Rottenhouse

by Ian Dyer

  Simon said, ‘You cut her up and bled her dry by the looks of things. That’s not dealing with an issue.’

  ‘What you see is only the outer shell of Rottenhouse. Both girls were put to better uses.’

  ‘Better uses?’

  ‘Well yes, Simon. The doctor has to practice on something.’

  5

  Simon jumped up from the chair and flung it against the far wall. ‘You know what, fuck this. You lot are insane. You can gift wrap it and tie it in a bow but to me all I see are a bunch of killers. Now I’m taking Lucy and I am getting the fuck out of here. If you come near me, or her, I’m going to tear your fucking head off. You got that?’

  Chairman half raised his hands in the air surrendering. ‘You aren’t going anywhere.’ And he lowered his hands and took a step forward. Simon hadn’t anticipated this and was unsure what to do. He took a step back but was near the back wall and if not careful would be cornered. Back at O’Hagan’s place it had felt easier. Simon had been full of adrenaline and it had all been on the spur of the moment. Here there was no moment. There was no adrenaline, and to top it off he had no axe or a gun and he really wished he had kept that gun.

  ‘Best you calm down, Simon, before you make a mistake and I have to take matters into my own hands.’ Chairman took another step forward and puffed out his chest and lifted himself up as if to show his dominance much like old man Lud had done back on the bridge before Simon hacked his head off.

  And then Lewis, perhaps seeing that Simon needed a little help or maybe it was just that he was in pain and was scared, moaned and whimpered and tried to break free causing the gurney to pitch and heave and squeak across the floor. The noise of it filled Simon’s ears and it stung. But Simon was grateful, and as Chairman turned to see what was going on Simon took the opportunity to lunge forward; aiming for the neck and head with his trusty right hand.

  This time though the swung right fist of red knuckles found nothing but air as Chairman gracefully ducked the punch, his cloak flapping about like a murder of crows. Simon teetered on the verge of falling but rescued himself, but there wasn’t time to unleash another flapping punch as with seemingly very little effort Chairman grabbed Simon by the arms so that Simon was stood there to attention, arms by his side, and heaved him up leaving his shoes dangling a foot off the ground. Simon looked down to Chairman and Chairman looked up to him with a deep dirty grin of mastery upon his face and Simon tried to struggle free but his feet dangled and the grip became tighter. It was so tight that even his legs were unable to kick out for that was the only real opportunity Simon saw. He cried out in pain and desperation and that cry turned into a roar which burned his already sore throat.

  ‘Let him go, please, Mr Chairman.’ A woman’s voice. It was a voice Simon felt like he hadn’t heard in years.

  The grip loosened and Simon fell to the floor, the tops of his arms throbbing with pain and his throat thick with phlegm. His mind swam and his legs felt like jelly. A familiar hand reached down and ran her fingers through his hair. In the background there was a screeching of rubber but Simon could only look at the floor and let the woman continue stroking his hair as he sat there cross legged. It was for only a minute that Lucy did this but in that minute Simon was transported back home, to when he was young and ill with fever and to how his mother used to run her hands through his hair with her soft white hands and it made him feel better even though the fever remained and his legs were stiff and crooked. Those magic hands. Healing hands.

  But then Simon heard Bob and Chairman speak and Lucy’s soft hands stopped caressing him and he was reminded of his father and how his rough hands had many times touched him. Forceful hands. Nasty hands. Dirty hands. Simon came too and looked up at the woman he loved. She seemed unharmed, clean, and Simon thought that an odd thing. Bob and Chairman continued talking but Simon didn’t pay them any attention. He pulled Lucy down to him and whispered into her ear, ‘Are you alright?’

  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 sh
e 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.

  ‘You would die of starvation in a pie shop, Mr Rowling. Tonight is voting night. Dad put yaforward, remember?’

  And Simon did remember, and his guts churned a little at the thought of it. ‘Oh yeah, I forgot about that.’

  ‘Forgot about it.’ Barbara said mimicking him, and as she pulled away from him she made sure to keep her hands on his sweaty chest. ‘Christ alive, Simon, it’s not every day you are put forward to be Chairman. Now come inside and have yer lunch before it gets any colder.’

  Simon took Barbara’s hand and they walked together up to their new home built on the foundation of the house that Simon had razed to the ground wSimonh fire. He walked past the pigs and their pigsties and whispered to them to shush as when one started they all went crazy and it drove him mad. He loved those pigs though, especially when it came to market day.

  And when he past the pigs and the pigsties he looked up at the house that he had built with the help of the men from Rottenhouse and smiled and took in a deep breath that filled his nose with the smell of fresh wood, tar, and lavender, and Simon said ‘Home sweet home’ and the pigs behind him snorted as if in agreement and continued on eating the bones of a man that had broken the rules he Simon would soon be charged in keeping.