by A J Waines
‘There are loads of kids in this place,’ Louise told him.
‘Shush!’ he hissed, putting his finger to his lips. He began striding stealthily along the corridor, hovering outside each door, listening. ‘There it is again.’ He shot to the end of the corridor into the stairwell, but there was no one there.
‘Ben? Ben?’ he yelled into the empty echoing space below.
He was certain there was a cry abruptly muffled. He stood still, straining to listen.
‘It’s him!’ Daniel yelled.
Louise sank her weight to one hip and looked pointedly at her watch.
There were around seven other doors and a lift on that floor, so Daniel slowly wandered past each of them as Louise huffed and puffed. When the wailing came again, he stopped outside the third door along. He rapped on it hard with his knuckle, before noticing the bell at the side, then pressed it furiously.
A woman answered with a distressed girl of around three in her arms.
‘What?’ she barked at him.
‘Are you…? Is this your only child?’ he asked, straining to look past her.
Louise hurried to his side as the little girl opened her lungs for another round of wailing. ‘Sorry, Elaine – he’s lost his little boy. He thought he heard him.’
The woman stared at Daniel with the kind of look usually given to people who let their dogs foul in the street.
‘You’re hypersensitive, you want it to be him,’ said Louise brusquely, pulling him away as the woman closed the door in his face. ‘Any child is going to sound like Ben.’
Daniel dropped his head and backed away. Louise ushered him back to their seats without another word.
‘Why did you come, exactly?’ Louise said. ‘Is it just to show me these postcards?’
‘No,’ said Daniel, ‘there’s something else. Rick told Jody to find Miles’s gravestone.’
Louise’s shoulders fell at the mention of her dead brother’s name. Daniel glanced up at the framed portrait of him by the window, smiling gleefully through crooked teeth.
‘Poor Miles… what’s he got to do with anything?’ she said, rubbing her arm as if she was cold, even though she was standing directly in the sunlight.
‘Did Rick ever mention anything odd about Miles, about his death,’ continued Daniel.
She frowned.
‘Was Rick ever angry with me… in connection with Miles?’
Louise turned her palms upwards in a gesture that said, search me.
Jody cut across them. ‘Let’s look at the dates,’ she said. She put her phone on the table between the postcards so they could see the saved shot from the cemetery.
Louise rested her finger on one of the postcards. ‘When would this have been, Daniel? When was Rick studying at Oxford?’
Daniel rubbed his chin as he worked out the exact dates, but before he could reply there was a sharp metallic rattle behind them. Jody jumped.
‘It’s the letter box,’ said Louise, getting up. ‘More junk mail, probably.’ She brought back a blank white envelope and put it on the table. It didn’t look like junk mail and Daniel and Jody stared at it, wondering if Louise was going to open it.
‘Don’t mind us,’ said Jody, pretending to look for a tissue in her bag. Louise opened the envelope, swore loudly, then bolted out of the flat.
Chapter 82
There was no one in the corridor and no sounds of running footsteps.
Louise had thrown the envelope containing a single photograph onto the table and rushed out.
She knew it was Rick who’d dropped it off. He was like a child playing a never-ending game of tag and she was fed up with it. If only he’d stand still for one minute and have a proper conversation.
She heard the lift clank into action and noticed the green light had been activated from her floor. She waited for it to open, but when the silver doors juddered apart there was no one inside. She ran to the staircase and peered down over the banister, but there was no one there. And no response when she called out his name. Instead her voice echoed into the space below like a hollow cry down a deserted mine shaft. She tutted and retraced her steps.
On hearing movement from within the flat, Rick backed away from the letterbox and made a hasty dash for the lift. He pressed the button and when the mechanism failed to come to life immediately, he ran for the staircase. The tightly sprung door flapped shut behind him and instead of heading down the stairs, he climbed up two flights, then stopped and listened. He stood away from the centre stairwell, leaning into a window bay out of sight from below.
He could hear distant footsteps and then his sister calling out his name twice, but no sounds to indicate anyone was investigating further.
He turned to look out of the window. Down in Balham High Road, people meandered in and out of shops, trooping behind one another living their small-scale lives. A group was bunched around a bus stop and as the number 155 squealed to a halt, Rick saw a youth push in front of an elderly woman who was clutching bulky carrier bags. No style, he thought to himself. If you’re going to get ahead mate, you need more than elbows.
Rick pressed his nose against the window and watched his breath fog up the glass.
I’ve got everyone on the back foot. I’ve got them all in a spin.
It was a powerful feeling – a feeling he’d been waiting to experience for a long time. He wanted to savour it.
He spat out the gum into his hand, rolled it into a ball and pressed it onto the window frame. He decided to give it another five minutes. That should be long enough for the shit to hit the fan.
Chapter 83
Jody picked up the creased photograph that Louise had taken from the envelope.
‘I’m not sure we should be—’ Daniel began.
‘It’s you,’ said Jody, pushing it towards him on the table.
Daniel took a moment to take in the scene and locate the occasion in his memory. It showed a room full of people – someone’s sitting room – with bottles and cans strewn over the carpet.
His heart was thudding fast. ‘That’s Oxford,’ he said, holding it up to get the best light.
‘Is there anything on the back?’ she asked.
Daniel turned it over.
‘This…’ He showed her the writing in faded pencil: 30 March, 2002.
‘You remember it?’
He lowered his eyes. ‘I remember the girl – don’t remember much about the party.’ He pointed to the woman wearing a frilly apron side-on to the camera.
‘Who was she?’
Daniel drummed his fingers on the table.
‘Good question.’ He squinted at the blurred shape. ‘I can’t think of her name.’ He shrugged. ‘It was a long time ago. She was serving drinks.’
‘One of your infamous teenage parties?’ she said, without judgement.
‘Probably.’ He was finding it hard to look Jody in the eye.
‘Did you and she…?’
Daniel tugged at his shirt to circulate some air.
‘Yeah. Only that one time. She was… she was something, I tell you. I remember I wanted to see her again, but she brushed me off.’
There was a sound at the door and they both turned as Louise arrived back, out of breath.
‘It’s Rick, I know it is.’ She turned to check through the peephole. ‘He knows you’re here.’ She pulled a guilty face. ‘I left a message for him. I thought we could all talk things through together, like proper adults – and sort out whatever it is that’s going on.’
‘Where is he?’ asked Daniel. ‘Has he got Ben?’ But Louise didn’t seem to hear and turned to Jody when she spoke.
‘Did you take a look at this photograph?’ Jody asked.
‘Yeah…’ she replied, nonplussed. ‘It must have been at some function she was waitressing at…’
Daniel felt acid rise in the back of his nose. ‘She? You know her?’ he asked.
Louise waved her finger over the figure wearing the apron.
‘Of course. It’
s Mum!’ she said, as if it was obvious.
Daniel shot up as if a firecracker had gone off under his chair.
‘This was your mother serving the drinks? Rick’s mother?’
He stabbed at the picture, gasping for air. ‘Oh, God.’ He slapped his palms on the table and squeezed his eyes shut.
Jody let out a noisy breath.
‘What’s wrong? What’s the matter?’ cried Louise, snatching the picture from the table to get another look. ‘Who’s that standing beside her?’ Louise held up the photograph and narrowed her eyes. ‘Oh... is it you, Daniel?’
He was on his feet pacing the room.
‘Is this you?’ Louise asked again.
‘Are you sure that’s your mother?’ he demanded, his voice suddenly hoarse. ‘It’s hardly a clear picture.’
‘Of course I’m sure!’
‘What’s her name?’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Louise, consternation twisting her face.
‘Her name. What is it?’ His brain was spinning, like he was about to tumble over the edge of a cliff.
‘Jenny – Jenny Fox,’ she said, as if he should have known.
‘Jennifer,’ he whispered. ‘Oh God, we were…’
‘What happened, Daniel?’ Louise asked, her voice high in pitch.
He swivelled round to face her. ‘Jennifer and I… we slept together. I didn’t know…’
‘Daniel!’ screeched Louise. She took two swift steps towards him. ‘You slept with my mum?’
Jody stepped between them.
‘Hang on a minute here. Let’s try and calm down.’
Jody coaxed Daniel back into his chair.
‘When did it happen?’ asked Louise, her arms folded, refusing to sit down.
‘It says here: 30 March, 2002,’ said Jody.
‘It’s the same year,’ said Louise, her voice faltering.
Daniel quickly did the maths and put his hand over his mouth.
‘Miles was born on 31st December… the same year,’ she said, tailing off.
He got to his feet again, unable to keep still. ‘Oh, shit!’ he muttered.
Louise let out a hysterical laugh. ‘Well, it would explain why Miles didn’t look anything like the rest of us.’
Jody looked at Daniel, then Louise. ‘Surely he could still have been your father’s child,’ she said.
‘Dad had stomach cancer by then… they had separate rooms.’ Louise dragged her fingers over her forehead, wiping away dribbles of sweat. ‘I really don’t think—’
Jody was about to speak when there was a crash at the front door and a figure burst in.
‘I’m so glad you’ve finally worked it out,’ Rick said, smirking.
Chapter 84
‘Where’s Ben?’ shrieked Daniel.
‘How the hell should I know?’ Rick replied flippantly. ‘That’s not why we’re all here.’
Rick grabbed the chair that faced the piano, spun it round and sat on it back to front. He was wearing grubby denims and a lime-green T-shirt that looked like it had been left to dry in the washing machine.
Daniel surged towards him. ‘What have you done with him, you bastard!?’
Rick looked genuinely taken aback.
‘I seem to have missed something while I’ve been on my little holiday.’ He looked to Louise for an explanation, but it was Jody who spoke.
‘Ben was taken last Thursday from a park near his nursery.’ She took a step towards him, squeezing her fists as if she was about to land a ferocious punch in his face. ‘Was it you? Did you take him?’
Rick stayed put, his arms flopping over the front of the chair, the epitome of nonchalance. His skin was blotchy, as if he’d been drinking. ‘Well, all I can say is now you can have a flavour of what it’s like to lose your own nearest and dearest.’ He glared at Daniel.
‘If you’ve got blood on your hands… I’ll…’ Daniel drew back his clenched fist.
Rick put up a hand in surrender. ‘Listen mate, the only blood on my hands is the pheasant I knocked down on my recent trip to Wales. I was going to have it for supper but taking out all those frickin’ feathers looked too much like hard work. I left it behind for someone else.’ He sniffed loudly. ‘I don’t know anything about your kid.’
It was Daniel’s turn to be confused. Did Rick really not know where Ben was? And, more remarkably, not know that Ben was actually his own son?
‘This is why we’re here,’ Rick announced, pointing to the photograph on the table.
‘When did you find out?’ Louise demanded.
‘When we cleared out the old house. I found the snap in a posh frame in a box of keepsakes. In Mum’s loft.’
‘September?’ shrieked Louise. ‘You’ve known for months?’
Rick brushed some dust from the toe of his shoe with the flat of his hand. ‘Come on, it was obvious Miles wasn’t Dad’s child.’ He pointed his finger at no one in particular. ‘We all knew back then that Mum and Dad weren’t sleeping together.’
‘You never said a thing…’ whispered Daniel, ‘all this time… pretending we were buddies.’
Rick ignored him. ‘I knew there had to be a reason why Mum kept this lovely shot of her and pretty-boy.’ He turned to Daniel and raised his eyebrows. ‘And anyone can see by the look on your face that the deed had already been done. I had a little chat with Mum… and Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah… it all added up.’
Daniel stared at the herringbone pattern of blocks on the floor. ‘I don’t know what to say. I didn’t know it was your mother.’ He shook his head. ‘I’d never met her when we were kids. We never went to your house. I never came across her in all the time you and I have known each other.’
‘That’s no excuse,’ said Rick, slurring the syllables together so they came out as one word. ‘Death came into our house and stayed forever because of you.’ His voice shot up in volume. ‘Their marriage collapsed after Mum got pregnant. Did you know that?’
Daniel shook his head.
Rick picked a nugget of mud from a groove in his sole. ‘My father knew the child wasn’t his. He lost the will to live. You made a mockery of him. You practically killed him!’
‘I didn’t know,’ Daniel reiterated.
‘Did you know he was suicidal once he realised what had happened?’ Rick spat the words at him. ‘Not only was he dying, but his beloved wife – our mum – had been unfaithful.’ He jabbed his finger at Daniel. ‘You led her astray and broke his heart. You tore our family apart.’
‘Daniel said he didn’t know,’ said Jody.
‘You keep out of it,’ Rick hissed back at her.
‘What were you doing with a woman twice your age, to start with?’ asked Louise. ‘She would have been… what, thirty-nine in 2002.’
‘I was nearly twenty – she didn’t seem that much older. And she came on to me!’
‘Didn’t you realise she was married?’ Louise was red in the face, looking like a toddler on the verge of a tantrum.
‘She wasn’t wearing a wedding ring and to be perfectly honest, we… she… didn’t mention it.’
‘A bit naïve, Daniel,’ said Louise, as if she was the epitome of maturity.
‘Well, we all know now,’ said Rick. He was staring at Daniel, but looked like he was having trouble focusing.
‘It’s a terrible shock… for everybody,’ said Jody calmly.
‘What is it you want from me?’ Daniel cried.
‘It’s not enough, but seeing your wife imprisoned for attempted murder and watching your fairy-tale romance sink into divorce is a pretty good start.’
Daniel lurched forward, but Jody grabbed at his arm.
‘Don’t, Daniel, this is what he wants… he’s goading you.’
Rick leant back and slammed his right arm down on the piano keys. A low-pitched discord reverberated around the room.
Louise flapped her arms, looking flustered. ‘We all need time to let this sink in,’ she said. ‘Let me get you a drink, Rick.’
‘I don’
t want a bloody drink.’ He stood up straddling the chair. ‘I want revenge.’ He stabbed a finger at Daniel. ‘I want you to pay the full price you owe my mother – the guilt and shame you caused her – and for the bitterness and grief my father went through.’
He took a step forward, then wobbled and fell back against the wall, ending up at eye-level with the largest of the Samurai swords. In a single move, he wrenched it from its bracket and swung it experimentally from side to side. It made a swishing sound like a skater’s blade on ice. He took two paces towards Daniel.
‘Stop this now!’ cried Louise, parking herself between them, blocking Rick’s path.
With Rick focusing on Louise, Jody felt for the phone in her pocket and discreetly slid it halfway out. She tapped in 999 and when the call was answered, she waited in silence, then pressed 55. Enough to alert the police.
Louise kept her eyes on the sword and made a grab for it. ‘Rick, put it down. Someone’s going to get hurt.’
‘That’s the idea,’ he scoffed, shoving Louise aside with his elbow.
‘Stop. Please STOP!’ she screamed at the top of her voice, taking them all by surprise. ‘There’s something… I need to come clean,’ she said, staggering towards the door.
Chapter 85
Everything went quiet.
When the door to the flat opened again, the figure who came rushing inside wasn’t Louise.
‘Ben!!’ Daniel hurtled across the room and scooped the boy up in his arms. ‘Are you okay? Are you all right?’
He clutched him to his chest, muttering into his hair. Ben’s cheeks were on fire and swollen with tears. He was muttering, ‘Daddy, Daddy’ over and over, clinging onto him.
‘What have you done to him?’ cried Daniel, running his fingers through what was left of Ben’s hair. It should have been thick and curly, but had been shorn into a crew cut.
Louise gritted her teeth. ‘Sorry. I had to make him look different from the photos on the news.’ Her shoulders slumped forwards. ‘You were right. Elaine along the corridor had him just now. I said he was my nephew and not to say anything if––’