The Reluctant Villain

by James Williams

  “That’s not the full amount I’m afraid. I had to concede that you attended college on six occasions while employed by Mr Matthews and so he was entitled for those days payment”

  “It doesn’t matter now, but I only attended five college days because Mr Matthews told me college had been cancelled on one day which was a lie”

  The solicitor smiled and shook his head,

  “Well if you say that doesn’t matter we will leave things as they are. At least it will give him a small moral victory. Now we will go to your bank and pay them into your account. I just want to make sure Matthews doesn’t try and stop those cheques”

  “I don’t normally get paid until Saturday, so why have I been paid a day early?”

  Parker smiled,

  “He was sorting the payroll out so I hinted it would be a sign of no bad feelings towards you if he let me take your pay cheque along with the one for the college fees. He blustered and swore a little but I made him see sense in the end”

  Gerry suddenly thought,

  “I need to contact Mr Evans to thank him for sorting this matter out. Do you have his phone number by any chance?”

  Parker shook his head,

  “I do, but it won’t help you. Mr & Mrs Evans are leaving on a month long cruise at midday today so it will have to wait until they come back”

  They got out of the car and went to the bank and deposited the cheques without further bother.

  Mr Parker turned to his companion,

  “I’ve done all I can for you at this moment and if you require further advice don’t hesitate to contact me. However, if Mr Matthews digs his heels in and wants to go to court in future I will have to speak to Mr Evans to see how far he wants to support you”

  Gerry nodded and as they left the bank they shook hands and the young man returned to work, wondering what kind of reception awaited him. The answer was a little surprising because the shop was closed and no lights could be seen inside. He stood outside for a couple of minutes until he spotted Harry coming back from an early lunch break.

  “What’s going on Harry? Are they inside or have they gone to lunch as well?”

  “No idea kid, you and me have to collect more stuff from another of his business’s and bring it back here. Just as well, he’s in a right bad mood, even Abigail had a mouthful of abuse from him before he calmed down and left with her”

  “What kind of stuff are we collecting this time, more bankrupt junk?” Gerry asked, relieved to be putting off facing his boss.

  “Bit better quality junk this time. Portable radios, cameras and the like. It’s the shop next to the travel agents on the main high street. We’re also supposed to dismantle the shelving and stands as well. We could make it a two day job if we work to my system? And he gave a wink.

  Before leaving they collected together several boxes to bring back the stock and loaded them into the back of the van.

  It only took twenty minutes to find the shop and Harry pulled up outside and they both got out of the van and approached the main shop doorway. Harry took out a key ring with two keys on it but it was obvious to Gerry neither key would fit the shop’s lock. After a few minutes of banging and cursing by Harry he gave up his attempts and stood back to appraise the situation.

  “Excuse me sir, you can’t leave that van parked there or I will have to give you a ticket” both turned to find a traffic warden about to produce a parking ticket.

  Harry was not in the best of moods by now and he turned aggressively to face the warden,

  “Look mate, we’re here to remove the stock from this shop, if I can’t park outside, where the hell do I leave the bloody van!”

  The warden, taller and fitter than the driver, looked scornfully at Harry, he met his type almost every day on his beat and wasn’t impressed by the man’s attitude. He pointed past the travel agency next door,

  “You do just like the other traders around here, you can get that van down the lane that runs behind the shop. I’ll be back in five minutes and if you haven’t moved you’ll get a ticket” And he walked away before Harry could comment. Gerry spoke,

  “Let me have those keys Harry, and I’ll go and check if they fit the back door. If they don’t, there’s no point in moving the van round there”

  Harry gave the door of the shop another kick before sullenly handing the keys to Gerry who ran past the shop next door and followed the lane until he was behind the middle building in the rank of three shops. He chose one of the keys and it fitted the door and within seconds Gerry was inside the main shop area. He was about to tap on the window to indicate to Harry to move the van to the rear of the shop when a loud wailing sound began. The premises was fitted with an alarm.

  He looked around for the security box that housed the alarm electronics and, found it after a frantic thirty second search and switched it off with the second key on the key ring. Harry was stood outside laughing at Gerry’s effort to find the alarm switch but stopped laughing when he was joined by another man from the shop next door.

  “What’s going on here?” demanded Andrew Phillips, the proprietor of the travel agency.

  Harry looked him up and down before speaking with the hint of violence in his voice,

  “What’s it got to do with you smart arse?”

  Phillips took a step backwards but still managed to say,

  “I know the owner of this shop and you’re not one of his workers. I’ve a mind to call the police if you threaten me!”

  Slowly Harry drew out some papers from his jacket pocket and waved them in front of the man’s face.

  For your information Mr Nosey Parker, I work for the new owner of the shop and I’ve got orders to remove the flaming stuff inside. You got any objections then buddy!?”

  Phillips took another step back and abruptly returned to his shop. However, Harry’s problems were not over. While he was having his altercation with the travel agent the traffic warden had returned and quietly placed a ticket on the windscreen of the van and walked away.

  Gerry had seen each event through the shop window and ran back out to the front just as Harry discovered the parking ticket. To say he was not best pleased was a big understatement. Gerry took his life in his own hands when he stood in front of his workmate to stop him going into the shop to beat up the travel agent.

  “Get out of my way kid!” Harry growled but Gerry stood his ground and spoke as calmly as he could under the circumstances.

  “Harry listen! It’s not the travel agent who got us into this mess, its Matthews. He didn’t give you the right keys, or tell you about the parking, or the alarm system”

  The big man was about to push Gerry to one side but then started laughing,

  “Oh no it wasn’t the boss who gave me the details, it was Miss Droopy Drawers, Abigail. Let’s see the little madam talk her way out of this mess”

  First checking to make sure the van would have sufficient room to manoeuvre down the alley, harry instructed Gerry to guide him past the large refuse bins which were situated at various points along the route. This process took another fifteen minutes and did nothing to improve Harry’s mood changes. They removed the boxes from the van and went into the shop to start packing the containers. It soon became evident they did not have enough boxes to remove all the stock.

  Harry signalled to Gerry to stop removing items from cabinets,

  “I’m going to load this stuff into the van, have a look around to see if you can find any tools to dismantle the shelves. I wasn’t told anything about display cabinets being removed so we’ll have to go back for instructions”

  Gerry searched for any kind of tools but found none so he checked the shelf fittings to see what was required. He helped Harry put the remaining boxes into the van and they drove slowly away from the area.

  It was just starting to get dark when they returned to their home base and the shop was still closed up so the van was driven into the yard after the gate had been opened. Harry had a key for the side door and Gerry
was about to speak as they went in but the driver put a finger to his lips for silence. They could hear a man laughing and giggles from a female voice. The two men looked at each other and smiled knowingly. Harry said in a loud voice,

  “Check the front door is secure Gerry and I’ll have a look in the offices to see if anyone’s still around”

  There was a male curse and a female stifled scream followed by,

  “For Christ’s sake Percy, don’t let them come in! I can’t find my bra or knickers!”

  “Shut up you silly bitch!” came the hissed reply from her boss.

  Moments later the office door was opened with just enough room for Matthews to squeeze out sideways, his shirt hurriedly tucked into his trousers. He smiled nervously at his employees,

  “Harry, Gerry, I wasn’t expecting you two to come back so soon. Abigail and I were having discussions about…” when he realised the zip on his trousers was undone and he turned around to make himself more presentable. When he turned to face the two men he had regained his composure and started shouting,

  “Why the hell have you come back here, you were supposed to take the shelving to Tony’s shop in Hereford Street along with what stock he could handle and bring the rest here. You can’t have finished that work already”

  Harry cleared his throat,

  “Mr Matthews, no mention was made of Herbert Street, we didn’t have the key to the front door and I got a parking ticket for hanging around outside the shop while we tried to get in through the back entrance”

  Gerry added,

  “Nobody said anything about an alarm system and there were no tools to dismantle the shelving units. Oh, and what do we do about the display cabinets”

  “Matthews rounded on his young assistant,

  “Who asked you to speak, you’ve already cost me a fair bit of money today so keep your mouth shut until I say you can speak!”

  Gerry slowly turned his head in the direction of the office door that Abigail was standing in, now fully dressed. Matthews understood the silent message and calmed down and cleared his throat,

  “Hum. Gerry, go and put the kettle on and make us all a hot drink while I talk to Harry. Please?”

  Gerry was amused at the inclusion of the word ‘please’. He nearly fainted when Abigail repeated the word in her request for two sugars in her coffee, although he noticed it was said through gritted teeth.

  After making the drinks and delivering them to his colleagues Gerry decided to throw an observation of his into the conversation.

  “If my skeleton keys hadn’t gone missing last week there wouldn’t have been any problem getting into the shop through the front door”

  Harry concentrated on sipping his tea, Abigail flushed a bright pink while Matthews remarked,

  “You were given all the keys by Abigail Harry, so what was the problem?”

  Harry took the opportunity with both hands,

  “I was only given two keys, one for the back door and the other, Gerry used to switch off the alarm which I wasn’t told about. The busybody from next door came to find out what was going on and while I was dealing with him the bloody traffic warden crept up and stuck the ticket on the van which I don’t expect to have to pay for Mr Matthews”

  Matthews looked directly at Abigail and said quite smugly,

  “I will sort out the cost of the ticket later but as for the missing key Abigail, I gave them to you on that fancy key ring”

  She flushed even more and stuttered,

  “That is a very nice key ring and you said I could keep it. I was removing the keys from the ring when a customer came in and I found the main key after Harry had gone for lunch. I’m sorry Percy, sorry, I mean Mr Matthews”

  She received another stare from her boss who, after a moment’s thought, decided,

  “As you’ve got stock in the van, unload that here and then go back to finish collecting the rest of the gear. I’ll look for some tools and you can collect them in the morning”

  Harry made a show of looking at his watch and said quietly,

  “If it’s all the same to you Mr Matthews we can unload the van in the morning and then go back to finish off”

  Matthews was beginning to get the message that the price he would have to pay for their silence would drag on for some time, unless he could find a way of halting this mini mutiny. He nodded but said nothing.

  The two men left via the side door leaving their boss and Abigail to resume their ‘discussions’.

  His grandmother had a cooked meal waiting for him upon his return, after he had finished and washed up he asked her if there was any news concerning Mrs Stockwell. She shook her head and shortly after retired to her room for the night.

  He considered trying to contact Sally but thought it best to respect her wishes for privacy for now.

  The next morning as promised, the tools, along with the key to the front door of the shop were waiting for them but only the boss was in attendance, Abigail was nowhere to be seen. He sent Gerry out to start unloading the van while he spoke to Harry in private, who was very subdued upon coming back to continue the unloading. When that task was completed they collected more boxes and left to carry on with their previous day’s work.

  13

  On arriving at the shop Gerry was about to get out of the vehicle but Harry told him to wait,

  “A piece of advice kid; don’t try and use yesterday afternoon’s discovery of Matthews and Droopy Draws little adventure as a means of having an easier life. He’s already got me by the ‘short and curly’s’. Just keep your mouth shut or he’ll do the same to you”

  Gerry gave a short laugh,

  “What he’s got over you is your business Harry, but he’s going to get rid of me as soon as he can anyway, it’s only a matter of time”

  Harry shrugged his shoulders and indicated for his companion to guide him down the alley to the back of the shop. Two other men were standing in the alley, surveying the rear of the travel agent’s, one was the manager of the premises, the other was Ernie Newsham. As the van reversed towards them Phillips and Newsham went back inside.

  Gerry and Harry re-commenced their work of loading the remaining stock into boxes and placing them in the van. That part of their task was almost completed when Ernie approached them along the alley. He gave Gerry a brief smile and spoke to his companion,

  “Hello Harry, Mr Matthews expanding his empire even more is he? What happened to the previous owner?”

  Harry was glad of the chance of a short break, he was blowing rather hard.

  “Hi, Mr Newsham. Usual method, owner dies, wife doesn’t have much business knowledge so the boss comes along with an offer she can’t refuse

  Without waiting to be invited Ernie looked in one of the boxes and commented,

  “Good quality merchandise here, I’m sure Mr Matthews has an outlet for this kind of thing. As long as he doesn’t overstretch himself that is”

  He turned to Gerry,

  “Didn’t expect to bump into you here Gerry, anything exciting happening at base?”

  Before Gerry had chance to reply Ernie turned to the older man,

  “Watch out for this lad Harry, he’s got a bright future ahead of him if he plays his cards right. Anyway, I’ve concluded my business here but I’m sure our paths will cross again fairly soon”

  As he walked Harry pointed to the rear door of the shop and indicated to Gerry to follow him

  “Pal of yours is he? All I’ll say to you, don’t put all your trust in him just because he’s an ex-copper. Believe me that guy is no saint. Now, I’ll finish packing the rest of this stuff, you get the tools and start dismantling those shelves. Somebody else is coming to sort out the display cabinets”

  It took them nearly three hours to remove the remaining stock, dismantle what they could of the shelves and have lunch in a nearby café. Before leaving the premises they made it secure and re-activated the alarm system.

  Tony, manager of the Hereford Street store greeted the
m with a sour look and a barbed comment.

  “Matthews told me you would be here and finished dumping the stuff by three o’clock. You’d better get your skates on because I’m not staying a minute later than my closing time. And don’t block my normal stock in with that junk, Put it to one side against the rear wall”

  He chucked the outside storeroom keys at Harry and returned to deal with his customers. With the extra task of making space for the new items in the van the two men completed their work with only ten minutes to spare before the shop closed. Tony’s final comment was to Gerry,

  “You might be working here again next week Gerry; my usual helper has phoned in long term sick”

  This news didn’t disappoint Gerry, the more time he spent away from his boss’s company suited him down to the ground. But the following week would bring developments he hadn’t bargained for in a variety of ways.

  Mrs Reynolds was on the phone when Gerry arrived home that evening. Heavier than usual traffic, mainly due to bargain hunters in the new shopping mall had blighted their progress back to their home base and Matthews was his usual belligerent self. He demanded to know why they took so long in emptying the shop of its stock and then arriving back well after closing time.

  Gerry left it to his companion to try and give a plausible explanation; their boss was not to be appeased. He ranted on for a full twenty minutes which were full of threats varying from docking a full day’s pay to possible dismissal. In the end Gerry had heard enough and his outburst caught Matthews off guard.

  “Mr Matthews. We did everything you told us to do yesterday and today. You never told us how much stock there was to move, we weren’t told about the parking restrictions and you didn’t supply us with the correct tools for the job that meant it took a lot longer to dismantle the shelving. We also had to shift a lot of stuff around before we could find space in the Hereford storeroom. We’ve worked our bloody socks off today. And as it’s well past closing time and you don’t pay overtime I’m going home. Goodnight!” and he left the shop with both men staring open mouthed.