoos like that?’ said Danton, as soon as she’d
finished reading it.
She shrugged, as if she didn’t know, but she suddenly felt herself go cold.
‘Your stupid twat of a brother, this is.’
She nodded thoughtfully. ‘No wonder he was wearing long sleeves recently, even
in the warm weather.’
‘Exactly!’ snapped Danton, rubbing a hand smartly over his shaved head. ‘He
must’ve known they’re looking for him. I think we’re going to see that little
scumbag serves his time for this little caper.’
‘You ain’t gonna shop him, are yuh?’
Danton pursed his lips, debating with himself. ‘Well, these are kiddies he’s
exposing to porn. It ain’t right.’
‘But he’s my brother, Danton. I can’t
shop my brother. It ain’t right. I’ll have a word with him. Smack his stupid
face for him. How’s that?’
Danton paused while he considered this. ‘Okay. As long as you let me have a
crack at him.’
*
Just over a week later, Mike found himself in the White Hart again, around the
same time. Mirabelle was there, deep in conversation with someone. She broke
off as soon as she saw Mike, probably because she remembered he’d bought her a
drink.
‘Have you had the funeral yet?’ Mike asked in a reverential tone.
Mirabelle looked confused. ‘Funeral? Whose funeral?’
‘Larry’s.’
‘Larry came out of hospital yesterday. He’s got to take it easy at home now.’
Now it was Mike’s turn to look confused. ‘But last week you told me he was
dead, Mirabelle.’
All the regulars in the pub had stopped to listen to this conversation. There
was a long pause as Mirabelle struggled with something intangible, her mind
unable to grasp what.
‘Well,’ she eventually snapped, ‘I’m not a medical person, am I?’
Marion, the landlady, turned away before she caught Mike’s eye.
*
Vanessa had been crying again. In spite of the warm weather, she had remained
indoors, windows shut tight against the outside world, lost in her confused thoughts,
staring helplessly at the coffee mug which she had drunk three hours earlier,
and she hadn’t moved from her position on the sofa.
She started as a key clicked in the latch, and waited while her boyfriend
dropped his keys on the hall table as he usually did. Paul came into the living room, smiling
pleasantly.
‘Hi, Vanessa!’ He froze as he noticed her tear stained face and the redness of
her eyes. ‘Honey, what’s wrong?’
‘I’m pregnant,’ she told him.
His face registered nothing, and Vanessa put it down to shock. Then she saw him
recover, shaking off any doubts, and putting on a false smile.
‘Wow!’ he exclaimed. ‘That’s fantastic. So I’m going to be a father. That is
brilliant news.’
‘What is not so brilliant,’ Vanessa snuffled, ‘is the fact that you have gone
bust. Your mother phoned – several times – they’re in a terrible state. Your
father stood as guarantor for your business, and the bank is calling in the
debts. Why did you lie to everyone? And if you go bankrupt, how do you propose
to bring up your child?’
Paul sank into an easy chair, silently thinking about the problem. After a
punishing silence she saw his mind shift a gear. He turned his hands palms
upwards and shrugged.
‘I’ll sort something out, babe. I’ve got irons in fires. No worries. No
problems. First thing in the morning, I’m into the office and it’s sorted. Just
a slight hiccup is all.’
She picked up the coffee mug and hurled it full force. It caught him square on
the forehead and she saw blood coming from the deep gash it made.
IN EPISODE 144
Sunday dinner with Paul’s family