Initial

by S Thomas Thompson

  “I think these are perfect. They are the seats I would have chosen myself if I had the chance. You get to see it all,” Christine explained to Augustine who she noticed was now looking around at alternative locations. He was the type to assess every angle and her offer to re-seat them had got him thinking. He was also a planner. He wanted to know here the fire exits where and how easily he could escape if there was an issue. Not that he foresaw one, but it was always good to know how to get out of any situation. He was the type that still listened intently to the instructions from the cabin crew at the start of a flight. He listened to the number of emergency exits and always made sure he knew where the nearest exists were in case he had to evacuate, even if they were behind him. His time in the police had taught him that almost anything can happen and those that were prepared would stand the best chance of survival. By this point he noticed that Christine had already sat down so he joined her. The seats had plenty of room but she was draped over the arm that was between his seat and hers. He loved the way that she had no inhibitions about close contact on a first date. He was under no illusions that this meant anything, but he loved her touch and her smell. It had been far too long since he had experienced this from anyone.

  The lights slowly started to fade and then the loudest boom sounded the start of the show.

  “Fuck!” shouted Augustine. He had just sunk into relaxation with Christine when the noise came as a shock. His natural reaction was to curse and then he went bright red because he seemed to be the only one in the whole place that had been surprised by the noise. Maybe it was because this was his first time in a theatre. Maybe all shows started like this. Maybe everyone else knew that it was coming. Christine was laughing so much that a single tear ran down her face and collected in the folds near her mouth. She was enjoying herself too much to wipe it away. Augustine felt his embarrassment wash away with her laughter and joined in. He was determined to make the most of the evening.

  The music began and the curtain rose to reveal the silhouette of a single figure at the back of the stage. It wasn’t clear at that point who the figure was or what they were going to do. They remained perfectly still for ten seconds, twenty seconds, thirty seconds before they started to dance with the music. At that point, the dancer still hadn’t left the back of the stage and was some distance from the audience but Augustine could see that they were a talented dancer. He and Christine swayed with the music and movement. Augustine looked to his right and saw that another couple was doing the exact same thing. It was mesmeric and all eyes in the room were firmly fixed on the dancer. They still had their back to the audience but was moving closer all the time. The music was accompanied by singing and as the dancer turned around, Augustine and the whole audience were completely captivated. The figure on the stage filled the eyes and ears of the whole room. He was giving his all because he knew it was nearing the end. He wouldn’t do this anymore. He spotted his friend in the audience a few rows back in the seats he had secured for her and a friend. A tear welled up in his left eye and those with a good ear for it could detect a slight trembling in his voice for a few words but the professional came out in him and he resumed his show in his normal style. Just a little bit louder, a little bit stronger and a little bit more emotional. He wanted to finish in style.

  As the break neared, the singer dedicated the last song before the interval to his dear friend Christine. By this time, Augustine knew the artist as Betty Black and he was proud to be sat next to Christine as she smiled and blew a kiss to the performer. After he finished the song, the lights came on in the audience and a flurry people left to visit the toilet, get another drink or just stretch their legs. Augustine and Christine let the others get up and go. They chatted while they waited for the queues to die down a little and then they would go and do whatever they needed to do in the interval. Augustine felt the pressure of the drinks he had in the bar on his lower abdomen and knew that a visit to the toilet was in order.

  “That was beautiful of your friend, of Betty, to dedicate that song to you,” Augustine started the conversation as people milled all around them. Christine was crying.

  “It doesn’t feel that way,” she replied. Until that point, Augustine had thought that the tears were those of happiness. But maybe he was wrong.

  “Why is that? It seemed really touching,” Augustine tried to make her think happy thoughts. He wanted the date to be a contrast to the unhappiness he saw at work all day long.

  “I’ve been to see his show many times before and he has never dedicated a note to me, let alone a song. It feels like he is trying to tell me something. It feels like he is saying…” Christine paused. She had a horrible thought in her head but didn’t want to let it develop. She certainly wasn’t going to let it out in the open where it could grow as an idea and become reality. “The queues for the exits are disappearing. Shall we head out now,” she said as though the sentences before hadn’t ever existed.

  “Let’s,” said Augustine. He wanted to say nothing but thought it rude. He settled for a single word instead. As the two of them walked towards the exit from the hall and back out onto the neon pink lobby they both were thinking about what was going on. Christine wondered if her friend was saying goodbye. It certainly seemed that was to her. If he was, then what was the reason? Was he ill, was he leaving or had they fallen out? She didn’t know what to think. She needed to see him after the show. He had invited her backstage, so she was not far from finding out. Augustine was thinking about whether the performer would spoil his date. He was having a wonderful time up until then but now faced an evening with someone who was clearly upset. Maybe another drink would help. Maybe that would be the worst thing he could do.

  34

  He knew time was about to deliver him another body for his portfolio. He was about to show the newspapers, the police, the public that he was organised, disciplined and able to deliver what he promised to himself. He knew the way into the room he needed to occupy. He joined the cleaning staff as they entered the building away from the lights and people of the main street. The crew changed so much as they were employed by a contract company so nobody thought anything of the new guy following them into the building. But he didn’t stay with them for long. As they walked to the cleaning store to get their mops, sprays and cloths for their work that would start soon, he disappeared into a dark corridor. He would only need to stay there for around a minute, by his calculations, until he could enter the room he needed to be in. Then he could sit and wait for his next victim. He could wait until they came to him. As a figure walked past, he heard a noise from the other end of the corridor and knew this was the time. The door had been left ajar and he walked in and chose his spot. In the shadows so he couldn’t be seen; close to the door so he could stop his victim from escaping. Now to sit back and wait. It wouldn’t be long.

  35

  By the time Augustine and Christine, the two -ine’s, had taken their seats the music was just starting up and it was clear that the second half of the show was imminent. In the break, they had both gone in their opposite directions to the toilets before meeting up again at the bar in the far corner of the lobby. Augustine was still undecided whether to have another drink when she returned. He bought a Jack Daniels and coke for her and a coke for himself. He made sure the barman put them both in the same type of glass so it wouldn’t look as though he was a lightweight. He then sat back with Christine and readied his mind for the second half of the show. Now he knew wat he was letting himself in for, it felt like he should be prepared.

  “So, what do you think of it all? How is your first visit to the theatre?” she asked him in a teasing way that made him feel like an outsider in someone else’s world.

  “It was really good. I loved it. Your friend is very talented,” Augustine replied as though he was a theatre critic for the school newspaper. He had nothing insightful to say, but felt as though he should.

  “He has been doing this for long enough. We met at uni and he was headin
g down this path then. I used to make costumes for him, but he never wore them outside of his own room. He has the talent then but not the confidence,” Christine recalled. Augustine wanted to know more but knew they didn’t have a lot of time.

  “So, you can say that you started his career?”

  “No, not really. He never wore the costumes I made in a show. I couldn’t persuade him to come out of his shell. That was down to someone else.”

  Augustine could sense a jealousy in her statement Someone else had managed to do what Christine has tried and failed. He didn’t think that was something that happened very often in her life. She was a set-your-mind-to-it type of girl. He admired that in a woman more than he could say. It was the girl that got away when he was in school, it was the promising detectives that outgrew him and moved on to pastures new when he had taught them all he could.

  “But he must respect you. He has given you tickets and dedicated a song to you. It is clear that you mean a lot to him,” Augustine tried again to steer the conversation in the direction of the positive. He hoped that she would put her worry behind her and be the woman that had taken his world by storm only a few hours earlier. She smiled. It was a vacant smile as though it had been conceived a long time ago in a distant place but it was a smile nonetheless. Augustine was satisfied.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, can you please take your seats for the second half of the show,” the announcement cane over the speakers and the moment was gone. The smile was lost, Augustine was confused and Christine got up and walked aimlessly towards the entrance to the hall. Augustine jumped to his feet and held her hand while they walked. She didn’t fight it but he didn’t feel the same level of warmth as before. He hoped that the music and dance would get her back in the mood to be close – and happy.

  It took a few minutes, but Christine draped herself over the arm of Augustine’s seat again and the closeness resumed. He smelt her hair and skin once more and was taken back to a few hours before when he first smelt them. He was lost in the occasion. The scents of the beautiful woman, the soft music and the strength of the voice of Betty were all hitting his senses at once. He hadn’t had a drink for some time but felt intoxicated with all the experiences he was having. The second half of the show was part glitz and part soul. He could see what Christine meant by this being a goodbye. It was like a performer at the top of their game leaving to do something new. Betty was amazing. As the show closed the audience got to their feet and applauded. Augustine didn’t know if this was what always happened but it felt as though something special was going on. He held Christine’s hand as they sat down. The two of them felt emotionally drained at the end of the show. They sat in silence for a few moments, each deep in their own thoughts.

  “He always needs a few minutes to get ready, wind down and dress in a manner that he feels comfortable in with guests. He told me to wait for around ten minutes and then we could come backstage and sit in his dressing room. I’m looking forward to it, but I’m afraid he is saying goodbye. Maybe it would be better if he has already said it on the stage tonight,” Christine wondered. From a selfish point of view Augustine wanted to go backstage and soak up the atmosphere. His first visit to the theatre had been exciting from start to finish and like a schoolboy at his first football match, he didn’t want it to end.

  “I think that if he invited you backstage, even if it was to say goodbye, then that is the way he wants to do it. If you walk away now then you don’t get a second chance at this.,” Augustine replied half in support and half with his own enjoyment in mind. He knew he was right, though. And so did Christine.

  “I never want a good thing to end. I don’t want to ever say goodbye,” Christine said wondering what it might be that would take him out of her life. She was living in the same city as him but hadn’t seen enough of him recently. A pang of guilt entered her head. She looked at her watch to see how long she had given him. It wasn’t nearly long enough.

  “Wherever he is going in the world, you will be able to just hop on a plane and see him. There isn’t a goodbye any more on our planet. Travel and the internet have made it too small for that,” Augustine consoled her.

  “But what if where he is going isn’t on this planet,” Christine spat out the thought that had been bugging her all night. Augustine was thinking the same thing but hoped that his date hadn’t cottoned on to the fact. He was wrong. She got to her feet and walked towards the centre of the stage. She had been to see Betty backstage a few times before and had always just wandered through the curtain and walked around until she found here he was. The first time she knocked on half a dozen doors and found all manner of people getting ready to clean up, practising for their act or that had been working on the show. After a few trips, she sort of learned where Betty would be sat and how to find him. Augustine followed as though he was on duty. Walking to the areas of a building or scene that others didn’t normally enter were all part and parcel of being a cop. He developed a sense of scrutiny in these areas, especially places that had served him food and drink. Augustine wanted to know that they kept the highest standards. His stomach demanded no less from them. But as he realised that the catering facilities were in a different part of the building he switched off again and followed his date. He was transfixed by her and the narrow corridors meant that they had to walk in single file in case someone came the other way, so he focused his attention on her hair. He remembered the smell of it and was now taken by the condition. It had a sheen that he had never mustered in his own hair, now receding. He debated whether it was in her genes or from a bottle. Maybe he would get to ask her what gave it that shine if they went on another date together. It didn’t feel like a first date question.

  They dodged a few people who were busy sweeping, carrying what looked like laundry and generally looking busy. Augustine could tell by the way she rushed that Christine was nearing the dressing room that they were heading to. As they made it to the last corner, someone came bunding around it in the opposite direction. He wore a hoodie pulled low over his face and looked down to the ground. It was dark in the corridors anyway and he almost bumped into Christine. He was a muscular man and did knock into Augustine as two of them passed in the narrow corridor. Augustine felt a large bump on his side, but thought nothing of it. Obviously, the man had somewhere to go. Augustine took a quick glance over his shoulder and saw the man with a hoodie on and some gloves, so he was probably one of the cleaning team racing through their tasks so they could get out of there as quickly as possible. Augustine thought maybe he was a cleaner that needed to get a lot done before the end of his shift or maybe he was a stage hand that needed to carry heavy equipment before he headed home. It was already late and Augustine thought that if he was at work at that time that he would be rushing to get it done and get out of there.

  He looked forward to where Christine was stood before he bumped into someone and she wasn’t there. He panicked for a few seconds before putting his head around the corner. She was there looking at her watch, deciding if she had given Betty enough time to receive visitors. It wasn’t her that was the problem. She had known him for long enough to see him in any condition. But the date she had brought with her was having his first experience of the theatre. She felt that it was her duty to make sure he wanted to come back. Seeing Betty in a state of undress might put him off for life. There was so much padding and flattening involved in making Betty transform from his male form into the shapely female on the stage that it looked as though he was cutting off bits of his body and attaching bits from someone else. Christine decided that she could wait no longer and headed for the door. If Betty wasn’t in the state to receive visitors then Augustine could wait outside the door for a few moments. He’d just have to be patient.

  As Christine approached the door, she noticed that it wasn’t closed. Betty would be getting undressed and wouldn’t want someone to see what was going on, even through the crack in a slightly ajar door, so she wondered whether he was actually inside at all. Maybe
he had gone to see someone else for a drink before he came back to his room. He was a sociable animal and always liked to have a wind-down drink after a show. Christine pushed at the open door but it only moved two inches. She looked back at Augustine who was watching over her shoulder. She pushed again but there was only the smallest movement as the first time.

  “Betty, are you there?” she asked. There was no response so she asked again in a louder voice. Still no reply. She looked back at Augustine who by now was thinking that he might just have to give the door a hard shove. She stepped to one side and he pushed. The door moved a little further than it had for Christine but still hadn’t opened. There was just about enough space for Augustine to get his head through and peer around the corner. He wanted to know what was blocking the door. As he looked down he saw the body of Betty in a small pool of blood with the letter ‘A’ printed on a square piece of white paper laid on her chest.

  “Christine call an ambulance. Get some help. I’ll see what I can do,” Augustine spoke as though the life of Betty depended on it. But in reality, he already knew that it was too late to save him. He checked the neck and wrist but there was no pulse.