Next of Kin

by Welfare, Sue

  He was moving toward Ryan encouraging him back out of the house. Ryan grinned. ‘Aren’t you going to at least offer me a cup of tea? I’m soaked.’

  ‘Sorry, mate it’s not a good time, I’m up to my ears. Books, papers, notes all over.’

  Ryan nodded. ‘Okay, fair enough. Can you tell Sarah I dropped in?’

  Woody nodded. ‘Sure.’

  Ryan crouched down to put his boots on. ‘Don’t forget your jacket,’ said Woody.

  Ryan nodded. ‘I’ll get it later. It’ll dry better up here over the radiator than it will downstairs. Do you mind?’

  Woody shrugged.

  ‘I was thinking about the flat.’

  Woody’s eyes narrowed.

  ‘You know,’ said Ryan. ‘The one you were thinking of doing up?’

  He saw comprehension dawning on Woody’s face. ‘Oh yeah. I’ve put it on the back boiler a bit while I’m finishing my assignment off.’

  ‘So is it off?’

  ‘No, no, not at all. I’m still trying to sort a few things out. Why – are you interested now?’

  Ryan pointed to the window. ‘Yes, especially if the weather carries on like this. Nice indoor job would suit me down to the ground.’

  Woody nodded. ‘Fair enough. Let me see what I can do,’ he said.

  Sarah

  ‘So after the wedding. What was life like, Sarah?’

  ‘It’s so hard to describe; it felt like I was in limbo, waiting for whatever it was that was coming next to happen. I could feel it coming, like the change in pressure when a storm is on the way. Trying to get back to anything close to normal was impossible.’

  ‘You were still working?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And were you having a sexual relationship with Woody?’

  ‘No, no it was never like that between us. I think that he despised me. Us.’

  ‘You and Ryan?’

  ‘Yes. I caught him looking at me sometimes like I was something dirty. And like I told you, he was out a lot of the time. But even when he wasn’t there I could feel him in the house, like he was never really gone. And he would just turn up without warning, as if he was trying to catch me out, so it felt like I was living on edge all the time.’

  ‘So the marriage was never consummated?’

  ‘I hated him.’

  ‘Woody?’

  ‘I got to the stage where I couldn’t bear it when he was there. I spent a lot of time in my room. Ryan told me that I was being melodramatic, but it felt like he had set us up. Used us to get what he wanted. And the house felt different.’

  ‘In what way?’

  ‘Tense, I couldn’t relax. Like I said, it felt like we were waiting for something else to happen.’

  ‘You and Ryan?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And what about Ryan? How did he seem?’

  ‘Uneasy, unsettled, unhappy. He was working but he was drinking more. I felt like I was on the outside all on my own.’

  ‘And what about friends? The people at the nursery? The restaurant?’

  ‘Anessa tried to talk to me about Woody.’

  ‘Talk about what?’

  ‘At the wedding she had tried to talk to him about where his family came from in Quetta. Where they lived. She went over there a couple of years ago with her family for a wedding, but she said that Woody wouldn’t talk to her about his home. When I went back to work after the wedding, she wanted to know what I knew about him.’

  ‘And what did you tell her?’

  ‘Nothing very much. What could I say to her? I only know what he told me, so I told her that. I think she thought he was just being rude.’

  ‘And what did you think?’

  ‘Honestly, I don’t know.’

  ‘And did you discuss the conversation between you and Anessa with Woody?’

  ‘No, I was afraid he would make me give up my job at the nursery, and to be honest work was the only time I was away from the house. I had to watch what I said, but it was better than being stuck at home, and I was afraid of saying too much. And I was worried in case Josh came into work. I kept an eye out for his truck. I didn’t feel safe.’

  ‘With Josh?’

  No, at home. I just got the feeling that there was something going on.’

  ‘Can you explain?’

  ‘Before the wedding Woody was very controlling, but he was even more so after we were married. He told me he didn’t want me answering the phone, that I should let it go to voice mail, and that he would pick up the messages when he got home. And that I wasn’t to answer the door – and he kept his room locked all the time. Before this thing with the money and Farouk, I’d gone up there and run the hoover round once a week, dusted. I know it sounds crazy. I mean it’s not like I’m that paranoid or fragile but he made me feel as if anything could happen, anything at all and nothing good.’

  ‘And you agreed to the new rules?’

  ‘It wasn’t about agreeing; he made it clear that it wasn’t in my best interests to break them.’

  ‘What does that mean, Sarah?’

  ‘He made me feel uneasy, vulnerable.’

  ‘Woody threatened you?’

  ‘Not directly, but he told me that if I didn’t do what I was told, things could get difficult for all of us.’

  ‘Difficult? What did you take that to mean?’

  ‘I don’t know really. I kept thinking that maybe Farouk might come back but I don’t really know. I just kept wondering how long we could keep it up, living like that.’

  ‘And did Woody give you any idea how long you’d have to keep up the pretence of being married?’

  ‘He said that there were legal formalities that he needed to get sorted out, things that needed to be signed and witnessed, and then it would just be a matter of time before it was all over. And then he would move on.’

  ‘He said that? Move on? We need you to say yes for the benefit of the tape rather than nod, please. Sarah.’

  ‘Yes, he said he would sort things out with me, and then he would move on.’

  ‘And he was out a lot?’

  ‘More and more. Sometimes he was out all night. Although he would pop back at odd times. As I said before it felt like he was trying to catch me out. I thought he was at college or staying over with friends. He was studying for his finals.’

  ‘For his MBA?’

  ‘Yes. That’s what he had told me at the beginning when he came to rent the room. Anyway, I got back from work early one afternoon and I was in the kitchen, sorting out the recycling, and the rubbish. There was a bag in there, in the bin we keep for things we needed to burn; when I looked inside I realised the stuff wasn’t mine, and that they were all addressed to Woody. To Mustapha. I think he had probably planned to burn them. He was always outside in the garden burning things. And I found some letters.’

  ‘Letters.’

  ‘I kept them in the biscuit tin. The one on the table over there.’

  ‘But they’re photo copies.’

  ‘I know, I was worried what he would do if he knew I’d seen them, so I copied them.’

  ‘Onto your computer?’

  ‘No, I’ve got a printer that you can use as a copier.’

  ‘Okay, and had you got any idea what was in them?’

  ‘No, not at the time, some were official, but lots of them were hand written – what looked like personal letters. I couldn’t understand them but they looked personal. And…’

  ‘And?’

  ‘I suppose I was like Anessa. I wanted to know more about him. I wanted to try and understand what was going on. I thought if I knew more then I could find a way to get rid of him. So I steamed open the letters and copied them and then put them back in the rubbish so that he wouldn’t know that I’d seen them.’

  ‘Risky. What if he had come in?’

  ‘I don’t know. I did them one at a time. Took them out one at a time.’

  ‘And what did you find out?’

  ‘It took me a while but the
re were all kinds of other things, things I could read. First of all he hadn’t been attending lectures. There was a note from someone asking if he was okay, asking when he was coming back, and reminding him to hand an essay in. And letters asking him to pay things, things he was in arrears with. And then there were the personal letters.’

  ‘Do you read Urdu or Pashto?’

  ‘No, I did think about asking Anessa if she could read then, but she had been odd with me since the wedding; a bit distant, so I asked one of the regulars at the restaurant if he would translate them for me. I mean, I paid him and I took off the address and things.’

  ‘And he agreed?’

  ‘Yes. I told him they were for a friend. I don’t think he was convinced.’

  ‘But he did translate them?’

  ‘Yes, as a favour.’

  ‘So what did they say, Sarah?’

  ‘One was from Woody’s father; he sounded really upset. He wanted to know why Woody hadn’t called home or answered any of his letters or phone calls. It said that his mother was very upset that she hadn’t heard from him, and when his father had rung the college to find out where he was, they’d told him that Woody hadn’t attended any of the courses that semester.’

  ‘Did what you found give any idea of how long this had been going on?’

  ‘Since he moved in, roughly – I think – from what it said in the letters.’

  ‘And this was all news to you?’

  ‘Yes, completely. I mean, he left the house every day, and up until that point I had assumed he was going to college. The letter said that his father was very disappointed, and that if Woody didn’t get in touch that they planned to stop his allowance.’

  ‘Which would mean his income stream would be cut off?’

  ‘Yes, I suppose so. Although he always had money.’

  ‘And had you any idea why he stopped contacting his family?’‘None, or going to college for that matter.When he first took the room he said he was likely to get a distinction; the highest grade. I mean, why give that up? I didn’t understand. And also it was obvious from the letters that Woody hadn’t mentioned wanting to stay in the UK or told them what he was doing.’

  ‘By doing, do you mean marrying you?’

  ‘Yes. I also wondered if maybe he had told them and they were upset about him wanting to make his life over here, although his father didn’t mention it in any of the letters. I had wondered why he wasn’t in touch with them. He never rang them, never talked about them.’

  ‘And did you ask him about it? About them?’

  ‘Yes, after I found the letters. I asked him if he had told his parents about his plans. He was dismissive, as if he didn’t want to talk about it. So I suggested that he should email them and put their minds at rest. I didn’t say I’d read the letters, just that I thought that if he was my son I’d like to know how he was and what he was doing. It was horrible; he was livid. He said his parents were his business. He said I might try those games on Ryan – he meant trying to control him – but it wouldn’t work on him. And anyway—’

  ‘And anyway what? Are you all right? Do you want to stop? We could have a break now if you’d like to, Sarah.’

  ‘No, I’m fine. It was just horrible. He was angry and really nasty. He said they would never have let him marry someone like me, and then he said that he was engaged and they had arranged a marriage for him at home, that there would be a huge scandal. They would be disgraced if they knew he was already married. If anyone contacted me, anyone at all, asking for him then I wasn’t to take the call or tell them anything.’

  ‘Okay, I just want to look at my notes, Sarah. So, during this time had you seen Josh or heard from him?’

  ‘No, I hadn’t. One of the things Woody had done just before the wedding was to change phone companies and we’d lost our old number. And I’d already got a new mobile phone from Ryan when I lost my old one.’

  ‘You let Woody change your phone number?’

  ‘When I got in from work one day he just said that he had changed the phone company. I was annoyed about it, but it didn’t occur to me that he wouldn’t have asked to keep our number. By the time I realised we had lost our number it was a done deal.’

  ‘Did he say why he changed phone companies?’

  ‘At the time he said it would save money. Afterwards when I thought about it, I thought it was probably deliberate so that we had a different number. At first it made me think it was about Josh, but then I wondered about Farouk or maybe Woody’s parents. I thought maybe when he first moved he might have given them the house number. But certainly it felt like there was more to it than he was letting on.’

  ‘Okay. So then what happened?’

  ‘I put the letters back in the rubbish where I’d found them, so that he didn’t know that I’d seen them.’

  ‘I mean did you talk to him about what was going on? Did his behaviour change? Did he seem at all worried about the things his father had said? The threat of losing his allowance? I presume he hadn’t got any other source of income?’

  ‘I don’t know where Woody was getting his money from, but he didn’t seem at all worried. I wondered if maybe he had rung his dad or talked to him about it since getting the letters. He didn’t discuss his private life with me, and as I said when I asked him about his family he was really angry, so I’d got no way of knowing. He could have sorted it out and he just wanted to get rid of the letters.’

  ‘Okay.’

  Ryan

  ‘We need to talk.’ Ryan had caught up to Woody in the road.

  Woody was locking up his Beamer and heading into the house. ‘Yeah, what about?’ he said, slipping on his leather jacket and dropping his keys into his pocket, as Ryan hurried after him.

  ‘I’ve been following you,’ he said. ‘The last few days.’

  Woody looked at him and laughed. ‘What the fuck is that supposed to mean?’

  ‘You went to your old flat.’

  ‘And? Some sort of law against it, is there?’

  ‘What were you doing there?’

  Woody shook his head. ‘I was picking up some post and catching up with my old landlord, if you must know.’

  Ryan pulled a face. Woody grinned and slapped him on the back. ‘What the fuck is the matter with you, creeping round after me? Haven’t you got anything better to do? Like work for a living? What brought this on?’

  ‘Something’s not right, man.’

  ‘Don’t talk ballocks, Ryan. The only thing that’s not right is you. Get a grip. Actually, as it happens, it might’ve been a good thing me popping round there, me and the landlord got talking and there might be some work he could put our way.’

  ‘What do you mean our way?’

  ‘He owns a lot of houses and flats that he lets out, and he was telling me today that he is looking for someone to help him maintain them. You know, lick of paint here, maybe a bit of basic plumbing, sorting stuff out for tenants and clearing up between lets, that sort of thing. He’s not getting any younger. Maybe you’re the man for the job? If we set up this building business maybe maintenance is something we should think about taking on.’

  Ryan didn’t bite.

  Woody stared at him and then shook his head. ‘What? What’s niggling you?’

  ‘You go there a lot,’ Ryan said flatly.

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Ryan.

  ‘What’s it got to do with you where I go? I play chess with the old man, okay? He likes it. Me and him we always got on well.’

  ‘And what about Farouk?’

  ‘What about him?’

  ‘I thought you were frightened of him.’

  Woody shrugged. ‘Things change.’

  Ryan nodded. ‘You’re right, they do. You see the thing is, Woody, I’m beginning to think that there’s something else going on here.’

  Woody raised his eyebrows. ‘You serious?’

  ‘You have to understand where I’m coming from. I’m trying to find a way to m
ake it right for Sarah. I’ve been thinking about this a lot. I want you to leave us alone. To go. Leave. Move out.’

  Woody laughed. ‘What are you on about?’ he said, sounding incredulous.

  Ryan wasn’t laughing. ‘I think you set me up.’

  Woody snorted. ‘What? How do you work that one out? I forced you to be a piss-head and borrow twenty grand? I don’t think so, mate. Now get out of my way, will you. I’ve got things to do.’

  But Ryan didn’t move. ‘I’m asking nicely,’ he said. ‘I just want you to leave me and Sarah alone. Go, you got what you wanted, and if anyone shows up from immigration we’ll lie through our eyeteeth for you, and I swear as soon as the house is sold you’ll get the money back. Every last penny. On my life.’

  ‘Oh you swear, do you?’ snorted Woody. ‘That’s rich coming from you.’

  Ryan sighed. ‘You’re up to something.’

  ‘I don’t know what you’re on about. You’re sure you’ve not had too much wacky baccy?’

  Ryan slipped his hand inside his jacket and pulled out a sheet of paper. ‘So what’s this all about then?’

  Woody pulled a face. ‘What is it?’ he said as he took it from Ryan.

  It was a photocopy of the page Ryan had taken from the notebook on the coffee table. He had played safe, got it copied at work, and hidden the original. There were two columns of Woody’s signature, one down each side of the page. It was his trump card.

  If he was shocked or wrong-footed Woody certainly didn’t show it. ‘So?’ he said, handing it back. ‘What does this prove? I like to sign my name. There’s no law against it.’

  Ryan held his ground. ‘I don’t know what it proves or what it means, but I think you’re up to something dodgy, and I’m going to go to the police with what I know.’

  ‘What you know? What you know?’ Woody laughed. ‘Are you fucking crazy? They’ll arrest us all, including your precious sister. Do you want that? Sarah in prison and all thanks to you. She despises you now, how’s she going to feel if you get her locked up? Dragged through the court? In the papers? How do you think that’s going to go down? And those guys who beat the living shit out of you last time? Well, they might not be so lenient next time, you hear what I’m saying? They said you’d got it coming.’