“Mum”
Billy calls me as he runs inside and I sigh. What now? These boys and Lucas will be the death of me. I get no rest or space at all and I am trying to complete an online job application for the local supermarket to work nights. I’ve decided that if I want to raise our standard of living, I need to get a job and working nights while Lucas minds the boys, seems the perfect solution. The money’s good and nobody will even know. I can keep up with the neighbours and they will be none the wiser—brilliant.
“Mum!”
“What?”
I try to keep the irritation out of my voice but it’s becoming increasingly hard to do because all I want is half an hour to myself before I get the tea, sorry supper, ready.
My youngest obviously hasn’t read the memo because he bursts in the room breathless and briefly I wonder if something serious has happened. A sense of panic sets in as I say urgently, “What is it?”
“There’s someone waving at me opposite.”
“Who?”
“A red flag, I think.”
“What are you talking about, who’s waving a red flag?”
“An arm.”
“Honestly Billy, slow down and tell me what you saw.”
“I was playing in the garden and saw something in that weird house opposite. It was a red flag waving out of the window. Then I heard Pixie crying and came in, but when I looked back it was gone.”
“Are you sure, I mean, it could be something else entirely?”
“I saw it.” Billy’s face wrinkles up in frustration and I feel bad for doubting him. A red flag - danger.
My heart pounds as I think about what it could mean. Was it a cry for help, an innocent act that would make me look foolish if I went round there to enquire? I’m not sure what to do, so say sharply, “Leave it with me, Billy, you did the right thing telling me.”
All thoughts of my job application leave my mind as I head downstairs. Maybe Nancy saw it, maybe she will know what to do.
Shouting to the boys, I tell them I’ll be next door and almost run to the front door without thinking of checking they’re ok with that.
I’m not even sure what I’ll tell her, but as soon as she answers, she must see the panic in my face because she nods her head. “Ryan told me.”
“Ryan?”
“You’re here about the house opposite, aren’t you?”
She pulls me inside and I follow her to the kitchen and we look over at the house behind us.
“Ryan told me he saw somebody waving something red out of the window. It looked like a piece of fabric, but it was a deliberate act to attract attention. What should we do?”
“I was hoping you’d have the answer to that.”
Nancy seems worried and then sighs heavily. “I don’t think we can leave it. We must enquire, at least. Let’s see Keith Wickham. I would ask Jasmine, but she’s at work.”
Feeling happier to offload the burden, I follow Nancy to the impressive house opposite and pray that Keith Wickham has the answer to something we don’t have the first clue about handling.
As soon as we step outside though, we see a white van heading towards us and step back to allow it to pass.
I see the name on the side which shows me it’s a hire vehicle and wonder if the person is moving in like us. We ‘moved ourselves’ and so I smile at the man who looks lost as he winds down his window.
“Excuse me, I’m looking for Jasmine Davis, I have a delivery for her.”
“Oh, it’s opposite, number 25. There’s nobody home I’m afraid, but if it’s a parcel I can sign for it if you like?”
He laughs as if I’ve said something funny, and his expression makes me a little worried that we’ve spoken out of turn as he looks at us with a bitter expression.
“No need, I’ll just put it on the driveway.”
He nods his thanks and carries on and we wait for him to pass before crossing the road, intent on heading straight to the Wickham’s. Before we make it there, we notice the man pull up erratically on the kerb, churning up the grass on the verge outside their house.
I stare at Nancy in horror and she says crossly, “How inconsiderate, wait a minute, I’ll have words with him.”
She changes direction and heads towards Jasmine’s house and I follow, feeling as annoyed as she is.
“Excuse me, but you can’t park there, look at the damage your tyres have done.”
The man slams the driver’s door as he heads to the rear of his van and shrugs, “Doesn’t bother me.”
“Well it bothers me! I’m their neighbour and you should have more respect for people’s property than this.”
“Well, I don’t.”
The driver opens the door and I see a strange mixture of furniture and bags cluttering up the van and think it all a bit strange because usually you would expect to see rows upon rows of cardboard boxes instead and an uneasy feeling grips me. Who is this man?
Nancy is beside herself with rage and says firmly, “Please move, Jasmine’s husband will be home at any moment and will be angry when he sees the state of his front lawn.”
Turning to face us, the man’s expression twists in a mask of anger and I get an extremely bad feeling about this as he sneers, “You see, that’s the thing. I’m Jasmine’s husband and I’ll do what the hell I like, so if you mind your own business, I’ll carry on with the reason I’m here.”
For a moment we just stare at him in shock and he laughs bitterly.
“You didn’t know, then again, I’m not surprised.”
“Know what?”
Nancy’s voice is full of shock and I don’t blame her as something about the man strikes me as familiar.
Laughing bitterly, he waves towards the items in the van.
“Then let me fill you in. Liam is my brother; Jasmine is my wife and they tore apart our family by running off together. What do you think about your good old neighbours now?”
He turns away and jumps into the van, seizing bin bags and throwing them unceremoniously from the back of the van into the front garden.
I stare at Nancy in shock as the pile grows and she whispers, “I’d better text Jasmine.”
Whipping out her phone, she starts typing as we hear an angry, “Stop that at once, what’s going on.”
Sandra Wickham comes charging towards us, looking so ferocious my heart sinks with relief because it would take a brave man to go up against our formidable neighbour.
She stops beside us and says angrily, “Stop that immediately, you can’t deposit your rubbish here, remove it at once.”
The man growls, “Mind your own business, you interfering old hag, I’ve every right to do this.”
“How dare you!” Sandra immediately turns red and shouts, “I’ll call the police, I’ll have you arrested for trespassing.”
“Go on then, I’m doing nothing wrong.”
Sandra looks at us in astonishment and I whisper, “Apparently, this is Jasmine’s husband and this is her stuff.”
“Her husband, but…”
For the first time, I see Sandra Wickham lost for words as we all stare open-mouthed at a man who looks very much like Liam confirming that his story could be true. Nancy whispers, “I’ve texted Jasmine, but there’s no reply. Poor thing, I knew none of this. I’m sure this will come as quite a shock.”
Forgetting why we’re even here at all, the three of us just stare in horror and disbelief as the man throws Jasmine’s possessions onto their front garden and then starts pushing items of furniture to the door of the van. Sandra says firmly, “Oh no, I will not allow you to leave furniture, stop this at once.”
Looking bored, the man stops what he’s doing and fixes us with a resigned look. “Listen girls, I know you’re thinking about your neighbours, at least I think you are but listen up. Your friends are the worst kind of scum and don’t deserve your help. My brother went against his own blood to take something that didn’t belong to him. He wanted what I had and as usual made it his mission to get it. I loved my wife and you’d think three years of marriage would demand some loyalty, but no. She couldn’t leave fast enough, showing me that she’s only interested in one thing—what she wants. Well, they can rot in hell together as far as I’m concerned because he’s welcome to the traitorous bitch. They are no longer welcome in our family and have made their choice and now have to live with it. I’m just returning her stuff, so if you have any compassion for someone who has just lost not only his brother but his wife as well, please let me do this and then leave to pick up the pieces of my life and try to move on.”
I think every single one of us feels compassion for the man who stands looking emotional and weary before us. I can tell he’s upset and apparently has every right to be so. Sandra Wickham is shaking her head and muttering, “Disgusting, poor man.”
Nancy is quiet beside me and I don’t know where to look.
As the furniture breaks on contact with their driveway, we watch a man cleansing his demons in the most damaging way. It feels wrong to intrude on a moment of revenge because I’m guessing this results from a lot of pain and anger. It doesn’t feel right to intrude, and yet how can anything about this be right? Jasmine and Liam, the perfect couple, or so we all thought. The thing is, there is nothing perfect about this at all, just incredibly sad and no doubt devastating for all involved.