Help Our Heroes: A Military Charity Anthology

by T. L. Wainwright

  “Wise move. This place is a shit hole.” His obvious dislike of it makes me feel a little better. “I didn’t grow up here. We used to have a lovely house in a nice neighbourhood, but when Dad left, it all went to shit.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s fine. I joined the army the second I could, and left Mum to ruin her own life.” As the words leave his mouth, I can’t help but wonder if the woman I just saw was her.

  It turns out we can’t go anywhere until Peggy the Peugeot—yes, the car has a name—has a thorough once over, so our first destination is to an ancient looking garage on the edge of town.

  “Are you sure this place is still in business?” The old tin building looks like it’s about to fall down. I’m not sure it’s somewhere I’d want my pride and joy to be.

  “Yeah, it’s open.”

  I see he’s right the second he pulls the car to a stop, because a door opens and an elderly man steps out with a huge smile on his face.

  “Bax! I wasn’t expecting to see you. What a lovely surprise on this sunny Sunday.” The man’s joy couldn’t be any clearer.

  Bax jumps from the car and I watch as the two hug it out. I’ve no idea who this guy is, but they’re clearly close.

  They’re just pulling apart when I reach them. “Erin, this is Arthur, my grandad’s best mate. Arthur, this is Erin, she’s…”

  “A friend,” I finish to help him out, although calling us friends might be pushing it slightly.

  “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Erin. Bax here needs a good friend,” he says, elbowing Bax in the arm and winking at both of us. I try to play it cool but I can feel heat rushing to my cheeks at his insinuation. “Let’s go and get some coffees, young lady. If I know Bax, you’re in for a long few hours.”

  It turns out he wasn’t lying. I spend a couple of hours chatting to Arthur in his little make shift kitchen before venturing out to sit at a bench in the sun. The benefit of being out here is that I get to watch Bax bent over the bonnet of his car, and let me tell you, he has one fine arse.

  I hear nothing back from Frankie so I can only presume she’s had a good night. If she’d gone off with someone who wasn’t Bax’s friend, I might be concerned, but something tells me she’s okay.

  “I promise I’m nearly done,” Bax shouts over as he wipes his hands on a rag.

  “Take your time.” His eyes light up and I can only assume that’s because I’m not rushing him and his darling Peggy.

  I look back down at the paper I asked Arthur for and smile. It’s been quite a while since I’ve been able to just sketch for the fun of it. That’s what this all the used to be: fun. I’d design and make jewellery because I loved it, but now I feel like I’m under pressure to deliver because it could be what keeps Mum’s gift shop open. We both do well from my jewellery sales so I keep pushing for more. Unfortunately, that also means pushing my creativity out the window, and recently, I’ve found my designs getting more and more generic and boring. I used to thrive on being unique and different, and sadly those are the designs that sell and make money.

  Once I run out of inspiration from my surroundings, I start work on something totally different. It’s not the easiest thing in the world because he keeps moving, but I do my best.

  “Fucking hell, Skittles, that’s incredible,” I hear over my shoulder, bringing me back to reality. I’d totally lost myself in what I was doing.

  I drag my eyes away from the tiny section I was working on and look at my sketch as a whole. It’s not too bad, I guess. I shrug my shoulders at Bax before looking up at him. What was a smooth shaven face when I first met him yesterday is now covered in a layer of stubble, and he has smears of oil on his cheeks and forehead. It’s really pretty sexy.

  “What?” he asks when I sit there staring at him.

  “Nothing.”

  “No, go on, you’re clearly thinking something.”

  “It’s nothing. Are you finished?”

  He leans forward a little more until our noses are almost touching. “Tell me what you’re thinking,” he whispers.

  I look away from his eyes before muttering that he looks hot.

  “What was that? I couldn’t quite hear you,” he says, grabbing my cheek gently so he can turn me back to look at him.

  I try to move away from his stare but he holds me in place. “Fine,” I huff. “You look hot, okay?” I force his hand off me and stand up, gathering the paper in front of me as I go.

  “Now, was that so hard to admit, Skittles?” I can hear the humour in his voice and it makes me want to kick him.

  “Shut up,” I mutter. “Can we go now?”

  “Yes, let me just say goodbye to Arthur.”

  When we arrive at my house, thankfully there’s no sign of Mum. It’s not that I don’t want her to meet Bax; it’s more that she’ll try to talk me out of this. She’d probably be right, because disappearing off with a guy I’ve just met is a little nuts, and very out of character for me, but right now I don’t care about any of that. I just want to get away. What we do find is the bottle of vodka and sleeping pills she’s left behind on the dining table. The sight reminds me of everything I’m trying to push to the back of my mind, and a massive ball of guilt has me on the verge of turning Bax down on his offer to disappear.

  One look at him stood in the doorway behind me and I know I’m doing the right thing. He glances at the items on the dining table, then gives me a sad smile. If my assumptions are right about that woman being his mum, I’m guessing he kinda knows how I feel right now.

  I point Bax in the direction of the shower and strip out of last night’s clothes in favour of something more suitable for a road trip before I start gathering my stuff together. I pull my suitcase down from the top of the wardrobe and bang the dust off. It’s been quite a while since it’s seen some holiday action.

  I fill it with clothes before pulling open my pyjama drawer.

  “Fuck,” I mutter to myself when I see the only sets left are the silk lacy ones Frankie bought me for Christmas last year that I’d hidden at the bottom. I glance over my shoulder at my washing basket to see it overflowing. “Fuck.”

  I hear the water shut off and I know I’m running out of time. I really want to get out of here as soon as possible.

  I grab the pyjamas and throw them in my suitcase. We’ll get separate rooms, it’ll be fine, I think as I pull my savings card from my desk. I’ll pay for my own room. It’ll be safer that way.

  “Hey, you ready?” Bax asks when he pokes his head into my room as I’m zipping up my suitcase.

  “I think so.”

  “Let’s hit the road then.”

  “Where are we going?” I ask when we’ve been driving for twenty minutes. After spending all day at Arthur’s garage getting Peggy ready for her road trip, the sun is already setting.

  “I found this in my room.” Bax reaches behind my seat before dropping a bottle full of two pence coins in my lap. “I thought we could have some fun with those,” he says, pulling away when the lights change.

  “Oh my god, are you serious?” I know I’m acting like an excited child but I don’t care. My dad used to take me to the pier in Weston-Super-Mare when I was little. It’s one of my best memories with him.

  “I’ve been collecting them for years. Now seems like as good a time as any to spend them. I need food first, though.” Arthur made us a sandwich earlier but it’s definitely starting to wear off.

  Bax parks the car on the side of the road in front of a row of B&B’s. “Let’s find somewhere to sleep for the night, then dinner.”

  I follow him into the first B&B to be told it’s full, then the next, and the next. At this rate, we’re going to be sleeping in his car. It’s a nice car, but it’s not good enough to be our bed for the night.

  Thankfully, the forth B&B has a room left. I lose the argument about paying for it and Bax hands his card over after trampling any point I tried to make about why I should foot the bill this time.

  “Up
the stairs, right at the end of the corridor, then it’s the door on the left,” the lady behind the counter says, pointing us in the right direction. “I would take you but I’m here on my own and trying to make dinner for some guests.”

  Bax opens the door and gestures for me to enter. I take two steps into the room before I stop. Bax isn’t paying attention and crashes into the back of me, his arms coming around my waist to hold me up.

  “Shit, sorry. What’s the…oh,” he says when he sees what I’m looking at—a giant four-poster bed. “We can try somewhere else,” he offers.

  “We might not find anywhere else.” We drove past loads of no vacancy signs and I don’t fancy spending the night trawling the streets hoping to find something. This place is nice and clean, unlike where we spent last night, and although it’s only one bed, it looks pretty comfortable.

  “I’ll sleep on the floor.”

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  “Anything to make you happy.” I swoon a little at his words.

  After dumping our stuff, we head out to find a restaurant for dinner. There’s a bar and grill not far down the street, and we grab the last empty table.

  “So what do you do in the army?”

  “Recovery mechanic.”

  “You fix vehicles?”

  “Not really. We recover them when they’ve broken down or got into trouble.”

  “Oh, I thought with your car and everything you’d be working on them.”

  “I wanted excitement and my job definitely gives me that. The mechanics are usually at camp fixing vehicles whereas I’m out in the thick of it rescuing our men. I love it.” I can see in his eyes how much he enjoys his job, even if the thought of him being somewhere dangerous makes my stomach flip.

  “What about you?”

  “I’m doing business and marketing at uni.”

  “I thought with what you were doing earlier you’d have said art or something.”

  “No,’ I answer sadly, making his eyebrows raise in question. “My mum has a gift shop, it hasn’t been doing so well since the recession so I went with business in the hope of helping bring it back to life.”

  “You don’t sound like you enjoy it.”

  “It’s okay. I just want to help. The shop’s getting the better of her at the moment, it was her dream and she refuses to let go of it. If she carries on the way she is I’m convinced she’ll put herself in an early grave.”

  “You can’t do everything for her, Skittles. You’ve got your own life to lead and she shouldn’t be holding you back from that,” he says. It’s not the first time I’ve heard similar words. Frankie’s always going on at me.

  “I’m not doing it because she tells me to,” I snap.

  “I know, but it seems to me that because you’re nice and caring, she doesn’t need to tell you. Hell, I doubt she even needs to ask—she already knows you’re going to do it.” I hate that he can see right through me. I didn’t realise I was quite so transparent. He can tell there’s something off, because he reaches across the table and grabs my hand. “It’s not a bad thing, Skittles. You just need to make sure people don’t take the piss, and I can’t help but think your mum is, but probably without knowing it. Did you want do a business degree?”

  “Of course.”

  “Honestly, if you had your pick of anything, you’d have stayed in Bristol and done business?”

  I stare into his eyes for a bit as I roll the real answer to the question around in my head. “No.”

  “I didn’t think so. You’re too talented to be doing business.”

  “You’ve seen one drawing.”

  “All I needed to see.”

  We’re silent as we eat. His observations about my life choices hit a little close to home and have shaken me a slightly. I always dreamed of moving away from Bristol and doing something where I could be creative every day. Unfortunately, I never even got the chance to look at possible courses because I got sidelined into business. Bax is right; Mum never told me to do anything, but things were hinted, and as he says, I’m too nice and I went along with it all because it felt like the right thing to do. It leaves me with the question I try to keep pushing to the back of my mind. What am I going to do when Mum’s shop inevitably goes under? I’m left with a degree in a field I’m not interested in, and no qualifications in the field I want to go into.

  “Erin?”

  “Huh?” I look up to see Bax at smiling me and a bored looking waitress stood next to him with her hand on her hip.

  “Would you like pudding?”

  “Oh sorry, no I’m fine, thank you.” I smile politely but she still huffs as she walks off. “Sorry,” I say again.

  “Are you okay?” Bax’s eyebrows are drawn together in concern.

  “Yeah. It’s just what you said about my life.”

  “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  “I know you didn’t, but you’ve nailed it. Everything you said is true, and it makes me wonder where it leaves me.” It also freaks me out that he has my life pegged when he’s only known me for a day, but I don’t voice that.

  “You’ll be fine, Skittles. I think you’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

  “You don’t even know me.”

  “I don’t think that’s true. One look at you in the club last night and I knew everything I needed to know.”

  I open my mouth to respond but nothing comes out. How can he say that? I’m a stranger to him.

  “Come on, let’s go have some fun. There’s plenty of time to deal with the serious stuff.”

  I can’t argue with that, so after paying the bill, we head off towards the pier. It’s so modern compared to the memories I have with Dad. I kind of like it though, because it makes me feel like I’m making new ones with Bax and not overwriting the old ones I’m so fond of.

  “How long do you think this lot will last?” Bax asks with a laugh as we stand just inside the arcade.

  “Two hours, tops.”

  “Let’s see.”

  We don’t get to find how long the two pennies would’ve lasted because we end up getting kicked out when they close for the night. We walk back down the pier hand in hand with wide smiles on our faces. I feel light for the first time in a long time.

  “Walk on the beach?”

  “Sounds perfect.” And it is. The sun has set and there are a million stars twinkling above us. Amazingly the tide’s in and the only sound is the waves crashing onto the sand.

  We walk with our hands intertwined for a long time before Bax stops. He takes me closer to the water and we sit on the last bit of dry sand.

  “Do you ever worry you’re not going to come out of some of the situations you get put in?” I ask.

  “Of course. I’ve been in the middle of some very hostile situations, but that’s what I signed up for. It’s also what gets my blood pumping. I feel alive in the middle of it all, and like I’m really making a difference.”

  “My dad was in the army,” I admit. “He died in service when I was little.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  I give him a small smile and shrug my shoulders. What’s done is done. “I’ve always told myself I’d never fall for a soldier. Mum fell apart after he died. It’s an image I’ve never been able to rid from my head.” When I look up, Bax has a shit-eating grin on his face.

  “What?” I run through what I just said in my head and then panic. “Oh no, no, no,” I say adamantly, shaking my head.

  “We’ll see about that. Now tell me, Skittles, when was the last time you did something wild?”

  “Uh…” I think he already knows the answer is probably never.

  I watch as he rises to his feet before pulling his hoodie over his head. “Come on, get up.”

  “Why?” I ask sceptically. I have only one idea as to what he could be planning on doing, and I’m fairly adamant I’m not up for it.

  “We’re going for a late night swim,” he says.

  “You can. I’ll wat
ch from here.”

  “Don’t be so boring,” he says as he toes off his shoes and drops his jeans.

  He throws his discarded clothes up the beach a little before running full speed into the sea. He doesn’t even flinch, and I know for a fact it must be fucking freezing. He splashes water everywhere and makes a right show of himself. Thankfully, it’s dark and there’s no one around to witness his antics.

  “Come on,” he encourages. “It’s lovely.”

  “Nope.”

  “Strip and get your cute little arse in here, or I’ll come and get you myself and you’ll end up in here fully clothed.”

  We stare at each other for a full minute having a silent argument, him trying to convince me to join him and me standing firm with my refusal. It’s not until he starts moving towards me that I cave, because as much as I really don’t want to join him, surely being able to get out to dry clothes is preferable.

  “Fuck’s sake,” I scream at him as I start unzipping my jacket.

  “That’s more like it! Strip for me, Skittles.”

  My face flushes red. It’s only Bax who can see me but I think his eyes on my almost naked body are going to be worse than a stranger’s.

  The second my jeans hit the sand, I run into the sea, not wanting his eyes on me for too long.

  “Holy fucking shit, Bax, it’s fucking freezing,” I squeal as the cold assaults my body.

  “Keep moving, you’ll soon warm up.”

  “I can’t believe you convinced me to do this.” I try to slap his shoulder but he’s too quick and my wrist ends up trapped by his fingers. He gives my arm a quick tug and in a second I’m pressed up against his almost bare body. A shudder runs through me when I feel his heat against me.

  “You need to let your hair down more. You’re young, remember that.”

  “You’re not,” I say, pointing out the fact that he’s clearly older than me for the first time.

  “Hardly.” His eyes flash as he lifts me up so my belly button is in line with his nose.

  “Bax, no,” I squeal in a panic. “Please no, Bax, please,” I beg. I may be okay with water but I have a huge fear of my head going under.