The Devil To Pay (Hennessey.) (6 page)

People passed while she stood waiting, they looked at her and she found herself averting her eyes, certain that they could tell she was off for a night on the town by herself and thinking how sad that was. A young couple came to stand beside her giggling and kissing. She found herself blushing and looking the other way pretending they weren’t there…or that she wasn’t.

True to its word the bus was right on time. Adela got on thankful to be away from the kissing couple who stayed waiting by the bus stop.

There were only five people on the bus and she took a seat at the front by herself. She knew that at home this would go unnoticed but people here were friendlier and tended to sit together and chat. But she did not want to be the questioned about where she was headed and was she meeting anyone? This had happened several times over the last few days, but in the day time it did not seem to matter so much, lots of people were out and about by themselves, but for an evening out it seemed, well, sad. Besides there was the ever present danger of giving the wrong person this piece of information, or someone overhearing and following her with a malevolent purpose.

One would ask why if she was so nervous would she catch the bus or go to places by herself? And the answer was because she
was
nervous, but she had sworn not to let her fear and shyness stop her from exploring and enjoying every pleasure this country had to offer. If she did she would hate herself for the coward she was.

Twenty minutes later she thanked the driver, alighted from the bus and headed to the theatre, which thankfully was on the opposite side of the street from the bus stop. She had spotted the theatre when she had got off the bus here a few days before and on impulse had booked a ticket for the show tonight. She had been, and still was, nervous about doing this, but like the solitary walks and the bus rides, she had resolved not to let nervousness get in the way of enjoying herself. Besides, she wanted to know what a comedy play performed by Americans for Americans was like.

She took several deep breaths and entered the theatre. There were a lot of people milling around in the foyer chatting and laughing so because she didn’t want to stand there by herself she headed for the lounge bar. There were a lot of people either at the bar or just standing around talking. She really didn’t want to go the bar, but neither did she want to stand around so having a drink would give her something to do with her hands.

Squaring her shoulders she walked to the bar as if it was the most natural thing in the world. She expected to have to wait ages to be served there being so many people, but as soon as she approached the bar the bartender came over and asked what she would like.

She asked for an orange juice with ice not daring to take her eyes from the counter, sure that every eye in the place was on her speculating as to who she was and why she was alone.

Adela paid for her drink and told the barman to keep the change. She looked at her watch trying to look impatient as though waiting for someone who was late to join her, then instantly regretted doing this because maybe the same people would see her in her seat or at intermission alone still and think she had been stood up. She couldn’t decide which was sadder, being here alone or being stood up.

As nonchalantly as she could she strode to an empty table and sat down. She felt better once she was seated, less conspicuous. She opened her bag and took out the programme she had picked up the day she had bought her ticket and feigned great interest in what was written there. When she dared to look up and glance quickly around she saw that no one was looking at her, that they were all to engrossed in their own conversations with their friends or partners. Although this made her feel a little more comfortable she had also never felt so alone.

Suddenly a loud ringing noise could be heard denoting five minutes to curtain call. Adela finished her drink quickly and half rose from her chair but noticed that no one else seemed to be in a hurry to take their seats so sat back down. After a few seconds she decided to find her seat, that way she would be seated when everyone else took theirs then she wouldn’t have to squeeze past them making it obvious that she was alone.

She made her way to the door marked “Stalls” which was printed on her ticket along with the number 1F. She showed her ticket to the lady at the door who tore it in half, kept one half and gave the other back to Adela saying, ‘please keep this in case you leave the theatre and want to come back in again.’

Adela thanked her and the lady’s eyebrows rose a fraction in surprise at Adela’s accent, as did most peoples. The woman then gave her a bright smile and Adela smiled back feeling more relaxed. She found her seat immediately and to her relief did not have to squeeze past anyone as she was in the end seat. She took out her programme again but before long she was joined by a couple in their fifties. The man sat beside her and said, ‘good evening.’

She said, ‘good evening’ to him then to his wife, well she assumed she was his wife, she was about the same age and he didn’t look the type to sneak around and neither did she.

As she knew he would the man said, ‘you’re English.’

‘Yes, I am.’

The woman leaning over her husband asked, ‘do you live here in Alabama or are you just visiting?’

‘I’m on holiday here; I’m actually doing a mini tour of the southern states, starting here in Alabama then Mississippi and so on, seven states in all.’

‘Well that’s mighty nice,’ the man said.’

Adela smiled, ‘yes it is, ‘mighty nice. I’ve only been here four days but I’ve enjoyed myself very much so far. You have some beautiful scenery here and many interesting tourist attractions.’

Like Jill the couple seemed very pleased with her assessment of their home state.

The couple, whose names were Eddie and Christine, chatted with Adela until the lights dimmed and their was just a murmur of voices before all was quiet.

Adela thoroughly enjoyed the first half of the play which was a kind of farce; it reminded her of the comedy show Frazier which she loved. She laughed along with everyone else.

At intermission the couple asked if she would like to join them for a drink and she was more than eager to accept their invitation.

They sat and chatted and discussed the first half of the play and laughed recalling some of the more funny bits.

The second half was just as
good and the audience gave the players a standing ovation.

Outside the theatre she thanked the couple for their company and turned down their offer of a lift home, mostly because they had told her where they lived and she knew that it was in the opposite direction. They did not like the idea of leaving her there but she assured them that she would be fine. The taxi stand was right outside the theatre, there were plenty of people still around and lots of taxis coming and going. Eventually they said goodbye and left her there.

There were four people behind her in the taxi stand so she knew she would not be left alone waiting. She waited for ten minutes and there were now only two people in front of her when suddenly a van pulled up alongside them. The passenger wound down the window and leaning his head out greeted the four people behind her. Then he said, ‘get in, we’re going your way.’

Amid laughter and thanks the four people got in the van and it sped away leaving only Adela and the two people in front of her alone. Adela was slightly nervous now, when the next taxi came the couple in front would get in it leaving her there alone. She was in two minds to ask the couple if she could ride with them, but they might not be going her way and she hated the idea of putting them out. There would be many times later when she would question her reluctance to “put anyone out,” but also whether she would have had it any other way. Before she could decide what to do a taxi arrived, the couple got in and it pulled away leaving her alone.

A feeling of annoyance gripped Adela then, she thought the couple would let her have the taxi and waited for the next one since they had each other and she was a lone female. She would have done it for the girl.

Alberta swallowed her annoyance and waited, she checked her watch, 10.33. She looked back at the theatre, which was now in darkness, debating whether to lave the taxi rank and walk to the bus stop across the street. She had seen only one bus go her way in twenty minutes and she didn’t want to walk back to the bus stop in case a taxi came around the corner, the driver would see no one waiting and drive on.

She reached into her bag for her phone and switched it on. She had programmed some taxi numbers into her phone and thought about calling one. But what if a taxi came round the corner now while she was waiting? She would have to wave it on and maybe have to wait even longer for the one she had called. Oh, she was torn now, what was the best thing to do? Putting the phone back in her bag she took out the small alarm thing that Sally had given to her and that emitted a shrill alarm. She slipped her bag over her head in case anyone tried to snatch it, not that the flimsy strap would hold, and anyway, if anyone demanded it she would give it to them.

Shifting nervously from on foot to the other Adela now wished she had taken Eddie and Christine up on their offer of a lift home. Oh she was a fool, no wonder Mr. Lando had looked at her with such scorn, she had invited danger both this morning and tonight. Where was the common sense she was so famous for?  This was a quite street with no houses, few shops and the theatre of course, and only a handful of cars had gone past as she stood there clutching the alarm tightly in her fist.

Just then the silence was broken by a scream which sounded very loud in the silence and made Adela jump almost out of her skin. For a moment she thought she had pressed the alarm by mistake but quickly realised the sound had come from an alleyway to her left.  Her heart thumped uncomfortably fast as she looked wildly around trying to decipher where exactly the scream had come from when it came again, closer this time.

She fumbled in her bag for her phone and gripping the alarm walked towards the alleyway.

As she approached she heard scuffling noises and a man’s voice although she could not tell what he was saying from this distance. She peeped around the wall of the alleyway her heart beating ten times its normal rate. What she saw when she looked closer almost stopped it completely.

Two men had hold of a woman, the first with one hand over her mouth and another across her chest. A second man had her by her feet and they were dragging her towards a car parked at the other end of the alley. The woman was kicking and struggling for all she was worth. Adela heard the man say, ‘no use struggling, you’re caught now. We’re gonna take a little drive.
He
wants to see you.’

Suddenly the man holding her mouth let go and shook his hand then swore, the woman had obviously bitten him. Then to Adela's horror the man raised his hand and punched the woman in the face, she made a
humph
sound then went limp.

Adela who had stood frozen suddenly came to life as for a moment her terror was replaced by anger. But a moment was all it took, and that was when Adela did what was probably the most unsensible, not to mention the most stupid thing she had ever done, up to that time anyway. She yelled, ‘hey, hey you, stop that, leave her be.’

Both men froze and turned towards Adela standing at the mouth of the alleyway.

The man who had hit the woman exclaimed, ‘oh fuck!’

But it was his next words that froze the blood in Adela’s veins and caused the anger to be  replaced with heart stopping terror. ‘Get her, get her you stupid fuck.’

Adela stepped back and began dialling 911 which she now realised she should have done in the first place. Her hand trembled so much that the phone fell from her fingers, she then tried to press the button on the alarm thingy but for some reason it didn’t work. The numerous times David’s two boys had used it and nearly deafened them, as well as almost given them all heart attacks, and now when she really needed the thing it wouldn’t work, the battery was probably flat.

Adela stood glued to the spot with terror as the man approached her, she turned her head to the right then to the left desperately looking for someone,
anyone
else, on the street, there was no one. Adela had never thought so fast, there was no one there to help but that didn’t mean there couldn’t be.

She quickly looked to her right and as though had suddenly seen someone called out, ‘hey, hey you, help, please help me.’

The man jogging up the alleyway towards her paused in his stride. Adela took a few steps as though about to approach the person she was calling out too and shouted again, ‘help, please, a woman is being attacked.’

The other man now had the woman under her armpits and was dragging her towards the car but hesitated when his friend turned to him and yelled ‘let’s get the fuck outta here.’

The man began dragging the woman faster towards the car but dropped her when his friend running now shouted, ‘leave the bitch, someone else is coming, just get the car started.’ His cohort did as he was told and dropped the woman then ran to the car, started it and began to drive away causing his friend to have to run to catch up with him. He opened the passenger side door and flung himself into the seat. Adela could hear him shouting but couldn’t tell what he said, probably cursing his friend for driving off without him.

Adela picked up her phone and ran down the alleyway towards the woman. When she reached her she hesitated and peered around the corner of the alley just to make sure no one else was hiding there. She could see no one so she bent down to the woman who was conscious now but groggy.