Duplicity (11 page)

The man then looked over her shoulder before grabbing both her arms and dragged the shocked woman into a large shrub.

“That nest as has enough meat.” His features melted and ran like bubbling chocolate. She tried to open her mouth only to find his hand viciously slam the back of her head into a thick branch. When she opened her eyes, she saw the face of another Henry.

“My mistress will reward me for bringing you back.” His jaw opened wide to reveal dozens of needle sharp teeth.

She managed to scream out just once before his teeth sank into the side of her neck.

Chapter Thirteen

Her breath stank of vodka and Joanie’s cheek still ached like a bastard from that punch she took from the fat bloke sitting at the back of the bus. Neither the pain nor the contents of that bottle could erase the image of what she saw down that fucking drain.

“I should have hit the man back.” She muttered.

In retrospect, it may have been a more agreeable idea to just walk home; mixing it with some surly stranger who outweighed her by a small car was probably not one of her better ideas. Joanie hadn’t been given any opportunity to retaliate. Her two friends had already pulled Joanie off the man, both apologising profusely, she recalled Tessa even explaining to the rest of the passengers that Joanie’s mother had just died.

Neither of them had asked Joanie the reason for her outburst, then again, she guessed that both of the girls must be used to her unpredictable behaviour by now. Of course, she hadn’t told the two bitches what she’d spotted down there. She looked at her reflection in the hallway mirror, not recognising the pasty-faced little girl who stared back at her. “What are you playing at? You’re turning into one of the herd, Joanie. Come on, you’re so much stronger than this.” She picked up her mother’s hairbrush and forced the bristles through her hair then Joanie used a couple of wipes to clean the dirt off her face. The reflection looked a little more like her usual self now.

The girls would have pissed their knickers and fallen about in gales of laughter if Joanie had described what she’d seen down that drain, not to her face, obviously. They weren’t that stupid. They would have waited until she was out of earshot, they may have even spread word that poor Joanie was losing her marbles, going a bit cuckoo. Just coming out with such a comment would have sown the seeds of doubt.

Joanie could hear her mum banging about in the kitchen, cooking tea and swearing, mainly swearing. The old cow hadn’t heard her come in, thank god. She took a deep breath and tried to calm her feelings down, looking in the mirror helped, now that her reflection didn’t resemble a frightened child, she now looked hard, confrontational, someone who you did not mess with. Beneath her concrete shellthough, well that was a different matter, but she’d work on that. Joanie was just thankful that the old cow hadn’t seen Joanie in her previous state.

She closed her eyes, thinking back to when she was still a normal little girl. She and Tessa had been playing together in the park. Their fun and games had come to an abrupt halt when three larger girls had decided that it would be hilarious to knock the crap out of the pair of them.

Their stumbling journey back to Joanie’s home would be forever stamped in her mind. So would how her mother reacted when she saw her daughter and Tessa, their faces covered in blood and tears. They’d both received huge hugs, sympathy and ice cream while Tessa had waited for her mother to pick them up. Joanie remembered wondering what had happened to her mother and why she’d turned into a really nice mummy all of a sudden. She also remembered wishing that the nice mummy would stay forever. The nice mummy had gone as soon as Tessa and her mother had left.

For the first time in years, Joanie just wished that she and her mum were a little closer. Joanie would have given all the remaining money in her jacket pocket for her mum to smile at her and give her a big hug. “You’re getting soft, lass.” She whispered. “You don’t need anyone.” She was living in a dream if Joanie actually believed that the woman would wrap her arms around her daughter. The bitch had no warmth or love for anyone except for herself. “There’s more chance of the bitch wrapping her arms around my neck.”

Joanie suddenly stopped. Just how much love did Joanie have for anyone but herself? Was she turning into her own mother? No, of course she wasn’t. Joanie hadn’t met anyone else to love yet, that’s all. “You’re sixteen next year, lass and you look and act like a thug. Just how many boys find that attractive?”

The swearing stopped. “Joanie, is that you?”

The girl sighed and trudged through the hall. She leaned against the kitchen doorframe and smiled. “Hi mum. What are you doing for tea?”

The woman stopped what she was doing and stared at Joanie, her face was unreadable. She slowly put a half-peeled potato and her knife down on the work surface. “What the bloody is wrong with you, Joanie? I was expecting a sarcastic comment or at least an insult.” She asked walking up to her. “Not even a grunt and did I hear a pleasantry? So, tell me this, stranger. Who are you, cos you aren’t my fucking daughter?”

“I’m sorry, mum, I’ve let you down.” she tried to grin and failed. “Look, I’ve had the weirdest and most stressed out day like ever.” She was about to ask her about the bloke at the mill when her mum abruptly turned and picked up the knife.

“And there’s me actually thinking that you could no longer shock me, Joanie. Right, as you appear to have had a personality transplant and you’ve gone all nice on me. Why don’t you do me a big favour and go see where the hell your dad has gone to. Do you think you could manage that, or is it too much strain?”

She turned around. “He’s upstairs, your dad said he was getting changed, he’s been up there ages. The idiot’s probably gone to sleep or something.”

“Mum, do you mind if I ask you a question? You know that bloke who you keep going on about at work. You know the one who always gets on your tits?”

“You mean Henry?” She said smiling.

Joanie nodded. “Yeah, that’s his name. In all the time you’ve known him, has he ever done anything, you know, unusual?”

Her mother just gazed at Joanie, a tiny smirk playing on her face. “Why the bloody hell do you want to know about that loser?”

“Please mum, it’s important.”

The woman stared at Joanie. She didn’t think she was going to answer her.

“As Henry done anything unusual? I’ve known his wife and that big soft pudding since school, Joanie. That boring fart wouldn’t know unusual if it bit him on the nose. The man is as predictable as the seasons. His wife though, now she certainly did something unusual.”

“What was that?”

Her mother giggled. “She fell madly in love with that dumb clown and then the silly bitch went and married him. That girl broke a lot of hearts on that day, let me tell you; including your father’s. Nobody has any idea what she saw in him, now go on, stop being weird and go find out where the hell your dad is.”

Joanie watched her mum walk over to the sink, humming to herself. As far as her mum was concerned, their conversation was finished, she’d been dismissed. Maybe she’d have a bit more luck extracting information out of her dad. She tried to imagine her dad lusting after Henry’s wife. No matter how hard she tried, Joanie just couldn’t picture it. Then again, she found it impossible to believe that her parents had ever been young.

She climbed the stairs, wondering just how hard it would be to discover where that loser lived and paying him a visit. There was no point in shying away from a problem and Joanie fully intended to get to the bottom of this mystery. Once she’d sorted him out, her next task was to go back to her grans to learn just why that mad old woman had thrown so much cash at her. Not that she’d give her it back, bollocks to that, this cash was hers now.

Their bedroom door was wide open. “Dad, are you in there?” She waited on the top step for a couple of seconds. Joanie thought it best to announce her presence. Charging in there and seeing her own dad’s bare arse, staring back at her would haunt her dreams for decades to come. After waiting for a bit longer, Joanie approached the door and pushed it open a little wider.

“Dad?”

He wasn’t in here. She saw that his clothes were though. He had thrown his work clothes all over the carpet. Joanie stepped into the room, wondering where that stink was coming from. What was dad splashing on his face? No, that smell was not aftershave. That was a perfume, the sweet almost sickly scent brought up a few forgotten memories from earlier toady. This wasn’t the first time that she had noticed the scent of that perfume.

His dad must on the toilet or admiring his face in the mirror. That smell was annoying the hell out of her, especially smelling it in here. She was so tempted to go back downstairs and ask her mum to come up here. Joanie smiled at the thought of her mum laying into her dad and accusing him of having a fancy woman.

She leaned back and noticed the bathroom door wide open. There was nobody in there. Besides, he always shut the door.

“Dad!” she shouted. “Where the hell are you?”

Joanie walked further into her parent’s bedroom, noticing that it wasn’t just his work clothes spread across the carpet; his casual clothes were mixed up amongst them as well. “Okay, so this is freaky.”

She walked up to the window and gazed down at the sight of their back garden. That was the only area of the house that truly belonged to dad. He spent most of his time either messing with his stupid plants or hidden inside his large wooden shed that he’d built himself. The shed had been the source of many arguments with her parents over the years, she accusing him of building an eyesore that was responsible for bringing the house prices down. He’d responded by adding extra sections to it

“Like he’s in there, Joanie? He’s got no clothes on! Come on, get a grip.” The girl was about to turn away when the shed door slowly opened. “No way!” she exclaimed, starting at the sight of a familiar looking man stepping out of the shed. He closed the door and strolled towards the house, pausing to kick off a few flower heads. “What the fuck?” Shitting hell, that was Henry.

The man then stared up at the window. He saw her, grinned and waved.

Her shout got stuck at the base of her throat when she heard the sound of exploding glass. “Oh no!” she spun around and ran out of the room. “Mum!” she yelled. “What’s happening?” There was no reply. She raced down the stairs, her heart pounding hard against her ribs.

Joanie ran into the kitchen and stared in disbelief at the fragments of broken glass lying across the floor tiles. Joanie picked up her mum’s knife, looking at the tiny drop of bright red blood on the tip of the blade. She moaned and hurried over to the broken window. She saw nobody out there; there was no sign of her mum. What the fuck is going on?

“Mum!” she yelled. “Where are you?”

She looked at the blood on the knife one more time before throwing it in the sink. She raced through the house heading towards the front door. “I’m having words with you, Henry.” She growled. Joanie ran out of the door and leaped over the side fence. She so hoped that Henry was waiting for her, with that grin still spread across his gormless mug. He was going to find himself lying in her dad’s flowers with her on top of him and pounding the fuck out of his face. That bastard was going to supply her with some answers.

The man hadn’t moved. He was still standing in the same spot with his hands on his hips still smiling like a big, stupid clown. When he saw Joanie charging towards her, the man waved at her one more time before bolting to the edge of the garden and leaping over the fence.

“Come back here.” Joanie screamed. “What have you done with my mum and dad? You bastard.” She ran across the garden, jumped onto the fence, and watched him run over the road through the wooden slats. As soon as the man reached the other side, he stopped again. “What is that bastard playing at?” She muttered.

Joanie clambered over the fence and dropped down onto to the other side, watching her quarry setting off again before her feet reached the pavement. She clenched her fists tight, feeling her finger nails dig into the skin. She stepped off the kerb and jumped back in shock as a bus flew past her. “Bollocks!”

The man was almost at the other end of the street before Joanie managed to get across the road. He disappeared into the town’s multi-story carpark but not before turning around and giving her a quick wave. “I’m so going to fuck you up.”

She raced down the street, fuelled by rage and upset, pushing aside the bizarre situation and placing it deep into the recess of her mind. All she needed to do right now was to catch up with that despicable little man and beating the crap out of him. He was going to explain everything to Joanie, her fists would see to that.

It took her just seconds to reach the huge concrete eyesore. She collapsed against the old vandalised sign that used to display the opening times and urgently looked along the protruding balconies, desperately trying to locate the man. Her quarry had disappeared; this time, the bastard didn’t have to decency to wait for her.

“Stop hiding from me, you dirty coward!” she screamed.

The girl then looked back towards her house, undecided on whether she really ought to just go back. It wasn’t as if the bald fucker had kidnapped them and put the pair into his pocket. She nodded to herself, yeah, that bastard was just leading Joanie away from the fucking house!

The girl’s indecision was suddenly settled when a blood-freezing shriek blasted down from the level above her head.

“Dad?” Joanie ducked under the yellow barrier and raced up the ramp to the next floor, her heart thudding. She reached the next level, darted around the corner, and stopped in her tracks, not believing her eyes. The little bald man stood just a few feet from her. He smiled then casually leaned against the boot of a small car.

“What the FUCK are you playing at?” she screamed.

Henry just carried on displaying that nauseating grin.

“I’m so going to wipe that fucking smile right off your face.” she growled.