by Bowes, K T
‘Hi. Sheila here. Pete said this was still your number. Got a problem. Can we meet?’
Hana stared at the screen, eager to see her friend. She guessed it would be ok, but Huntly was probably a safer place to meet than Hamilton or Ngaruawahia. Hana thought about how nice the coffee was in the Zee Barn and decided on that as a venue, promising herself a browse in the hardware store afterwards. She clicked on Reply and then Create New Message, startled at what she saw already written on the screen. The message said, ‘Where are you?’
Hana knew she didn’t type it. She hadn’t used her phone all day and the last text she sent was to Bodie, letting him know Logan was going home yesterday. Hana always deleted her sent messages, frustrated to get to the screen ready to type and have to delete the last message first. She deleted this one now, character by character and then asked Sheila to meet her in an hour at the cafe in Huntly. “Now, who’s been using my phone?” she asked out loud, knowing the answer with a heaviness in the pit of her stomach.
First Hana went to her Inbox folder, finding to her dismay a message from Anka, already opened. It said, ‘Still in Russell,– I’m OK.’
It didn’t take long for Hana to put together the puzzle, once she found an earlier text from Sheila asking her to meet. Her phone chirping must have attracted Tama’s attention and he read Sheila’s message. He must have hunted in the Contacts for Anka’s new number, which Hana stupidly put into her phone as ‘Anka.’ “Stop blaming yourself for everything!” she told herself, feeling frustrated. “How could I have guessed when I put her in years ago, that Tama would ever read the contacts in my personal phone and get her new number? He would have been about three years old when we first met.”
Tama deviously chatted as though he was Hana, asking Anka how she was and finally risking asking her where she was. Hana stood for ages, trying to work out what to do. She went down to the bedroom, but Logan slept soundly. Then an awful thought struck her and she ran back out onto the porch.
Bodie’s BMW was parked where she left it and Hana heaved a sigh of relief, tinged with guilt at her assumption that Tama would have stolen the car to drive up to Russell. Hana decided to do nothing, but wait for the wisdom of her husband. Even if he flew there on a private jet, Tama wasn’t going to find Anka before Hana had a chance to talk to Logan.
Hana left Logan a note underneath Tama’s, telling him where she was. Then she locked up the house and left.
It only took ten minutes to get to Huntly on the back road. There was no sign of Tama on the long road. He must have hitched a ride. Hana drove down the busy main street which formed the real heart of the small town. The street was narrow with angled parking on both sides and little shops and cafes lined either side of the road. It was a busy hub of a place and Hana felt safe there. She parked and wandered leisurely up to the cafe at the top of the town, admiring a metal wall hanging moulded into the shape of a tulip in the window of her favourite shop. The owner noticed her looking at it and waved cheerily from behind his counter. Hana waved back.
Zee Barn was busy with the tail end of the lunchtime rush and Hana grabbed a table near the back. A scruffy wooden five-bar gate was fixed to the wall as decoration and back filled with artificial flowers and grasses. The effect was clever, decked out in a farming theme with pig ornaments, a cow-bell and lots of different chickens dotted around, wire ones, china ones and ones made from rusty metal. Hana sat back in her seat and relaxed, waiting for a lull in the queue at the counter to order herself a coffee. To her surprise, the young woman making the coffee brought a latte to her table, sitting it down in front of Hana. “Got to take care of the regulars!” she smiled, displaying a blue jewelled tongue piercing as she laughed.
“Thank you so much,” Hana called to her and sipped the expertly made drink. It felt good to be out and about in an unhurried way. She had gotten a little too stir crazy looking after Logan both in and out of hospital. Her life took on an unwanted routine dictated by the medical wards and Hana felt free without its constraints. She sat and watched the other customers, wondering where Sheila could be. She didn’t have long to wait. Sheila blasted into the café as ferociously as she appeared in the student centre, handbag trailing behind her and coat tails flapping in the wake she generated.
Hana stood up and waved over the heads of the other seated customers and Sheila made a beeline for her. Hana gave her a hug, realising it was ages since they last spoke and feeling with fright how Sheila’s ample frame had grown bony and thin. Hana stepped back and looked hard at her. “What’s happened?”
Sheila Jennings sported a new, jaunty haircut. The white-blonde ponytail was gone, replaced by caramel coloured hair tapered into an attractive bob at her jaw-line and darker at the roots. Sheila never wore make up before, but her eyes were dusted in a pretty brown eye-shadow and mascara, which accentuated her round blue eyes. Her bow shaped lips were glossed in a lovely plum colour. It was not actually the same Sheila at all. “Where have you been?” Hana asked, sounding frantic. “You left me at the mercy of that she-devil.”
“That’s what I need to explain.”
“Just wait one second.” Swallowing her curiosity in a trip to the nearly empty counter to order Sheila a cup of English Breakfast Tea, Hana paid for both drinks. The girl at the coffee machine was chatty and asked after Logan. “He’s been unwell. He just came out of hospital,” Hana replied, regretting it as the wide blue eyes glossed over with concern.
“Oh my gosh! Give him my love,” the girl begged and Hana felt an irrational jealousy. The older woman winked pointedly at Hana and clasped her heart. Hana forced a reluctant smile at her charade. She escaped further inquisition, relieved Logan had absolutely no idea quite how devastatingly good looking he really was. Hana had no intention of passing on anyone’s love except her own.
Sheila seemed rattled and more awkward than usual and Hana let her settle into her drink before bombarding her with questions. Sheila took a gulp of tea and heaved a big sigh as though her story was going to be an effort for her. “You know all that business with the not-having-relationships-with-other-staff-members-thing they dragged up a while ago?” she began. Hana nodded. “Well, it was him that caused it, bloody Martin!”
Hana was disappointed she felt lost so soon, but Sheila didn’t realise, plunging ahead regardless. Then it all became abundantly clear. “After twenty years of marriage, he was cheating on me. I still can’t believe it!”
Hana mouth gaped unattractively. It hardly seemed appropriate to point out to Sheila that her husband was possibly the least attractive male on the staff. With the understandable exception of the woodwork teacher whose false teeth sometimes fell out when he was talking. Hana remained quiet in the absence of anything helpful to say.
“Did you know he’s been dismissed?” Sheila waded on and Hana shook her head emphatically. “I think there were four of them in the end, caught at it!”
Hana let out a gasp. “An orgy! Of old people!” She pushed her cup away and swallowed the bile in her throat.
Sheila waded on. “That Caroline woman’s gone. She was on with the phys ed guy, the one who wore the stubby shorts and loved himself. I thought for a while she was Martin’s latest squeeze but even she wouldn’t stoop that low. He found himself another little tart!” Sheila shouted the word ‘tart’ and a number of patrons looked their way. Hana cringed.
“You mean Martin was having an affair with someone at school? Martin? Are you sure? But definitely only one at a time?” Hana’s voice went up an octave and more people nearby turned around to look at her. Sheila looked at Hana oddly and she quickly lowered her voice, “I don’t get this. Who was he having an affair with?” Someone with no taste?
Sheila visibly shook her head and shuddered. “That’s the thing,” she started, “I think I could have coped it if was Caroline, or some little bimbo, but it was Annemarie Baggs from the social studies department. She’s older than me! What I can’t get over is how I went to see Angus when they first brought that rule
out because I was worried about them inflicting it on married couples. How he kept a straight face I’ll never know! It came out later that a board member saw Martin and her at the Golf Club up at Ngaruawahia and worked it out. That rule was in all our contracts, I checked. They didn’t enforce it as fiercely. Until then. They were trying to warn him to stop. I’ve been such an idiot!”
Sheila’s hand shook as she poured her second cup of tea and Hana put a comforting hand over the one resting on the table. Poor Sheila. “I thought it was all about Anka,” remarked Hana regretfully.
“Gosh no, there’s only Angus knows about that!” Sheila commented. “Well and his personal assistant. He hushed it up really fast. No, they obviously had bigger fish to fry, in the shape of that overweight git I was married to!”
“What do you mean was?” asked Hana picking up on the past tense.
“I’m not staying with him,” replied Sheila quickly. “He’s history. I’ve sold the house. It went unconditional this morning. We’re paying off the mortgage, halving everything…not that he deserves it and I’m moving in with Rory…” Sheila stopped mid flow, probably because of the face Hana pulled at the mention of her living with her long-suffering and gentle son-in-law. Sheila waved away the unspoken objection. “It’s fine. We’ve talked about it all. It’s Rory who’s bought our house actually, so technically I’m not really going anywhere, unless you count the granny flat Martin insisted on building. They need more room for the babies, I love the location and my pig of an ex-husband can go where ever the hell he likes.” Sheila sipped her tea with a shaking hand and calmed herself down with a huge effort of will.
“What will Martin do?” asked Hana. “Where will he go?” What she actually wanted to know was, who would he go with, but decency prevented her from asking.
“Not with his fancy woman,” Sheila snorted. “She’s lost interest now he’s available. Seems she likes her independence far too much to endure Martin’s toenail clippings in the bath. That’s the irony. She liked him being married because it meant she didn’t have to commit. A bit of company to break up the monotony, in return for the odd shag.”
Hana sighed. “What a sad ending for another foolish man. I hope it proved worth it.”
“Anyway,” continued Sheila, “that’s not the only reason I wanted to meet you. I’m going back to work on Monday. I’ve wallowed long enough. I wanted to see if you’d come back as well, give me some moral support around the place. I got a call from Angus last week. He said you’d been off sick too. I figured you were avoiding Pete being head of department.”
Hana smiled at her, not sure how to answer. The tale stretched out long and complicated behind her. Sheila looked around at the swiftly emptying coffee shop as if suddenly noticing her unusual surroundings. She peered at the farm gate next to her chair and then looked back at Hana, trying to appeal to her better nature. “Please?” she added. “From what I’ve heard on the grapevine, Pete’s making a dreadful mess of everything. I had a phone call from George in the tech department getting hysterical about some drill-bit. I’ll need your help to evict the little git from my office and fumigate.”
Hana leaned back in her chair, wondering what she would tell Logan if she decided to go back early, not to mention how Bodie would take the news. “I’m not sure,” Hana began quietly. “It’s a lot more complicated than you realise. I’ll need to talk to my husband first.”
Sheila’s chair squealed along the floor towards the table as she scooted in closer, looking at Hana with abject shock. She said a most unladylike swear word before asking, “What bloody husband?”
Hana Du Rose
Chapter 15
Hana returned home to find a pair of bright red wellington boots on the porch. She unlocked the door cautiously, even though it was unlikely someone broke in and attacked Logan, carefully leaving their boots on the mat.
Maihi sat at the kitchen table sipping a hot cup of herbal tea and Logan mashed potatoes one handed. They were laughing about something and Hana felt like an intruder. She kicked off her leather boots in the hallway and strolled into the room, sniffing the comforting scent of potatoes and some sort of pie. “Something smells good,” Hana smiled at the visitor. “I’m guessing it’s your handiwork, not my husband’s?”
Maihi scuttled round the table and embraced her roughly. “Haere mai,” she breathed into Hana’s cheek. Hana liked the woman intensely, communicating it through the light squeeze she gave back.
“Tēnā koe,” she whispered, self-conscious of her faulty Māori. Maihi smiled in pleasure and clasped Hana’s arm. There it was - that honest Māori geniality which made her feel at ease and accepted. Hana was grateful for Maihi’s sensible presence as she broke the news to Logan about Tama and Anka, fully expecting him to kick off in anger.
Maihi sipped her drink while Logan slumped down at the table. He hadn’t said much, but placed his mug on the coaster with precision. That in itself was a red flag to his wife. He was livid. “Stupid little…” he closed his eyes against the rest of the sentence, gritting his teeth in fury.
“Youse need to text her,” the older woman said into the uncomfortable silence. “Let your friend know he’s coming. Youse would want to be warned, aye?”
Hana nodded slowly and turned to Logan. He rubbed his good hand through his hair with rigid fingers. The long dark layers on top flopped forwards from his parting, hanging down sexily over his eyes. “I dunno mate,” he conceded, “I can’t work this emotional stuff out anymore. It’s too complicated. I should have just given him a slap when I had the chance. Maybe you should leave it. He won’t find her, foolish boy! I’ll definitely give him a bloody slap when he gets back!” Logan gritted his teeth and shook his head.
Maihi patted his hand lovingly as though they were mother and son and Hana was surprised to see an expression of dependence cross Logan’s face fleetingly and then disappear. Hana let out a long slow breath and fished her phone out of her pocket. She found Anka’s number and started typing.
‘I’m so sorry, Anka,’ she began, pausing to consider the wording, ‘Tama got my phone and knows where you are. He was texting you. You wouldn’t have realised. Sorry. Hana. X’
She put her phone down on the wooden table and sat back in her seat. She wanted to tell Logan about Sheila’s news but felt it would be unfair of her to discuss it in front of Maihi, even though she felt like family anyway.
“Dinner?” offered Logan, getting back up to check the pie and waving the potato spoon at Maihi.
“Na,” she replied, getting out of her seat heavily and putting her cup into the sink, “gotta get back for me old man.” She smiled, kissed them both and left, letting herself out of the front door. They heard her chasing her wellies around the porch with her foot to avoid bending down. She was funny and Hana smiled at her cussing as one boot flopped down the steps to the driveway.
Logan stirred the mash and Hana came up behind him, putting her arms around his waist and leaning her head against his back. He held onto her hand with his broken one and she felt the cast scratching her skin as his body moved with the effort of stirring the thick mixture one-handed. Suddenly it didn’t seem all that important to tell him about Sheila’s revelation, or that she wanted to return to work. Hana wanted to stand there forever, breathing in his familiar scent and feeling the companionship of him being right there, his strong body under her palms. Hana’s fingers strayed to the front of Logan’s dressing gown, working loose the tie and releasing his muscular chest. A smile of mischief lit her pretty lips as Logan laid the potato basher in the pan with a clunk and reached across to turn the heat down on the pie.
The bedroom curtains were shut in the daylight again. Hana laid in bed snuggled up to Logan’s naked side, feeling cosy and safe. “The pie and mash will be cold,” Hana breathed, tickling the hairs on Logan’s chest. He twitched and stroked the back of her neck.
“Yeah. I’ll reheat them.”
“What will you tell Maihi when she comes back for her dish in
a while?”
“I’ll tell her I got busy doing something else.” Logan turned on his side, wincing as he compressed his scar tissue. “She won’t come back tonight anyway. It’s a good twenty minute walk.”
“Really?” Hana was surprised. “But she carried the pie all that way?”
“Yep.”
“Wow!” Hana felt increased respect for their elderly neighbour. “We’d best eat it then.” She sighed contentedly and hoped this happy moment would survive a bit longer before life crushed it completely. She stroked the scar under Logan’s eye and kissed the end of his nose. “What do you think about Sheila asking me to go back to work?” she whispered, not knowing why she didn’t talk normally but feeling the need to be quiet and still.
Logan reached out and pulled the sheet up over her shoulders, staring at her fixedly. “I don’t know what to tell you. I know you want to go back but for now, we’re safe here until…” He broke off realising the insubstantial depth of the thing he was about to say - until those guys get caught - recognising there were no guarantees where the police were concerned. He bit his lip and remembered all the games they needed to play in order to avoid the simple act of just driving into the school grounds and going to work, which left Hana horribly exposed.
He felt Hana’s rebellion rising up and her desire for normality starting to kick against the enforced restrictions and it made him scared. “Let me think about it for a while?” he asked and hoped he could think of something quickly enough. “I’ll ring Bodie in the morning and ask his advice.” Logan pulled Hana’s soft body into his and enfolded her. He dismissed the uncharitable thought that the cops were little short of useless to date. It was like they couldn’t make the links or see the danger. Logan wondered what it would take for them to act. Hana had been attacked numerous times and yet they still kept this cavalier attitude towards the whole thing.