The Cabin

by Matt Shaw

  “Thank you,” I said. I put the toilet roll on the counter and, just as he said he would, he rung it through before placing it in a brown paper bag.

  “Got the bread!” shouted Ava from somewhere in the store.

  “Milk! We’re going to need milk!”

  “The milk’s down the last aisle,” offered the old man.

  “Ssh!” I said. “Trying to tire her out before we get to the cabin. It’ll be dark by the time we’re there so it would be useful if she just wanted to go to sleep!”

  The old man laughed, “Not a lot to do in the woods at night for a young ‘un.”

  “Exactly.”

  “So what brings you down these neck of the woods? Just a vacation?”

  “I was hoping for some peace and quiet,” I said. “Trying to make some progress on a book I’m working on.”

  “Reading or writing?”

  “Writing,” I laughed.

  “You’re a writer?” he asked. “We used to have another writer come stay this way...Not seen him for a while...Wonder what happened to him...”

  I smiled, “He died.” The old man looked at me. “He was my dad.”

  “Well I’m sorry to hear that,” said the old man. “He used to spend hours in here talking about his work.”

  I laughed, “And I used to stand outside kicking stones around whilst he did.”

  “That was you?” the old man seemed surprised that I had grown up over the years.

  “Taller and uglier!” I said.

  “Decided to follow in your pa’s footsteps, huh?”

  “I got the milk!” shouted Ava.

  “I’m sorry,” I said to the old man. I called out to Ava, “Bring it all here then.”

  I was sorry too. I’d have loved to carry on chatting with him. Who knows I probably would have had it not been for the group outside. Not too comfortable at the thought of leaving Jamie out there any longer than necessary and I’m pretty sure my dad would have felt the same had it been me out there with them. Ava appeared from the far side of the store and handed over the milk and bread.

  “Anything else you can think we need?” I asked her.

  “Chocolate?”

  “Quickly then.”

  She smiled a broad smile and ran towards the rack of different chocolates.

  “You written anything I would have read?” the old man asked as he seized the opportunity to engage in conversation again.

  “My most popular book is ‘The Spider’s Web’.”

  “No. Not read it. Don’t much like spiders.”

  “Well it’s not actually about spiders...”

  “Bit of a strange title then really, if you ask me...”

  There was no sense arguing with the man. I don’t think he meant to be rude.

  “Daddy...” Ava came bounding over with a bar of chocolate in her hand.

  “Okay,” I said, “pass it to the nice man...”

  Ava held it out for the man but he didn’t take it, “That’s okay,” he said, “you can have that on me.”

  Ava looked at me, unsure of what to do.

  “What do you say?” I said. She carried on staring at me. All those years of teaching her not to talk to strangers or accept anything from them - she’s probably confused.

  “Thank you?”

  “Not to me...”

  She turned to the old man, “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure,” he turned back to me, “will that be everything?”

  “For now. Sure there’ll be some other bits and pieces.”

  He pressed a few buttons on the cash register, “That’ll be three dollars twenty-five...”

  I fished around in my pocket and handed him the money I pulled out. He, in turn, handed me the change.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “You be sure to come again.”

  I thanked him again and left the shop with the bag of shopping tucked under my right arm, my left hand on top of Ava’s head who was already tucking into her chocolate bar.

  Outside and Jamie was still chatting to the youths. Her mobile phone was in her hand. Don’t get mad. She’ll never see the kids again even if she does have their number. Another good reason not to let her drive yet. I walked over to the car and threw the groceries in the back, after Ava jumped in, before opening the front door.

  “Jamie, say goodbye to your friends, we’re on our way.”

  She slipped her phone back into her jacket’s pocket and walked over to the truck. “I’ll call you later,” she called out to them. I can rest easy. The woods are so thick, I doubt she’ll have phone signal.

  “You see who your daughter has been hanging out with?” I asked Susan who had just woken up due to the noise Ava and I had made climbing back into the truck.

  “My daughter?”

  “Yep, I’ve told you before...When they’re bad...Your daughter...When they’re good...Our daughter...”

  “Who were they?” asked Susan.

  Jamie jumped into the truck and slammed the door shut, after giving her new friends a final wave goodbye. “His name’s Josh. He plays for the school football team.”

  “Of course he does,” I said as I turned the truck’s engine on.

  “Are we nearly there yet?” asked Ava with chocolate smeared around her mouth.

  “Did you get me some chocolate?” asked Jamie.

  I ignored them both as I pulled out from the side of the road with a little spin of the wheels...Not a lot...Just enough to give Josh and his friends a coating of dust and dirt.

  3.

  “We’re not staying here!” said Jamie.

  I killed the truck’s engine and just sat there, staring at the front of the cabin.

  “Honey I’m sorry,” Susan said quietly in my ear.

  “What? No. No. It’s fine. It’s cool,” I said. It wasn’t cool and it was far from fine.

  I opened the door and climbed from the truck to get a better look at the cabin; the place which held so many happy memories between my father and I. A better look at the graffiti which decorated the front of it. I called back to the truck where the girls were waiting, “It’s probably just some bored kids, right? Probably Jamie’s new friends. You know what it’s like around here, there’s nothing to do so they make their own entertainment...” Their own destructive entertainment. “It’s probably purely cosmetic,” I said. “Inside will be fine.”

  I walked towards the front door with the keys in my hand, not that I needed them as I noticed the door had been kicked open. I should have known I couldn’t just leave the cabin vacant for a number of years and expect to come back to find everything as I left it. No sense stressing about it, just go in and assess the damage. See if it’s fit for us to stay here. So much for a peaceful weekend writing.

  I heard Susan open the truck door behind me, “How is it?”

  I pointed to the various colors of spray-paint plastering the outside wall, “Colorful? It’s probably fine inside. Wait there,” I said. I pushed the door open further and stepped inside.

  First impressions it isn’t that bad. They’ve been good enough to leave the windows intact. Just looks as though someone has been using it as a little hideout. Somewhere to take shelter...I spotted some beer cans on the living room floor...Somewhere to drink....Potato chip packets scattered around the place with various empty sweet wrappers...Somewhere to snack between meals...I walked into the first of the two bedrooms. A dirty sheet was on the bed with condom packets scattered around the floor. Somewhere to fuck. Nice. A quick look in the second bedroom where the kids would be sleeping showed nothing that different in there; more of the same empty wrappers and evidence of kids having a good time. Nothing which can’t be scrubbed down and cleaned up. I should, at least, be grateful for that much.

  “Well?” Susan was stood behind me. The sound of her voice made me jump, I didn’t even hear her come in.

  “I told you to wait in the truck.”

  “How bad is it?”

  “Nothing which can�
�t be fixed. I should have expected something like this; a cabin in the woods...Asking for vandalism really. We should be thankful the place isn’t torched to the floor,” I said.

  “Not from the want of trying by the looks of it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She led me back through to the living room, which led onto the porch, and pointed to the middle of the carpet where there was a large black scorch mark. “Looks like they tried to start a fire.”

  “No, I don’t think so. It would have been easy enough to set this place alight if they really wanted to. Probably just trying to keep warm.”

  Susan looked around the room, “I don’t suppose you have some cleaning products here?”

  I shrugged and walked through to the small kitchen. On first appearance everything looked as though it was still in it’s rightful place. The oven even looked as though it had been used. The cupboards were open, though. Open and bare.

  “That’ll be a no then,” said Susan as she followed behind.

  “I’ll pop back to the store and grab some bits,” I said. “You want to come with me?”

  She shook her head, “If you want to stay here tonight it’ll probably be a good idea to start clearing this place out.”

  “Thank you,” I said. I leant forward and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “We’ll start our holiday tomorrow, yeah?”

  “Looks like it! What if they come back?” she asked.

  “I doubt they will. Look at the place. Doesn’t look as though anyone has stopped by here for a while. Probably just used it as a shelter last winter.”

  “You think?”

  I nodded.

  “I’ll take Ava with me. Don’t need her picking anything up which she shouldn’t. Jamie can give you a hand,” I said, “I’ll go and get her.”

  “Sure she’ll love that.”

  “It won’t kill her,” I replied. I gave Susan another kiss on the forehead and walked out of the kitchen, through the living room and out of the cabin towards the truck.

  “Tell me we’re not staying here,” said Jamie when I opened the truck door.

  “Come on. Out! Go and help your mother, please.”

  “You have got to be joking. I’m not cleaning that shit up!”

  “Come on!” I repeated. “I’m taking Ava back to the store with me to get more supplies. Looks like we’re going to need them.”

  “Why can’t I come with you?”

  “You really want me to leave your mother here by herself?” I asked.

  Jamie didn’t say anything, at first. She knew I had a point but the silence couldn’t last forever. “So unfair!” she moaned. She undid her seatbelt and jumped from the truck. “And what if whoever did this comes back when you’re not here?”

  “Can’t you just text him and ask him to stay away?” I joked as I slammed her door and climbed into the driver’s seat. “I mean you are best friends for life now, right?”

  “Josh didn’t do this...”

  “Because you know him so well.” I closed the door and fired the engine up once more. In the process I drowned out more of Jamie’s moaning. I’ll call that a success. Ava, bless her soul, didn’t say a word.

  * * * * *

  I pulled up by the side of the road, opposite the store, once more. Thankfully it was open. Sadly the youths were still hanging around to the side of the building; the same place I had hit them with a dust cloud earlier.

  “It’ll probably be easier if you wait in here this time, Ava.”

  “Can’t I come in and see the man again?”

  I shook my head. I knew exactly what she meant by that. She was hoping he’d give her another bar of chocolate. “Not this time, daddy’s in a rush.” I pulled the key from the ignition and jumped from the truck. “If you wait here, like a good girl, and promise not to tell your mum...Might even get you another bar of chocolate.” A huge smile spread across her face. “Do we have a deal?”

  “Yes!” she nodded with the grin securely fixed into place.

  “That’s my girl! Now wait here and I’ll be right back!” I closed the door and pressed a button, on the key-fob, to lock the door behind me.

  “Hey, man! That was uncool what you did earlier!” said, I presume, Josh as I approached the store’s entrance.

  “I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about...”

  “You know,” he said. He positioned himself between the entrance and me. I looked at him. If he was Jamie’s age, he was big. Even if she hadn’t told me he was on the football team, I would have guessed. Looking at him now, up close, I doubt he’s her age, though. If anything, he has to be a couple of years older. Older than the rest of the group for sure. “I think you need to say sorry, man.”

  “Yeah...Not going to happen. But speaking of apologies, do you guys owe me one?”

  “Fuck you talking about?”

  “You lot been hiding out in the woods at all?”

  The youths looked at each other. Josh was the first one to speak again, “What the fuck are you talking about? I just want a fucking apology for the shit you covered us in.”

  “And I want a fucking apology for the state you left my cabin in.”

  “Ey! Yo! Just hit dis motherfucker, Josh!” said one of the other lads. The rest of the youths closed in around me. Part of me started to wish I had left Ava back at the cabin with Susan and Jamie. Josh, spurred on by the cheering of his friends, squared up to me.

  “Step off. I won’t tell you again,” I warned him. I didn’t want to hit an embryo but, if it came down to it...

  “What’s going on out here?” asked the old man. Over Josh’s shoulder, I saw that the old man was standing in the doorway of his store; an angry expression on his face.

  “Go back inside, old-timer,” said Josh.

  “I said what’s going on out here?” the old man repeated. This time he pumped a semi-automatic shotgun that must have been in his hands. I couldn’t see the gun, from the middle of the youths, I just recognized the sound of the pump-action being primed. A sound, for some reason, the youths were also familiar with. The group separated and turned to see the old man. He was aiming the gun directly at Josh.

  “Nothing’s going on. We were just having a conversation.” Josh turned to me, “Ain’t that right?”

  “Cabin’s been vandalized,” I said ignoring Josh, “just come by to get some cleaning products.”

  “Well,” said the old man, “come on in then.” He stepped to one side to allow me entrance to his store but kept the gun aimed at Josh. “You lot got a home to go to?”

  “Sure, we were just leaving.”

  “I thought so.” The old man stood and watched as the youths slowly dispersed. They went so slowly it was almost as though none of them were worried about having the gun aimed at them. Had that been me as a teenager, I would have run and not looked back. When they were away from the store, the old man lowered the gun and came back into the store.

  “Thank you for that,” I said.

  “I saw what you did earlier...wheel-spinning off like that. Had no business covering them in dirt...Asking for trouble. Inviting it in.”

  “It was an accident.”

  “Bullshit. Look I don’t want any trouble. Business is quiet enough without having trouble from that lot to worry about. Just get what you came for and leave.”

  I nodded. There was no point in arguing about who was right and who was wrong. “Can you point me in the direction of the cleaning products?” The old man pointed towards the middle aisles. “Thank you.” I walked down the aisle, as directed, whilst the old man returned to behind his counter. As I picked up the floor cleaner, I heard him put the shotgun down on the wooden flooring. I tried changing the subject to try and get him back on speaking terms, “We got to the cabin and it looks as though kids have been using it as a den; littered with all kinds of rubbish.” No answer. “I left my wife there to make a head start on the clean-up operation but I’m not sure we’ll be able to stay there tonight. You know
of a good place with a couple of beds for the night?” No answer. “Or a locksmith? They kicked the door open to get in, busted up the lock real good.” Still no answer. Jesus. He had his say, how long’s he going to sulk for? Had it not been for the fact we spoke earlier, I’d have thought he was one of the inmates from the asylum. Or simple. “No matter,” I said, “the wife’s mum and dad live a couple of hours away, I suppose we could go and stay there for the night. Head back to the city tomorrow. So much for our family holiday, hey?” Again there was no answer. I’ve made enough effort, I feel. I continued to get the cleaning supplies trying my best to ignore the uncomfortable silence.