by Russell Judd
That night I’m lying in bed struggling to get some sleep when without warning my mind reminds me of where I’ve seen that plant. I’m sure its growing behind an old council water mains building. Hopefully it hasn’t been recognised and removed. I set my alarm for an early start so I can get out for another run and see what Stabby is up too. On my way back I’ll look out for that plant.
The familiar noise of my alarm breaks the silence of the night, my eyes open and my mind is set to this morning’s task. I again silently slip into my running gear and out into the morning air. The sky is blanketed in a thick cloud. No stars are shining and it’s unusually warm. My watch lets me know that I’m on time. As long as I keep this pace I should be in the park next to his place around the same time as the previous morning.
I run into the park and I can see the lights are on inside his house. I begin to stretch on the park bench when I hear a scream come from Stabby’s house. The door bursts open and a female comes flying out of the house, she is being quickly followed by Stabby. The abuse coming from her mouth is horrendous. I can see the darkened blemishes on her face, evidence of the loving relationship the two have. She gets into the car and tries to shut the door. He grabs it and forces the door from her grip, pulling the door open. He then steps in between her and the door, his menacing figure looming over her. While he is yelling abuse at her she places her arms over her head in anticipation of the impending violence and cowers away from him. I can hear her sobs between each pause while he thinks of a new derogatory phrase to call her. Unexpectedly he grabs her arm, leans back and starts to pull her out of the car. She tries to resist him but her small frail body can’t withstand his strength and she is soon pulled from the car. His body twists as she is hurled into the air and lands in the unkempt cool green grass. She curls up in the foetal position, her hands again covering her head and knees tucked up as close to her chest as she can manage. Her eyes are wide and screaming out to anyone. I can almost hear her thoughts. I can feel her pleading for the ground to open up beneath her and protect her from this nightmare. His body tells me that he wants to take this further. The anger and venom is so apparent in his face. I can see the hatred in his eyes. Any reasonable person wouldn’t take this any further but he takes a step forward. My stomach is in turmoil over seeing this. Do I get involved and risk exposing myself? Suddenly a small child emerges from the house crying out for his mother. Without any hesitation he runs down the steps and throws himself on top of her. I can see the love that he has for his mum from the tightness that he holds her. She looks at stabby directly in the eyes. I’m not sure if he realises what he’s doing or the consequences his actions have, but nothing more is said and he takes this moment as his escape. He turns around and storms off towards the car. He jumps in the car, slams the door and reverses out into the street. By now the female has risen to her feet and is embracing her little hero. She cradles his head in her shoulder and walks back into the house and so the cycle continues.
This must be a regular theme at this address as none of the neighbours don’t seem to of stirred. It seems that my presence has gone un-noted so I carry on jogging down the street. As I concentrate on keeping a steady pace I come up to the local shops when I notice his Subaru is parked up outside the dairy. I jog past and I notice that it is unlocked. He probably thinks no one would touch his car. I wonder if it’s locked when he parks it in the driveway.
I continue up the street and again stop to stretch out my legs. I make sure that his car is still in my peripheral vision so I can at least have a fair idea of how long he’s been in the shop for. I don’t have to wait long before he skulks out of the shop carrying a couple of packs of smokes. He gets back into his car, reverses onto the street and tears off towards his home. I wonder how quickly he goes through a pack of smokes a day.
My attention now turns to the plant. I’m sure it’s in a park not far from here.
That night I take out a section of the stalk that I cut from the plant from the fridge. I’m not sure how long this will last so I have to be careful not to waste any of it or more importantly get any of it on my skin. I hold the stalk vertically and the toxic gel oozes from the plant into a small container. Surprisingly there is a large amount of it in the stalk which is roughly 4 centimetres in diameter. As I’m handling this I accidentally get some of the gel on the gloves I am wearing. It doesn’t take long before paranoia rears its ugly head and I begin to feel a tingling sensation. I reassure myself by assessing the gloves and confirming there is no way the toxic gel has penetrated the plastic barrier.
I place a couple of small sponges in the container in an effort to soak up the gel and put it in the fridge for the night.
Chapter Eighteen