After the Storm (24 page)

‘It wasn’t physical; the cause I mean. It wasn’t to do with damaged vocal chords or anything like that. They simply stopped speaking. They treated them so cruelly, as if they were cowards. The officers got better treatment but the rank and file men were tortured. One man had electric shocks fired into his vocal chords until he made a sound, until he screamed. They had stopped talking of course because they’d seen unspeakable things.’

Owen listened, his eyes glittering, his body jerked by occasional spasms. She knew she was rambling on but Owen seemed to have this effect on her.

‘My dad stopped speaking,’ he said.

He murmured something else but she couldn’t hear him properly and she leaned closer to him.

‘What did you say, Owen?’

‘She shouldn’t have taken us back there.’

‘Who shouldn’t?’

‘I said we shouldn’t go back there.’

He said more, in a fragmentary way, frequently stopping and darting his eyes around the room and exhaling as if he was scared.

‘We were in the motel. Mom always said: “don’t let the sun go down on your wrath.” She couldn’t stay angry with him. It was my birthday and he said he had to see me on my fourteenth birthday.’

She didn’t interrupt him. He needed to tell his story in his own way but she wondered if he was hallucinating. She wiped his face with the wet towel again and he closed his eyes.

Kim talked and laughed with Gary’s crowd and drank champagne and ate the exquisite canapés. She stood and listened to the band playing the rhythm and blues and they made good music as Vivienne had said they would. When they stopped playing she spoke to the singer, said she was a friend of Vivienne’s who had mentioned the band to her. The singer grabbed a beer from a passing waitress. His face had lit up at the mention of Vivienne’s name.

‘You a good friend of hers?’ he asked.

‘Oh yeah, I saw her today. Olivier is over for a couple of weeks with some friends and I went over to see them all.’

‘He’s a good boy and a credit to her. I must go over and say hi to him while he’s here.’

‘He’s gonna to be staying over in West End for the duration I think.’

‘Well you tell Vivienne when you see her next that Herman is gonna stop on by and take her out for a drink and a bit of supper. Now I guess I should rest up a while before our next set.’

He walked away and Kim thought fondly there goes another man smitten with Vivienne. And why not, she was a gorgeous woman. She noticed a table at the side which was piled with gift-wrapped presents and a stack of cards addressed to Barbara and Gideon. She had not thought to bring anything with her, not even a card. Well the Carters were a couple who had everything already. She went to find their swimming pool which she’d been told was sensational. It was in a purpose-built glass extension that ran down one whole side of the house. The pool was huge and kidney-shaped. More lit pink candles had been arranged around the pool. Thick white towels were laid out for the use of guests on wooden loungers. There was a Jacuzzi on a raised platform by the pool. The whole area was empty of guests and she sat down on one of the loungers and looked around. The pool was so luxurious and tempting and she wished she’d thought to bring her bikini with her. Then she saw Gideon Carter come in.

‘Are you thinking of swimming?’ he said.

‘I don’t think so. It’s such a beautiful pool though.’

‘I’m sure it will fill up later when the guests get hot and lose their inhibitions,’ he said.

‘I wish I’d brought my swimming things with me.’

He looked at her.

‘You’re smaller than Barbara but I’m sure we could find something to fit you.’

‘Maybe later,’ she said feeling shy about the way he had been appraising her figure.

‘Can I get you another glass of champagne, Kimberly?’

‘Well thank you kindly.’

He came back with a bottle and filled both their glasses. They clinked and drank.

‘Where’s Owen tonight?’

‘He was feeling ill and had to rest up.’

‘Do you want to see the garden?’ he said.

‘It’s kinda dark,’ she said.

‘It’s all lit up. Come on, I’ll give you the tour.’

He led her out through the pool door onto a long covered terrace lined with terracotta pots planted with orchids and some other scented flower she didn’t recognise. She liked orchids even though they were kinda hot-house and some folks might even say artificial looking. She liked the exotic shapes of their petals and their colours, pink, peach, creamy white. She noticed he was carrying the bottle of champagne with him. The lights were placed artfully all around the garden. She wondered if Barbara had planned for the party to spill out here, but the wind was rising and you could hear the sea soughing beyond the villa. Everyone else had stayed inside. She enjoyed the feeling of the breeze on her face and arms. She was feeling a little over heated having drunk four glasses of champagne too quickly. From the terrace he took her into a rose garden which had a central gazebo and two wooden benches. They sat on one of the benches and he filled her glass again. She told herself to drink it slowly this time, to sip it.

‘Wow orchids and now roses. You don’t expect to see roses growing on the island.’

‘They take some special work to grow here,’ he said.

‘Who does the gardening?’

‘We’ve got two full-time gardeners.’

Most of the roses in the garden were in shades of pink and peach.

‘Barbara likes pink I’m guessing,’ she said.

‘Yes and I thought you girls were supposed to grow out of that.’

He grinned at her and she smiled back.

‘Do you want to see the herb garden?’

He led her deeper into the garden through a bower to some square beds planted with herbs. She recognised various smells on the night air.

‘This must be coriander.’

She bent down and rubbed the leaf between her fingers and smelled it.

‘My favourite…’

She walked along the bed, identifying the plants.

‘Sage, and rosemary of course, and this is some sort of mint.’

She picked a few of the leaves, rolled them between her palms and inhaled.

‘Lemon mint I think, how awesome to have all these herbs to cook with.’

He was bending over her and filling her glass again and she sensed he wanted to kiss her. But it was his wedding anniversary party for Chrissakes! She raised her glass to her lips quickly and took a big gulp, then felt a couple of large raindrops plop on her shoulders. He put his hand on the middle of her bare back and his hand was warm.

‘We best get back inside. Don’t want you to get wet,’ he said.

The rain started to fall faster and he took her hand and they hurried back to the house. He dropped her hand as they reached the door to the atrium.

‘Now for the boring bit,’ he said.

Anna got up and looked through the cabin window. The sky was flashing white with lightening and she could see the shapes of the mangroves and avocado trees outside and they were swaying crazily as rain lashed into the cabin. She closed the window slats firmly. She got a chair from the kitchen and sat at the side of his bed. There was no sign of Kimberly and she was so tired. Owen was getting worse; his temperature was still rising and he was sweating profusely. His eyes were closed and he moaned from time to time as if he was in pain. She tried to keep him cool by continually bathing his head and arms but his T-shirt was wet with his sweat. He snapped his eyes open, kicked off the sheet and said uneasily:

‘Where is she? It’s been hours. Is she hurt?’

‘No, no, of course not; it’ll be this storm that’s stopped her coming back. She’ll be here soon.’

She went into the kitchen and boiled some water, put sugar in it and brought it to his bed.

‘Come on, you need some fluids inside you.’

She helped him sit up and he drank a mouthful; then lay back against the damp pillows.

‘Take your T-shirt off. I’ll get you a clean one.’

He did not respond. She looked in the drawers and found a clean T-shirt. She kneeled at his side and tried to take his sweaty T-shirt off him. He pushed her away with all his force. She fell on the floor and banged her elbow hard.

‘Ouch that hurt!’

She got to her knees and rubbed her elbow and looked angrily over at him and saw how his body was going rigid. He was shaking with convulsions. Anna had seen patients with febrile convulsions before. She knew it was caused by his excessively high temperature and she stayed calm. Then he vomited. He leaned over the side of the bed and was sick down his T-shirt and onto the floor. He fell back onto the bed and closed his eyes. His body had stopped shaking.

She filled a bucket with hot soapy water and approached him cautiously. She was worried he’d push her away again. She washed the vomit off the floor but kept her distance from him. Then she saw Kimberly’s knife lying by his pillow. What was it doing there? She reached for it and just as her hand reached the knife Owen’s hand flew out and stopped her from picking it up.

‘Leave it,’ he said harshly.

She jumped back from him. He put the knife under his pillow then closed his eyes again muttering some incomprehensible words.

‘You’re being difficult. I
wish
you’d let me clean you up. And there’s nothing left in your stomach. You need to eat something. You must let me help you.’

She went into the kitchen and looked through what was in the cupboard. There were some vegetables and canned goods. She had a packet of rice in her cabin. Yes a little bit of boiled rice would do the job and she would pick up her first-aid kit too. She looked at him lying on the bed and he seemed unaware of her presence, so she said nothing, unlocked the door and ran through the rain to her cabin. She found her first-aid kit, which she always carried with her whenever she travelled. She sat on the bed and went through its contents quickly: paracetamol, antiseptic lotion, plasters, bandages. In the kitchen cupboard she found the packet of rice and a small bottle of soy sauce and she took some tea bags too. She needed a cup of tea badly. Her elbow and arm were throbbing from her fall and she wanted so much to rest. She went into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. The rain on the roof of the cabin sounded like a hundred drumsticks beating on a hundred drums. This was not like English rain. There was something fierce and elemental about it. She wondered how Rob was doing on the dive boat. The sea would be rough and she hoped he was not being tossed by the waves and made sick by it. She wanted him here with her now very much. Her exhaustion and Owen’s weird reactions were making her feel scared. She gathered everything together and headed back to Owen’s cabin. The door was swinging open and banging shut in the wind. But she had closed it when she went. She hurried inside and Owen was gone. The sheet was flung back from the bed as if he had left in a rush. She saw his vomit stained T-shirt in the corner. She felt under the pillow and Kimberly’s knife was gone.

Gideon Carter was standing on the fifth step of the staircase with a microphone in his hand. Gradually the hubbub in the room quieted and more guests pushed into the atrium. It was unpleasantly hot in there with all the bodies pressed together. The combination of the champagne and the heated and over-perfumed room was making Kim feel queasy. She had felt better in the garden. Gideon waited until he had the attention of the room. He scanned the crowd below him and launched into a witty speech about the charm and unpredictability of life on the island reflecting the charm and unpredictability of marriage. He got a lot of laughs. He said how much he appreciated the presence of so many friends and he thanked Barbara for organising such a great party. Shame about the weather but that was Roatán for you. Barbara was standing at the bottom of the stairs looking up at him and she smiled at Gideon and held her glass up when he said:

‘To the next twenty years.’

It all felt a bit false to Kim as if it was a show put on for the benefit of lesser mortals like her and Gary and all the other people on the island who looked on the Carters as a kind of royalty. Gideon told everyone to enjoy the rest of the night and put down the microphone. The musicians started to play again and the guests moved away from the staircase. Some people started to dance. Kim walked to the door of the atrium and watched as the rain hurled down and exploded on the paved path outside. She wondered if all those orchids on the terrace would survive this onslaught. She would have liked to get more air but she couldn’t go out in that rain. She walked through to the swimming pool room. Some guests were now in the pool shrieking with glee and she saw Barbara Carter at the centre of a circle of guests by the loungers, talking and laughing. Their voices were bouncing off the glass walls and ceiling and she decided to find a room where she could sit quietly until her dizziness and queasiness had passed.

Back in the atrium she pushed through the melee of guests and opened a door into a long room which was clearly the Carters’ dining room. There were large canvasses of modern art hanging on the walls and a dining table which would seat twenty people with ease. She saw a high-backed chair in the corner of the room and she sat down on this, taking her sandals off and pulling her feet up under her. The large chair dwarfed her as she rested her head back. She closed her eyes and felt blood pulsing in her temples.

‘Don’t you like dancing?’

She opened her eyes to see Gideon Carter standing in front of the chair smiling down at her and holding her gold sandals in his hands. She hadn’t heard him approach so she must have fallen asleep.

‘I’m feeling kinda hot and dizzy at the moment.’

‘Let me show you the rest of the house then. It will be quieter and cooler up there. Best put these on first.’

She found herself doing what he said. She strapped her sandals on and took his hand when he held it out to her. From the dining room he took her into an octagonal-shaped room with cream walls and a glass roof. He said this was the breakfast room. It looked more lived in than the rest of the house with a stack of newspapers and magazines splayed on the table. He showed her a photograph hanging on the wall. It was black and white and fuzzy as if it had been blown up from a much smaller picture and it showed a poor-looking house with a fence around it.