The Boleyn Effect (The Boorman Ending)

by Deborah. C. Foulkes

  Deciding on the dungaree dress, because it's the closest thing that I normally wear compared to the others, I quickly change into it and return to where Harry waits. Nervously, I stand while he looks me over. My mouth is now so dry I can't even form any words to find out what I've done.

  'Good choice, now come!'

  I do what he asks, unsure if I can read his face. It's as though all emotion has gone. He's probably angry and he's just trying to exert some control. I go to his side and he grabs me and turns me to face him.

  'I want to fuck you,' he says.

  It should be seductive and have me melting, but I just feel uneasy.

  'Do you want me to?' he asks.

  I nod slowly.

  'Say it then.'

  'I want you to fuck me,' I manage.

  He pushes me over the counter and it seems to take moments between the sound of him unzipping and being thrust inside me.

  'Harry, you need to make me....'

  I cry out, before finishing, but I don't make to fight him. It's not like I've never had angry sex before and sometimes it can be hot, but this feels wrong and different. It's like Harry is no longer here or more to the point it's not me he's seeing. I could be anything or anyone. I try and move to gain some comfort at least.

  'Stay still,' he hiss in my ear.

  He pounds into me so hard I have no choice but to give in and let it happen. Just let him get it out of his system and then everything will be alright.

  With a growling groan it's over and he withdraws sharply, which hurts even more. I feel like I am burning and not in a good way. For some reason, I daren't move as I hear him putting himself straight and then a flurry of paper notes fall on the counter beside me. With a hand on my back he holds me still in position.

  'Consider this my own contribution,' he hisses.

  Then with the other hand, he nudges the envelope towards me. I struggle to stand up as he slams his way out of the flat. Piles of fifties are scattered everywhere.

  I grab the envelope and ripping it open I collapse on to the floor. It's the contract signed with George. He'd shredded a copy and lied to me about it in order to gain my trust. I've been betrayed by the one person I trusted. Why would George do this to me? Unless he knew. He fucking knew I was playing him and just because I dared to take him on, he dealt his winning hand just to put me in my place.

  What have I done for him to hate me so much? I let him into my bed for crying out loud. What more did he want? Me as his wife? That is not going to happen, because the man I truly want is walking out of my life right now and that's what I need to salvage.

  Suddenly, grabbing my shoes, I run out into the street, just in time as Harry pulls out. I throw myself on the bonnet and wait for him to either run me down or get out. Throwing the door open, he gets out and drags me away from the bonnet. I'm stunned to see his face damp.

  'Get the fuck out of my way,' he shouts.

  'Not until we talk about this. George has set me up. He's jealous of you and me,' I say, lies over spilling.

  'Well it sure looked like your signature to me.'

  'Harry, we've been friends for years, he could easily forge it. It doesn't take a genius.'

  Harry looks at me for a moment and then sighs.

  'You know what, I don't really blame you. I would have done exactly the same thing if it got me what I needed. You're a clever woman, but I think you've a hell of a lot to learn about the real world. Take my wife's money and do what you want with it. Just leave me alone.'

  'Please Harry, I don't want it. I want you. Don't let them do this to us. We are good together. You said yourself.'

  I am aware that I am desperately pleading and it's not the most attractive thing in the world.

  'Go home Leigh-Anne. Go find someone your own age to play games with,' he says.

  He turns away from me and starts to get into the car. Desperation is not the word. I have only one possible card to play. The biggest lie I have to hand and while it's the one thing I thought I'd never say, I have no choice. I have to make him stay and it's the only thing that I'm sure will buy me time.

  'I'm pregnant!'

  He stops. Frozen to the spot. Slowly, he turns my way and I have subconsciously taken a step back. Maybe this isn't such a good idea.

  'Say that again.'

  'I'm pregnant,' I repeat.

  'Get in the car,' he commands.

  'I...'

  Grabbing my arm, he forces me into the car and climbs in himself. Screeching out of the street, he drives a few miles until we reach a Tesco's Express and then he halts the car.

  'Stay the fuck there,' he snaps and then disappears.

  I watch his movements inside the store and I am now scrambling around my head of how I can get this to work to my advantage. Moments later he returns and throws a paper bag on my lap. Dread fills my stomach as I see the Clearblue logo through the paper. This is not what I expected to happen. In desperate attempt to keep hold of him I've just dug myself an even deeper hole. He starts the car and reverses out.

  'What's this?' I ask.

  'I've been lied to before. I'm not taking any chances.'

  Soon we are back and I am dragged out of the car into the flat. Slamming the door shut, I finally shake myself from the shock. I need to worm my way out of this.

  'Do we really need to do this now? I think it works better in the morning anyway. Let's sleep on it.'

  Harry rips open the package and looks at the instructions and then throws one of the wands at me.

  'Day or night it's not going to make a difference if you're pregnant. Now go and pee.'

  'Why would I lie to you about something like this?' I try and reason.

  ‘You told me you were on the Pill and with what I’ve just seen I’m not really sure right now what to believe.’

  My arm is forcibly grabbed as he drags me into the bathroom and pushes me to the toilet.

  'If you are then I will apologise and we'll work this out, but if you're not you're going wish you were.'

  'Fine, but I can't go with you here.'

  'I'm staying.'

  There is no way out of this. Even if I admitted my lie, he would still make me go through the humiliation of peeing on the wand and watching it say not pregnant. Maybe George is right. I am just a child. An immature woman who thinks she's more than she is. Pulling down my pants I prepare to urinate and reveal my lie.

  CHAPTER THIRTY SIX

  The sound of my front door closing makes us both look up at each other.

  'Stay there,' he demands.

  As soon as the door closes I look around the bathroom desperate to find a way to manipulate the result when I hear raised voices from beyond the bathroom door. One of them is Katherine and the other is Gaskill.

  I thought he was in Greece with George?

  Shit this can't be happening now. Putting the used wand on the toilet, I reach for the door and a gunshot echoes through the flat. I fall back against the window in fright. Who the fuck has just shot who? And who on earth carries a gun?

  Katherine must have got tired of waiting for Harry and when he didn't arrive she's decided to kill us both. I’m next. She must be really desperate to keep him. I reach into my pocket and with relief find my phone. The one and only time I didn't put it in my bag. Dialling 999 I wait. But I'm also praying someone will have heard it and be calling help. A gunshot is not the most common sound in this part of the town. Then there's another voice that makes me gag and it causes me to shove my phone still connected into my pocket.

  'Where is she? You promised that we'd keep her out of this,' George yells.

  'How can we keep her out of it? Who else is going to make sure we get away with the money,' Gaskill snaps.

  'I've changed my mind. I'll take her care of her. We'll leave together.' George pleads. 'We could say it's suicide.'

  'You were the one who came to us and told us to set her up. In your own words "if I can't have her then let's make sure no-one else does" You're pathetic b
oy,' Gaskill snaps.

  'Put the gun in his hands, not hers,' George begs.

  I can hear tears in his voice, but at that moment I don't care, because it sounds like I'm about to be set up.

  'Just shut the fuck up boy and check the bathroom. We need to finish this,' I hear Katherine snap.

  I run for the door, but I'm not fast enough as George swings it open. He looks at me with a ghastly pale face and I manage to look past him to see Harry's still leg on my floor. Katherine pushes past George and drags me out.

  'What the fuck have you done? Is he dead?' I sob.

  'He will be. Are you going to tell her or am I?' Katherine asks George.

  'Tell me what?'

  George leads me to a chair where I can sit down. Looking carefully Harry's is breathing but only just and blood is already staining my floor.

  'I'm really sorry Leigh, it wasn't supposed to end like this. He wasn't supposed to leave just yet and when he did...well we expected you to take the money and run.'

  'But your stubbornness has presented another opportunity,' Gaskill finishes.

  'I'm not sure I understand,' I whisper.

  Katherine gets to her feet and nudges Harry's still body with her foot. The look of hatred is clear on her face.

  'I have sat back and watched while this bastard screwed everything he can, trapped in a marriage with a man I could barely pretend to like. I should have listened back then to my father. He knew better. It was his way of punishing me if we did not renew our vows after twenty years then not only would all the money disappear but all the businesses would be sold off. The only fucking hope I had was that if we had children then that money would be mine through them, but this arse-hole couldn't even get that right.

  All you had to do was keep fucking him as a mistress until I renewed my vows and then I'd divorce him on the grounds of adultery and I'd get everything. But you fucking got greedy and fell inlove.'

  I turn towards George and fury fills me as I hurl myself at him.

  'You played me arsehole. You said it was about Anne Boleyn and your dissertation. You were supposed to be my friend and you played me,' I scream.

  'You could have said no,' Gaskill grabs me away from his son. 'But your ego got in the way. And you boy,' he turns towards his son. 'Anne Boleyn? Really? When are you going to learn that times are a little different nowadays.'

  'I did what you asked,' I say to George. 'You told me that I had to get him to fall inlove with me and I did that.'

  'That's not what we agreed,' Katherine snaps at George.

  'How else was I going to get her to do it in the first place? I needed to cover it all up with something innocent. Make it into a game. I didn't believe she'd do it.'

  'Well clearly she did,' Katherine sneers. 'Now all that's left for me to do is to collect my inheritance as a widow. Now hurry up and give her the gun. We've not got time.'

  'And how are you going to spend it while you're in prison,' I manage to say.

  My whole body is shaking and I can't help but keep looking at Harry dying on my floor. George comes towards me and it's then I see that they are all wearing black leather gloves and my head starts to spin. I try and move away, but George grabs me and pushes the gun into my hands.

  Katherine laughs at my comment and its sound sends icy chills down my spine. Sirens are starting to echo through the air and now nerves are starting to set in within everybody in the room. But I have to show no fear. No matter what they do to me I mustn't let them have my fear.

  'Miss Boorman, do you really think that I'd have not thought about that. Listen and you'll hear your future.'

  'I did tell you I can make things happen,' Gaskill laughs.

  'Oh yes while you were trying to get me to sleep with you,' I throw back.

  If I keep them talking then I can buy myself more time. I don't want to be left alone with Harry's body while I'm holding the gun. What card would they play? The jealous lover? But my comment towards Gaskill seems to have changed the dynamics as George stiffens, but its Katherine's reaction that interests me more.

  'You did what?' she hisses.

  Gaskill goes to her side and they huddle together.

  'Of course she's lying. I'm not like him. I'd never do that to you.'

  I can't believe it. Gaskill and Katherine together. So Harry's not the only one capable of an affair and why on earth is George happy that it's going on. Then it sinks in. It's all about money. This whole thing is about her money. She has promised them a cut of what she has if they help her get her hands on her fortune. But then why would they need it? Gaskill wants her for himself. That I get, but George?

  'I can't believe you hit on her. You've always lectured me about what a whore she is,' George shouts going towards his father.

  'How many more times do I have to tell you she's liar,' Gaskill says.

  'Why don't you tell him about his mother? Who you screwed over,' I throw in for good measure. 'Did you help him do it Katherine?' I ask. 'Did it bite to know that that woman was your husband's first love?'

  Katherine swipes at my face, but George stops her, causing Gaskill to stand in. George turns towards me, his face wet with tears.

  'It's because of that bastard there that my mother is dead,' he says.

  'No it isn't...' I start to protest.

  George pushes a finger onto my mouth to silence me. He's wrecked. Drunk and emotional.

  'He turned his back on her when she needed him. All she wanted was for him to forgive her, but he couldn't do it. She loved him so much, she even gave me his name. Could you imagine me a Harry?'

  His birth name was Harry. Jesus Christ no wonder Katherine is pissed at her. Claudette must have been a desperate woman, but she still screwed around.

  'George, she was pregnant with another man's baby. Would you have done that for me?'

  He looks at me and then kisses my lips with wet kisses that make me gag.

  'I'd have given you everything. But then you seem to prefer a man like that,' he sneers nodding towards where Harry lays. ‘Just like my mother did.’

  'Whereas you seem to side with a man who took a baby away from its mother and was the real reason why she killed herself,' I say.

  'You're wrong. She committed suicide, because of Harry and then my father took custody.'

  I falter a little, because I can't be sure which is the truth, but Gaskill is more untrustworthy and if he needed Harry out of the way then what a way to use your son to do it. I glance up at where Gaskill is staring at me with face white with anger.

  'George, you’ve got to listen to me.’

  My face rings from the slap as I fall onto the floor. Gaskill hovers over me for just a moment, before George launches himself at his father.

  Now it's like I'm not there as father and son wrestle. Katherine stands between them and pushes them apart. During the scuffle, I am being ignored as I get to my feet. I slowly move towards Harry and make sure he's still breathing. He is. Barely, but still alive. But something like a light bulb moment occurs as I look down at what George has given me that's now on the floor where it was dropped.

  I have never in my life used a gun. I've never needed to but this could be about survival. I need to just scare them enough that I can get away and get help for Harry. The sound of sirens seems to have disappeared. They were not for us. But surely help will be coming soon.

  The door slams shut as Gaskill storms out of my flat telling them to be in the car in five, and to finish it, leaving Katherine and George. They both turn my way and pale as they realise I am now aiming at them. George steps towards me and holds out his hand to me.

  'Leigh, come on hand it over.'

  'No,' I say.

  I know the gun is shaking in my grasp, but I am not letting it go.

  'Look, if you're saying my father lied then it's probably true. But you have always had my back when it comes to him. You and I are solid. You're my best friend and I love you. This is what we'll do I'll take care of you, make everything better. W
e'll take my share of the money and run off together. Just like the old days. We can still get married. Have children.'

  He's on his knees crying at my feet. Begging me. Katherine is watching me carefully while she edges towards the door. I know what she's up to. If she leaves then both George and I will be blamed for this whole thing. Especially since that damn contract is still on my counter. Incriminating evidence which will bring us both down together. Still with the gun cocked I give her a slight shake of my head and force her to move away from the door.

  George is now shaking as he holds me by my waist and I am starting to lose all sense of reality. I need to get out of this somehow, but I can't take them both on. With one hand round my back, my fingers catch an empty bottle of lager that Harry left from the night before. Making a snap decision I take one of them out of the picture.

  Glass splinters to the floor as the bottle connects with George's head collapses onto the floor. But I'm not quick enough to recover my poise and Katherine lunges for me. The two of us are wrestling trying to gain control over the other.

  But this is all about Katherine and what she hoped to do tonight. Like how she plans on getting away with shooting her husband. With that thought there is another realisation. I'm not going to survive this either. Anne Boleyn went to the scaffold accused of treason and incest. Her head cut clean off. My head may remain on my shoulders, but instead of Harry being my executioner it will be Katherine.

  Epilogue

  I'm sitting on the sofa mindlessly playing with the slightly auburn hair of my beautiful little girl as we both watch television. Both in our PJ's we are engrossed in the adventures of Makapaka.

  'When is daddy coming home?' she asks.

  I glance at the clock and realise he's late. He should be home by now. He left the college over an hour ago.

  'He shouldn't be much longer sweetness,' I say.

  I am starting to worry. It's cold and icy out there and he's driving is not what it used to be. I look down at my phone and wonder whether to ring. No, there's no point, because he will be stupid enough to answer if he's driving.

  The door suddenly swings open, bringing the freshness of cold air and our daughter bounds from my lap straight into his arms. Watching Harry leaning on his stick still pains and angers me. The memory of that night still fresh in our lives.