H When hell is the favourable option

by David Jaundrell

  H Chapter 67

  Marion

  Marion's plans to be back in England with Ernest were put back a little due to the death of Patricia. Ernest spent more time in Spain helping Marion get sorted out then flew Patricia to England to be buried in their local family church where her grandparents were buried.

  In due course they handed over their Spanish home to a company who would look after it in their absence and left for England. Although both had been apprehensive of the move it had worked well and their loving reunion helped them through the long nights when Patricia invaded their thoughts.

  Ernest put the Chateau in France up for sale and it was bought in days by an ex stripper who had gone into films and made it big. It was not exactly who Ernest would have chosen to inhabit the exquisite chateau but life with Marion was mellowing him and he decided he didn't give a shit. She had bought it and all its contents and paid a good price with no haggling so fuck it!

  All that was left to do was take the helicopter to France, complete the sale, hand over the keys and head back home. Marion did not want to go as the Chateau had been part of Ernest's life and not hers so she stayed in Surrey.

  After the signing a party had been arranged to celebrate the exchange and he stayed a short while out of politeness but as soon as he could excused himself and set off back.

  Sitting next to the pilot he could not help but think how his life had changed. So much despair, so much happiness, so much despair and now a life with Marion…… A roller coaster he could have done without. He never thought he would get over the death of the boys, then the death of Patricia, but with Marion at his side there was less a past to remember; more a future to look forward to.

  It had been a long time since he had felt like this. Forward looking. Perhaps the last time was when he met Marion and now here he was meeting her all over again.

  It was wonderful……quite wonderful.

  It brought him to a decision he had made. He had decided to give up his old life. The capers would stop and he would sell his businesses and retire. Maybe just keep one that gave him a bit of a pension and allowed him to get his cars cheap and a few things that could be bought and not pay the vat.

  Who knows?

  But either way he was out……

  He disembarked at a small local airport and drove the seven miles home in the Bentley. The electric doors obeyed his command to open and he parked inside the four bay garage next to the Mercedes Coupe’ and his wife's Mercedes Sports. Walking into the sun, the doors closed behind him and he went to the side door of the house.

  Letting himself in he shouted ‘Marion’.

  There was no reply but it was hardly surprising as it was an extremely large house and you could happily lose a football team in there. Ernest wandered around downstairs and peered out into the garden but no Marion. Climbing the stairs he walked towards their bedroom and heard the shower running in their en suite. He called but realised she could not hear so went in to surprise her. Through the steam he saw one arm protruding from under the shower curtain and frantically ripped it to one side to see her lying naked. She was quite still with a hypodermic needle embedded in one arm.

  Kneeling down he pulled her to him but it was too late.

  She was dead……..

  Completely numb he sat down by her; looking at her.

  This couldn't be happening…..

  How could this be happening?

  The boys…

  His daughter…

  His beloved Marion….

  How could life be this cruel…..?

  He felt an incredible empty bleakness……. and then a dreadful pain ripped through his body and then……… nothing……….

  H Chapter 68

  The moon in June…..

  H had also been doing some thinking and at breakfast decided to ask Benny her opinion.

  ‘I have an idea and I need your opinion’

  ‘What do you want to know?’

  ‘Well I need to explain it properly so why don't we have a night in and a good meal and I can take you through it at leisure?’

  ‘Ok’

  After breakfast Benny went off with her friend Carmen to Harvey Nicks and H to Secure Security. He had a meeting with the manager and they arranged further training for their limo drivers. It just wasn't enough nowadays to be able to point, drive and park!

  When it came closer to lunch he got a cab to the Blue Door Bistro tucked away in the Montague Hotel close to the British Museum. H quite liked its genteel atmosphere, light and airy dining room and they did a mean steak. Walking in he saw Terry already sitting at a table drinking Evian.

  ‘Terry’

  ‘James, how are you?’

  ‘Good’

  ‘Fully recovered?’

  James looked at his watch ‘Half past six’

  They both giggled like schoolboys at the old joke.

  James sat. ‘I'm starving’

  ‘What are we having?’ asked Terry

  ‘Well I usually have steak but we're eating in tonight so ……fish for me I think’

  ‘Suits me. Too much and all I want to do is sleep all afternoon’

  Terry called over a waiter and they ordered.

  ‘So…’ said H ‘how's it going?’

  ‘Ok….’

  ‘Only ok?’

  ‘Its proving a touch difficult James’

  ‘How so? My credit not good enough?’

  ‘Its yes and no to that but there are other….minor complications’

  ‘Minor?’

  ‘Sort of…’

  Terry. What the fuck are you trying to say?’

  ‘Twenty five mil is a lot James’

  ‘Only if you can't raise it’

  ‘To raise it you would have to guarantee the loan which you can't. Or bring in one or two partners; people we knew?’

  ‘You know I won't do that’

  ‘I know. But you're not big enough, credit worthy enough or have as much influence as one or two people are also smelling the ground. Lets face it the big boys will snap it up and you can't compete with them’

  H said nothing

  ‘James we have known each other a while and I would have no problem, you know that. My masters however see one or two clouds on the horizon if we go down this route and they do not like clouds….I'm sorry’

  ‘Talk me through everything, and then at least I can work out how to get over these perceived hurdles. But no chance from your lot?’

  ‘Sorry’

  ‘You're paying for lunch then’

  ‘You ok about this?’

  ‘Business is a bit like poker. There are good beats and bad beats. Poker is the mirror to life…..’

  ‘Lost ten grand last month’

  ‘Shit!’ Said H ‘And I'ma bad bet?’

  After lunch H went round to an indoor market and bought a superb piece of hung fillet steak to go with the minted potato salad that Benny would prepare with fresh vegetables she would buy on the way home.

  It was what they did. H cooked the meat; ‘a man's job’. Benny created the salad; ‘a woman's job’. In the middle of this procedure she once said ‘apropos our conversation re a man and a woman's role and in the light of increasing acceptance to homosexuality, whose job was it now to suck a dick?’ James thought a moment and gave his Solomonesqe judgement. ‘Its blows job’ and giggled stupidly.

  In the kitchen H cauterised the steak by placing it in a red hot frying pan and turning it until all it's sides were seared and the juices would no longer get out, then he put it under the grill, but not too close. He turned it after twelve minutes then after another twelve it was ready. It joined the mint vegetables on the slightly warm plate and they sat down.

  H raised his Riedel Cristal glass. ‘To us’

  ‘Forever’ she said affectionately.

  The word foreverhit H hard in his chest. That someone would love him and be with him foreverhe found incredibly moving. He knocked a fork off the table and as he retri
eved it he wiped his moist eyes with his sleeve.

  Composed again Benshima watched James as she knew they were in the ‘ritual tasting of the streak’. She watched him put a slice in his mouth …..wait for it…….

  James savoured the steak for a moment. It was wonderful. It had a succulent taste with just enough blood and its texture meant that it chewed easily. As a steak should.

  About now,thought Benshima. About now….

  ‘Not sure………what do you think?’

  She smiled. The steak was always wonderful but James just wanted her to say so.

  ‘Mmmmmm wonderful’

  ‘Not too dry?’

  ‘Not too dry’

  ‘Tasty?’

  ‘Tasty’

  ‘Good then?’

  ‘Good’

  ‘Just good?

  ‘Very, very good’

  ‘Ok’ he said pleased, and tucked in. When they were half way through the meal Benny said ’You wanted my opinion on something?’

  ‘Oh, yes’ said H ‘two things actually’

  ‘Won't be a min’ He went into the bedroom, opened a drawer and came back with an A4 size photograph holder with a piece of paper in it and something typed on it.

  ‘It's not very good. It's er ….actually….it's er actually….a poem’

  ‘A poem? Where did you get it?’

  ‘My head…..’

  He pushed it towards her. She read the words……

  The Beach

  As she's sitting on the plane

  Only her smile betrays the strain

  Of the flight that is before her

  So she nestles down to sleep

  Knowing it will keep

  The demons still within her

  As she steps out of the plane

  She starts to live again

  As the heat cocoons her

  Her senses seek the sea

  Where she knows she'll be

  Cleansed of all within her

  Benshima goes down to the beach

  Extends her arms to reach

  The stars that shine above her

  They greet a child they know

  They caress the child below

  The planets move around her

  The sea invites her in

  Like a long lost twin

  Dolphins swim to greet her

  Down and down they dive

  Her body comes alive

  Their grace bestowed upon her

  She swims farther out to sea

  Renewing her decree

  That life must live within her

  Her body feels a thrill

  She knows they always will

  Be waiting there to love her

  She stays for quite some time

  Till everything is fine

  And peace returns within her

  So now it's just once more

  She goes down to the shore

  Gives thanks to all before her

  Benshima goes down to the beach

  Extends her arms to reach

  The stars that shine above her

  They greet a child they know

  They caress the child below

  The planets move around her

  ‘I think it's beautiful’ said Benny

  ‘Are you sure it's ok? Not a bit naff?’

  ‘It's beautiful’

  ‘I started it in Barbados, in my head, and finished it at your family home’

  She got up, went over and kissed him. ‘Thank you’

  He nodded a bit sheepishly. Killing, maiming, looting and pillaging were all in a days work but giving Benny a poem was proving very uncomfortable. Please God let no-one else find out!

  ‘Oh and I also wanted your opinion on something else…’

  ‘You've written the music to go with it?

  ‘’Naah’

  ‘I was joking…….what else do you want my opinion on?’

  ‘I was wondering what you thought of marriage? You and me …..marriage?

  ‘Yes’

  ‘Eh?’

  ‘Yes’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Yes’

  ‘Just like that…’

  ‘Yes’

  ‘Yes?’

  It was what H wanted but somehow hadn't seen it this way. His face mirrored his perplexity.

  ‘James, I would have married you the first day I met you if you'd asked’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Yes’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Let's not do this again James’

  ‘But I did ask you. I asked you to be with me…and you said no’

  ‘Is that the same as ‘Please marry me’?’

  ‘No’

  ‘There you go then’

  She sat on his lap, he held her tight………..held her safe…….as he said he would.

  After the meal when they were half asleep together on the large sofa Benny suddenly shot up, went to the bedroom and came back with an envelope which she handed to H. ‘I completely forgot about this. It was left on your bedside table at the hospital and no-one knows who left it’

  H looked at the envelope and its inscription

  This envelope must only be opened by James James

  The contents are confidential

  and for his eyes only

  ‘This envelope must only be opened by James James?’ He looked at her quizzically. ‘What do you mean ‘no-one knows who left it’?’

  ‘Well they gave it me when I was well enough to have it but I didn't pay it much heed and I am afraid ‘the mists of time’ as they say.

  ‘It's a bit worrying that someone came in and nobody knows who?’

  ‘Not really. You're assuming that whoever left the envelope was unknown to us and therefore up to no good. How can you know that when you haven't even opened it? It could be off Toby or one of the men?’

  ‘True’ he said ‘true….’

  He opened the envelope and Benny watched his face as a range of emotions passed like clouds over it. His arms went to his sides; he just stood there motionless and speechless.

  ‘What is it?’ Asked a concerned Benny ‘what's wrong?’

  He handed her the letter. She read it quickly and said ‘What's it mean? Who is this person?’

  H read the letter through again

  Dear James

  I read of your ‘accident’ and wanted to help.

  I was given a special dispensation by the Abbot to visit you (I should point out that in the three hundred year history of our Monastery this is the first time a dispensation has been given to allow the Vow of Stability to be broken - that is we vow never to leave the Monastery).

  Also, I was allowed to take to the hospital our most Holy Bible; the original Bible that our founder used when he first started the Monastery.

  I came to your bedside and prayed for you and if you are now reading this letter Our Lord has answered my prayers and decided, in his wisdom, that you should live.

  I have thought about you, occasionally, for twenty years as you were the vehicle that allowed me to find The Lord and for that I will be eternally grateful.

  Go with God

  Brother George (you may remember me as ‘Clown’ from the building site)

  ‘Fuck me!’ exclaimed H ‘Fuckin Clown! Fucking hell! Fuck me!’

  ‘I think we get the drift James’ reproved Benny ‘but what's it all about?’

  He told her about Arthur and Clown and its conclusion at ‘The Enclosure’.

  ‘And he finds God for Christ's sake….I knock his teeth out, break his wrists, break his leg and leave him on the floor to rot and he finds God!’

  He thought for several moments then bounded out of the room. ‘I must ring Arthur………fuck me’

  H Chapter 69

  Mmmmm….?

  They set the date for three months hence and life went on in the meantime.

  H sat down one day and unbeknown to him went through the same process that Hathaway had undertaken. He took sto
ck.

  Hathaway was no longer around and the opportunity for capers had dried up considerably. He could have found other streams of intelligence but so far he hadn't pursued it.

  Maybe there was no need for capers?

  Maybe it was enough without capers?

  Maybe just the odd caper?

  Maybe just one or two every so often……..?

  The clubs were making good money and he could add two or three more.

  Secure Security was doing extremely well and he thought a subsidiary in the Middle East had vast potential.

  And then there was the other project….but Terry, the banker,hadn't come up with the money. That was still a line he had to pursue.

  It was only twenty five mil for Christ's sake

  H Chapter 70

  Leave the girls to it…?

  Two weeks before the wedding which Benshima had arranged in a tiny Roman Catholic Church in a small village to the west of London, Senor and Senorita Reyes arrived from Colombia to spend some time in the Capital before the festivities. Although invited to stay at H's apartment they had booked themselves into the Savoy Hotel on The Strand.

  ‘The Savoy Jose’?’ James had queried

  ‘Any Hotel who has employed both Cesar Ritz and Auguste Ascoffier is doing something right don't you think? Perhaps I should also add’ he said with a mischievous smile ‘we own a few shares in the Holding Company….which allows us a generous discount’.

  A week before the wedding they were having lunch and Benshima suggested they all go to the National Gallery which ‘housed one of the most important assemblages of European Art in the world’. Much as James was loathe to miss this incredible event he said ’Would love to but I've arranged to go and see a friend in a nursing home, but perhaps we could meet up later for dinner?’

  ‘Would you mind’ said Senor Reyes ‘if I joined you James? The women are wearing me out and an excursion would be good’.

  ‘Of course’ said H smiling as he knew just how the Senor felt.

  The Mercedes 600 SL headed out to the private Arbrook Nursing Home in Esher where H's friend was looked after. On the way Senor Reyes asked ‘Where do you go from here James? In relation to business….? Indeed do you want to go anywhere?’

  James sighed ‘It's been occupying my mind a lot lately and my first inclinations were to open another two or three clubs and take Secure Security over to the Middle East. But, you obviously don't know this, but Ernest…where we've going….the man that's ill……Ernest had a large Group of businesses that have come up for sale. He's got loads of stuff… car dealerships etc but what he's also got that interests me is a chain of betting shops, a casino and an internet poker operation.