by S M Mala
He stood beside her and removed the covering from the rest of the food. There was silence.
‘You know Ted has gone to the offices in New York?’ he gently said.
‘He came to see me and handed over a very generous gift to my son, hence all this booze and food.’
‘I need to tell you something.’
Suri looked at him from the corner of her eye before biting her lips.
‘I heard what he said to you when we had the mediation session,’ Edgar whispered. ‘So did Anne. Ted asking to sleep with you so he’d drop the grievance, wasn’t his smartest move.’
‘Why didn’t you say?’ Suri looked at him. ‘Then I wouldn’t have-.’
‘You wouldn’t have fallen in love with the Vicar and produced your son, as well as get married, if I had.’ Edgar smiled. ‘And I’m pleased I did. I owe you.’
‘For what?’
‘For keeping the secret about me and Penelope. I know you know I was with her that fateful day. Something happened because she called it off.’ The man looked confused and sad. ‘Probably because everything changed for me in that moment, as it did her.’
‘What was the point of me saying?’ She shrugged her shoulders. ‘As much as I can’t stand Janet Peters, I know losing her child was devastating enough. To find out that you were having an affair would have destroyed her.’
‘I believe you, about what happened with Felicity,’ he whispered, looking down. ‘I know you didn’t lie about what you saw. I feel I’ve let you down. Penelope never told me what happened that day, and I know she was nearby.’
‘She’d just come from a liaison with you, so she said.’
‘I called her and told her what I’d heard you say. She was very upset, confirming it all. I know you asked her not to say anything, thinking the affair would be discovered. The police would have found out, sure enough. But Suri, you should have told-.’
‘How many people have got hurt over this? Not only the ones who died and their families but my mum. I don’t care about me. Even my dad was saddened by how badly his wife was treated. And I feel guilty about it to this day.’
‘I wish things could have been different.’
‘I want to have a happy occasion in this church,’ she gulped, closing her eyes. ‘People will always think the worst of me, even with my husband being Joe. There’s nothing I can do. It’s ingrained in their minds to think like that.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ he said, gently grabbing her hand. ‘I care about you very much, you know.’
‘What’s going on here then?’ Joe asked, walking into the room, making Suri jump. ‘Is everything okay?’
‘Can you make sure people’s glasses are filled?’ she asked, looking at the display of food. ‘Will you help carry these out?’
‘Sure,’ Edgar said, kissing her hand before releasing it.
Balancing the trays, Edgar walked away as Joe frowned.
‘What was he saying?’
‘We had a quick chat,’ she said, handing Joe some platters. ‘I want this to be a lovely day.’ Kissing him gently, Suri looked into his eyes. ‘You sang beautifully, and I love you with all my heart.’
‘I love you and thanks for the compliment,’ he grinned then grimaced. ‘There have been a few things going on but I didn’t want you to get involved.’
‘Like what?’
‘Let’s have a lovely day, as you say.’
Suri followed him out and smiled, seeing Annabel hold baby Jack in her arms. The bigger Jack had a large glass of red attached to his.
There was so much happiness in the room; Suri wanted to take it all in.
It was the last place in the world she would have expected to celebrate her son’s christening. If she were going to be honest, she’d never even thought of getting him christened at all.
As the afternoon proceeded, Suri was spoken to by a few of the snootier members of the church, but shockingly, they were nice. Her mother looked over with concern then realised Suri wasn’t facing a barrage of insults.
It was a surprising turn of events.
‘Mrs Isley,’ she heard a woman say and turned to see it was Mrs Rodgers and the continuously silent Mrs Markham.
‘Hello,’ Suri replied, forcing a smile.
‘I was sorry to hear about the incident with Mrs Peters,’ Mrs Rodgers said, her face as orange as the scarf wrapped around her neck. ‘We did hear that you were in the car.’
‘Ladies, I don’t want to be held responsible for this and no matter what she-.’
‘She didn’t tell us,’ whispered Mrs Rodgers. ‘We were there when she had an outburst.’
‘What outburst?’
‘In church. Didn’t you know?’ They looked at each other. ‘Your husband or Reverend Pinter didn’t say?’
‘They’ve not mentioned a thing.’ Suri stood there, knowing she had to play this carefully. ‘Did she do something bad?’
‘She was very drunk and agitated,’ Mrs Markham said. Suri didn’t want to look too surprised at hearing the high pitched voice, but understood why the woman didn’t speak in public. ‘And upset. Mrs Peters was shouting and causing a scene, saying she wished you had died in the car with your baby.’ She grimaced on saying it. ‘It was awful. Reverend Isley was very upset, and Reverend Pinter had to remove her from church. I know we’ve had our differences, but that wasn’t a right way to behave. No one would wish harm on the baby.
Suri looked at Joe who was oblivious to it all, surrounded by his male and female god groupies, but Jack caught her eye, his face full of alarm.
‘And we bought you this for the baby, as an apology,’ Mrs Rodgers said, looking embarrassed. ‘I know how hard you’ve tried to support Reverend Isley, and it must have been difficult, all things considered.’ She handed over a package that was quite heavy. ‘We just need to draw a line under this feud. It could have been fatal for you and your son.’
She didn’t know what to say.
Even if it was a pile of hot steaming shit, they were making a peace offering, something she never thought would ever happen.
‘Thank you so much.’ Suri hesitated. ‘I hope Janet Peters is all right.’
They looked at each other, and there was a moment of discomfort.
‘Suri? Where are the sausage rolls?’ Jack shouted out. ‘And how come your glass isn’t full. Come, come! It’s a celebration! You know he is my god son and named after me! What a blessed thing!’
‘I want a word,’ she hissed as he gently pulled her away. ‘What happened last weekend?’
‘Where are the sausage rolls?’
‘Jack, what’s going on?’
Letting out a massive huff, he pulled her out of the church and took her to stand around the corner, out of the way.
‘I suppose her friends told you?’ he said, shaking his head. ‘This place it just full of idle gossip.’
‘She came storming into the church, I take it, shouting the odds?’ Suri said starting to get angry. ‘About me and my baby?’
‘It only lasted fleetingly and we said she was unwell.’
‘They said she was drunk.’
‘Don’t judge.’
‘Me judge?’ she said sarcastically. ‘Who am I to judge a woman who has made most of my adult life a living hell?’ Then she thought hard. ‘Was my mum there?’
‘She was very upset but we decided not to tell you because you’re a new mother and … Suri, enjoy the day.’
‘Where is Janet Peters now?’
‘Edgar checked her into the clinic,’ he said quietly and sipped his drink. ‘She needs some help.’
‘I’ll give her help!’
‘Don’t speak to your mother or Joe about it, please? Have a lovely day, you deserve it.’
Looking into the church, she saw Joe and her mum, all cooing over the sleeping baby. She knew she was lucky to have a family and realised Jack was right.
‘I’ll listen to you.’
‘Well, that’s a first!’ he shouted out, slapping h
er hard on the back. ‘And who said there isn’t a God, aye?’
‘This is great!’
Suri was feeling pissed and happy. Most of the people had gone. Joe’s family had headed off to the hotel, worse for wear. They were all planning to meet again after church on Sunday for a family meal in the pub.
The only people left were her mother, Edgar, Annabel, Jack, Joe, Suri and her sleeping baby plus a few others loitering.
The sun was shining down on the church, and a fresh breeze was coming through the door, which was partially wedged open.
Suri was contented.
‘Hello there!’ Mrs Henderson said, accompanied by an elegant man in his fifties. ‘Sorry we’re late but I had a niece’s birthday party to go to. This looks like it was more fun!’
‘You went to Charity’s do then?’ Annabel asked, getting to her feet and hugging her cousin. ‘I bet it was awful.’
‘As was she,’ laughed Mrs Henderson, kissing everyone before turning to the man. ‘This is Patrick.’
‘Hello,’ they said in unison and then the man left.
He returned with a box containing six bottles of champagne.
‘All chilled and raring to go!’ said Mrs Henderson. ‘I took them from the party. Young kids nowadays, they prefer all that drugs stuff to good old vintage fizz.’ She then turned to her younger lover. ‘I’ll see you later.’
Kissing him on the cheek, he walked out and waved.
‘He’s very handsome,’ gushed Mary, going red.
‘She’s a good looking woman,’ whispered Jack into Suri’s ear. ‘If I knew she was on the outlook, I’d have thrown my hat into the ring.’
‘Drink your wine and be quiet,’ laughed Suri, giving him a big hug and a kiss. ‘How she’d manoeuvre your fat gut is another thing.’
‘It’s quite versatile.’
They gossiped and laughed, mainly at Jack’s expense. Suri got up and walked towards the window, staring out at the grass, and wanting some air. Taking her glass, she slipped out through the side and looked over to the new bench with Rory’s plaque.
There felt like some closure.
‘See Rory,’ she smiled, sitting down. ‘There is happiness, and now I can sit on you with my baby, knowing you’ll smile down at us.’
It was peaceful, and all she could hear was feint chatter and the sound of cars driving past. She got up and walked towards the bench where she used to eye up Joe, the jogger. Again, she sat down and stroked it, seeing she could see right into the church.
But something caught her eye.
They weren’t laughing.
Everyone was standing and looking to the back.
Suri got up and walked towards the door but noticed Mrs Henderson was trying to shake her head at her, as if not to come in.
But her baby was inside, and she wanted to see what was going on, so Suri walked towards the door and pushed it open.
It was only when she stepped in; she noticed Janet Peters was standing there, holding a knife in her hand. The woman turned before saying very loudly, ‘So here she is!’
‘You weren’t invited.’
Suri looked around to see where her baby was. He was being held tightly by Joe, and her mother was standing in front, as if guarding him. ‘And a knife? We cut the cake ages ago.’
‘You are such a stupid bitch, do you know that?’ Janet Peter hissed, evidentially drunk. ‘Always the wise crack.’
Everyone was looking at her, and Joe kept shaking his head, as if he wanted her not to speak.
‘Janet, you need to put the knife down,’ Edgar said gently, walking up to his ex-wife. ‘You’re not thinking straight and this isn’t going to help matters.’
She immediately turned and slashed the knife in the air towards him, making Edgar step back. Suri saw his look of sheer horror, and she also noticed the woman wobble.
‘Don’t you dare tell me what to do!’ she shouted out. ‘You’re here, celebrating her child. It’s probably not even Joe’s. Do you know she has been messing about with a married man?’
‘That’s not true,’ Joe said, shaking his head and handing the baby over to Jack. ‘Can you just put the knife down and we can discuss this?’
‘What’s there to discuss? She killed my daughter, and you forgive her, as if it’s okay. Well, it’s not! She has got a life and what has Felicity got? A six foot hole and her future blighted all because of Suri Thomas. She lied about my child, and now she’s going to pay!’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Mary, getting anguished and stepping closer. ‘Don’t you dare harm a hair on my child’s head? Do you hear me?’
‘She said she was pregnant with Rory’s child. Another lie!’ laughed out Janet Peters.
‘It’s true,’ said Jack, shaking his head.
‘Suri?’ her mother said, suddenly looking anguished.
‘I was pregnant but miscarried at eleven weeks,’ she replied, shaking her head furiously. ‘Jack looked after me because it happened here.
‘That’s terrible,’ whispered Mrs Henderson, shaking her head solemnly.
‘Now you’ve told them one of my secrets, why don’t you tell them what you know?’ hissed Suri.
‘Janet, you need to put the knife down,’ Joe said, trying to walk closer to Suri. ‘You’ve been through a tough few weeks, and this has to stop before it gets out of hand.’
‘I don’t care if I go to prison,’ she said, her hand shaking with the metal instrument. ‘It would be worth it just to make her suffer.’
Suri watched the woman and was assessing the situation.
Frankly, she didn’t know what to do and realised that Janet wanted to hurt her; and her alone. All she was worried about that no-one else got caught in the cross fire.
‘Admit you lied about Felicity,’ Janet said, turning to look at Suri but making sure she could see everyone from where she was standing. ‘That’s all I want.’
‘I can’t do that,’ Suri said and noticed Joe was starting to get upset. ‘That’s not fair and it’s certainly not the truth.’
‘Fair? What’s fair about this? Edgar gets remarried; you get married and have a child! Why’s that fair? Everyone moves on but what about me? What about how I feel?’
‘Janet, you need to think about what you’re doing,’ said Mrs Henderson, walking closer. ‘There’s a baby here and this isn’t what you want.’
‘What do you know what I want?’ she sneered then looked at Annabel. ‘Do you know your cousin was screwing my husband years before you met him?’ Suri froze when she heard the words and noticed her mother, Joe and Jack raise their eyebrows. ‘He went to her for comfort when Felicity died.’
‘I do know,’ Annabel said, and Suri shook her head, seeing that the last secret was going to be unravelled. ‘And their relationship finished before ours began.’
‘Whore!’ Janet shouted at Mrs Henderson, who seemed oblivious to the comment.
‘It’s better than being a drunk,’ Mrs Henderson shot back.
‘Ladies,’ Jack said quietly, rocking the sleeping baby in his arms. ‘Enough of this. Can you please just go Janet, and we’ll not speak of it again. I’ll come and speak to you later.’
Suri looked at Joe, who was shaking his head from side to side, as if warning her not to speak. Then he looked at the door, and she realised he wanted her to run out. All she did was shake her head before staring at their baby.
There was no way she was going to leave her son in the same place as Janet Peters.
‘You have no quarrel with the others,’ Suri said calmly, walking closer to her and seeing both her mother and Joe flinch. ‘Let them go, and then do what you have to do. You’ve not come out with a knife just to slice fruit.’
‘Suri!’ Joe said, shaking his head. ‘Don’t say anything else!’
‘You see Janet, your daughter fucked my boyfriend when he was drunk. She used that to try and keep some hold on him. When she realised we were going travelling, she came to see me that day, saying they were in love.’
‘Please don’t,’ her mother said gently, shaking her head.
‘And I confronted Rory, who told me everything. I said he could have her. But he didn’t want her and the next thing I know, he pulled a knife out of his ribs and sticks it in her neck.’ Suri took a deep breath, seeing Janet’s hand shake violently as she stepped closer towards her. ‘I thought he’d done it first, and I went to her. You know what she said. I told you the night you crashed the car, ‘I love Rory, and I won’t let you have him.’
‘Liar! It’s all lies!’ screamed Janet, starting to cry.
‘You were in the car when she crashed?’ her mother gasped, now looking furious.
‘And I went to Rory and cradled him in my arms. She had done exactly that. Felicity killed the man I loved,’ Suri said, seeing how upset her mother was beginning to get.
‘Why you-.’
‘Janet, she’s telling the truth!’ shouted Mrs Henderson, stepping forward. ‘You see I was there, and I heard everything. But we thought, at the time, it wasn’t a good-.’
‘Suri never said because she found out that Penelope and I were having an affair,’ interrupted Edgar as Suri could see Janet turning towards Edgar. ‘Believe it or not, she didn’t want you to suffer any more than you did. Janet, stop this nonsense. You need help, and the clinic shouldn’t have let you leave.’
‘How could you?’ Janet Peters said, tears dripping down her face.
‘It hadn’t been good between us for a long time,’ he said quietly, stepping forward. ‘Suri’s had enough punishment for something that wasn’t her fault. She was totally innocent.’
‘You bastard!’ Janet Peters shouted but then something happened which took them all by surprise.
Mary came charging at Janet Peters and slammed her head with her hand bag as the knife dropped to the floor. Joe then managed to grab Suri and pulled her away.
‘Don’t you dare ever say another word about my daughter!’ screamed Mary, throwing her handbag around and belting Janet Peters. ‘You probably knew all along and made our lives hell for over a decade. She lost a child because of you and I lost a grandchild. You’re not going to do anything else to my family as I’ve had enough! Do you hear me?’