The Tapestry

by Wigmore, Paul

  THE TAPESTRY

  CHAPTER ONE

  Have you ever wondered what life is like beyond what we perceive it to be? Well my friend, you may just be about to find out. Don’t bother with the light... It won’t help.

  This is a story of unconditional love, whether it be right or wrong.

  Gavin is the name of our main character. Don’t laugh at him. If we picked our own names I’m sure there are many Albert’s and Cedric’s that would have chosen differently.

  Before we begin I feel I must tell you a little about Gavin. You see, he’s a strange one. He is often called the Freak, purely because his colleagues are not so clever themselves. I mean come on... The Freak? Not very original is it. That will give you some idea of the type of people we are dealing with. He was often picked on in school because he used to talk to himself... a lot, (some say this is a sign of madness... others believe it to be a sign of intelligence. I will leave you to make up your own mind about that)

  You would think that the name calling and the childish pranks would stop as he got older wouldn’t you? Well, in a normal situation... they would, but Gavin was branded The Freak throughout his adult life too.

  What was wrong with him? I hear you ask. Was there anything strange about Gavin? Again dear reader I will leave that up to you.

  We begin our story on a journey back from France. Gavin works for a large haulage company named Quest Haulage. It’s a journey he has done many times before, delivering a myriad of skiwear to a company in Pra Loup.

  On this particular night Gavin was only two hours from home. He was looking forward to getting home and wrapping his arms around his beautiful girl Michelle. He’d not seen her for four days now and she meant the world to him. She was twenty two, Gavin was twenty eight. She was a bit of a bombshell and he always questioned how he had landed a girl like her. Michelle was very petite with short blonde hair, a very curvaceous body, slender hips and a 36c bra size. Not too big, not too small. Gavin was definitely a breast man although he also loved her long slender legs. The rest I will leave to your imagination. As you can see, he wasn’t too fussed about personality.

  Gavin is your average Joe. Tall with dark hair, always cut short. Slim but not too muscular, He is always clean shaven; you definitely wouldn’t notice him in a crowd. In fact he shied away from crowds or any situations that may require interaction with other people.

  So how had he landed the blonde bombshell at home if he was so shy? A very good question, which will be answered in due course. For now let’s get back to the story.

  Gavin had been driving now for more hours than he cared to remember which is why he pulled in at the service station, he needed a rest. Once inside he ordered a coffee and sat down. He put his legs up on the chair opposite and attempted to stretch. The damn things were screwed to the floor though. The lights were too bright and it stunk of disinfectant. Not much of a “welcome break”.

  He so wanted to light up a coffin nail, but recent laws stated he must stand outside like some pariah if he wanted to do so; instead he sipped at the black treacle feigning to be coffee. Suddenly he was gripped by a feeling of such utter dread and revulsion that he couldn’t pick his coffee up. His hand was shaking so much he daren’t try. His stomach felt like a washing machine on spin. There was something wrong at home. He had no idea why or how he knew, it was beyond his comprehension at the time... he just did. They do say when you love somebody so much that there is an unbreakable bond. Much like with twins. Well this is what Gavin felt that night. He had to get home... and fast.

  He left an overly generous tip as he didn’t have time to wait for change and made his way to the truck. He was back home in Levenshulme an hour and twenty five minutes later. He lived in Hinstock Crescent which was a one way in, one way out situation so he always had to park in the supermarket car park and walk the five minutes home. This night it took him two.

  As he drew nearer to home he saw that the lights were on and began to feel more comfortable. Maybe he was just being paranoid. Could be that the time away had begun to take its toll on him. He did love Michelle so. He hated being away from her, she was the only person who had ever fully understood him and loved him for who he was. He strode slowly up to the house, all feelings of fear departed.

  His house was at the bottom of the cul-de-sac, the front of it framed in a dull glow emitting from the sodium lamp directly outside his meagre garden, there were three low bushes that bordered the property. One of which ran the full length of one side into the back garden itself.

  He fumbled for his keys in his fleece pockets, realising only as he got to the front step that they were in his jeans pocket as they had a habit of falling from the shallow pockets of his fleece. Feeling rather relieved that he hadn’t dropped them; he entered the house and shrugged his coat off. It was one of those houses which looked nice from the outside, but it was a no frills job. You walked straight into the living room, no fuss of a porch or hallway, just straight in. It’s those extra details like a hallway or foyer that make a house a home and not just a house. Gavin liked it though and even more importantly, so did Michelle. Since she had come to live with him maybe three years ago now, he knew he would be happy living in a box under the bridge spanning the canal if Michelle was with him

  The lights didn’t stay on for very long. There was a brief flash and then as he turned to hang his coat up he felt an acute, violent pain on the back of his head. The lights went out again.

  ‘Wake up you little piece of shit’ yelled Craig.

  Gavin was beginning his ascent back to reality. He had been knocked out cold by the baseball bat to the back of his head. As he began to wade through the black fog before his eyes, he could feel his consciousness catching up two or three seconds later. His head felt as heavy as a bowling ball and was just as difficult to hold up, his vision was blurred with blood. Once he had winked out the warm liquid from his eye (the one that he could open at least) he realised he had unwelcome house guests, who had clearly out stayed any welcome they may have had. Also just to put the cherry on the cake he was tied to the bottom of his stairs using the tow rope from his own car. The stairs descended straight into the front room so Gavin had a clear view of what had been going on.

  There were three men in the house all from Quest. The first one he noticed was Craig. He was about forty five, average height, very thickset although mostly just overweight, also completely bald. He was the one now pouring forth an effusion of accusations at Gavin.

  ‘Are you listening to me you little cocksucker?’

  Craig repeatedly kicked Gavin in the calf as he demanded a response.

  ‘If you don’t answer me I swear I'm gonna stuff my hand down your throat, rip your balls up through your mouth and wear them as earrings.’

  ‘What the hell do you want?’ Spat Gavin. ‘Get out of my house; I don’t know what you want’

  ‘Maybe you just need a little reminder then.’

  This voice wasn’t Craig it was Pinky. Gavin didn’t know his real name but he was the youngest one of the three. He was in his early twenties, slim, short spiky hair. Gavin had always imagined him to be a bit of a ladies man. He was rising from the couch while Phil was scraping the mud from his boots onto the coffee table.

  Phil was as black as a moonless night and built like the side of a bus. Typically he also seemed to have the brain capacity of a flea.

  Pinky was wearing a quarter length black leather jacket, white t-shirt and faded jeans. They all looked strangely different to Gavin, not wearing their blue Quest jackets with the company logo emblazoned in gold across the left breast. When they wore the blue jackets, they were part of something bigger, (they were on company time then) they could never have harmed him (much) in those jackets, too easy to pick out. But no
w... well now was a whole different story. They had worn their own personalities tonight and Gavin didn’t like it one bit. It was from the jacket pocket that Pinky produced the tin of lighter fluid which he was now waving in Gavin’s face.

  ‘Gonna teach you not to mess with my woman ya little freak.’

  ‘Yeah freakazoid you should’ve learnt to keep your hands to yourself. Well you won’t have to worry about that after today cos we’re gonna fuck you up big time’ Yelled Craig.

  The light was slowly beginning to dawn on Gavin.

  Just before he left for France, Pinkys’ girlfriend... Laura was her name he thought, but he wasn’t sure. She had come to pick Pinky up from work and was in the canteen waiting for him to finish. She had gotten herself a cup of coffee or something similar. Gavin was tying his shoelace so didn’t see her as he turned round and stood up.

  He knocked the coffee out of her hand and it went all over her top and in her face. Luckily it wasn’t hot enough to scald. You would think that spilling coffee all over the poor girl is where Gavin made his mistake, but no.... what he did next is where he made his biggest mistake. He obviously hadn’t meant to harm the girl in any way whatsoever. It had just been an accident. He wanted to help, so he picked up some napkins from the holder off the table at the side. He apologised profusely and then proceeded to pat the girl down just above her chest area.

  (As you and I know, most girls wouldn’t want to be touched in this area without prior permission or at least some sort of a come on. So what she did next was not surprising at all.) She slapped Gavin hard across the face pulling away from him. As she pulled away though, she slipped on the spilled coffee. He still had hold of her blouse which tore exposing her left breast, (she wasn’t the sort to wear bras) as she went down, the momentum had dragged Gavin down with her. They both fell in a heap. She was screaming at him to get off her. He didn’t realise that his hand was actually on her breast as he fought for purchase to get up. It was at this most opportune of moments that Pinky and Craig strolled into the canteen. Oh yeah... it was a real Kodak moment.

  The next thing Gavin could recall, he was on the floor being kicked about like a bloody football by the two of them. They probably would have carried on like that too if one of the managers hadn’t heard the melee’.

  The police were called and once normality had returned, Gavin was let off the hook once the girl had explained what had actually happened. Although she was pissed, she knew it had only been an unfortunate accident.

  Of course, that wasn’t the end of it as far as Pinky was concerned. And now he realised this is why he had unexpected house guests.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Gavin was trying to loosen the hold that the rope had on his wrists but to no avail. Pinky had actually begun spurting lighter fluid over him. That's when the lightning bolt hit him.

  ‘Where’s Michelle?’ he yelled ‘What’ve you done with her?’

  The lads were pretty dumbfounded. They had no idea he had a girlfriend. Not the freak surely? Craig knelt beside Gavin.

  ‘Michelle don’t sound like the name you’d give a cat now does it? Are you tryin’ to tell me you have an actual girlfriend of your own.... really?’

  ‘Well if he has a woman of his own then why was he pawin’ at mine? You sick perv’

  This last statement was issued with another boot to the head from Pinky. Gavin’s head rolled back and hit the balustrade behind, it felt as if it had splintered with the blow and his head lolled to one side, the bowling ball effect once again taking over. One thing he knew he couldn’t do right now was pass out, even though it would have been such sweet bliss just to let that fog wrap itself around him and take him away, he just couldn’t. He had to stay as alert as he possibly could, if not for him then for Michelle as god knows what they would do to her. The thought of them even touching her helped him keep his head above the fog... just a while longer, but he was starting to panic now... really panic.

  ‘I...I...didn't mean to do anything to her, it was just an accident.... just coffee... I.....I’m s...’

  ‘Shut the fuck up.’ came the reply from Craig. He was still squatting on his haunches next to Gavin. He now had a gun in his hand, draped over his knee.

  ‘What’s a matter freak? Not getting enough from the old lady huh? So you just gotta go out and take it eh?’ Craig was venomously whispering in his ear.

  ‘No... no... it wasn’t like that, it was just an accident. I wouldn’t... I'm sorry... where is she? I’ll do whatever you want just leave her out of this please’

  Craig now realised his mistake, he hadn’t searched the house once they had gained entry. Why would he? No one would have thought the freak had a wife or girlfriend. Not in a million years. The guy always kept himself to himself. Never came out with the lads, still... he was never invited. He was always having conversations with himself, and they weren’t just random mutterings under ones breath. The guy used to gesticulate and point things out as if there really was someone else there that he was talking to. Yep he was a proper fuck up so Craig didn't blame himself for his folly. He just hoped she wasn’t upstairs calling the old bill now. He motioned to Pinky with the gun.

  ‘You better go see if the old lady’s upstairs and bring her down’.

  Pinky stepped over Gavin and climbed the stairs. As he got to the top he could see there was a window to the left at the end of the hall. It had a yellow vase with yellow flowers protruding from it. Even the curtains that framed the window were yellow, definite woman’s touch he thought.

  On the wall next to the window was a door, he tried that one first. The light switch was just to the right. This room was empty except for the furniture but he thought he should just double check. The room was very sparsely furnished. There was a bed on the right hand side freshly made with a bedside cabinet next to it and a wardrobe with drawers on the left hand side. As he walked into the room proper he noticed a desk on the inside against the wall. The walls were all painted yellow in here too, with blue curtains framing the window ahead.

  He opened the oak wardrobe, nothing in there but spare coat hangers. It was obviously a guest room, although he couldn’t imagine The Freak having many guests.

  He left this room and walked back along the hall past the stairs to the next room. It was opposite the bathroom which he could see was empty as the door was open but he turned the light on and popped his head round the door just in case... no one there. If she was in the house it had to be the next room. He turned towards what he suspected was the main bedroom. A shiver of anticipation ran down his back from the nape of his neck as he turned the handle.

  There was a woman lying on top of the bed, she must have been asleep. The curtains were open and the moonlight was flooding the room. He didn't flick the light on as he didn't want her screaming.

  He could see that she was actually naked on top of the sheets. The moonlight was caressing her body and he could see she looked fantastic, too good for the likes of The Freak.

  ‘What a bod’ he whispered.

  He began to wonder if he should have some fun with her himself before he took her downstairs, but put that thought to the back of his head almost as soon as it entered, Craig was waiting for him.

  Gavin could hear Michelle’s cries for help as she was carried down the stairs. She was unceremoniously dropped about three feet in front of him. He could see she had been hurt. There was blood trickling from her nose and her face was bruised, she was also naked. She had been expecting him home from France, so had probably showered and doused herself in his favourite scent and lay upstairs, just waiting and ready to please him with showers of naked kisses and cuddles before pleasing him some more, but instead of her man...

  He daren’t think what Pinky had done to his princess, but he swore he would kill them all for this.

  Phil, who had been just sat on the sofa up until now going through all of Gavin’s personal belongings and breaking things came over and knelt by Michelle. He grabbed her by the hair and brought
her head up to meet his. He planted a kiss on her lips as he fondled her breasts.

  ‘So dis the woman you been gettin’ all irate about bwoy’ he asked in his broad Caribbean drawl.

  ‘Get your fuckin’ hands off her’ Gavin struggled against the rope but it was no use. He was spitting a mixture of blood and spittle now. He felt useless. Michelle was struggling with Phil but to no avail. He was a big man; his hands were all over her.

  ‘She didn't do anything... please leave her alone.’ Gavin was distraught. Michelle was the only thing that made his life worth living. She was reaching out for him, imploring him to help her and yet all he did was sit and watch, he tried to break free but couldn’t. Craig was tapping him on the head with the gun.

  ‘So...this your woman is it? This is the woman ya been cryin’ about?’ asked Craig in a rather amazed tone. ‘I thought you were some kind of sicko but now I know for sure... now we all know, don’t we boys?’There were harrumphs of agreement.

  ‘If I were you I’d take her back and trade her in for an older model. I can’t tell if she’s shaved or just not hit puberty yet’ said Phil. As he said this he had one hand clasping her hands together whilst the other stroked her most private of places. Gavin was now crying and pleading with them but he knew it was no use. They were all sick mothers bent on hurting him no matter how. It was all just a game to them. He began to withdraw into himself, closing his eyes to the horror before them, hoping he could find some kind of happy place there. Craig had different ideas though. He belted him across the head with the gun again. He wasn’t about to let him close his eyes to this. He knew how he was gonna hurt the little freak now, he was really starting to enjoy himself.

  What Craig did next shook Gavin to the core of his very soul. He stood over Michelle and unbuttoned his jeans.

  ‘I think we may need a little lubrication here boys’ he said. He then spat on his hand and began rubbing it between her legs. Pinky held her arms outstretched on the floor above her head in a star shape. Craig then lowered himself onto her. Gavin tried not to hear her screams as Craig entered her. She was screaming and kicking out at them but it did her no good.