Rottenhouse (39 page)

She nodded but didn’t look him straight
in the eye. She was looking elsewhere.

‘
We have to get out of
here. Now.’

That’s when Lucy looked down and he saw
that she wasn’t Lucy anymore and that she had changed and those
eyes that were still the same colour they always had been were
narrower, darker, and not the same shade of blue they used to be.
Her face was fatter, rounder, and not the familiar shape he was
used to. Even her clothes were different, older, plainer and not
tight fitting.

‘
We’re not going
anywhere.’ Barbara said, and hoisted Simon to his feet; carefully,
oh so very carefully.

6

‘
And now the work
begins in earnest.’ Chairman said. He and Bob were stood either
side of the gurney which was restraining Lewis and they shared a
joke that Simon didn’t want to know. The gurney that had been in
the corner was now on Chairman’s left and the naked girl, Billie,
it’s Billie, was laid upon it, un-restrained, with her arms
outstretched and her feet entwined like the crucified Jesus. At
least there wasn’t anything leaking out of her, Simon thought to
himself, but it was a shitty consolation prize.

The air in the room grew hot and stale
and Simons breathing became erratic. He went to hold Lucy’s hand,
remembered maddeningly that she wasn’t Lucy anymore and pulled his
hand away, but she grabbed it before he could place it by his side
and they held hands together like they had done after the first
time they had made love.

‘
You want to marry
this woman, Simon?’ Chairman asked.

‘
Yes, I do.’ Simon
said through gritted teeth.

‘
And the father is
happy with this?’

Simon looked to Bob and Bob looked back
at him. ‘Aye.’ Bob said, and Chairman smiled. Lucy’s hand that was
holding Simons tightened ever so and Simon turned his head but saw
nothing but her once beautiful profile.

‘
Barbara. You wish to
marry this man? An outsider? And then have your marital home here
in Rottenhouse?’

‘
Yes. With all my
heart.’

‘
Whoa, whoa, whoa,’
Simon pulled his hand away from Lucy’s and stepped back with his
hands in the air. ‘What are you talking about, marital
home
?
’

‘
Simon, please.’ Lucy
pleaded, and when she looked at him there were tears welling in her
eyes.

‘
Kyle was right.’
Simon muttered.

‘
What?’ Bob
asked.

‘
Kyle. He left a
message. Said that the house, the studio, all of it was up for
sale. I didn’t believe him. I can’t do this. I have to
go.’

‘
Simon,’ Lucy grabbed
both of Simon’s hands and she held them both tight even though
Simons were limp and she raised them close to her bosom and he
could feel the heat rising from her. ‘Please, it’s for the best.
It’s what I want. It’s what we need to do. If you love me, then
just listen, please.’

Simon nodded and Lucy nodded but hers
was to the Chairman so that he would continue.

‘
Then you know what
must be done. Barbara, you must go first.’

‘
Simon?’ She
whispered, like she did late at night when she wanted her itch
scratched. ‘Look at me.’ And he looked at her like she said and she
was Lucy again. His Lucy.

‘
I love you,’ she said
and he believed her.

‘
With all my heart I
love you and want to be with you, here, with my family, your new
family.’

‘
But I can’t live here
with these people, Luce. With that other you.’

‘
Sshh.’ Lucy put a
finger to his mouth and her eyes dug deep into his and he was lost
in them like he always was. She owned him, pure and simple, and it
weakened him further realising that even here, surrounded by death
and decay, he still wanted to be with her.

‘
It’s going to be
alright, Sausage. 5 minutes and it will all be over and we will be
together with no more lies and secrets and bullshit. Trust
me.’

Simon did trust her and he kissed her
finger as she took it away but he had no idea that that finger was
attached to a hand and that hand to an arm and that arm to a body
and that body to a soul that could carry out such an action that
she was about to do.

7

Lucy turned and walked slowly to her
father who she kissed on the cheek. She did the same to Chairman
but added a thank you before she moved herself so that she was side
onto Lewis who moaned when he saw what Simon saw in her eyes; there
was murder in her stare.

Lucy reached below the gurney and
grabbed hold of a long sharp knife and she looked at it first as if
she had never seen a knife before and this was the first sharp
thing she had ever seen. She twisted her head, mouthed I love you
to Simon, took in a big gulp of air and then plunged the knife into
Lewis’ chest. The rag in his mouth subdued most of the scream but
there was enough there to know that Lucy hadn’t done a good enough
job and sensing this she pulled the knife free and twice more
plunged it into the prone Lewis and within a matter of seconds he
was dead and his blood covered the gurney, the floor and Lucy.

During all this Simon had been
screaming but he didn’t know he was doing it. His hands were
covering his face but not his eyes and he could see that both Bob
and Chairman were wearing smiles like kids on Christmas Day. They
had little trickles blood down their clothing but to them it
mattered not, and that was when the wave finally pulled him under
and with that wave came everything that Simon feared. All at once
it was found out that he had killed his father, that he had set the
fire and tied his father to the chair in which he had been his most
dirtiest in and from afar watched him burn. It was discovered that
he had lied to the police about the fire and that a man was put in
prison for a crime that he didn’t commit and was still there;
rotting in a cell that should have been Simons. Lucy then
discovered that he had cheated on her with Kyles sister three
months into their relationship when it was getting to real for him
and he didn’t know what to do even though he was sure that he
wanted to be with her but that stupid manly urge had gotten the
better of him and he had to stick his dick in a willing hole just
to prove that he could do it. She found out about the child he put
in the woman’s belly and the child that she terminated with a pill
from the clinic. But the worst truth, the one that was the
difference in everything that he had done and would do was that he
needed Lucy. Without her he would be lost and useless and nothing.
None of them in that room knew of these secrets, all except Simon
thought those things in the seconds after Lucy had murdered Lewis
to prove her love for him and her love for Rottenhouse. And now he
had a choice. Live a life with her, away from everything that he
had accomplished, for that was what she had planned for him, or
walk away and face the consequences of his actions.

9

Lucy placed the knife in the hands of
Chairman. Lewis’ blood covered everything it touched. Lucy then
stood by Simon’s side but did not make an effort to comfort him or
look at him or ask him what he felt. Her silence was in praise of
what she had done.

‘
And now to you the
final act, Simon. Take the knife and show your love to the woman
you want to marry. Show us what this place means to you. End the
girls troubles and then live the rest of your days with the woman
you love surrounded by those that love and care for you.’ Chairman
said and held out the knife to Simon; blood dripped from the tip of
the blade and joined the puddles of red gore on the
floor.

Simon walked over to Chairman. He could
kill them. It would be simple. The knife was there, right there in
front of him. He could take it up and with one swift motion could
stab it into the Chairman’s chest without him even seeing it
coming. Bob might put up a struggle but Simon had dealt with worse
today.

Then his troubles would be over. But
would they really be over or just beginning?

Before taking the blade and letting
instinct make the decision for him he looked at Lucy - that would
if he married become Barbara, and saw all that he loved and wanted
and needed right there not five 5 away, covered in blood and
panting hard.

Chairman and Bob were
breathing hard too and only Billie, who was still lying on the
gurney with a lifeless stare etched onto her face, remained calm.
For Simon the world stopped moving then, time ceased to exist in
that room under the old Working Man’s Club that was once an asylum
for the criminally insane and a place where doctors carried out
evil and un-Godly acts upon those who couldn’t defend themselves.
It was one of those doctors who’d actually said Evil is a tenacious
and persistent stain that transcends death. Am I to be blamed for
what I have become?
and in time Simon
believed that you couldn’t be blamed for something that you had no
control over, that life had a way of flushing out the chaff from
the pure. Simon took hold of the knife and held it so that the
sharp end was pointed directly at Chairman. Simons hand was
shaking, his whole body shuddered and he lifted the knife and
plunged it deep into the soft pale flesh.

10

Billie didn’t have a rag in her mouth
and whatever drug she had been sedated with released its numbing
grip upon her and she screamed a bloody scream which filled the
room and echoed around the many walls of the Working Man’s Club.
Not satisfied, Simon stabbed the girl until the breath was not only
taken from her but from him too, and he fell to the floor caring
not that the blood from Lewis and from Billie was covering him from
head to foot. Some small piece of life was still in Billie, perhaps
her brain was still active, and her left leg twitched. Simon looked
away, threw up hot chunks of nothing, and by the time he looked
back to the gurney the girl had stopped twitching and the woman he
had seen killed in his dreams was now dead by his own hand.

Soft fingers returned to his hair.
There was a screeching of wet rubber on tile as the gurneys were
taken away by men Simon didn’t know, but the soft caressing hands
still curled through his wet hair.

‘
Barbara.’ Simon said,
and so he became a man of Rottenhouse.

Epilogue – Home Sweet
Home

Simon ripped the sign that had bugged
him for the last 18 months down from the tree. The old sign fell to
the floor and smashed into two pieces. Simon glanced to the place a
tree once stood which had had a red X painted on it and saw nothing
but a dead stump and then remembered the roaring fire that he had
made after he had cut that tree down. That had been a good day. He
could hear the river in the distance, the river he had once pissed
into after ridding Rottenhouse of a filth that had festered for far
too long. He didn’t hate that river anymore. It was as much a part
of him as his own heart.

Nailing the new sign to the tree he was
reminded of the hundreds of nails he had used when building his new
house. A house built out of his and Barbara’s dreams. A babies
laughter from somewhere near the lake reminded Simon that the house
he had built was now filled with childish dreams and his heart beat
a little faster and he smiled a wide smile knowing that in an hour
or so he would receive a hug from his little Margaret. Once the
sign was in place and sturdy, Simon took a step back. It was much
like the sign that was smashed on the floor. One arrow pointed to
the left; to The Quick and The Deep. The other arrow, the one that
pointed to the right, was now marked with one word: Rowling.

Simon looked at his watch and saw that
he was already late. He picked up the two pieces of wood and walked
with pace back to his newly built home. He walked through the
forest that he had once believed witches and trolls and dragons
once lived in and couldn’t help but laugh as he walked past
buttercups and daisies and bluebells which were in full bloom.

He reached the bridge and like he
always did as he crossed it he stepped over the dark red stain
where old man Lud had died and then glanced into the water below
just to make sure the head wasn’t there.

On the other side of the bridge Barbara
was stood with her arms crossed. She looked unhappy but playfully
so. Simon had promised to be back for 1. It was now half past that
hour and even though he was the man of the house he didn’t kid
himself and besides, what man is truly the man of the house these
days? Simon stopped before fully crossing the bridge and admired
the woman that was stood before him; her full bosom and plump
stomach were made all that more rounded by the blue and white
checked dress she wore. She had a round fat face and sunken eyes.
His Barbara was far removed from the wretch he had met in that
ghastly red dress all those years ago. How thankful he was for the
woman she was now. He thought then that later tonight he would have
her over the kitchen table like Mr Rowling had once told him
about.

Sensing that in him she smiled and
cupped her breasts with both hands.

‘
You’ll get me front
door and me back door if yawin tonight?’

‘
Win? What you talking
of Mrs Rowling?’

Barbara took her hands away from her
breasts and walked the rest of the way so that she was stood next
to her husband. She wrapped her fat arms about him and looked up
into his eyes and Simon looked down into hers.