by Paul Kelly
“Oh! Hello Mandy. Gosh your just like what I imagined you would be,” Evie gushed and Mandy grinned mischievously.
“As dull as that, eh?” she touted for a compliment and Evie gave her a broad smile.
“Your hair is lovely and I like the colour. It goes with your nails too. I wish I could grow mine. I can never wear nail varnish and I’d love to . . Looks so ridiculous on my old stumps.” she complained, but Mandy saw a very beautiful, slim brunette standing near her, with gorgeous dark hair and startling blue eyes. Her skin was perfect with a natural blush to her cheeks and her lipstick was just barely apparent. She studied Evie’s form from head to toe.
“Mmmm,” she said as Wills took his wife by the arm and led her towards the elevator.
“They’ll be waiting for us Evie,” was all he would say as Mandy took out her compact and started powdering her nose. She touched her hair gently with her finger tips and sighed as she threw the flat silver case back into her handbag.
“I suppose I could go brunette,” she murmured and pursed her lips.
***
In the elevator, Evie suddenly realised that she hadn’t enquired about Mandy’s mother,
“She came out of hospital last week. I should have asked her . .”
“Evie, will you keep your mind on what I’m saying and forget bloody Mandy.”
“Wills, that’s a nasty way to describe her. She’s a lovely girl and her nails are magnificent. However does she use a typewriter?”
The lift came to the fifth floor and they walked out into the thick carpeted corridor that led to the Directors Board Room., with Wills trying desperately to explain what the visit was all about and the situation Evie could expect when she met the directors,
“Wills, I haven’t had time to get my hair done . . Whatever will they think? Why didn’t you tell me this morning?” she gasped and paused for a short breath, “I thought you’d had an accident or something . .”
Wills studied the neat dark plait that ran from the crown of her head to the nape of her neck, with her hair brushed back smoothly from her forehead. He loved her hairline . .
“Darling, you’re lovely, but listen carefully to everything you hear at this lunch meeting, will you? It is most important.”
“But . . but . . . “ she stuttered and her eyes were wide.
“Never mind the buts Darling. I’ll explain everything you need to know after lunch. I haven’t got time now, but trust me and if you aren’t sure about anything, look my way and I’ll try to give you a signal of what to say, or I’ll say it for you . . and then you agree, O.K.?”
Willson knocked on the heavy highly polished door of the board room and they both went in, like sheep to the slaughter, he thought as he closed his eyes for a second to compose his thoughts and a hard lump came to his throat.
***
Evie ran her fingers through her hair as she came out from the board room.
“I think Mr. Deacon was more than a little surprised to find that I was white, Wills, don’t you think? Didn’t you ever tell him?” she asked as she stepped into the elevator and Wills glared at her with a strange hostile look in his eyes.
“Did he say anything about that?” he asked angrily.
“No Darling, but when you introduced me, he looked startled for a moment and I
just thought he might have expected me to be coloured, that’s all.”
Wills rolled his eyes and stuck his hand in the air.
“Is dat so Missy Evie Darlin’ Does yo’ Daddy come from Barbados too, den,”
They giggled together.
“I bet he was more than surprised to see how beautiful you are, Sweetheart, that’s what startled him. Have you seen his wife . . No, I don’t think you have.”
“And with my hair looking like this,” she added, pulling a strand between her fingers.
“Well, I could see old Prescott giving you the eye a few times. He likes the ladies, you know. Fancies himself as something of a Romeo and he’s crazy about Mandy.” Evie tut-tutted her husband before he could say any more, but he ignored her. “And she fancies him too,” he went on against her protests, “But then Mandy fancies anything in pants, she does.” “I didn’t like the look of that younger man, Wills . . You know the one with the thinning hair and the shifty eyes.” “Don’t worry about him. He’s a very junior Director and besides, he wouldn’t take any notice of you.” Evie raised her eyebrows.
“Well that’s just fine, that is. One minute your telling me I’m beautiful and that old Prescott has the hots for me and then you tell me that this younger one wouldn’t see me if I was standing there in my bra and pants . . .”
Wills laughed and closed his eyes tightly as he always did when he was thoroughly amused.
“He probably had his eyes on me, Honey . . He’s gay.”
Evie stuck her hand up to her chin and pressed her forefinger to her lips.
“Oh God . . well, how was I to know?”
“Don’t worry . . He’s not my type,” he answered and giggled again. The lift door opened and Willson beamed at the blonde receptionist. “Weather seems to have picked up again, hasn’t it Love?” he patronised and Evie stood on his toe as he walked across the hall to the revolving door.
“Hypocrite,” she hissed between her teeth.
“Oh! There’s something I’ve forgotten,” he said suddenly, “Just wait there a minute Darling.”
He flew up the stairs, three at a time and nearly knocking Graham down as he went through the door into the General Office.
“Watch it Mate. What’s your hurry?”
“Sorry Graham, I forgot something.”
Graham steadied himself and ran his fingers through his hair.
“With a wife like yours, I’d forget everything . . .She’s a beauty.”
Wills rushed to his desk without comment until he returned to the elevator again where he called back over his shoulder.
“Thanks Mate. I’ll tell her that. She’ll be pleased.”
Graham pretended to swoon and stuck his wrist against his forehead.
“Have a nice day then . .” he shouted down the lift shaft and Willson returned to the Reception area where he grabbed Evie by the arm.
“I’ve got the rest of the day off, so let’s get out of here as quickly as we can,” he gasped and felt for his car keys in his pocket as Evie called out to Mandy.
“Glad your Mum’s better Mandy. Wish I could go blonde and look as good as you.”
Mandy smiled between telephone calls and answered “Mmmmm.” but as Willson found his keys, he stuck a parcel in Evie’s hand.
“Hold that for a minute, will you Sweetheart?”
“What is it for goodness sake?”
Wills opened the car door.
“Well, I don’t like all that board room junk they eat up there. All that smoked salmon and cole slaw, nor any of those petit de fois whatever it’s called and I’m starving.” He produced his mozzarella cheese sandwich and took a large bite. “Want some?” he asked with his usual but unique black Barbadosian, (as Evie called it,) ear to ear grin.
“You’re incorrigible, Mr. Slade, Sir . . and now can we get home and discuss this Scottish adventure whilst we still have all Mr. Deacon’s points fresh in our minds.
“Yes Ma’am. Whatever you say Ma’am. Right away Ma’am.”
The sun had come through and the clouds had dispersed as Willson opened the car window and changed up into third gear.
“Hey . . That was my leg you touched there, big boy,” she said and smiled mischievously.
“Funny . . I thought it was softer than the gear stick . .”
Chapter Three
WILLSON SLADE BIT HIS LOWER LIP as he drove in silence, staring into space at the long roads ahead. It was a few moment
s before he could find something to say as he whizzed past a field of grazing cows and his nose twitched as he pulled a face.
“We must be mad Evie. We really must be stark staring mad to have agreed to this crazy scheme.”
Evie touched his shoulder.
“We’ve discussed it round and round and in and out Wills and we always came to the same conclusion and besides, it’s only for a year and then we’ll be back home again.”
“Well, I suppose that’s a comfort,” he added. “Wouldn’t like the job of counting those cows out there, would you?”
She laughed and listed the pros and cons again from a notebook as they left one county after another and sped their way on to the Highlands of Scotland.
“Number One,” she said, twiddling her biro loosely between her fingers. The change might do us good. We need a holiday anyway, not having had one for over three years . . owing to the house, not forgetting the mortgage. Two . . Scotland is a beautiful country. Three . . It is now Monday the 14th of August 1978 . . and we might as well be correct on that . .It is mid-summer, even if the sun is playing hookey at this very moment. Four . . We have this beautiful Company car; a brand new Rover and a new house at the end of our journey, with our mortgage being paid in London until we return. Now those are the ‘Pros’ “ she said and asked Wills to check that he had the written guarantee of the contract with him. He did . . It was safe in his wallet.
“Now for the ‘Cons’ . . . Evie started counting on her fingers and stuck the biro into the glove compartment. “It could turn out to be a nightmare, for a start. . So that’s Number One . .
Two . . They say it’s always raining in Scotland, so that patio we’ve been promised won’t be much use, will it? . Three . . Will they understand what we’re talking about up there and would we understand what they are talking about . .? Four . . “ Evie twisted her tongue round her lips as she began to think. “What was the fourth, Wills? I can’t think. .”
“Will I have to wear a flamin’ kilt?” he growled and Evie fell about in her seat laughing. “And then there’s the other thing. Probably the most important of all . .” he added.
“Not with your legs, Darling. I think we’ll pass on that one, eh? . . .My God! What was that?” Evie sat bolt upright as Wills swerved to avoid hitting a truck that was coming their way.
“Bloody idiot . . What the hell was he doing? Looks like he wasn’t looking where he was going. Hope that’s not a sample of how they drive up here, Evie.”
Evie said nothing, but her mind had forgotten all about patios and weather, good or bad, in that moment.
“Well,” he grunted, “Don’t you want to know what that other thing was?”
“What other thing?”
“Well apart from the kilt . . I’m BLACK, and don’t you think they’re gonna notice that?
“Oh! You’re old fashioned Wills. People don’t think that way these days. How often have people stopped you in London and asked you WHY you were black and not white? I ask you?”
“This isn’t London Evie, is it? . . But I hope you’re right We could have some prejudice, you know and we can’t just dismiss that thought until we get there and see what it’s like.”
Evie sat pensive in the car and narrowed her eyes She did not answer immediately but stared ahead at the road in front of her, as if she was in some sort of trance. “Evie . . Evie . . Are you alright?” he asked and she shook her head lightly and turned to him.
“Yes. . Yes, I’m fine, Love. . It’s just that . . Oh! I’m imaginings things, that’s all. Forget it.” she said, but as he turned a corner in the road, driving slowly between a rock crevice that rose high up into the sky, so that you could see nothing beyond it for quite some way, Evie began to cry.
“I’m just getting morbid again, that’s all. Don’t pay any attention. Maybe this change is just what we need Wills,” she went on, “If only we could have a baby . . I wouldn’t give a damn about anything else or where we lived.”
Wills flinched at the wheel, but he had no answer to give her on that one. Maybe the doctors in Scotland would have some answers . . he thought. Maybe the air up here will be different . . or something. .
“Evie?”
She blinked herself out of her thoughts and turned to him.
“Yes Wills?” she asked but he hesitated and bit his lip.
“Oh! . . It’s nothing . . Nothing really.”
“Willson Slade . . you know how annoyed I get when people say something like that. It can’t be ‘nothing really’ or you wouldn’t have it on your mind, would you?”
He stared at the road ahead and pulled down the sun visor as the stark bright sun in the rain mist, dazzled his eyes. He coughed and swallowed hard.
“Do you think . . the baby thing I mean? “ he asked her slowly, “Do you think we are having this problem because . .well because I’m black?”
Evie stared at him with wide eyes, but he would not look at her.
“Oh! don’t talk soft, Wills . .It could just as well be because I am white, couldn’t it? if you’re going to reason it out that way. Lots of people like us have children and really beautiful children too.”
Wills smiled happily but shyly.
“You are the most perfect lady I know, Missy Evelyn Mary Carson. I’m ever so grateful you’re my wife, you know.”
“Then it’s Mrs. Slade then. You married me remember?”
He laughed heartily.
“Shall we stop here for dinner? It’ll be another two hours or so before we reach Glenfarach.”
“How long have we been on the road already, Wills?”
He blew out his cheeks like two small balloons and glanced at his wrist watch.
“Nearly eight hours, counting the stops we had for coffee and lunch.”
Evie looked about her and concluded that it might rain at any moment. It was already drizzling.
“Looks quite a cosy little place . . Why not?” she answered pertly, “I could do with stretching my legs as well and then I’ll take the wheel and give you a rest Wills.”
They enjoyed a simple cooked meal of roast pork and mashed potatoes with green peas and carrots. The thick gravy was particularly tasty and they had apple pie and cream to follow.
“Do you serve coffee?” Wills asked as he dabbed his lips with his napkin and a gruff, but welcoming female Scottish voice answered from behind the counter.
“Och! Aye, we do that . . Would you be wantin’ tooo?”
Wills looked on in astonishment whilst Evie lowered her head to smile. “Aye . . tooo please, “ he said, “White wi nae sugar,” and he could just see Evie, out of the corner of his eye, making a bee line for the ladies. “Might as well get used to the lingo. If you can’t beat ‘em, then join ‘em . . That’s what I say,” he muttered but Evie had gone and he was left to mutter to himself, whilst the lady behind the counter gave a him a strange look.
“Damned fine meal,” he said, returning her glance and feeling a little embarrassed,
“Very well cooked too.”
The lady nodded. “Aye,” she said and went on to arrange some homemade scones on a glass plate as she kept her eye on Wills.
Wills smiled, flashing his immaculate white even teeth to show his appreciation. “My wife will be back in a moment,” he said, but he knew he should have said, ‘the noo.’
***
Evie changed her shoes before she got into the driver’s seat. She always kept an old pair for driving, to avoid scuffing the heels of her best ones.
“It looks as though the sun is breaking through at last . . see!”, she said as she turned off the windscreen wipers.
“Hope we get some real sunshine Evie. I can’t imagine what it must be like to spend a winter in Scotland . . I really can’t.”
“Oh! Stop moaning, will you. Si
t back and enjoy the scenery. It’s magnificent.” She opened the car window as she spoke, “Smell that glorious country air . . Mmmmm.. You don’t get anything like that down in London now, do you?” she said, but before Wills could answer, she swiftly closed the window again and he laughed.
“Well, there won’t be a herd of cows in every field, Darling . . I don’t think so anyway.”
she gasped, but Wills held his nostrils between his forefinger and thumb.
“I’m no’ so shoor,” he replied and sunk back into his seat as Evie drove on.
***
They had skirted Inverness and were on their way to Glenfarach, with the last direction indicator showing it to be less than five miles away. The road ahead was like an ice rink and where the sun’s rays settled on the drying rain, there was a glistening mirage of floating glass appearance across the roadway. Evie’s eyes were getting tired and her head was heavy.
“Watch out!”
She swerved as Wills cried out to her to avoid a young boy who was tottering under a thick bail of twigs, tied together with rope and balanced on his head. His oversized dungaree trousers flopped in the wind as he staggered and fell in the middle of the road. Evie rammed her foot down hard on the brake and went into a skid, taking the car to the far side of the road and hitting a nearby fence. Willie jumped out of the car and shouted angrily at the culprit.
“What the hell are you playing at? You shouldn’t be walking in the middle of the road where you can hardly see, with that pile of bracken on your head. You idiot.” The boy’s lips trembled and his eyes were wide with fear. He shook his head a couple of times and his face twisted nervously as Willson caught him by the arm. “You could have been killed . . You know that, don’t you?”
Evie came from the car at that moment.
“Leave him Wills. I think he’s been frightened enough,” she said as she smiled at the boy. “Can we help you to gather your wood?” she asked and smiled again, but the young boy stared at her, round eyed and speechless, before he made a peculiar sound that seemed to come from the back of his throat and wrenched himself free of Will’s grasp. His floppy trousers beat against his shins as he ran off and vaulted a wooden gate at a nearby field, abandoning his heavy load that lay loose and scattered across the road and under the car.
