He moved to her side and traced his fingers over her cheeks and then flopped onto his back. She curled up on her side and placed her head on his chest. They lay there in the heat, spent and happy. No words to say, no regrets and so natural. He placed his arm over her shoulder and kissed her head. She felt this overwhelming sense of belonging for the first time in her life and smiled to herself.
Chapter 6
Eve crept down the stairs then passed the kitchen. Rachel and Ryan were sat on the sofa bed, smoking with their feet up on the coffee table. She could smell the sweet air as they exhaled. Ryan turned; his dilated pupils stared into hers. “Where’s lover boy?” he said before bursting into fits of laughter. “Miss Prim is the first to get some.” Rachel slapped him hard on the arm. “What?” then they both laughed. Stephen then entered with a clunking bag containing beer. Eve shook her head and continued to the garden.
She pulled her mobile out of her pocket and turned it on before selecting Justin. It rang several times but there was no answer, straight to voicemail. “I’ll try again in a minute; I’d love to talk to Harry just for a couple of minutes.” Throwing the phone onto the sun lounger she sat beside it. He never answered the phone on first call; it was as if he could sense her desperation to speak to Harry. She thought about the last time she had him to stay, the previous weekend. After breaking up from work for the summer she celebrated by taking him to the Safari Park. She smiled at the thought of the fun they’d had, his delight at seeing the animals, especially the tiger. She wiped her eyes and picked the phone back up and redialled.
“Hello,” Justin whispered.
“Hello, it’s me. Can I speak to Harry?”
“He’s busy at the moment with Ellen. She's just getting him on the swings besides we’re on our holiday as well. You’re having him next weekend.”
Eve wept silently thinking of that woman with her son and cursed herself for not fighting harder for full custody. But things had not been straight forward, after her parents rejection, the infection and the post natal depression it had been the right decision at the time. ‘Justin has the good job, Justin has the good house, Justin has the car,’ she could hear them all still saying these things to her. No match for the eighteen year old classroom assistant who still lived with her parents at the time. She had sat by whilst Harry was taken from her without the energy to fight. As far as Harry was concerned Ellen was also his mummy too, his Monday to Friday mummy. She burst into tears and snivelled down the phone, just one little chat would help fill the void for a while. “Please, I only want to see how he is, I miss him. You have him all the time and you don’t know how hard it is for me not being with him.”
He paused as if contemplating her request. “Okay, I’ll call him. Harry, its Mummy Eve.”
Mummy Eve, that’s what she’d been reduced to. Not Mummy, the one and only, exclusive; but Mummy Eve. In the background, she could hear his tiny feet running.
“Watch you don’t fall over your lace,” she heard Ellen call.
“Say hello to Mummy Eve,” Justin said as he passed the phone to Harry.
“Hello Mummy Eve, what are you doing?” he asked in his child like voice. “I’ve been to a park and I’ve been to Disneyland and I’ve seen a show with dolphins. We went on a boat yesterday and saw an alligator,” he yelled.
“Oh that’s lovely Sweetie. I’m so glad you’re having a wonderful time.” She smiled as she loved to hear his happy voice but deep down she wished the good times were being had with her.
“Daddy and Mummy Ellen are taking me to a fun castle later.”
“Oh,” replied Eve. Her eyes welled up once again and a tear trickled down her cheek. “I miss you Sweetie and next weekend when we have Mummy and Harry time, we are going to have so much fun. We’ll build a den in the garden and make mud pies.”
“Yay. Mud pies!” She heard him shout. Wiping her eyes she exhaled. She knew how to have fun with Harry; it wasn’t all about taking him to places and buying him things but having real fun. She made it her mission to be the best Mummy Eve she could be and imprint the fondest of memories into his mind. “Can you bring me some shells home? There are no shells here.”
“Of course I can Sweetie. I’ll go and collect you some nice ones.”
“I have to go now, Daddy wants his phone back.”
“Okay. Just remember, I love you loads and I miss you always and be a good boy.”
“He’s back on the swing, kids ay,” Justin said. “Anyway, I’ll see you a week Friday at six when you collect him. Don’t be late as we’re going out.” With that he hung up. Eve clutched the phone and held it to her chest, a week Friday was such a long time.
Eve sat back on the sun lounger and gazed into the pool. Bits of tree floated on the surface, she watched the twigs float back and forth as the breeze channelled them with every change in wind direction. They had started to gather up the one end, she watched how the leaves joined the little twig and leaf pile. Hands touched her shoulder; she flinched and turned, “Kevin.”
“I wondered where you were, I woke and you were gone. You don’t regret-"
“No,” she interrupted. “I don’t regret anything,” she stood and kissed him.
“It’s just, have you been crying?”
Eve looked down; all the emotions she had felt a few moments ago welled back up and burst out of her. She wept as Kevin held her. “What’s happened?”
“I just spoke to Harry, that’s all. I miss him.”
“Look, we are going to have a good holiday. Harry wouldn’t want you to be upset.”
“I know. You’re right. Will you come with me to collect some shells from the beach for him?” she smiled.
“I would love to. I’m the shell expert. I didn't see many shells earlier though; we'll get some from somewhere.” He smiled as he held his hand out to her. She took his hand; he then kissed her as he brushed the stray hairs off her face. “There, beautiful.”
Chapter 7
Looking up towards the brightness of the early afternoon sun Guz could see two turtle doves resting on a branch. They reminded him of how he and Celile used to be together. He remembered the first time he saw her several months after his divorce. He drove the pick-up van at the farm; she picked the apples. Leaning up to reach them in her ripped cropped jeans and her blue headscarf, he knew it was love. Fifteen years his junior he didn’t think he stood a chance but they then spent many a hot afternoon together, engaged in meaningful conversation. Then, just like in a romance story, they became inseparable. They had reached levels of passion he never knew were possible. Her never-ending energy for making love and for pampering him made him feel like he’d been reborn. She also got on well with Sadik and Mehmet which is all he could’ve asked for. The three most important people in his life had all been happy together.
Guz smiled. They were some of his fondest memories; he couldn’t believe how lucky he had been back then and how it was all turning sour. He mopped his brow with the bottom of his tee-shirt, forty two degrees the weather report had claimed it would be today. “Celile, can you bring me the water?” He called.
“Get it yourself, you fat fuck,” she replied as she meandered towards the waterfall. Charming as always, he looked down at his belly. He had gone a bit overboard with the fast food lately, he held his stomach in but he couldn't sustain it; he exhaled.
He remembered a time when she would have done anything. ‘Oblige me with a cool glass of beer Celile; a quick sandwich with the pickles arranged just the way I like them and a blow job while you’re there.’ These days he had to settle for insults and occasional drunken sex of which he inevitably struggled to manage. Since she’d moved out into a rented room he rarely managed to get her to stay with him but she always ‘stayed’ with him. Claiming they were good for each other and she couldn’t live with him. He knew the truth, it was Sadik.
Why didn’t she call an end to the relationship? Guz thought. It wasn’t his charm, or his looks or his loving nature. Maybe it was nece
ssity; or the business. She loved money; or was it the familiarity or the arguments? That woman certainly got off on an argument. You could see the pleasure in her eyes every time she spurned anger. In fact, he recalled some of their best sex following a row. Maybe her calling him a ‘fat fuck’ wasn’t a bad thing. He felt his pants tighten as he became more turned on. He took his tee-shirt off and wiped his head with it again. Without warning a pine cone fell from the trees above and clipped his nose. He stamped on it then kicked the mangled cone towards Celile. She turned her head as it skimmed the ground behind her, stared at him and turned back.
In the distance, he could see her with her green sun dress hitched up to her waist and her legs dangling into the pool. “This is the spot; we’ll set up here next time. I don’t know why you chose to stay back there before, besides,” she said as she placed her head in her hands, “we need to spread them out a bit. It doesn’t feel right to use the same area twice.” There it was, decision taken.
He analysed how much space there was, they would set up the barbecue to the left. There was enough room for several people in the clearing. It was a good flat strip of land; next to a beautiful pool which was just a little way down from the waterfall. Behind him, he visualised the tourists trying to make their escape but him and Sadik knew this land. They had done their homework, spent the closed season researching the area, finding all the little hiding places. They had picked this area as it was approximately six miles to the nearest village and then there were only a handful of spaced out farms. The nearest main road was at least two miles away and even then not many cars frequented it, two, maybe three a day. He was confidant they could hunt anything down in this area. He was also aware that after completing three jobs already on this patch that they would have to move downstream after the next job; that was if he hadn’t made his escape before then.
“I verlassen bald,” he laughed.
“I leave soon” he whispered, pleased with how much German he’d picked up in the past few days.
“Is it okay?” Celile asked.
“It will do.” Guz had chosen their last location as he’d preferred the coolness of the forest, it helped a bit when the temperatures were this high but Celile never got flustered with the heat and she could never understand his reasoning. He could still stand back and get under the trees. He grinned; Sadik could be in charge of the barbecue for a change. He and Celile want to be together; they can sweat like pigs and do the cooking. He would let the sun loving tourists get their fill of the intense heat, maybe that and the alcohol would make them too dopy to put up a fight which would make it easier for him. And he knew they were close to a bite, he had tasked his boy to come on board and entice some young ones. How his boy would do on his first job, he had no idea.
The Boss wanted people, attractive young people and he was getting close. Maybe at the end of it all; he could do a deal for Celile. He laughed at the rhyme. “Deal for Celile,” he whispered under his breath. The two timing cow could get what she deserved, he laughed.
He had bussed Mehmet in to help a week ago. He wasn’t sure how he would take it when he found out what he really had to do; but he knew he could rely upon him. He knew Mehmet had hit upon hard times and needed the money; this operation would be perfect for him. He too could make his fortune in a season and move away, start a new life. Maybe become Gerhard’s friend and come away with his Dad. Time would tell how he would react when it came to doing the ‘real’ job. The job he hadn’t fully told him about. He’d led Mehmet to believe that they were robbing the tourists’ accommodation while they were out for the day. “No old or ugly ones,” Guz had warned him. He questioned why but Guz knew he could get away with giving very little away. “No reason Son, just want something pretty to look at in a bikini.”
With Celile’s back still facing him, she made circular shapes with her legs in the water, how he longed to just sit beside her and slip into the pool for a dip. Then he thought of Sadik with his slimy hands and tongue all over her. He would never have believed it but he had saw them kissing when they thought they were alone.
“Celile,” she looked up with her chocolate brown eyes and exposed her plunging neckline. Her glossy brown hair fell to the back of her waist cascading over her velvet latte coloured skin. “You would never lie to me would you?”
“No, why would I lie to you?”
“It’s just, you and Sadik. You’re always together.”
“Not this again,” she shouted as she lifted her feet out of the water and stood before walking back towards the car. “I don’t want to listen to this crap anymore. How many times have we had this conversation?”
Guz picked up the bottle of water that she had left, he took a long swig. Warm, he grimaced. What he wouldn’t do for a cold drink. Barefoot, she positioned her feet so as not to prick them with fallen pine needles or cut them on rocks. “What is it you want?” He asked.
“I don’t know. Why complicate things. We have a good thing going here. I don’t owe you anything after the way you’ve been. In fact you’re lucky I stick around at all. You’d treat a dog better,” she yelled.
“Like hell. I do all this for you so you can have things, so you can be happy. Or do you want to work on some slave farm picking fruit for the rest of your life because that’s where you came from.”
“Thanks for reminding me. And what you’ve got me into isn’t worse? You make it sound like you’re my saviour, some kind of God. Look at me now, I steal, burgle, kill and I can’t quit, we all know the consequences of not doing what The Boss wants. It’s all your fault I’m living this miserable existence. Send me back to the fruit farm.” She began to walk away getting ever closer to the car.
“You bitch,” he yelled as he chased after her. He’d started doing all these ‘jobs’ to make a better life for them, hoped she would change her mind about marriage and children one day. But his plans to go it alone were now confirmed, he would play out this charade for his deceitful swine of a brother and his bitch of a girlfriend. When it was all over Sadik could have her, they could have each other. He grabbed her arm and swung her around to face him. “I wanted a better life for us, but now I couldn’t care a less you lying little bitch,” he shouted.
She slapped him hard across the face. Warmth radiated from the contact point then outwards, he could feel his cheek burning red. Then he could feel himself getting turned on again. He slapped her hard and she almost fell. “You bastard, you wonder why things aren't working out,” she said as she spat in his face.
He wiped his chin and stared at her. Breathing deeply, his blood began to pulsate through his body causing his veins to swell. With a clenched fist he punched the tree just missing Celile's head. All he received in return was an icy stare. Stubborn, she refused to let him see she was scared. She had never shown fear since he’d met her. Even when she met The Boss, no fear. ‘That girl has balls,’ he though as he let out a laugh. He rubbed his fist, a small trickle of blood oozed down his arm.
He grabbed her and pushed her up against a tree and began to kiss her hard. She stood there allowing him to carry on but not responding. She occasionally allowed him even when she wasn’t in the mood, confused he carried on kissing her neck. He looked up at her. Her steely eyed focus was directed behind him towards the car as if imagining what she would have for tea. He didn’t mind that she wasn’t into it; just the fact that she was letting him would be fine. He continued to nuzzle her neck and lifted up her dress and felt her soft skin. The ground was quite soft beneath them. Then he shuddered as he noticed the turned earth that had been lifted by his feet. Gerhard and Ilse. He began to shake, the heat overwhelmed him. All he could visualise were Gerhard’s eyes. He needed to get away, leave, go home. “Let’s go,” he said as he grabbed Celile’s hand and led her towards the car. “The location you picked is good, we’ve had a good day but I need to get out of here, it is sending me crazy.”
She didn’t reply. She straightened up her clothing and rubbed her cheek before following
him to the car.
Chapter 8
The kettle began to boil, flecks of hot water splattered out from the spout of the overfilled machine. Eve took several cups out of the cupboard all of which were either chipped or stained. She lined them up and added the coffee. No milk, it would have to be black. Shopping and planning hadn’t been a strong point of her temporary house mates. They had coffee, but no one thought of milk and sugar; the ingredients that made the coffee taste nice. She flinched as two warm arms took her by surprise from behind. Then she settled the back of her head into his warm chest allowing him to embrace her. “I was trying not to wake you,” she smiled as she breathed in his familiar aroma. She felt his hands wander up past her clothed breasts before caressing her neck.
“I missed you, I had to come down and check that it wasn’t all a dream and you hadn’t run off with some Turkish hunk,” he said as he stroked her hair. He moved her hair out of the way and brushed his lips across the back of her neck. She shuddered as goose bumps trailed up her chest. Reaching her arm behind her she stroked his hair and felt the hook on the side of his glasses. She turned to kiss him and then stopped. They both stopped, prised apart by Stephen’s entrance.
“Sick, sick, between you pair and Romeo on the couch with his bird, I had no chance of any sleep. I had to bed down on a bloody sun lounger last night,” Stephen shouted. Kevin loosened his embrace and they turned to see Stephen looking red eyed at them. His unshaven face stared back. The kettle clicked off.
“What happened to your ..... ? Well not just your face, all of you.” Eve asked as she looked Stephen up and down. Kevin began to snigger.
“It’s not funny. You wouldn’t be laughing if you’d been mosquito food all night.” He replied as he tried to pull his sleeves down over his exposed raw arms.
Whispers Beneath the Pines Page 5