The Dark Shadow of Thursday

by H P Steven

  “We shouldn’t keep her waiting,” Hannah whispered.

  “I’ll be five minutes, and my jackets on the couch so basically sorted,” I replied.

  Heading into my room and quickly getting changed it doesn’t dawn on me what to say to Drew. What do you say? I thought to myself. The ride was long and Audrey wouldn’t stand for the both of us being quiet. So, I guess it dawned on Hannah as well.

  “Sorry Audrey, I’m just lost for words at the moment,” I announced.

  Adding, “I know how stupid that sounds, but what do we say to them.”

  Audrey paused, before bursting into fits of laughter. “You two after all the strength I’ve seen from you both, you worry about this, you saw your friends with the mother in law. You Hannah saw someone you care about in the worst state you’ll ever see them, they should be worried about what to say to you both,” Audrey explained.

  Which seems to calm down Hannah, but doesn’t work quite as well on me.

  “Thanks Audrey,” I said

  “Yeah thanks Audrey,” Hannah added, as well.

  “Well, we’re here now and we’re running late, so they’re probably waiting,” Audrey joked.

  “Oh shit,” I whispered.

  “Audrey hundred metres up on the left. The skinny brown guy is Drew,” I added.

  “What really?” Audrey laughed.

  “Yeah, pull up I’ll wind the window down,” I joked.

  Hannah sitting in the back shaking her head as Audrey slowly pulled in and I wind the window down. “Aye, what the hell is this? You give me the wrong time to pick you up again dickhead?” I shouted just as Lewis walked through the sliding doors out to join Drew.

  “Oh hey Phil,” Lewis said. “Thought we’d meet you guys inside,” Lewis added.

  “Yeah sorry guys took me ages to get my hair right,” I joked opening up the door and getting out to greet them both. “Hey guys, how was the flight?” I asked. Slowly joined by Hannah who gets out of the car to say hello.

  Lewis walked up to her and said, “Hello, are you the one from Canada?”

  The look I gave to Drew made him laugh.

  “Oh way to put your foot in your mouth mate, this is Hannah isn’t it Phil?” Drew joked.

  “Yeah bro and Audrey’s in the car,” I said.

  “Hi,” Hannah said, to them both.

  “Oh my bad,” Lewis said. “Hi Hannah.” Turning to me and Drew and shrugging while we shake our heads at him.

  “Far out, So where your bags?” I asked.

  “Oh just over there by the fence, I’ll go get them,” Drew said.

  “I wasn’t offering to get them for you bro,” I said.

  “Ah just a back pack for me bro,” Lewis said.

  I walked over to lifted the boot up on Audrey’s car and we load them in and I told Hannah to jump in the front, which she happily agreed too. As we got in, I introduced them to Audrey. “Hey guys so here’s the plan, we’re gonna drop Hannah and Lewis at the hospital. Then we’ve taken care of everything that we have to do for Cam bro,” I said.

  “Yeah man sounds good, how’s Devin doing?” Lewis asked.

  “Yeah he’s improving the doctors told us last night,” Hannah replied.

  “Hey bro, the olds are stoked your coming back aye,” Drew commented.

  “Glad they are man but I know someone that’s not,” I insisted. “You’ll might meet her tonight.”

  “Yeah man BBQ sounds good,” Drew announced.

  “Yeah there’s a few others coming over and of course Margaret and Scott,” Hannah declared.

  “Far out how are they doing bro?” Drew asked.

  “Haven’t seen much of them the past few days. But Margaret seems to be holding it together,” I replied.

  “But, she has her moments,” Hannah added

  “Yeah, but far out,” I declared. “Even so, you’ll meet them tonight man,” I added.

  “Hey do you guys want to stop for a coffee?” Audrey asked.

  “I could if you want to Audrey.”

  “Yeah no hurry,” Lewis insisted.

  “Sounds good,” Drew commented.

  “Great call Audrey,” Hannah replied.

  Stopping just a little further up the road we stop just down the road from Isleworth in Hounslow.

  “Hey there looks like a cheeky English breakfast place,” I announced. “Turning to Drew and Lewis you guys hungry?” I added

  “I could eat,” Lewis commented.

  “I’m easy bro,” Drew answered.

  Pulling over I told Audrey not to worry about anything, breakfast would be on me.

  “Thanks Phil,” Audrey whispered.

  “Oh man I could eat,” Hannah commented.

  Sitting around the dodgy old cafe, looking around and the most unhappiest staff I’d ever seen. I couldn’t help smiling, Hannah caught it.

  “Your brothers would have laughed their arses off in here, aye Phil,” Hannah said to Drew and Lewis.

  “Yeah, hope the food looks better than the staff,” I quietly whispered. “Hey you guys up for a full English breakfast?” I asked.

  “Yeah I’ll just get a cup of tea and some toast thanks Phil,” Audrey declared

  “But everyone else?” I asked with nods of agreement from the others.

  Breakfast takes us ages to get through, luckily for the place the English breakfast was really-good for what we paid for. Heading to the hospital to drop off Hannah and Lewis. I remind her I had my phone on me, but will probably see her back at the apartment.

  “Yeah no worries Phil,” Hannah remarked, as we dropped her off.

  I got out to let Lewis out. “Hey good to see you again bro, obviously not in this context but I’ll see you later-on as well,” I commented. “Tell him I said hello if he’s awake,” I insisted, to Hannah. Giving her a quick hug before jumping into the front seat.

  “Far out man, it’s starting to get real,” Drew announced.

  “Yeah man, I hear ya,” I replied.

  “We’ve got everything set up for your brother Drew, but we couldn’t get him on a flight till Friday,” Audrey added.

  “Far out you guys have done more than enough,” Drew insisted. “Thank you so much,” Drew added.

  “Nothing your brother wouldn’t have done for me man,” I remarked.

  “Yeah for sure,” Drew sighed.

  As we reached the coroners morgue and the bloke that works for the funeral company is waiting for us outside, we introduce ourselves and headed inside so Drew could sign some papers. Wow, longest half hour ever, finally Drew’s allowed to see Cam.

  “Hey Phil can you come with me man?” Drew asked.

  “Yeah mate, no worries I might need to explain somethings,” I replied. Drew just looked up at me with a puzzled look on his face. While I turned to Audrey and told her, “We won’t be long.”

  “Take all the time you both need,” Audrey relied. “I’ll just be out here, checking my phone,” Audrey added.

  “Thanks so much for your help,” I insisted.

  Turning back around to head off to see Cam again for the second time. Didn’t take us long to get inside. The kid was still draped with the sheet he had the last time but his shaved foot was hanging out from underneath.

  “What’s going on with his feet, when did my little bro do that?” Drew asked.

  “Happened a few months ago when we were playing golf in Ireland. Your brothers a terrible golf player,” I replied to Drew.

  “Oh okay, the old man will probably see the funny side of that I guess?” Drew shrugged just as the coroner walks past and uncovers the top of Cams body. I try not to laugh and start coughing at the look on Drew’s face. The tears in my eyes hide the fact I’m suppressing a little laugh.

  “What the hell Phil?” Drew asked.

  “Oh what is it bro?” I replied, sounding innocent.

  “What the hell is this? What am I supposed to say to our parents?” Drew asked.

  “What do you mean about your brother’s f
eet, I told you he’s shit at playing golf,” I joked.

  “Oh ha, nah the feet are fine, but what the hell’s going on with his hair? I understand the tan from the Mediterranean, but why the hell does my brother look like an Indian Ronald McDonald.” Drew angrily yelled.

  “Oh that, well he lost the three games with the worst score in total and unfortunately for him the night before the last game we were watching Coming to America,” I replied with a little smile on my face.

  “Far out, you can tell my parents that story,” Drew insisted.

  “Hey man I’ll give you a moment I’ll just be outside when your ready man, take all the time you need,” I declared.

  “Wow, that went better than I thought,” I commented to Audrey.

  “How’d he react to the hair?”

  “How’d you know about, oh wait let me guess Hannah?” I replied.

  “Yeah she told me a while ago.” Audrey laughed.

  “He reacted the way I thought he would but saw the funny side of it. Though he’s gonna let me tell his parents.”

  “Oh that’s good of him,” Audrey remarked.

  “Yeah well I don’t mind, they’ve always liked me better anyway. His Dads a massive golfer, so he’ll find it funny I think.”

  “Hey do you need any help with the BBQ tonight?” Audrey asked.

  “No just come over when you can, Meredith and Rupert are more than welcome, we’ve got Greg, bringing along Iva and Linda also,” I commented.

  “Yeah sounds good, but do you need help cooking so Greg doesn’t try to help you,” Audrey smiled.

  “Ha, Me and Hannah should have it sorted, but if you could keep an eye on Anna that would be great.”

  “Whys that?” Audrey asked.

  “I like this one, I’d like her to get to know some of my friends, she may see a bit of them,” I replied.

  “Ha, Meredith knew it, I might have to pay her five quid,” Audrey laughed.

  “Oh wow, betting on me or against me, are we?” I asked.

  “Maybe,” Audrey smiled.

  “Either way it’s all new to me so no doubt I’ll stuff it up. So hold on to your money for now.”

  “Hey here comes Drew,” Audrey whispered.

  I turned around as Drew walked up to us both, Audrey started explaining what’s going to happen next and what will happen Friday. Where Cam will be kept before his flight and what times Drew would be able to visit.

  “Hey, thanks to you both, definitely made this whole thing a lot easier to handle,” Drew insisted.

  “Dude it was all Audrey and one of Meredith’s friends that really helped,” I said. “So thanks Audrey,” I added.

  “Are you two ready to head back to your place Phil?” Audrey asked.

  “Yeah I think so,” I replied.

  Just as one of the funeral directors walked in and gave us all the information Audrey was just talking about. Afterwards we jumped back into Audrey’s car and headed back to my place finally.

  “Far out the traffic’s terrible today Audrey,” I commented.

  “Yeah well it could be worse,” Audrey replied, looking at me smiling.

  “Ha, yeah we could have had Greg cooking tonight,” I joked. Making us both laugh.

  “I’m gonna have to drop you both off then go and get Rupert,” Audrey commented.

  “Yeah sounds good, we should just be at the house for a bit. I’ll have my phone on me if you head around earlier, though I may be getting some things for people to drink later on,”

  “Yeah sounds good, we’ll bring a few bottles of wine over as well, I think Greg and Linda are doing the same,” Audrey commented.

  “Do you guys need me to do anything?” Drew asked.

  “Yeah bro, heaps to do man,” I joked.

  Audrey just looked at me with a ‘really dude’ he just went and saw his dead brother and you’ve got stuff for him to do.

  “Well Audrey we do need a drinks taster,” I insisted.

  Laughing at me, Audrey just shook her head. “You might want to wait till, Margaret and Ian have left before you get Drew boozed.”

  That could be pretty funny, I thought.

  I commented to Audrey, “I think Drew knows he’d be getting watched pretty closely.”

  “So what time is Anna heading over? I must apologise for not taking more time to get to know her,” Audrey declared.

  “Ha, cut it out.” I laughed.

  “Oh man, do you think it’ll be cool if I have a bit of a sleep before it all happens tonight?” Drew asked.

  “Yeah man, better go crash out as soon as we get back so you get a few hours, I forgot to ask how the jet lag was going,” I apologized.

  “Nearly fell asleep on the chair when I was in the room with Cam man,” Drew replied.

  “Ah yeah no worries man, we’re just up this hill and around the corner, so you can crash out now bro,” I insisted.

  “Thanks man, Nice to meet you as well Audrey,” Drew commented.

  Turning around to see Drew I noticed him closing his eyes, “Oi not now!”

  “Wait five minutes till we’re back at mine,” I added, to Drew laughing.

  “Oh yeah I knew that” Drew sighed yawning.

  “Ha, good luck waking back up later.” Audrey laughed dropping us off just outside we ran across Hannah coming over the bridge and into the driveway.

  “Hey thanks again for everything Audrey I’ll see you later,” I insisted.

  “Yeah thanks heaps,” Drew mentioned.

  As we both get out I and go to grab both the bags out of the boot before Audrey takes off.

  “Hey where’s Lewis?” I asked Hannah.

  “Oh Devin’s mate turned up so Lewis will be around later but is going to crash there, while Devin’s in hospital,” Hannah replied.

  “Oh all right, how’d it go, the wee fella improving?” I asked.

  “Yeah seems like everything’s going great,” Hannah replied looking a bit down, I give her a hug and we all walked back in towards the apartment.

  “Hey Drew’s gonna crash out for a while and I’m gonna set everything up,” I commented.

  “Yeah sounds good, I might go for a nap and help out when I get up,” Hannah sighed.

  “Yeah no worries, I might have to pop out for a bit, but just to pick up a few things. Everything else is taken care of I think,” I replied.

  “Oh man, I just need a two to three-hour power nap and I’ll be ready,” Hannah said.

  “Yeah no worries,” I replied.

  Finally, alone while those two crashed out I checked the fridge and freezer and make a list of everything we might need, for salads, we had enough meats in the fridge and freezer, a couple bags of charcoal, so all sorted for the BBQ. Just a few more beers.

  Just as my phone started to vibrate, I checked who it was and its just Mike calling.

  “Hey man what’s happening,” I answered.

  “Hey bro you guys home, I’m just out the front with a bit of food and a couple of cartons,” Mike commented.

  “Oh what really that’s awesome, I’ll pop out now bro, but bowl in,” I replied.

  As I quickly pop outside to give Mike a hand, “Holy shite bro, you carry that up from the main street?” I asked.

  “Nah cars just there man, Trudie lent it to me,” Mike mentioned. Pointing to the car parked outside.

  “Ha nice one, let me grab the food bro,” I suggested.

  “Yeah man, what times kick off?” Mike asked.

  “Um, the crew are having a nap in there at the moment, got pretty much everything sorted, probably put the coals on at around five tonight,” I replied.

  “Yeah sounds good I’ll need to get Trudie and take her car back to hers,” Mike commented.

  “Yeah bro, bowl over anytime from now and we can get stuck into a few beers,” I mentioned.

  “Yeah sounds good bro, just give us a couple hours and we’ll pop up,” Mike replied.

  “Hey man thanks for the beer and food, see you guys back here in
a while then aye,” I commented.

  “Yeah bro, should be a good way to see out the last few days’ man, how’s everyone doing?” Mike asked.

  “Yeah bout the same, Susan’s dad is supposed to be stopping in as well, I’m not sure if Cam met him so should be interesting,” I replied.

  “Ha, bloody hell have fun with that one man.” Mike laughed.

  ***

  The rest of the day went off without a hitch, I got the coals on and all the food was already to go so I went and grabbed myself a beer and turned the warmer on the oven on just as Hannah walked up to me in the kitchen scaring the crap out of me.

  “Oh sorry about that, how long was I out for?” Hannah asked.

  “Oh not long aye,” I replied not really knowing.

  “How’s everything out here going, do you need a hand?” Hannah asked opening up the fridge. “Oh wow where did all this come from?” Hannah added.

  “Um most of it I sorted out, some of it Mike dropped off, hey I need to get these out to the coals, once you’re alive grab a beer and come on out,” I commented.

  Stopping before leaving the kitchen, knowing what I just said was stupid I turned back to Hannah. Who couldn’t believe I just said that. I put the meat on the dining table and walked into the kitchen to apologise to her. “Wow, I didn’t mean to say that,” I insisted.

  “Yeah I know it just slipped out, I was thinking that as well,” Hannah replied.

  “I’ll get sorted and grab a beer,” Hannah added. Staring at the look on my face, trying not to laugh.

  “Thanks, grab me one on your way out,” I whispered turning around and picking up the meat I found, Mike and Trudie heading over on the way out.

  “Hey guys, grab a drink inside and make yourselves comfy,” I commented.

  “Yeah man, I’ll grab a beer and come back out,” Mike said.

  “Ah cool man.”

  “Hi Trudie, Hannah’s in there just getting sorted I think, she’s just woken up, don’t mind the snoring, it’s just Drew,” I added.

  “Ha, the dude still asleep?” Mike asked.

  “Yeah man, he got in this morning, so I’ll wake him in another hour,” I said just as Anna walked through the front gate and walked over and kissed me hello.

  “Hey glad you could make it,” I whispered.

  “Yeah me too, how’s everyone doing?” Anna asked

  “Um, pretty good, Drew’s still sleeping and Hannah’s getting ready,” I replied. Just as Greg and Linda and little Iva walk in and head over to say hello.