Someone Else's Conflict

by Alison Layland

  He admired the flashes of good humour illuminating the pride in Vinko’s dark eyes. The lad’s positive attitude sparked in him an overwhelming desire to take him under his wing, offer him some kind of security. He stopped himself short. They’d only just met. And there was Polly – his heart leapt a little as he thought of her. He had to keep reminding himself there was another person in his life to consider now. But there was something definite he could, and knew he should, do for Vinko.

  ‘I’m glad you introduced yourself,’ he said. ‘You see, I…’ He fell silent. ‘How did you recognise me?’ he heard himself asking instead.

  ‘I first saw you last week, here, but – you’ll think this is mad – I didn’t recognise you until afterwards. My mother used to have an old photo of my father and you. I saw the same picture last week when I went to visit my grandparents. I think, though I didn’t know then, that it must have been seeing you here that made me go. I was never sure that I should.’

  ‘Why not?’

  Vinko lowered his eyes.

  ‘My life hasn’t been good,’ he muttered. ‘I’m not a grandson they can be proud of.’

  ‘They said that?’

  ‘Of course not! My grandmother welcomed me. But also…I’d always known, my mother told me, that they disowned my father, you know?’

  Jay nodded; he knew only too well. One of the experiences he and Ivan had shared.

  ‘They didn’t want him to go,’ Vinko continued. ‘They didn’t believe he should get involved.’

  ‘Weren’t they proved right in the end?’

  ‘No! How can you say that?’

  His eyes flashed with a passion Jay remembered feeling.

  ‘We didn’t make much difference, did we?’ Hurt a few more people, caused a bit more destruction. ‘I understand them now, though at the time I felt like you do. I guess it hurt them that he threw away the chance they gave him. They’d come here in the early sixties because they wanted safety and a better life for their family – not so different, I dare say, to the reasons why your mother went to Dresden.’ Vinko glared at him angrily. Jay cut off his protest before he had chance to speak. ‘So you went to see them. How did you get on?’

  Vinko stared at the table in front of him, shifting edgily in his seat.

  ‘He was just like I imagined,’ he said eventually. Jay gave a crooked smile of sympathy. ‘I think you know. Anja was lovely, though. She shouldn’t put up with him like that.’

  ‘I think he’s got a better side.’ Jay thought as he said it that guilt must be making him feel charitable. ‘People like you and me just don’t get to see it.’

  Vinko nodded. ‘Anja said you’d been to visit them last year and he didn’t make you welcome.’

  This was it. The moment Jay had feared. He was surprised Vinko hadn’t challenged him before now. ‘She told you about that? What did she say?’

  ‘That Boris turned you away almost as soon as you arrived. I think she would have liked the chance to talk to you.’

  ‘I mean about the reason I went to visit them.’

  Vinko shrugged, still staring at the table. ‘She didn’t mention a reason.’

  At least that explained why he wasn’t angry. ‘The money?’

  ‘What money?’ Vinko’s eyes flicked up, but he dropped his gaze just as quickly. ‘The woman who lives in their old house – the address I had – said they’d come into money a few months ago, that was why they moved. But I never thought any more of it. Neither of them mentioned it to me.’

  Jay felt his anger rising, glanced round the busy pub and forced himself to keep his voice steady. ‘“A few months ago” was when I called on them, Vinko. It was your aunt – sorry, great-aunt – Zora’s money. At least some of it should be yours. They didn’t tell you?’

  Vinko shook his head, frowning, as he picked up his drink. ‘What do you mean, should be mine?’

  ‘She wanted it to go to Ivan. I can prove that. And you’re his son.’ Jay put his head in his hands. ‘I wish we’d met earlier.’

  ‘You think it’s too late?’

  ‘No.’ He looked up; Vinko was watching him eagerly. ‘Probably not. You’d have to talk to them. I’d go with you. If you want me to.’

  ‘You would?’

  ‘It’s my fault I haven’t got it here to give you right now. Of course I would.’

  ‘When?’

  ‘Any time. This afternoon if you like.’ Vinko looked worried. ‘Sorry, you probably want to leave it a bit. See if they offer you anything of their own accord.’

  ‘No, it’s not that.’ He smiled and his doubts seemed to have vanished. ‘Yes, why not this afternoon?’

  Chapter 15

  Jay gave Vinko what he hoped was an encouraging smile as they walked up the drive. He looked at the house: an unremarkable semi. The Pranjićs would consider it a step up in the world from Fairview Terrace, but they hadn’t gone over the top with their windfall. There would be money left. Anja opened the door to them and despite himself Jay felt a genuine warmth towards her.

  ‘Hello, Mrs Pranjić. It’s good to see you again.’ He held out his hand. ‘You remember me, Jay, don’t you?’

  ‘Of course I do.’

  She shook his hand and returned his smile after a momentary pause.

  ‘And I understand you’ve met Vinko.’

  Her smile broadened. As Vinko stepped forward to give his grandmother a brief hug, Jay felt glad he’d persuaded Vinko to give Anja the benefit of the doubt, to begin with at least. Her smile faded and she looked nervous, but she agreed to let them in.

  ‘Nice house,’ Jay said. Let her wonder whether he meant anything by it.

  ‘Thank you,’ she replied, revealing nothing. ‘I’m sorry, but Boris isn’t here this afternoon,’ she added as she showed them through to the living room. Presumably the apology was for show; she must have a pretty good idea that neither he nor Vinko would be sorry about the old man’s absence. ‘He’s gone over to Vesna’s to help fit some cupboards.’

  ‘How is she? Where’s she living these days?’

  ‘On the outskirts of Bradford. She and the kids kept the house when they divorced.’

  Jay nodded, unsure whether he was expected to show sympathy or relief when he had no idea what kind of a man Vesna’s husband had been. He glanced at Vinko, whose face was expressionless.

  ‘Sit yourselves down,’ she said. ‘Wait here a moment. I’ll make some tea.’

  ‘Can I give you a hand?’

  She seemed as surprised at the offer as Polly had when he’d first gone there. It was easy to be helpful in someone else’s kitchen when you didn’t have the drudgery of your own to concern you.

  ‘Don’t worry yourself about that, love. You make yourselves at home.’

  He’d have liked a quiet chat, but didn’t insist. As they waited he went over to the sideboard and studied the pictures, sensing Vinko watching him. No sign of Ivan; he could imagine how that made the lad feel.

  ‘Vesna doesn’t seem to have changed much.’

  He wondered as he spoke why he’d said it; he knew she wouldn’t mean much, if anything, to Vinko. None of these photos would. He looked in the sideboard mirror and caught sight of the lad behind him, sitting stiffly on the dralon sofa, gazing at his hands. A movement behind Vinko’s shoulder caught Jay’s eye and his heart skipped a beat. The boy was standing by the window, watching him. Why here, now? Wasn’t Jay doing the right thing? He closed his eyes, breathed deeply. When he opened them and turned from the mirror, he and Vinko were alone in the room.

  Anja came through with a tray and set it down on the coffee table. She poured three cups of tea from a china teapot.

  ‘So you do know Jay,’ she said as she passed Vinko his. The accusation in her voice was accentuated by a slight rattle of the cup in the saucer as her hand shook.

  ‘I…not when I talked you last week,’ he said. ‘I…I…say hello to him the first time today morning. I…’

  ‘Speak your own language, Vinko,�
�� said Jay. ‘If that’s all right with you, Mrs Pranjić? It’s an awkward enough situation as it is.’

  She raised an eyebrow, but nodded. ‘So you met today. That’s quite a coincidence.’

  She spoke the language more slowly and deliberately than Vinko did and Jay could understand her well. The suspicion in her voice was plain in any language.

  ‘They happen,’ Jay said as he took the cup of tea and a biscuit from the plate she offered him, balancing it awkwardly on the saucer. ‘Coincidences.’

  ‘It’s true,’ Vinko continued. ‘I’d seen him before today, in Holdwick, but didn’t realise who he was till you showed me that photo. Even then I wasn’t sure.’

  ‘So, as he says, he came and introduced himself to me. You can imagine what a surprise that was. Now then.’ Jay put his cup down and leaned forward, waiting for Anja to sit before going on, hoping the pause would help him keep his anger in check. ‘If we want to talk about not telling the truth – isn’t there something you forgot to tell Vinko last week?’

  She fiddled with the teacup in her lap and spoke without looking at him. ‘Boris and I…we wanted to discuss it first.’

  ‘And didn’t you think to tell me when I was here that Ivan had a son? Don’t you think it would have made quite a difference?’

  ‘We didn’t know about him.’

  ‘Didn’t know?’

  ‘His mother mentioned she was expecting when she wrote to tell us…the bad news about Ivan. But she never wrote back.’

  ‘You never even told me that much.’

  ‘What difference would it have made, Jay?’

  ‘Apart from the fact that Ivan was my friend, you know what difference it would have made. Practically. I showed you Zora’s will, didn’t I?’

  Her eyes darted from Vinko to Jay. ‘I’m sorry, but I’m not sure we should be talking—’

  ‘Tell Vinko the main reason I was here.’

  She glanced nervously towards the kitchen. Vinko had told Jay about the heated discussion between her and Boris the week before, when he’d thought they were merely arguing about whether or not to make him welcome. ‘There…there was an inheritance,’ she said to her grandson now. ‘My family was quite wealthy, before the war, before Tito. I thought the money had been lost long ago. But it turned out my sister – your mother told you about Zora?’ Vinko nodded. ‘Zora had it in an account abroad. I don’t know how or why, but she gave a substantial amount to Jay in the nineties, to keep safe till the conflict was over. He came last year to sign it over to us.’

  ‘It wasn’t as simple as that, was it?’ Jay took the biscuit from his saucer and crunched it, swallowed. ‘Not that simple at all.’

  ‘I’m Zora’s closest living relative,’ she said, defensively.

  ‘I’ll save you the embarrassment. I told Vinko before we came about the will.’

  He had no idea what Vinko made of it all – the lad had simply listened impassively. Of the two sisters, Zora had considered herself the sole heir because their family had disapproved of Anja marrying Boris and leaving the country. In turn, when she’d entrusted the account details to Jay, she had also given him a letter stating that if and when she died, Ivan was the only family member she wanted to inherit it. If the conflict meant that Ivan died before he could claim it, Jay should keep it.

  ‘We only had your word about that,’ said Anja.

  Jay willed himself to stay calm. ‘My word and a legal document.’

  ‘Which was probably a fake.’

  ‘I can prove it. But surely you can see that Vinko has a claim to at least some of it?’ He glanced apologetically at the lad. ‘Surely you’d agree he needs it?’

  ‘We offered to help him in other ways. We talked over dinner, didn’t we, Vinko? We…’ She fidgeted with her teacup again, looked at Jay. ‘He’s only young. We wanted to make sure he wouldn’t just pour the money down the drain, that he wasn’t after it for anything…’ she reddened, ‘…for anything criminal.’ Jay could almost hear Boris persuading her. She looked uncomfortably at Vinko. ‘We’ve been discussing it, of course we have, and we were going to offer to share it equally between you and Vesna in our own will.’

  That sounded more like Anja herself speaking, but Jay shook his head nevertheless. ‘He needs it now.’

  He looked round with the others as they heard a car pull up. ‘Is that Boris?’

  Anja had the best view through the window from where she was sitting; she nodded.

  ‘Good. I’d hate to be accused of plotting behind anyone’s back.’ Jay flashed Vinko a smile, as much to give himself confidence as anything.

  ‘I might have guessed,’ said Boris as Anja called him through to the sitting room. He looked from Jay to Vinko, and finally to his wife. ‘Didn’t I say Spinney would be behind all this?’

  Jay stood and approached Boris, offered his hand. He wasn’t really surprised when the older man refused to shake it.

  ‘How long have you been here? It’s a good job we got things finished sooner than expected at Vesna’s, isn’t it?’

  ‘If that means we can get things finished sooner than expected here, then yes,’ said Jay. He realised why Anja had refused his offer of help making the tea. She must have phoned her husband.

  ‘How long have you been spying on us?’ Boris glared at him.

  ‘Spying on you?’

  ‘Thought you’d make sure I was out? Thought you could terrorise my wife into giving you what you want?’

  ‘Boris, calm down, please.’ Anja rose, gestured to her husband and reached for the teapot. ‘Sit down and let me get you some tea.’

  ‘I’ll not drink with these two!’

  Anja hovered nervously.

  ‘I’d hate you to go thirsty,’ said Jay. ‘Hear me out for a few minutes and we’ll leave you to have your tea in peace.’

  ‘You stay out of this, Spinney. We owe you nowt and—’

  ‘True, you owe me nothing. I’m a reasonable man. All I’m asking is that you agree to give Vinko what’s rightfully his.’

  ‘Rightfully his! The pair of you turn up here, claiming he’s a grandson of ours and expecting me to shell out, just like that?’ His attention turned to Vinko. ‘Prove to me you can be a worthy member of this family, lad, and I’ll think about treating you like one!’

  ‘You’re not giving him much of a chance to do that, are you, Boris?’ Jay dug his fingernails into his palms to keep his voice calm.

  ‘I’ll not have you come here and talk to me like—’

  ‘Like what? Reasonably?’

  ‘Call that reasonable?’

  ‘Just shut up and listen!’

  He was surprised and relieved when Anja intervened by motioning to both of them to sit down.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he said to her, returning to his chair. Boris said nothing as he joined his wife on the sofa. ‘I don’t want things to get nasty. But I made a mistake last year; I was never sure I was doing the right thing.’

  ‘You wouldn’t know the right thing if it—’

  ‘I said shut up and listen!’ He glared at Boris. ‘Knowing about Vinko has changed everything. Made me realise I was wrong to have gone against Zora’s wishes and handed the money over to you. All I’m asking now is that you give the lad the share he’s entitled to.’

  ‘Who the hell do you think you are?’ Boris made to rise but Anja put a restraining hand on his shoulder. ‘What percentage is he offering you, eh?’

  Jay merely laughed. ‘For fuck’s sake, Boris, why would I have given it you in the first place if I wanted anything? I’m here for Vinko.’ He looked steadily into the older man’s eyes. ‘And for Ivan.’

  ‘Get out!’ Boris stood this time and Jay rose to face him. ‘You’re lucky I didn’t take you to court last year for stealing what was ours and holding on to it for so long. My wife persuaded me to let it drop then, and she’d probably want me to do the same now. Be careful, Spinney, or I might change my mind.’

  Jay breathed deeply. ‘Empty words, Boris.
I haven’t done anything wrong and you know it. I’d have been entitled to keep the money then, and Vinko’s entitled to it now.’

  ‘And how do you intend to prove that, eh?’

  He shrugged. ‘I assume that means you’ve destroyed the will.’

  ‘You guessed right, lad.’ Boris ignored Anja’s sharp look. ‘You haven’t got a leg to stand on.’

  ‘It’s a good job I wasn’t daft enough to hand you the original over, isn’t it? I’d just have hoped that you’d see fit to help your grandson make a decent life for himself without the need for all this.’

  Anja moved to stand by her husband. ‘Boris, we can talk about it. We’d agreed, hadn’t we—’

  ‘We’d agreed nowt.’ He looked at Vinko. ‘Nothing. Understand? Ništa. Now get out, both of you!’

  Vinko got to his feet awkwardly.

  ‘Jay will help me,’ he said to Boris.

  He went to his grandmother and grasped her hand briefly before moving to the door. As Jay made to join him he caught another glimpse of the boy by the window and wondered if he’d actually been there, watching him, throughout. Watching the situation descend to such a messy argument.

  ‘Listen, I’m sorry if I sounded a bit—’

  ‘Get out!’

  Jay tensed, looked past him and gave Anja a brief smile. ‘I’ll call round again in a couple of days. When we’ve all had time to…’ He shrugged. ‘Thanks for the tea, Mrs Pranjić.’

  The restrained slam of the door followed them down the drive. Vinko paused to roll and light a cigarette before they set off towards the town centre.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Jay said.

  ‘You did what you could. I know you’re trying to help. I’ve lived without it for this long.’

  ‘I meant I’m sorry because I’ve probably messed up any chance you might have had of friendship with them.’

  ‘I would never be friends with him.’

  Jay was taken aback by his intensity. ‘Anja lets him get away with it. I find that almost as hard to take.’

  Vinko shrugged and walked on in silence, eyes on the pavement ahead of him.

  ‘Anyway, I’ll be in touch,’ Jay said as they neared the centre of Keighley. ‘Have you got a phone?’