A Short Walk: Part Six

~ beetleypete ~ 20 Comments

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This is the sixth part of a fiction serial, in 858 words.

Sarah O’Connor finished watching her TV shows and thought she had better go and get ready for bed. Then she suddenly remembered that Joe had gone out before eight for a walk.

It was past midnight, and he wasn’t back. Perhaps he had come in and gone straight to bed? She went upstairs to check. When he wasn’t in the bedroom, she walked into her daughter’s room. Paula was watching something on her laptop.

“You seen your dad, love?” Without looking up from the flickering screen, she replied in a monotone.

“Earlier, on the landing. He was carrying his big coat”.

Something told Sarah to go back into their bedroom and look around. That little case that had been on top of the wardrobe for weeks was gone. She opened the cabinet on his side of the bed, finding his wallet and cards, his phone, keys, and his wedding ring.

So he had finally done it.

She sat on the bed, feeling shocked, but not surprised. After all, things hadn’t been great for years now, and she had lost count of how many times Joe had moaned at her, saying ‘I can’t go on living like this’. Didn’t he realise that’s what life was like? You have a child, you have to look after them. Okay, maybe she spoiled Paula a bit, but better than being mean to the girl, and having arguments all the time.

Deciding to make a cup of coffee, she walked back downstairs, made it, and went back into the living room to sit on the sofa. She would phone in sick for work tomorrow, have a day to think about things.

Her and Paula would be okay. The house was mortgage-free, and her job could pay the bills. No more luxuries though. No takeaway meals delivered, no clothes other than what were needed, and she was going to have to have a serious talk with Paula about her getting a job.

An hour later, and it suddenly occurred to her that she should report him missing. Though it was obvious to her what he had done, his job would be ringing to see where he was. At least the company car was on the driveway, and the keys in the cabinet upstairs. They could come and get that when they liked, as she couldn’t drive it was no use to her. Thinking about his job started off more questions in her mind.

What about his pension? Would they still pay it out eventually? And his salary that was due, how would she sort that out? She knew there was about five grand in savings, but she was also aware that her credit card had a hefty balance on it. And there was less than six hundred in the current account until the next time she was paid.

By three in the morning, she decided it made sense to involve the police. If she reported him missing she would get some breathing space with his company, and probably manage to hold off a few bills for a while too. But she had watched enough crime shows to know that they would not take a missing person report until the person had been gone for twenty-four hours. Not unless they were vulnerable in some way. So she rang nine-nine-nine after preparing a speech for the police call-taker.

It was textbook stuff.

No, he wasn’t ill or injured, and no, they hadn’t had an argument. No, he had never done this before, and no, he didn’t have any relatives he might be visiting. But yes, he was vulnerable, as he had been showing signs of depression, and had left his wallet, phone and keys behind, along with his wedding ring.

The woman on the other end of the phone didn’t sound too interested, and even less convinced, but eventually agreed to send someone round to take a report. She said they were busy, and it might take a couple of hours until they had anyone free.

It was more than a couple of hours, almost eight the next morning when two uniformed cops knocked on the door. They looked fresh and perky, suggesting they had waited to send people from the early shift rather than use officers still on night duty. They asked all the same questions, the woman asking, the older man writing it all down. Then they asked to look around the house in case he was lurking somewhere. Sarah thought that was crazy, but let them.

Paula was none too pleased about being woken up so two cops could look under her bed.

Older male cop even looked in the loft, standing on the loft ladder and shining his torch inside. Then he went down the garden and looked in the shed. When they were sure that he wasn’t there, the female cop asked for a recent photo. Sarah was quite embarrassed that the only one she had was ten years old, from Paula’s tenth birthday party that they had a barbecue in the garden for.

She shrugged when the cop asked for a newer one.

“Who takes photos of their husbands? Not me”.

End Of March Sunday Musings

~ beetleypete ~ 44 Comments

Bright sunny weather this week, but chilly with overnight rain. Also very windy!

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Julie managed to drive all the way to see her daughters and grandchildren to deliver holiday gifts. She had no driving issues, but the 60-mile round trip made her very tired after so long of not driving very far on her own.

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We had a couple of trips out of Beetley last week. Julie had a haircut booked for Wednesday, so I went with her to town and we had an early dinner in a pub on the way home. It was our usual ‘special offer’ burger night, and great value as always for really good food.

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On Thursday we drove to our favourite butcher in the town of Downham Market on a lovely bright, blue-sky day. Lots of warplane activity seen over RAF Marham on the way, much more than usual. Only to be expected with a war going on in the middle east. After stocking up on a month’s worth of meat, we had a coffee in our favourite place, then posted some parcels in the Post Office there. Such a stress-free little Post Office, with almost no queue.

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The weekend has been very quiet so far, as planned. I hope that you all have a very enjoyable Sunday.

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A Short Walk: Part Five

~ beetleypete ~ 19 Comments

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This is the fifth part of a fiction serial, in 773 words.

Once Graham had showed him up to the spacious loft room, Joe decided to help out in the workshop for the rest of the day. After years of being management and dealing with some difficult and needy customers, it felt good to be wearing an overall and getting his hands dirty again.

There was not much conversation going on as they worked, and he could see Graham occasionally checking on how he was working. He seemed to be satisfied.

Just before six that evening, a newish small hatchback arrived, and it was parked outside the house by a woman dressed in a nurse’s uniform. Joe noticed her but carried on working, until he heard a female voice behind him.

“What do we have here then, dad? A new mechanic?” Brumby made little of it.

“Anna, meet Joe. Joe, meet Anna. He’s gonna be living here, up in the loft room. Started today. He’ll be needing dinner when it’s ready”.

He turned to smile and nod at the woman. She appeared to be in her thirties, with a quite heavy build and not very tall. She also looked happy and smiley, which he took to be positive.

“Well it will be nice to have a new face around, so welcome, Joe. Dinner around here is nothing too fancy, I’m afraid. I’ll give you both a shout when it’s ready”.

Just over an hour later, they closed at the workshop and went inside to get cleaned up. Anna had changed out of her nurse’s uniform and let down her hair from the severe bun she had earlier. As they ate pork chops and vegetables washed down with lager, she was full of questions.

“So how did you find us here, then Joe? Do you come from round here? have you got a family? Did you know my dad needed a mechanic?” She didn’t leave time for him to answer, and eventually Graham raised his left hand.

“Let the man be to eat his dinner, girl. Plenty of time for chit-chat later”.

Once dinner was over, Graham left the room and Anna cleared away, ready to wash up. “You can help me by drying the things, Joe”.

With no answers to her questions so far, she told him all about herself instead. He discovered that she was a Community Nurse, tending to elderly and housebound patients in a twenty-mile radius, driving between clients.

Her mother had been killed in an accident when Anna was only twelve, hit by a car as she was cycling down the main road into the village. She had no brothers or sisters, no boyfriend, and it was just her and her dad ever since her mum had died.

Then she made some tea and they went into the small living room. There was still no sign of her dad, and Joe didn’t ask where he was. But Anna presumed he would be curious, so told him anyway.

“Dad’s not much for socialising. He usually goes up to his room after dinner and reads, before an early night. Sometimes he does his paperwork up there. I just watch telly most evenings, there’s nothing much to do around here except the village pub, and having to drive there means I can’t drink anyway”.

She switched on the TV to a news channel, and Joe felt himself getting twitchy in case his disappearance had made the news. But it was mostly local stuff, and some guff about a member of the government being arrested for fraud, so he was able to relax. She turned over the channel to a film, then realised she had already seen it, so switched off the set.

That was when she asked all of her questions again. He decided to be truthful, as he didn’t want her telling anyone he was there.

After listening to the very short version of his story, she sat and thought about it for a while.

“To be honest, I don’t think it is very brave of you to have done that. You should have been man enough to have told your wife what you were going to do, and arranged a separation or divorce in a civilised way. I’m sure she will be worried, and will have told the police. But as far as I am concerned if anyone asks me, I don’t know you, or anything about you”.

She walked over to a wall cabinet and returned with a bottle of whisky and two glasses.

“But you seem like a nice, genuine guy despite that. And my dad definitely needs the help, so let’s have a drink and say no more about it”.

A Birthday In Turkey

~ beetleypete ~ 40 Comments

Julie had some issues sending me photos from her phone, so these are late.
(The photos are not on Flickr this time.)

On the 16th, we celebrated my birthday in Kusadasi for the second year running.

That afternoon we went to Candan Cafe on the seafront for drinks. Julie told them it was my birthday and they came out with a big slice of cake to share and a firework candle blazing while they sang Happy Birthday. Unfortunately, the candle went out before she could get the photo.
But you get the idea.

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I had a beer, and Julie, who rarely drinks alcohol, decided to order a Pina colada. They added celebratory nonsense of course.😊
We finished with coffees before getting ready to go out that evening.

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We had already booked at table for the evening meal at the Hong Kong Chinese restaurant in the Marina District. The owner had made sure to hang some birthday balloons. Julie celebrated with another Pina colada, and when we had finished our main course we were given complimentary banana fritters. (Eaten before we thought to take a photo of them.)

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A Short Walk: Part Four

~ beetleypete ~ 23 Comments

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This is the fourth part of a fiction serial, in 755 words.

Walking away from the hearing of the taxi driver, Joe told Brumby why he was there.

“Tall Teddy gave me your details, said you might give me a cash in hand job. I’m good with engines. Did my time on the tools, then ended up as service manager for a main dealership. But I want to be up front. I have nothing to prove any of that, I can only show you how good I am by working. Maybe give me a trial, and if you’re not happy, no hard feelings.”

Brumby relaxed at the mention of Teddy.

“Come inside the workshop for a chat then. I’ll tell you now this is a no questions asked job, but Teddy is right, I could do with the help”. He slapped his chest. “Lung cancer, spreading to the throat. Got a year at most but want to make sure to leave something for my girl Anna.”

After a series of quickfire questions relating to various car models and engines, Brumby seemed satisfied. Joe had more to say before any job was offered.

“I won’t be able to drive anywhere though, as I have misplaced my licence, sort-of. So do you know if there’s anywhere I can stay if you offer me work? Maybe in that village we passed?” Coughing into the dirty rag and shaking his head, Brumby took some time to recover before answering.

“Nowhere down in the village. You can stay here in the house, in the attic room. I will deduct rent and food from your wages, Anna will do your washing and ironing, and you can bring your stuff back today and start tomorrow. I work most days, but if there’s no work on you get free time. I have to know if the cops are after you though, and be honest”. Joe decided he had nothing to lose.

“They might be looking for me, but only if my wife has reported me missing. I just left without telling her, I was sick of my life and couldn’t face another how ever many years of it. She will be okay. The mortgage is paid off, she has a decent job that can pay the bills, and if she does a bit less unnecessary shopping she will get by fine. But chances are she will report me missing, hence no driving licence and working for cash. You okay with that, Graham?” Brumby extended a hand that gave a surprisingly firm shake.

“You’ve been truthful with me, so I will do the same. Certain people drop these cars off now and then. You don’t need to know who they are. We repair anything broke, and give them a good general service. Then they get picked up on a car transporter or a container lorry, and we get paid for the work. I don’t ask no questions, and I do local servicing and repairs to make the business legal, and pay some tax too. If anyone comes asking about you, I have never seen you. But I have to vouch for you to those certain people, so you had better not let me down”.

On the way back in the taxi, the driver said nothing, so Joe stayed quiet. As the got close to the Avalon Guest House, Joe decided to address the silence.

“I need you to wait ten minutes and then take me back there. But you never took me there, understand? There’s a very large tip in it for you if you agree. And nobody but you and Margie know where I’ve been, so if anyone comes looking I will know who told them”. The driver nodded.

Margie was matter-of-fact as he said goodbye.

“Well it would have been nice to have had you here ‘on tap’, so to speak, but everyone moves on eventually. If it doesn’t work out, you are always welcome at the Avalon, and before you ask me the question, I have never seen you”. Then she gave him a big kiss, turned her back, and walked into the kitchen.

As they were on the return journey to Brumby’s, Joe got the driver to divert to the docks so he could pay Tall Teddy. You never knew when you might need the help of a man like that again. He saw the big man standing outside a newsagent’s shop on the way, told the driver to stop, and walked back to give Teddy the fifty. Teddy struffed the cash into his trouser pocket, and winked.

“Thanks, whoever you are”.