Cupidity

by Lucinda Lamont

‘David is right. We must let the officer speak.’

  He looked around the room, proud and overly confident like a peacock, and gestured to the officer to begin. The officer thanked Peter for his assistance, which was the story of David’s life, he felt.

  ‘Good evening, gentlemen. It was recommended to us by some of you that we hold this meeting to discuss the concerns around the escaped convict, Simon Paterson. I am Officer Pembrooke, and this is my colleague DC Harper. The situation is a grave and serious one. As you all know, last night another victim was found and it is believed that Simon Paterson is the culprit. A young woman was found in an alleyway not far from here, naked from the waist down and with serious neck injuries. We don’t know why she was out at that time of the evening, but we are talking to her family, to try and put together a timeline of events. Although we are yet to catch Simon and question him, this most recent murder does resemble two others carried out in a thirty - mile radius over the last two months. Having spoken with police officials in those villages, we believe the same person is responsible for these heinous acts of pure wickedness. We are continuing to carry out inquiries and follow up on some leads we have received, but we need your help. We need you to be vigilant. Let us know if you see someone acting suspiciously if you see someone acting out of character, if you see any new faces that seem to be behaving oddly. Any piece of information, big or small, may be just what we need. Keep an eye on your loved ones. Don’t go out in the dark. Be careful. We will catch him. We are getting closer, but as I say, any information that you have that you think could be useful, please tell us and we will follow up.’

  ‘He’s been to my house,’ said a tired, frail and elderly voice from the back of the room.

  Not everybody heard it, but some of the men turned to see what the noise was.

  ‘What did you say?’ said Peter, in a louder and more assertive voice than was necessary.

  The elderly lady slowly walked forward with the help of a stick. David instantly pulled himself up from slouching against the door frame and went to help her. He put one arm around her shoulder and assisted her towards the two policemen.

  He noted how well presented she was. Her clothes were immaculate and her dark grey hair had been pulled back neatly into a bun. He could see she was proud, but he could see she was tired. In fact, he wouldn’t be surprised if she keeled over now, she looked utterly drained and exhausted. The crowd of men parted the group, to allow her space to walk through. Officer Pembrooke recognised her instantly, once he saw her face.

  ‘Evelyn. What are you doing here? I don’t know if you should be here.’

  He looked around at the room, concerned. He moved towards Evelyn and linked arms with her and slowly walked off to the side of the room to get her away from the locals.

  As they slowly moved she could be heard telling Officer Pembrooke, ‘I said, he’s been to my house.’

  He realised she had given up and it had aged her dramatically. She had given up the fight of protecting her son. She had caved and the release of emotions was clear not only in her mental state but also her tired face. Her eyes looked sad.

  Officer Pembrooke instructed DC Harper to adjourn the meeting and clear the hall.

  The men became very unsettled. Questions were flying around as DC Harper tried to calm them and get them to leave.

  ‘What does she mean, he’s been to her house?’

  ‘Who is she?’

  ‘What aren’t you telling us?’

  ‘You’ve been told everything you need to know, gents, now clear the building. As soon as we have more information the public will be advised. Just go home to your families and keep them safe, and for God’s sake tell them you love them.’

  DC Harper’s son was missing in action, as were a lot of local boys and men. Tensions were running high.

  Peter and David returned to join their women back at the house. In true form, Peter hit the bottle.

  He opened a new bottle of brandy that someone had given him recently. He was always being given gifts despite most people living off rations. He poured a decent shot for everyone.

  ‘They won’t all be like that,’ he said, knocking his back, ‘just thought we could all benefit from a stiff one.’

  As he said it, he squeezed Martha’s shoulder. Mae had seen. She had been watching him like a hawk from the minute he stepped foot in through the front door. She wanted to know she wasn’t going mad.

  She looked at Martha and gave her a reassuring smile. A smile that said, ‘Don’t worry. It’s him, not you. I know you wouldn’t betray me.’ Martha reached out and held Mae’s hand.

  ‘Yes, I think something to lift our spirits is a good idea.’

  Peter lit up a smoke and offered them around the table.

  ‘Mind you, David doesn’t need a livener. Mr. Calm over here. Nothing seems to bother him. Didn’t really get involved at the meeting, did you, old chap? Each to their own, I suppose, but I couldn’t keep quiet, not when my girl could be in danger.’

  David wasn’t as stupid as Peter thought he was. He would not be angered by the fool. His patience was wearing thin, but he wouldn’t be provoked. That would just be playing in to his hands and David had more pride than that.

  ‘I thought you did a grand job speaking on behalf of all of us, Peter.’

  He gave Peter a boyish smile and raised his glass to him. He would play the game alright, just not the way Peter wanted him to. He wouldn’t trip up that easily.

  ‘Well, how did the meeting go?’ asked Martha.

  ‘Those bloody fools don’t know what they are doing. Just wasting everyone’s time, that’s what they are doing. Trying to make it look like they are doing something when in fact, they haven’t got a single bloody idea. What was odd, however, was that the meeting was called to an abrupt end because this woman walked in and said the madman had been staying with her. It was most bizarre.’

  You could see the cogs turning in Peter’s head, trying to make sense of it all. David chuckled to himself, as he imagined Peter’s slow brain looking for answers. David did think Peter was as stupid as he looked.

  ‘What woman? What do you mean he’s been staying with her?’ said Mae on behalf of everyone.

  ‘Well, tensions were running high. Everyone was shouting questions at the policemen, myself included. No one could hear properly. Then, just as the room had quietened down to listen to the officer in charge, an elderly lady appeared saying he had been at her house. They seemed to know who she was. I think the policeman called her Emily.’

  ‘It was Evelyn.’

  David corrected Peter with a small sense of victory. If he wasn’t good for much else in Peter’s eyes, at least he could remember details from twenty minutes ago.

  ‘Oh, yes that’s it, Evelyn they called her. Then Officer Pembrooke ushered her away from the crowd and told DC Harper to get rid of us. It was rather odd. I haven’t seen her in this village before. She must be a relative of the lunatic.’

  The room all pondered the facts, but no one could come up with anything. Martha felt as if she knew the name Evelyn, but she couldn’t place it. If she did know someone called Evelyn, she can’t have known her that well if she had forgotten who she was. It was more than likely someone from near her last house and not someone she had met around here, she thought.

  ‘Shall we play a card game?’ David suggested. ‘It’s been a tough day, let’s take our minds off it.’

  Everyone agreed that this would be a good idea, and so the four of them played cards. David happened to be very good at card games much to Peter’s dismay, but as they played, the atmosphere softened and they all enjoyed themselves. They even shared a few jokes. For the first time, the four of them sat around the dining table in the dim light, having an enjoyable time together.

  Sitting in a fog of cigarette smoke and getting a little bit giddy on alcohol. Peter started paying more attention to Mae, and David relaxed and even put his arm around Martha at one point.

  If someone were lo
oking in from the outside window, they would see two couples enjoying themselves playing some card games and having a drink. Both women looked as glamorous as ever; the two men looked dashing and pleased to be with their women.

  If someone were looking in from the hallway door, they would see that Peter had his hand on Martha’s leg under the table and was stroking her thigh.

  If you looked under the table, you would see that Martha was playing footsy with Peter’s calf.

  On this evening, cards were not the only game being played.

  Chapter 15

  A few weeks had passed and Martha had not brought up the house move to anyone.

  At times, she had felt it was the elephant in the room between her and Mae. The truth was she didn’t want to leave. As much as she knew what was happening between her and Peter was wrong, she still felt like she needed Mae. She knew that was selfish, but she didn’t know who she was anymore.

  She was lost, confused and dangerous. She used to be so sure of herself. She used to be so judgemental of Mae, but it seemed that Martha wasn’t quite the woman she thought she was. Life had changed her. You could say the same for Mae.

  Perhaps Mae was the one with blurry morals previously. However, she was loyal to her husband and her friend.

  Martha used to be.

  Perhaps she had never recovered from her husband’s death. Possibly being a single mother was more laborious than her conscious brain had realised. She thought she had been doing ok. She thought she was the same person just getting by, but her behaviour said something very different to how she saw herself.

  Peter had backed off since the night of the meeting at the village hall with the police. Martha had wondered if he had experienced a wakeup call. Perhaps the realisation of his wife being in danger made him want to protect her. Too late for that, she thought. Maybe it was because David spent the night with them and he had discovered a new-found respect for him.

  Unlikely.

  If anything, he had given up the ghost. He had chased, and almost, had his way and now he had lost interest. That was the most logical explanation she could think of, after all, he hadn’t demonstrated much compassion for others so far, so the most likely reason would surely be down to his self greed and desire. She didn’t mind. In fact, it was easier if he had moved on. She would never go for him. She would never make a move. For her, it was just a chance to experience affection that she had missed, or at least, that is what she told herself.

  He caught her when she was in a desperate, lonely state. He found her when she was vulnerable. She didn’t have the strength to say no. She realised now it wasn’t Peter. It could have been anyone half attractive. Anyone remotely intelligent or interesting. She just missed being touched. She missed feeling wanted. She missed the pangs of love. She missed having someone. Someone to whom she could surrender her desires.

  After Johnny had died, she had been alone for so long. She knew Mae would never understand if she found out. How could she? Why would she? She knew she had been an awful friend, but she wasn’t ashamed. She was too weak to care. Someone offered her something that life had so cruelly taken from her and she had given up the fight long ago to care about what was rightfully hers or not. She knew the right thing was to leave. Mae had been right about that, but Mae didn’t know how right she was. She just wished she didn’t have to now.

  Things had been a lot better the last couple of weeks.

  Peter had been normal. Mae had been more relaxed, in fact, she seemed happier than normal. The boys’ friendship was growing stronger every day and they were becoming like brothers to each other now. The two of them were as thick as thieves and Martha’s heart would burst like a firework display when she watched them play together. Willy had been a quiet boy, but being with Charlie had brought out a wonderful character in him that she didn’t know he had. He was far more confident now than she ever thought he would be. Sometimes she would watch him, and be amazed at how much stronger and resilient he was compared to her and she wondered if she had been like that as a child as she struggled to figure out who she was now.

  Mae announced her pregnancy to Martha over dinner, with Peter and David at the table. After her last announcement, her period arrived shortly after and Martha had consoled her sad friend while secretly being pleased.

  However, she knew it was only a matter of time.

  Mae always got what she wanted.

  David coming over for dinner had become a regular thing. Martha had become quite comfortable with that but was still in no rush to be with him entirely. She sought comfort and solace in being together as a group. She could manage that quite easily.

  David was no danger to her; she knew that.

  She just didn’t always want to be on her own with him. For some reason, she was holding part of herself back. She didn’t know why, because she was so desperate for peace in her sad mind and David offered her everything to get her there, to that place of peace and mental tranquillity, but for some reason, she couldn’t be with him completely. She couldn’t figure it out.

  Was it because she was scarred from Johnny’s death and couldn’t get that close to someone again? That would be an honourable reason she thought. No one could argue with that. It would be perfectly understandable. The other part of her mind goaded her with another reason.

  Could it be Peter?

  She didn’t want that to be the reason. That made her feel ashamed, disappointed in herself. What frustrated her, even more, was that she just didn’t know. She hadn’t seen clearly for the last several weeks, possibly longer.

  Mae’s news cut through her like a paper cut; not that bad at first but once she had digested it the sting lingered. It wasn’t a horrendous pain, just a niggle that made her feel uncomfortable. She had hoped that her celebration had been convincing because she didn’t feel it. The four of them had been sitting around the table. The two boys were asleep upstairs. Peter was smoking. Mae had seemed more joyful than normal but that hadn’t stood out particularly to Martha until she thought about it after. The table had been more jovial than normal. Peter had been more relaxed with David.

  It must’ve been because his masculinity had been proved once again. Martha had begun to clear the plates when Mae told her to sit down because she had some news. When she had said that, various thoughts ran through Martha’s mind but looking back on it she knew the whole time what it was going to be. Martha played coy, and went along with the ‘big surprise’ and sat down at the table.

  On this occasion, she took David’s hand under the table and squeezed it. He had noticed straight away that this was not normal behaviour for Martha, but he didn’t know what it meant. He was just grateful that she had reached out to him. She hadn’t done that previously. Something inside him told him that he was missing something, but he couldn’t put the pieces of the jigsaw together.

  They sat around the table once again in the dim, moody lighting under a plume of smoke. The wireless was on and then Mae announced her news. She was pregnant. Martha knew what Mae was going to say before she had even said it and was planning her response.

  Before Mae had finished the sentence, Martha was going through a role play in her head. Coaching herself step by step, when to smile, when to clasp her hands together in sheer delight, when to kiss Peter on the cheek and congratulate them both, when to start asking all the questions of how long and what are they hoping for.

  Her mind was racing; all the while she could feel her heart break a little more than it already was.

  The pain was physical.

  She didn’t want Peter, she knew that, but the news just made her realise how far away she was from what she wanted out of life.

  As Mae ended her announcement, Martha stood up in autopilot and went through the motions she had just been thinking of, acting each section out without error. She believed it was convincing. She believed that Mae had bought every second of it.

  The two friends embraced and shared excitement over the news. Martha was excited. Sh
e was excited for Mae and Peter and she was thrilled about new life coming to them again. This new life could cement Peter and Mae’s cracked love, she hoped, and allow her to move on with her own life. This news was a wake-up call. She needed to get the real Martha back, and stop allowing the harshness of life dictate who she was now. If she got a grip now, then no one had to know what her and Peter had been doing, and then no damage would be done really, well not to Mae anyway.

  That’s what she hoped for.

  The men had a toast to Peter’s virility and the women cooed over names and the prospect of a new baby. Mae couldn’t be sure exactly how far she was gone, but she thought it was about ten weeks. She told Martha she hadn’t noticed at first, but looking back her last period had been lighter than normal and then there was her meltdown in the bathroom upstairs a couple of weeks back, which she had put down to hormones. Martha reassured her that it was ok and that she would be on hand for any meltdown, big or small.

  Mae took Martha’s hands and clasped them within hers. She looked at her and as their pupils met, Martha felt like she knew. Martha felt like behind Mae’s camaraderie, she was more attuned than people gave her credit for, and as the two of them sat there, holding each other’s stare, Martha knew that Mae knew something was amiss.

  ‘I’m so excited to be having my second baby. I feel like it will help Peter and I get back on track, and I want you to be a big part of his or her life but, you need to leave us now. Do you understand?’ Mae had said this quietly.

  The men hadn’t heard the two of them talking, but Martha received the message loud and clear. She still didn’t know if Mae knew, or what she knew exactly. She couldn’t quite understand if her friend was asking her to leave because she thought her husband was having elicit thoughts, or if she knew the finer details of their betrayal, and was giving Martha an opportunity to do the right thing.

  All Martha knew was that she understood the request and now, despite how much she didn’t want to, it was time for her and Willy to move on.