The Face

by Ivan B

  She exclaimed.

  Brian pushed past noting the concern in her voice to come to a similar dead stop. “Joan!” He cried in total surprise.

  I thinner female version of Brian with a curly mass of long ginger hair stood up and walked over to give him a hug. “Hope you don’t mind, we let ourselves in. There’s a convenient key under the flower pot by the front door.”

  A young girl with flowing black hair, light chocolate complexion and striking brown eyes licked her prominent lips and also stood. Joan turned, “Brian this is Janis; Janis this is your biological father.”

  You could have heard a dust mite die. Brian swallowed, “I don’t know what to say, it’s all a bit of a surprise.”

  “How about hello,” she drawled in a soft Canadian accent.

  “Hello.” He hesitated and then gave her the continental twin kiss on the cheeks welcome. He stepped away from her, and put an arm around Bau and Amy. “This is Bau and Amy, we live together.”

  They all formally shook hands. Amy glanced around, “Should have helped yourself to a cup of tea, like one?”

  “Yes please,” Joan responded politely.

  “Got a juice?” Asked Janis

  “Of course”, Bau responded, “Apple, pear or orange?”

  “Or there’s some Coke,” Amy called.

  “Coke please.”

  Brian flopped into a chair, “I still can’t believe it, my heart’s still pounding. You should have rung.”

  Joan gave a brief smile, “We did, but to the school, they said you were here.”

  She lowered her voice, “but alone.”

  “It’s a long story.”

  He turned to Janis; “It’s good to see you.” She just looked at him with wide brown eyes and didn’t speak.

  He looked at both of them, “I don’t understand.”

  Joan sighed. “Janis is just like you were, a scientist through and through. She keeps asking questions and reading books on goodness knows what. Her extra-curricular class did blood groups and she took samples from myself and Sam and herself, just a pinprick you understand. I’m blood group ‘O,’ so is Sam and I guess you. Janis is blood group ‘A.’ Since you can’t get type A from two type Os she started asking questions and we had to come clean.”

  Janis crossed her arms. “I can’t believe you gave me away. Did you hate me that much?”

  Brian felt the hurt and anger in her voice. He sighed, “It was all a long time ago Janis. I was very young, penniless and frankly didn’t think I could bring you up in anything like a decent lifestyle. On the other hand I knew my sister could. I might have been a little selfish, but I also wanted the best for you.”

  “That’s what mum said.”

  “That’s because it’s the truth. And it’s a decision I’ve come to deeply. Regret. I even came to Canada once to try and get a glimpse of you.” He noted his sisters shocked face, “but I chickened out because I thought it would do you harm.”

  “Have I any brothers or sisters?”

  “No.”

  “Will I have any brothers or…”

  “Janis!” Gasped Joan, “you can’t possible ask questions like that.”

  Amy purposefully placed a pot of tea o the table, “W-with something l-like that only t-time w-will t-tell,” she said, “c-children are a g-gift from G-God and you c-c-c-can’t g-go t-telling Him w-what t-to d-do.”

  Amy sat down at the table and Bau pulled up a folding chair and also sat down, placing a plate of biscuits on the table. “Where are you staying?”

  Joan sighed, “Who knows, I’d like a couple of nights in London, but Janis was insistent she see Brian first.”

  “W-Well t-that’s understandable, it’s important t-to her,” Amy pronounced, earning a broad smile from Janis

  “What’s your full plans, how long are you here?” Brian enquired.

  “Ten days. Sam is on some dreary dentistry conference in Amsterdam and we left him at Amsterdam Airport and flew into Norwich. Plan was a couple of days in Norfolk, have a foray in London, see you and go on to Queenie’s in Lincoln for a long weekend until we flew back to Amsterdam. Remember Queenie?”

  “Tall girl with long black hair, green eyes and a tongue like a razor blade.”

  Joan laughed, “She’s now Dr Queenie Allbright and works as a GP.”

  “Where’s your stuff?” Enquired Bau.

  “Outside in the hire car.”

  “What hire car?”

  Janis giggled, “The white van, mum booked it by Internet and got her tick boxes crossed.”

  Bau looked at Brian, “If one of them doesn’t mind sleeping in George’s bed, they could stay here tonight.”

  Brian wondered if his life would ever get back under control. “Of course.”

  Amy added. “And if we’ve g-got a b-box they c-could c-come t-to t-the rock musical w-with us.”

  Brian suddenly realised something; “Surely you didn’t fly here from Amsterdam just to see me?”

  “Of course we did, once we’d told Janis the truth she had to meet you in the flesh, I just hope she’s satisfied.”

  Janis gave a scowl before smiling, “Brian, are they your guitars lined up in a row in the lounge? Mum said you just played the pipe organ.”

  “They’re Bau’s, she’s the musician.”

  Joan rolled her eyes, “Oh don’t encourage her, I suffer enough at home.”

  Bau grinned, “Want to see them?”

  Janis nodded and they toddled off to the lounge, Amy hesitated and then followed as she’d decided that Joan and Brian needed time alone. Joan looked Brian up and down, “So my little brother is a priest now as well as being a schoolteacher.”

  “How do you…”

  She laughed. “We may have been out of touch, but you’ve been easy to track. School web-site, diocesan web-site and, goodness knows why, some site concerned with good stops for travellers.”

  She lowered her voice, “Has it been hard, staying out of touch?”

  “Excruciating.”

  Joan nodded and said softly, “I’ve missed you, missed talking to you, missed your stable presence. Sorry I insisted we did it that way, ‘specially when it got blown out of the water by a simple blood test. To be honest Sam and I never thought about the implications.”

  “Well I’m glad it’s all out in the open. Does she know she’s registered as Sam’s daughter and not mine?”

  Joan nodded, “She said she could live with that and Sam was her dad in everything but biology. She just had to meet you, it’s been a kind of obsession.”

  Brian almost sobbed. “I hope I don’t disappoint her.”

  The answer was lost in a fearsome blast of guitar music as Bau went through some intricate riffs on the electric guitar. Joan shuddered.

  “But which one is he married to?” Asked Janis as she combed up her hair as a prelude to going out to some rock musical or other.

  Joan, who sensed that there was something odd about Brian and the two women, shrugged. “Not sure. None of the web-sites indicated that he was married, you saw them yourself.”

  Janis put her head on one side and pouted her lips. “You explored the house with me mum, it must be Amy’s clothes in his room, Bau is far too thin for them.

  Joan nodded and watched Janis inspect her skin for blemishes. Janis glanced at her mum in the mirror. “I’m not a bozo mum, you must have noticed that Bau and Amy have identical rings.”

  “It could be a coincidence dear, friends often like the same things.”

  Janis scoffed, “It’s like Deborah and Diana back home, but they’re partners.”

  She laid the comb down, “Bau’s a brilliant guitarist, Amy’s not bad on the bass either, but she has fat fingers.”

  “That’s not a very nice thing to say dear.”

  Janis shrugged, “She said it, not me. They’re weird mum, one’s fat and one’s thin but they both act as if Brian is their husband and yet they also seem to know what each other is thinking and doing.”

  Joa
n decided to change the subject; it made her too uneasy. “Do you like Brian now you’ve met him?”

  She shrugged, “Seems all right, it’s kinda weird. I know he’s my father, biological father that is, but he seems remote and unreal.”

  Joan smiled, “I rather think we gave him a terrible shock, sitting in the kitchen like that.”

  Janis scowled, “Well serve him right for giving me away.” She paused and then looked at Joan, “On the other hand at least he gave me to you, I suppose he could have placed me in some dreadful children’s home to rot.”

  Joan was shocked; “He’d never have done that.”

  She sighed and sat next to hr daughter. “Actually Janis the idea was mine. I found Brian in the maternity ward nearly off of his head with worry and I wanted a child. You’ll understand when you get older, it’s the maternal instinct and it’s very strong in some people. Well it was strong enough in me to suggest the unthinkable to Brian. It took him two days to come to a decision and when he said that I could have you it was the highlight of my life.”

  “What about dad?”

  “He could see my need; we’d talked about adoption, but never started anything. He was very apprehensive that we’d get found out, but we took you to the registry office where we lived and no one turned a hair. After that is was remarkably easy. We moved to a new town where nobody knew us and the rest you know. What I’m saying is don’t be too hard on him. I gave him an easy option of making sure you were well cared for and he took it. Believe me he’s paid the price, we’ve all paid the price.”

  “You mean cutting each other off and not even telling me you had a brother?”

  “Yes, I suspect it’s been harder on him than me, at least I’ve got Sam to talk to; for years Brian’s had no-one.”

  Janis smoothed down her dress, “I know he’s not an ogre mum, I just don’t know what to say to him.”

  “Just be natural.”

  There was a clanging sound from below and they left the room for tea, but Joan was uneasy. Just what had her brother been up to? Was he really married to Amy? And if so, what part did Bau play in his life? She sighed and went downstairs after Janis. Time would tell she supposed, time would tell.

  “When the hero sang Are you lonesome tonight? I almost cried.” Said Joan as they walked in the house.

  “So did I,” said Bau, “it was in the wrong key.”

  “Come on,” chided Amy, “you know you enjoyed it.”

  Janis just yawned, Joan tapped her on the shoulder. “Bed young lady, you’ve been up for goodness knows how many hours.”

  She turned to Brian, “Thanks Brian, that was worth seeing.”

  Joan gaped, “A compliment? Is that my daughter speaking?”

  Janis rolled her eyes, “Give it a rest mum.”

  She blew her mum a kiss and went upstairs. The other four made for the kitchen to enjoy an evening drink, after half an hour Brian and Joan were left together. Joan stretched and yawned, “That was good, don’t see much like that where we are, it’s mostly regurgitated American rubbish. I’d even kill for a decent piece of Gilbert and Sullivan.”

  Brian laughed, “Come on sis, it can’t be that bad.”

  She sighed, “No, actually it’s a good life and we’re content there.”

  She suddenly swung her body round to face him, “And are you content?”

  “Very.” His face told the same story, so was she imagining things?

  She half-yawned, “What’s wrong with Bau?”

  “Bau?”

  “She’s a veritable walking skeleton.”

  “Oh, anorexia, she’s been worse and Amy says she’s putting on weight.”

  “Been worse? Grief!”

  She said lazily, “Your school web site didn’t say you were married.”

  He gave a small cough, “We’re not. We will be in two weeks time, had the first reading of the banns today.”

  Her eyes narrowed, there was something wrong here, and it was written all over her brother’s face. “How long have you known Amy and Bau?”

  Brain immediately became tense, she sensed it and so did he. This was the moment he’d been dreading, his sister fishing for information. He’d already decided, somewhere between Jailhouse rock and Long Tall Sally, that he wasn’t going to lie to his sister or be ashamed of his relationship with Bau and Amy. On the other hand he knew this wasn’t going to be easy. “About a week.” He replied casually.

  Joan’s eyes opened wide, her eyebrows rose and her mouth almost dropped open. “A week!”

  “I first met Bau last Sunday, Amy was a couple of days later.”

  Joan was almost speechless. “But,” she gasped, “you’re going to marry Amy after less than a week!”

  He swallowed, “Actually sis it’s a bit more complicated than that.”

  He waved his left hand, “Amy and I are what you might call betrothed, that is we’ve already exchanged rings.”

  She watched his face closely, she’d had many years of practised of studying her younger brother’s expressive features and she wasn’t that much out of practice. “And? There’s more isn’t there?”

  “And I’m also betrothed to Bau, but she can’t become a legal wife. We talked about it and decided that Amy would be my épouse and Bau my femme. But we’re not leaving Bau out in the cold, she’ll be in my will and we’ll all have a joint bank account.”

  Joan took a wavering deep breath as if someone had punched her in the stomach. “And Amy doesn’t mind?” She gasped.

  “We’re a threesome. Amy and Bau were already in a relationship when I met them.”

  Joan held up a hand, “Just let me get my breath. Are you saying that you intend to sleep with both of them while they are sleeping with each other!”

  He swallowed, “Actually sis we had the betrothal because I’ve already been sleeping with both of them.”

  “In a week!” She involuntarily exclaimed, “In a week?”

  She took another deep breath and waved a hand to stop Brian talking. “Wait, I’ve got to get used to this.”

  She sat upright, all thought of sleep having disappeared. “So you’re effectively intending to commit bigamy.”

  “Not bigamy sis; polygyny. Bigamy is illegal marriage to two women.”

  She shook her head as if to clear it of cobwebs, “But why the haste? All this in a week is ridiculous. Have they cast some kind of spell on you? Or is it blackmail?”

  She waved her hands, “No, I know it’s not blackmail, you’re too happy for that.”

  Brian wondered about the sense of going on with the conversation, but his sister was not staying long and she had a right to know. “It’s Bau who’s dictating the timescale by circumstances.”

  Joan relaxed slightly, “You mean she is ill and it’s terminal?”

  Brian gave a wry smile, “Life is terminal sis. No, it’s because she’s out of prison on licence due to her case being reviewed and at any time she might have to go back in.”

  Joan sat looked at him for a good minute while her tired brain thought. “Out on licence? Don’t you mean bail?”

  This was it, crunch time. Brian tensed himself and said softly, “I mean licence. She was convicted of murder and murderers get let out on a licence that can be revoked at any time, some even come out on licence when they’re finally released.”

  She whispered in total disbelief, “Murder! And Janis is upstairs with her?”

  Brain reached out and held her hand, “It’s not what you think; it’s one of these child cases with a discredited expert witness.”

  “She murdered her child!”

  “She was tired and negligent. She’d home nursed a dying child for years, she fell asleep and the child choked on its own vomit. It all went downhill from there.”

  Joan looked at him in total disbelief, “Next you will be saying that Amy is the Axe-murderer she shared a cell with.”

  He gazed into her eyes, “I know this is hard sis, but you of all people deserve the truth.”


  He paused to regroup his thoughts; this was harder than he’d anticipated. “Amy was Bau’s live-in nanny. She had a severe nervous breakdown after Bau was convicted of murder and is still recovering.”

  “Is that why she stuttered so badly when she first met us?”

  “No, apparently she’s always stuttered. It’s just that sometimes she gets upset at what appear to be trivialities and sometimes she becomes so focused on the next thing she’s go to do she becomes forgetful.”

  “Forgetful, what of? Her tablets?”

  “No, she has a system for those. It’s mainly her clothes, she sometimes forgets to get completely dressed.”

  Joan sighed and shook her head. “Let me get this straight. My brother has met two women, one of whom is a convicted murderer and the other of which is mentally unstable. These two women have a lesbian relationship going and you’ve muscled in and managed to not only sleep with both of them, but also intend to marry one and cart the other one around as your second wife. Are you completely out of your mind?” The incredulity in her voice almost made him tremble.

  “Probably sis, love can do strange things and take you to places you’ve never even thought about. And Bau and Amy have a relationship of need and love, I’m not sure you could call it a lesbian relationship.”

  “Stop splitting hairs,” she snapped, “That’s how you always used to win arguments with mum and dad. They’d tackle you about something and you’d split hairs and divert them away from the original subject. It doesn’t work with me.”

  She drummed her fingers, “I must say that I’m now beginning to regret bringing Janis to see you. Good grief what are we going to say to her? That he biological father is both a philanderer and a fool?”

  She simmered gently and Brian waited. Joan had always been quick to flair up and equally quick to calm down. After a suitable pause she looked into Brian’s face.

  “And you’re set on this course of action? You really are going to marry Amy?”

  He nodded, “Yes.”

  “Why not Bau?”

  “We discussed it as a threesome and they decided that Amy would make a better Vicar’s wife; Bau wants to go back on the road as a musician.”

  Joan’s face hardened and she said menacingly, “Surely you can’t possibly expect to stay a priest.” Whereupon she quietly seethed again before eventually sighing, “Well you’d better start at the beginning and tell me everything – everything you understand.”