The Mysterious Coat
Page 11
‘Don’t worry Tyler. We’ll go inside shortly or later,’ says Bruce and then, he drinks a bottle of beer again, while Tyler watches the sky as the sunset arrives and the moon starts coming up.
In the lounge room of Tyler’s parents’ house, Angelique and Grace are sitting on the couch and being quiet after looking at photo albums of Tyler and other family memorabilia, until they see Tyler and Bruce enter the room, and Bruce says to Grace, ‘Hi, honey. Everything all right?’
‘Yes, just okay and everything’s fine,’ replies Grace.
‘What are you doing with Angelique?’ asks Bruce.
‘Well, we both had an argument and then, we stopped arguing and became friends,’ replies Grace. ‘So after that, I showed Angelique the photo albums.’
Angelique stand up from the couch and walks to Tyler, while Bruce sits next to Grace, but Angelique says to both Bruce and Grace, ‘Well, it’s nice to meet you and I’m very sorry to embarrass you about my work so I’ll see you at the pre-wedding party and then, the wedding.’
‘Goodbye, Angelique,’ says Bruce.
‘We’ll meet you and Tyler again as soon as possible,’ says Grace.
‘Hmm, okay,’ says Angelique. ‘I’ll think about it before the wedding is on.’ She and Tyler left from the lounge room but Tyler says to his parents, ‘Bye, Mum, bye, Dad.’
‘Goodbye, Tyler,’ says Bruce.
‘Goodbye,’ says Grace.
Outside of Tyler’s parents’ house Tyler and Angelique open the doors and hop in their car. Angelique puts the car key in the ignition and drives off to Tyler’s apartment block in St Kilda.
At Tyler’s apartment block in his bedroom, Tyler and Angelique are getting ready to hop into bed and sleep but Angelique says to Tyler, ‘Tyler, may I have a discussion with you?’
‘What is it Angelique?’ asks Tyler.
‘I think your mother is okay, but she’s very similar to a mother-in-law from hell and I don’t know what I am going to do with her,’ replies Angelique.
‘Angelique, I like my mother, and I love her when … you know, she has helped me to learn things before,’ says Tyler.
‘Yeah I know, your mother can be nice but she doesn’t like me,’ says Angelique.
‘Why?’ asks Tyler.
‘Because I’m a dancer,’ replies Angelique.
‘Oh come on, Angelique! My mother likes other people. Some of them are her friends, some of them are her colleagues when she was working as a nurse at the Alfred Hospital, and some of them are other people she met in her life.’
‘Yeah yeah yeah, but also, your mother thought I would not be suitable for you as your future wife because I work as a dancer. I work hard for the money being a dancer at the Duke of York Hotel. Why should I face against your mother when she doesn’t like me?’ asks Angelique.
‘Um, I don’t understand why my mother didn’t like you during the argument,’ replies Tyler.
‘Well, maybe we can escape to …’
‘Somewhere in St Kilda?’ suggests Tyler.
‘No,’ says Angelique.
‘Kings Cross in Sydney?’ suggests Tyler.
‘No’ says Angelique.
‘The Gold Coast?’ suggests Tyler.
‘Hmm, maybe,’ says Angelique.
‘How about Amsterdam or Hamburg?’ suggests Tyler.
‘No,’ says Angelique.
‘What about San Fernando Valley?’ suggests Tyler.
‘No way, Tyler. Where is San Fernando Valley?’
‘It’s in north Hollywood and Silicone Valley in Los Angeles,’ replies Tyler
‘Forget the escape. Let’s do something else before the wedding’ says Angelique.
‘Absolutely,’ says Tyler, so he walks to Angelique, holds her in his arms and they close their eyes and have a goodnight kiss.
After they stop kissing, Tyler stops holding and hugging her and they walk to his bed, hop in and lie down.
‘Are you going to feel better tomorrow, Angelique?’
‘Not sure, but I’m going to see my mother in the Alfred Hospital again tomorrow,’ replies Angelique.
‘Oh, that’s right, what are you going to do?’ asks Tyler.
‘Just going to have a brief chat with her, and then, say goodbye to her and wish her luck before her operation,’ replies Angelique.
‘Will she live to attend the wedding of you and me?’ asks Tyler.
‘We’ll see,’ replies Angelique.
‘All right, let’s see how it goes for you tomorrow, and also, your mother. Goodnight, Angelique.’
‘Goodnight, Tyler,’ says Angelique.
They close their eyes and sleep, because they’re not going to have sex until they’re married.
CHAPTER 21
T
he next morning at the swimming pool, Tyler is sitting on the concrete after finishing his swimming. He is thinking about how Robert Taylor will react when the announcement is made tomorrow. Then Peter arrives.
‘G’day Tyler.’
‘Hi,’ says Tyler.
‘What’s wrong, mate?’ asks Peter. ‘You look unwell.’
‘Nah, I was just thinking.’
‘What are you thinking about?’
‘We’ll have a discussion later. Let’s talk about yesterday.’
‘Okay, go ahead,’ says Peter.
‘Well, yesterday Angelique and I went to the Alfred Hospital where she introduced me to her mother, Margaret, and then I had a chat with her,’ says Tyler.
‘What did you chat with her about?’ asks Peter.
‘Just talking about how I met Angelique, who is the most stunning woman I have ever seen, and how I didn’t know how to approach her at a bar in the Duke of York Hotel when I was working as a staff member and also, how I met her at Dave’s Restaurant,’ replies Tyler.
‘Then what next?’ asks Peter.
‘Then, I talked to her mother about how I was in love with Angelique, how I look after her, how I have a good time with her, how I go out with her and how I was spending time with her. I told her about how I was nearly taken hostage by Robert Taylor at his secret hideout and she thought I was nearly dead.’
Peter is shocked. ‘Bloody hell! You’ll give her a bloody heart attack!’
‘No,’ says Tyler. ‘She thought I was just a poor bugger because she was worried about me being threatened by a madman, so that’s it.’
‘You poor son of a bitch!’ says Peter. ‘What happened after this?’
‘Well, I told her that I don’t want to live without Angelique and also, I told her that I don’t want her to die,’ says Tyler. ‘After we finished having a chat, I broke into tears about her and because I was worried about her. I was upset.’
‘Were you upset about something else?’ asks Peter.
‘There’s a scumbag who called Angelique both “darling” and “honey” when he talked to her about her mother’s heart surgery!’ replies Tyler.
‘What’s his name?’ asks Peter.
‘His name is Dr John Chasey and I was so upset about him!’ replies Tyler.
‘Did you get angry at him?’ asks Peter.
‘Yes,’ replies Tyler.
‘Why?’ asks Peter.
‘Because he made me feel jealous!’ replies Tyler.
‘Mate, don’t worry about it!’ says Peter. ‘Just calm down and relax. Take it cool and easy, tiger. Anyway, what about last night?’
Tyler stops frowning. ‘Well, Angelique and I went to my parents’ house at Elsternwick for a visit and then, I introduced her to my parents.’
‘Oh, beauty,’ says Peter. ‘How did it go?’
‘My parents had a chat with Angelique but they embarrassed her,’ replies Tyler.
‘What was it?’ asks Peter.
‘She told my parents about her job as a stripper,’ replies Tyler.
‘What about dinner time?’ asks Peter.
‘During dinner, when I was having my meal, I heard my dad talking to my mum about what he thought of Angelique
. He said she was fantastic and Mum talked to him about if she was good or not good for me,’ replies Tyler.
‘What? Does your mother think Angelique is not good for you because she is a dancer?’
‘I don’t know,’ replies Tyler.
‘Oh, what went wrong during dinner time?’ asks Peter.
‘My mum upset Angelique and then, Angelique was rude to my mum, twice,’ replies Tyler.
‘What was Angelique being rude to your mother about?’ asks Peter.
‘Just disgusting things,’ replies Tyler.
‘Oh, geez,’ says Peter. ‘Did your mother talk to you about Angelique?’
‘Yes,’ says Tyler. ‘She told me to not go out with Angelique because she thinks Angelique is a whore, and she wants me to go out with normal girls like lawyers, but I told my mum that I want to be with Angelique, that Angelique and I will have a good and happy time for the rest of our lives.’
‘Wow, that’s a drama!’ says Peter. ‘Any arguments?’
‘Just only between Angelique and my mother,’ replies Tyler.
‘What about any catfights?’ asks Peter.
‘No,’ replies Tyler.
‘Oh, come on, Tyler,’ says Peter. ‘How about both Angelique and your mother flicking their hair, touching lips and then, do cat claws at each other by using a scratch … I mean, scratching by using the word “miaow”! Or how about mud wrestling, a pillow fight or other types of catfights?’
‘Uh uh,’ says Tyler.
‘Why not?’ asks Peter.
‘Because it’s not suitable,’ replies Tyler. ‘It’s a female version of a high five, not a catfight.’
‘Oh, sorry to stir you up,’ says Peter. ‘It’s a joke, Tyler.’
Tyler stands up and says to Peter, ‘That’s okay, Peter, I don’t want you to be a stand-up comedian.’
‘Yeah I know,’ says Peter.
‘Hey, Peter?’
‘Yeah?’
‘Guess what I’m going to do today?’ asks Tyler.
‘What?’ asks Peter.
‘Going to the police station,’ replies Tyler.
‘For what?’ asks Peter.
‘About Robert Taylor,’ replies Tyler.
‘Who is Robert Taylor?’ asks Peter.
‘He’s the mysterious person. You know, he wears that mysterious coat,’ replies Tyler.
Peter is shocked. ‘Oh, stone the crows! I saw that person on the news last night.’
‘Look, Peter, this is an important mission,’ says Tyler. ‘I want you to come with me to the police station. Would you like to join me?’
‘I would love to, Tyler,’ replies Peter.
‘Okay, we’re both witnesses about Robert, the mysterious person who wears that mysterious coat. We saw him, didn’t we?’ asks Tyler.
‘Hmm, maybe, I think so,’ replies Peter.
‘Okay, why don’t you come to my apartment block after I finish eating breakfast?’ suggests Tyler.
‘Okay,’ says Peter.
‘Friends?’ asks Tyler.
‘Friends,’ replies Peter, so he and Tyler shake hands, give each other a friendly punch on the arm, then walk away.
Later, after Tyler’s finished eating his breakfast and brushed his teeth, he walks to his bedroom, opens the door, but no one is there. Then, he sees another note from Angelique. He takes the note and reads it:
Tyler, I’m going to the Alfred Hospital to see my mother who is having heart surgery, so I’ll come and meet you at the police station later and also, take my statement about how I saw Robert Taylor. Read my story to anybody else you want to because I’m a lucky girl.
Love,
Angelique XX
Tyler says to himself, ‘Hmmm, she might be right’ and takes the note to put it in his suit. Tyler walks to the lounge room. He walks to the couch and sit down. ‘I wonder if Angelique and I would like to escape to a rainforest at Daintree and Cape Tribulation in North Queensland because I love rainforests.’
Tyler closes his eyes and dreams about him and Angelique having a walk in the rainforest to search for a waterfall. They are holding hands. Tyler is in Speedo bathers and Angelique is in a bikini; both are carrying towels as they walk. Later in the same dream, Tyler and Angelique see a big, huge waterfall so they walk to the waterfall and climb up the rocks beside the waterfall and find a hidden cave behind the water stream. As they’re disappearing to enter the cave, Tyler wakes up, opens his eyes and says to himself, ‘Hmmm, that’s a short dream. I think I’ll change my mind and change from Port Douglas to Daintree and Cape Tribulation as a honeymoon destination so we can have fun in a rainforest, a swimming pool, a lagoon, a freshwater creek, a spa, a rainforest walk, a swimming hole and a beach nearby. Yeah, I’d like to see that.’
There is a knock on the door and Tyler says, ‘Yeah, come in.’
The door opens and it’s only Peter.
‘Ready to go to the cop shop?’
‘Peter, can we have a chat before we leave?’ asks Tyler.
‘Sure, go ahead,’ replies Peter as he sits down on the couch next to Tyler.
‘I was thinking about going to a rainforest in North Queensland with Angelique.’
‘Is that your plan as a honeymoon for you and Angelique?’
‘Maybe. This is my dream, a normal dream.’
‘Do you like rainforests?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why do you like rainforests?’
‘Because I love them,’ says Tyler. ‘When I was a teenager, I was thinking and dreaming about going to the rainforests in North Queensland by myself, so I can have freedom and enjoy myself in a forest of water, trees, animals and birds, but I wonder who’s going to protect me from dangerous things like mosquitoes and cane toads if I’m going to visit.’
‘Tyler, cane toads don’t harm people,’ says Peter, ‘but have you tried your luck before?’
‘No,’ replies Tyler. ‘I was very busy doing things like school work when I was a teenager so I took the information about the rainforests of North Queensland and kept it in my scrapbook.’
‘Oh, don’t worry, Tyler,’ says Peter, ‘you just wait and see if your dream becomes reality.’
Tyler and Peter have a long pause until Peter asks, ‘Got anything for the meeting at the police station today?’
‘Yes, I’ve got a statement from Angelique which I found on my bed,’ replies Tyler.
‘What’s the story about?’ asks Peter.
‘It’s about how she saw Robert Taylor when she was working at the Duke of York Hotel. Robert drove her crazy when she was working and performing a dance on stage and she’s had to get rid of him, so the hotel used a bouncer to protect each dancer during performances,’ replies Tyler.
‘Was she scared of Robert?’
‘Yes,’ replies Tyler. ‘It made her mad for just a little bit.’
‘Hang on, Tyler, you’ve got her story. Where is she now and what’s she doing?’
‘She’s off to the Alfred Hospital,’ replies Tyler.
‘What for?’
‘To see her mother before her mother’s heart surgery,’ replies Tyler.
‘Oh, that’s right. You told me before, didn’t you?’
‘I have no idea,’ replies Tyler.
‘Okay, what’s Angelique going to do after that?’
‘Angelique will come to the police station after the operation, and then, she will talk to me about her mother. If her mother lives, we’re going to be happy and put her as a guest of honour at the wedding, or if she dies, we’re going to be sad and disappointed and we’re not sure if we will put the wedding on hold.’
‘Is Angelique going to be happy or sad?’ asks Peter.
‘We’ll wait and see.’
‘Are we ready to go?’ asks Peter.
‘Oh strewth, sorry,’ replies Tyler, so he and Peter stand up from the couch, and walk to the door.
‘Oh, Tyler, are we allowed to bring George, Mark, Paul and Mick to join us at the police station?’
‘Would you like to talk to him?’
‘Let’s go and see him,’ says Tyler as he opens the door and leaves.
‘Which floor does he live on?’
‘First floor,’ says Peter.
‘All right, let’s go.’
A minute later, at the first floor, the elevator doors open and Tyler and Peter exit from the elevator. Tyler and Peter walk to Paul’s apartment and knock on the door.
‘Paul, will you come and talk to me and Peter please? It’s Tyler.’
The door opens, and it’s Paul with a T-shirt and jeans on after he has been clubbing in St Kilda.
‘What do you want?’
‘I need to talk to you about an issue,’ says Tyler.
‘Look, I’m so tired, can’t we have a talk later?’ asks Paul.
‘No!’ replies Tyler. ‘Let me talk to you now!’
‘All right, what’s the issue?’ asks Paul.
‘Peter and I are going to the police station for a meeting. Do you know who wears the mysterious coat?’ asks Tyler.
‘Who?’ asks Paul.
‘It’s Robert Taylor,’ replies Tyler.
‘Robert Taylor?’ asks Paul. ‘Who the bloody hell is Robert Taylor?’
‘He’s a mysterious person who wears a mysterious coat, and he also nearly took me hostage at his secret hideout,’ says Tyler.
‘Oh yeah, I get it,’ says Paul. ‘I think I had a mistaken identity between a woman and Robert about the mysterious coat.’
‘Look, Paul, I think you made a mistake. My girlfriend is not the mysterious person who wears the mysterious coat. The other woman is not the mysterious person who wears the mysterious coat. There’s just only one Robert Taylor who is the mysterious person who is wearing the mysterious coat. I think you’re con-fused with it all!’
‘Get stuffed!’ Paul slams the door in their faces.
‘Paul, get back here, you! You’re supposed to have a discussion with Tyler. Can you hear me? Paul? Paul! Paul!’
No one answers.
‘Forget Paul, Tyler. Ignore him.’
‘Well, that’s pathetic. I am so very disappointed.’