by Nigel May
It was that paper round that allowed her to buy her CDs. She’d bought the new one by Britney after seeing her cavort around with a snake on the VMA Awards on TV. What a girl. Amy would love to be like her when she grew up. And she was definitely going to buy the first single by that group put together on the Popstars TV show that she tuned into every week. She’d practised being just like them in front of the mirror, singing into her hairbrush and flicking her fringe to the beat.
Music was where Amy could lose herself. It took her to amazing places, to highs that no inner-city estate spliff could ever do. There was such a wealth of fabulous songs out there. She’d bought a Music Through The Decades CD set from a local charity shop. It was the best 50p she’d ever spent. Each of the four discs housed a collection from eras before her time. The swingy girliness of the sixties, the glam rock of the seventies, the poppy joy of the eighties and the raving dance of the nineties. Amy loved them all.
Her friends mocked her at school, said that she shouldn’t be listening to that ‘old shit’ when she tried to teach them about it. One or two agreed with her but in general it was a case of ‘that’s what my granny used to listen to, give me The Chemical Brothers any day of the week.’ Couldn’t they see that there was so much joyous, awe-inspiring music to choose from? A history of harmonies.
Music was fourteen-year-old Amy’s world and even though she didn’t have a huge amount of friends, even though she didn’t have tastes that everyone agreed with and even though she didn’t always get it right in French at school, or in any lesson for that matter, she would show them all.
Amy lay back on her bed and listened to her eighties CD. The Bros tune ‘When Will I Be Famous?’ came on. Apparently they were like a UK Backstreet Boys back in the day. Great tune. She shut her eyes and imagined herself dancing along to the energising beat.
What was it Mr Hawker had said to her earlier? That she’d never amount to anything. He could shove his French cuisine where le soleil didn’t shine. She promised herself that the one thing he would be eating in the not too distant future would not be a plate of snails or a portion of frogs’ legs, it would be his own words. As would everybody.
9
Now, 2015
* * *
Staring out the train window as it pulled into Manchester’s Piccadilly Station Amy felt a canvas of sadness envelop her. She knew it would. It was her first time back since she’d lost Riley and Laura and everything reminded her of them. Things they’d seen. Places they’d been. Moments they’d shared. Bittersweet tears, a fusion of happy laughter-filled memories and sadness about moments never to be repeated.
As Amy descended from the train, her suitcase bumping down the stairs as she pulled it behind her, she took a deep breath and felt the frostiness of the November air hit her face. It stung slightly and parking her case to one side for a few moments she adjusted her scarf and hat, pulling it into place to cover as much exposed skin as possible. The air was biting, a wind blowing down the platform causing the fringed ends of her scarf to ripple in the breeze. It was a Liska scarf that Laura had given her for her last but one birthday. She adored it and just the feel of its fleeciness reminded her of Laura. It comforted her and was one of the few good things about the onslaught of winter; it gave her the chance to wear it again. It was one of her few designer items that she had not attempted to sell in order to pay her rent.
The iciness of the air was a complete contrast to the large blazing globe of deep-orange sunshine that shone out from a poster across the platform from Amy. It advertised a local travel company that specialised in ‘wild and wonderful’ holidays. Immediately it transported her back. How many years was it? Four? Five? It was the company that she and Riley had used to travel to South Africa with, on one of their glorious holidays together as man and wife.
Just seeing the poster brought it all back. Safari Vacations, for those who like to walk on the wild side …
* * *
Then, 2011
* * *
‘So on behalf of Safari Vacations, may we welcome you to Inverdoorne, one of South Africa’s most popular game reserves and a place where today on safari you will be able to see the big five, that’s if they’re playing ball of course. If we know one thing about animals, it’s that they do what they want when they want.’
‘What’s the big five?’ whispered Amy to Riley, her hand in his as they stood listening to the guide currently filling them in about what the day ahead held for them.
‘According to the website it’s the five animals that were originally said to be the most challenging to hunt in Africa but have now become the most sought after creatures to see on safari. There’s the lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino and …’ He paused, obviously trying to recollect the fifth which seemed to be escaping him.
‘I’ll take you as the fifth, especially looking so hot in those shorts,’ grinned Amy. ‘You suit the camouflage look and you certainly bring out the animal in me, Riley Hart.’ She moved her hand from his and placed it across his backside, giving one of his buttocks a playful squeeze, much to the amusement of a middle-aged rotund lady from Bedford who was standing behind them. The woman had been on the same flight as them from Manchester out to South Africa, having booked with the same company.
‘Get a room you two,’ she joked. ‘You’re upsetting the wildlife.’
Riley turned to face her and mouthed the word ‘sorry’. He wasn’t, just the mere touch of Amy’s hand turned him on.
But the safari came first. ‘Easy, tiger!’ he smiled, taking Amy’s hand in his once again.
‘Is that the fifth of the big five, then … a tiger?’ asked Amy.
‘No, it’s the leopard,’ he said, finally remembering what he’d read on the website. ‘And hopefully today we will see them all.’
The voice of the safari guide filled the hot, dusty African air again. ‘So if you’d all like to follow me to the jeeps we can start the safari and attempt to find some animals for you.’
‘And hopefully some sun too,’ said Amy. ‘I thought it was going to be blisteringly hot out here.’
‘It will be,’ replied Riley as they walked towards the fleet of jeeps awaiting them. ‘The web said it would be cold in the morning and seeing as it’s just a little after 7am it’s no surprise really. Give it a couple of hours and the sun will be beating down. In the meantime, I’ll just have to warm you up, won’t I?’ He pulled Amy towards him, wrapping his arms protectively around her. ‘And there are blankets in the jeep if you’re too cold so we can always spread them over ourselves if need be.’
‘As long as I can slip my hand underneath the blanket and play with your “big five” if you get my drift. There must be something about the safari experience that brings out the animal in me. I’ve been horny ever since waking up.’
‘We’ll sort that out later, don’t you worry,’ said Riley, planting a kiss on Amy’s forehead as he pulled her even closer. ‘Now, big five … you cheeky bugger. I think we know I’m a lot bigger than that, don’t we? I’m thinking the ‘big nine’ would be more apt, don’t you?’ He laughed as they settled into their seats on the jeep.
‘Too much info, you two! Keep it in your pants.’ It was the rotund lady again who was now seating herself behind them. ‘And FYI, I’ve not been horny ever since I woke up, I’ve just been ravenous. They do feed us on this trip, don’t they?’
Amy and Riley could both feel their cheeks reddening as the jeep’s engine burst into life and they headed off to start the safari.
It was hours later that they finally returned to their on-site guesthouse. The day had been an amazing one and there had been food, much to the enjoyment of the lady from Bedford, but not even the delights of a Harrods hamper could have compared with the animals that Amy and Riley had witnessed during the day. They had seen a female rhino enjoying the first drink of the day with her young calf, a herd of zebras excitedly skipping along, their movements almost choreographed with the skill of a professional dancer and even a coup
le of hippos lazily wallowing in water to try and escape the ferocity of the overhead sun. Add that to the oryx, wildebeest and springbok they had seen and it made for the perfect day.
Amy’s favourite had been seeing the lions in the wild. Their proud manes and silky coats entranced her with their deadly beauty. She’d longed to get up close to them but was savvy enough to know that these were no friendly moggies looking for a stroke and a purr-inducing tickle behind the ear. These were killers, beasts who ruled the lands they strolled.
Amy’s dreams of touching the wildlife did come true though during a moment that had become the highlight of her day so far, a moment that she was discussing with Riley as they lay on their backs staring up at the night sky behind their Bedrock-style guest-house. It was a luxury chalet that any Fred and Wilma would have been proud to call their home.
‘Can you believe we were able to stroke the cheetahs? That was so amazing!’ squealed Amy, still high from the experience and the bottle of champagne she and Riley had enjoyed over dinner. ‘It was incredible to see them walking so tamely with their handlers. How wonderful of the people here to rescue and rehabilitate cheetahs that might not have lived had they not been saved. What a rewarding job. I couldn’t believe we were actually able to stroke them. I could so work here.’
‘Not thinking of leaving me, are you?’ remarked Riley, his voice traced with a hint of worry.
‘They were fabulous but I’d rather stroke you any day of the week. Your bite is pretty sensational.’ Amy ran her hand across her T-shirt and let it rest on her right breast. She could feel her nipple stiffening as she rubbed her finger gently across it. It was still a little bit tender from where Riley had been nibbling it with his teeth during an afternoon sex session they had enjoyed the moment they had arrived back at the guesthouse. Given the horniness Amy had been experiencing all day and the flower petals sprinkled liberally across the bed, the mood was one hundred per cent sexual and it had been mere seconds before they had both shed their safari clothes and made love. Their movements were frenzied and urgent, almost animalistic, the subject matter of the day perhaps influencing them sub-consciously. Riley had feasted on her body, allowing his tongue to dive straight into the sugary folds of her wetness, searching to quench his sexual thirst in the same way a parched beast would seek out the nearest watering hole. His own appetite satiated, Riley had moved his mouth to Amy’s breasts, feasting on the rosy pink buds he found there. Mixing the ferocity of a lion with the tenderness of a baby kudu, one of the many antelopes that roamed across the plains of Inverdoorn, he had expertly taken her peaks between his teeth as he ploughed the hardness between his legs into her. Their orgasms combined as Amy let out a howl of exultation worthy of a hyena.
‘You all right there?’ asked Riley, noticing Amy’s hand on her breast.
‘I was thinking about your bite. My boob is still quite tender, not that I am complaining. That was sensational, you were like a man possessed.’
‘Possessed with love for you, yes. Now check out these stars. Have you ever seen anything so crystal clear?’
‘Never,’ mused Amy. She and Riley had spent the last half hour lying on a towel on the floor outside the back of their guesthouse, as suggested by Inverdoorn’s staff. The night sky was pitch black but the stars and constellations dotted across the sky were sparkling unlike anything Amy had ever seen. Like rhinestones placed upon a sheet of the most luxurious black velvet. It was magnificent.
‘They’re not like this over Manchester, are they?’ questioned Riley.
‘Nothing could outshine you, my love,’ said Amy, her voice purring with suggestion.
Riley spotted it straight away. ‘What are you after, Amy Hart? Are you trying to butter me up, young lady?’
‘I was just thinking about those cheetahs again. How do you think they’d look at the house in Sale?’ Amy smirked to show that she was joking.
‘I’ll buy you a concrete one to put by the front gates, all right?’
‘But I want a kitty cat,’ mocked Amy. ‘A nice big one.’
‘Then that’s what you shall have, my angel. The biggest kitty cat in Britain,’ replied Riley, rolling over to plant a kiss upon her lips. ‘I promise.’
* * *
As Amy walked away from the travel poster and out of Manchester’s Piccadilly Station to the nearest taxi rank, she let herself smile. Riley had given her the biggest kitty cat of all, The Kitty Kat Club. He’d kept his promise. But now it was gone, taken from her, as was he. And she needed to see whether that was about to change.
10
Now, 2015
* * *
‘Well, there’s a face I thought I’d never fucking see round here again. What the frig do you want?’
The blunt, joyless churlish welcome wasn’t entirely unexpected by Amy. Considering the last time she’d seen Tommy Hearn had been at the reading of Riley’s will, she had not exactly envisaged being greeted with open arms and the offer of a cosy catch-up. Not that she had ever really planned to see Tommy again to be honest ... not until that letter and her need to track down the truth behind it. Being with Riley again was all she could think about and if that meant having to share airspace with Tommy then so be it.
‘I need to talk, can I come in?’ said Amy matter-of-factly.
‘Be my guest.’ His intonation was not exactly inviting.
Tommy ushered Amy into his office at the Dirty Cash Casino, as the Kitty Kat club was now known. Amy had made a calculated guess that she'd find him there now that his work with Riley at the plastics factory no longer existed. On lonely nights at the flat in London she’d often found herself idly looking at the internet and out of curiosity she’d once googled Tommy Hearn. The ‘success story’ of Manchester’s latest casino had popped up on a website about northern businesses. Unable to stop herself from reading it she’d immediately felt the hair on the back of her neck standing to irate attention at the man who had so easily filled her dancing shoes and stolen her life.
As she walked into the space that had once been hers, had once pulsated with music and been the scene of so much happiness and jubilance, at least before that night, she again had the same feeling of contempt wash over her. Every corner held a memory. Instead of the raging buoyant beat of the music, the space now resonated with the soundtrack of endless kerchings from the rows of slot machines spaced sentinel-like from wall to wall. Amy had nothing against gambling, far from it, but somehow the scene disgusted her. A hatred of it that stemmed from the loss of what had gone before.
‘Welcome to The Dirty Cash Casino, it’s your first visit I guess. Looking good, eh?’ There was ridicule in Tommy’s words, a bragging that pricked at Amy’s skin. Added to the almost cataclysmic pounding of her heart within her rib cage, the atmosphere in the room made Amy feel deeply uncomfortable. But she needed to be strong. To conquer her fear.
She sat herself at his desk as Tommy eased into his chair opposite her and lit a fat, stubby cigar. No cigarette ban would ever stop him. He was king of this empire and he made the rules. He ran his hand through his thick mane of black, slicked-back, wavy hair as he reclined back into his chair, blowing smoke into the air. His demeanour was one of pure arrogance. The fat cat who had not just tasted the cream, but made his enemies choke on it.
‘I guessed you’d be here ... where else would you be?’ she sniped. ‘Dirty Cash? It’s dirty all right … the cash that funded this place was my cash and you know it, Tommy. This was my club. You left me with nothing. How can you live with yourself?’ A tear started to form at the corner of Amy’s eye as she spoke. It annoyed her. This was not how she was supposed to be. She planned to be forceful, take no shit … tears were not an option. After everything she had gone through she was not going to give this man the satisfaction of seeing her blub like she was watching some emotion-drenched Jennifer Aniston rom-com.
‘Come for a handout, have you? Times are hard? I’d heard on the grapevine that you’re not exactly doing so well. You’re down in London n
ow, aren’t you? Streets not paved with gold, eh? There’s nothing here for you, Amy …’ Tommy left a slight pause before adding ‘... not anymore.’
Amy needed to be strong. Trying to ignore the ever-increasing volume of her own heartbeat, she spoke. ‘I need answers, Tommy, not money. You were a friend to me and Riley. Or at least I thought you were. You came to our wedding. You were there when my parents died. You’ve been part of my life with Riley for as long as I can remember, so what happened? How can you sit here, somewhere that was once mine and know that you’re making a living in the place where my husband ... your friend, died? I don’t understand ... I never had you down as such a callous bastard.’
Tommy stared at Amy, his gaze like that of a feline ready to apply a fatal blow to a passing nuisance of a rodent. ‘You never did understand, love. You were never the sharpest tool in the box from the moment Riley met you, were you? I never really understood what he saw in you, but I suppose you must make up for your lack of brains in other departments.’ His eyes narrowed and his glance descended down Amy’s body as he spoke, his meaning evident.
Amy had never been Tommy’s biggest fan but even for him this was nastiness on a scale she’d never experienced before.
‘Screw you, Tommy!’
Amy was on the verge of standing up and leaving but she hadn’t come all this way to quit so soon. She was stronger than that, despite what Tommy may think. It was her strength that had managed to help her survive the last six months. She needed answers and she needed to find her husband. If Tommy had anything to do with Riley’s ‘death’ then she had to fathom a way to find out about it. For a moment her mind clouded, the thought of being with Riley once more distorting her vision. For them to potentially be together she needed to calm her rage and focus. Not let her armour be penetrated.