Chris Collett - [Tom Mariner 01] (10 page)

‘Hi.’ It was Jonathan. Anna looked at her watch. It was ten thirty.

‘Why are you ringing?’ she slurred, unsteadily. There was a din in the background. He was driving.

‘Mrs Robinson needed her beauty sleep,’ said Jonathan.

‘And boy, does she need her beauty sleep.’

‘It’s over?’

‘It’s over, and it was bloody hard work, but I think they’re hooked.’

‘That’s great. Well done you,’ said Anna, trying to muster some enthusiasm.

‘So, what I thought was, I’m just around the corner, I could come and celebrate my triumph with you. I can be with you in less than five minutes.’

A mild pain was beginning to throb just behind Anna’s eyes and she thought longingly of her comfortable bed and the prospect of a long, deep sleep. ‘It’s a nice idea, Jon, but actually I’m whacked.’

‘Oh, come on, Anna. I’m sure you can find some energy from somewhere.’ His voice went low and sexy. ‘I’m practically bursting out of my boxers here.’

Anna looked across at Jamie, still wide eyed and engrossed in a TV show. ‘I’m sorry Jonathan, I can’t. I’m not on my own, remember?’

A sigh. ‘Does that matter?’ Her lack of response was his answer. “I see.’ His plans thwarted, Jonathan’s voice hardened.

‘Look, you’re due some holiday, Anna. Why don’t you take a few days off? Get things sorted out?’ It was more of an instruction than a suggestion.

‘But Milan’s coming up,’ Anna reminded him. ‘There’s preparation I need to do.’

‘Well, it’s not essential that you go, is it?’

‘What?’

Hearing her dismay, Jonathan seemed to relent. ‘Look, see how things go over the next couple of days, eh? I’ll give you a call.’ With that he broke the connection, and in that same instant Anna felt her flimsy bond with the outside world being severed, too.

Using one of Jonathan’s emergency toothbrushes, she helped Jamie to clean his teeth before settling him down in her guest room. ‘Good night, Jamie.’ Turning off the light, she went through to her own room, but climbing into bed saw that Jamie had followed her back and was hovering in the doorway.

‘No, Jamie,’ she said. ‘Not in here.’ She took him back to his room. ‘This is your room. Jamie sleep here.’ They repeated the same routine four more times before Anna had to give up and sit on Jamie’s bed beside him until, at twenty-nine minutes past three in the morning (not that she was counting), Jamie finally fell asleep and she could go to bed, too.

It felt like only minutes after closing her eyes that a crash startled Anna awake, and she looked up to see Jamie flash by her bedroom door. Naked? Naked. In the bedroom his underwear lay on the floor in a soggy heap and there was a funny unidentifiable smell. He’d wet the bed. Ripping off the sheets, Anna bundled them into a heap and took them into the kitchen, stuffing them furiously into the washing machine.

The TV blared out from the living room but Anna tracked Jamie to the bathroom where he was busily working his way along her row of toiletries, sniffing at each container of moisturiser, shampoo and talcum powder, before pouring its contents into a congealed sticky mess on the floor.

‘Jamie!’ Anna struggled to hold back’ her anger. Jamie ignored her and kept on emptying. Her fury ruptured its banks. ‘Stop!’ she yelled. Jamie stopped what he was doing then calmly walked over to her, taking her hand and pressing it to his rough chin.

Anna sighed. ‘I know. You need a shave.’ After ruining her Lady shave trying to give him one, she turned on the shower and tried to persuade him under the jet of water. He wouldn’t go, so she ran a bath and Jamie climbed in happily, so happily that twenty minutes later when the water was tepid, he wouldn’t get out. They were going to be late for the day centre at this rate. In desperation Anna grabbed the TV remote control and, dangling it in front of him as bait, pulled out the plug. It gurgled loudly and Jamie leapt out of the bath, snatching the remote and running through to the lounge, still dripping wet. Anna gathered up what remained wearable of his sorry collection of clothes, resolving to fetch him some clean ones from the house as soon as possible, just enough to last until she could find somewhere permanent for him to stay.

She hooked the T-shirt over his head. ‘Come on, you help. I’m not going to do it for you.’ But Jamie had other ideas and Anna found herself physically manipulating him into every garment while he sat with his eyes glued to the TV screen.

By the time they were hurrying out through the door, Anna was exhausted. She’d managed somehow to throw on jeans and a sweater after a quick shower but make-up was a complete non-starter. They both looked as if they’d spent the night on the streets, leaving Anna praying that they wouldn’t meet anyone she knew.

The day centre was buzzing with activity when they got there and Francine greeted them cheerily. ‘I like the kit,’ she said. ‘How’s he been?’

‘A nightmare.’ Anna had already decided to play it straight. ‘I never realised what a powerful weapon passive resistance could be.’

Francine chuckled. ‘You need to be firm with him.’

‘But he just looks at me as if I’m mad.’

‘Probably because he doesn’t understand what you want him to do,’ Francine said. ‘Jamie’s much better at picking up visual clues than auditory ones so we use a lot of pictures to help him. Eddie had photographs showing things like getting dressed, eating, going out, so that Jamie could see what’s about to happen and what he’s meant to do. If he knows what’s going on he’s much more likely to cooperate.’

By way of a demonstration, Francine took Jamie by the hand and led him over to a wall that was covered in strips of photographs. ‘This is his timetable,’ she told Anna, then, turning back to Jamie, ‘Jamie look,’ she said. Familiar with the routine, Jamie followed her point.

‘Work first, then drink.’ As she spoke, Francine moved her finger to a photograph or line drawing that illustrated each activity while Jamie watched her out of the corner of his eye. She went back to the first. ‘Work now. Jamie, sit down.’

Without hesitation Jamie went to sit at one of the tables set up with light packing work for which the clients at the centre were paid a token wage.

Anna couldn’t help but be impressed. If they achieved that kind of result pictures might be good, even in the short-term. ‘I’ll see you this afternoon,’ she said to Francine. ‘And this time I’ll try not to be late.’

Waiting for Jamie to drop off to sleep last night had given Anna an opportunity to plan her strategy and her first stop this morning was the surgery of the man who had been their family doctor for years. Eddie had stuck with him because it was easier to continue with someone who knew Jamie well, and it was equally important to Jamie to visit someone he trusted. Dr Owen Payne, whose name had provoked a lifetime of hilarious quips, had always been more like a family friend than a GP as Anna was growing up, and she was hoping that today he would be able to offer some advice. Although Anna had long since transferred to a more local practice, walking into Dr Payne’s waiting room was an oddly familiar experience. During her childhood years, she’d spent countless mornings here helping to keep Jamie occupied and out of trouble whilst awaiting consultations.

Today, Anna queued at reception with the intention of merely making an appointment, but while she was standing in line, Dr Payne emerged from his consulting room, and, seeing her, did a double take. ‘Anna?’

Anna returned the smile, ‘Hello, Dr Payne.’ She was amazed that he’d recognised her so quickly, it must have been at least fifteen years since they’d last met. Although the Celtic, dark good looks were fading to grey and the raw Scots brogue had softened to a southerner’s lilt, he remained as engaging as ever.

‘Are you here to see me?’

‘It’s Eddie.’

‘Eddie?’

‘He’s … he …’ Suddenly her predicament was impossible to describe, but seeing her distress, Dr Payne stepped out and put an arm around her. It felt like coming home.

Even after all this time he was more comforting than Anna could have imagined, the nearest she could get to sharing the awful news with Mum or Dad.

‘Come with me.’ Looking over Anna’s shoulder the doctor squared things with his receptionist. ‘Give us a few minutes, would you?’ Always accommodating, nothing had ever been too much trouble for Dr Payne. When Jamie was first diagnosed, he’d been a constant visitor to the Barham household at all hours of the day and night, and again at the onset of the epilepsy, becoming virtually an honorary member of the family. Anna could recall Mum joking on more than one occasion that Dr Payne should have his own front door key, or be initiated into hiding place of the spare one. That was back in the days when doctors made twenty-four-hour house calls themselves, without relying on night-time deputising services.

On top of that, Dr Payne had been a brilliant support to Anna and Eddie too, at a time when they had needed someone to listen but Mum and Dad were too busy with Jamie. As a consequence Anna had developed quite a teenage crush on Dr Payne and she was slightly disconcerted to find as she walked through to his office supported by his guiding arm, that her feelings hadn’t entirely dissipated.

In his consulting room he sat her down. ‘Now tell me what’s happened.’ When she finally managed to articulate the sequence of events as they’d been told to her, his reaction was exactly as Anna would have expected, mirroring her own horror and disbelief.

‘I’m so very sorry, Anna,’ he said. ‘How can your family have suffered such terrible tragedy again?’

‘It’s becoming a habit,’ Anna agreed, darkly.

A troubled look crossed the doctor’s visage and standing abruptly he paced across the room, coming to rest with his back to Anna and palms pressed down on the windowsill.

‘I have a confession to make.’

‘Confession?’

He turned to face her. ‘Eddie came to see me several times during the last few weeks. Jamie was going through a difficult patch,’

‘Yeah, well, it’s what he’s good at. The day care staff have already been candid about what’s been going on.’

‘So you know that the respite placement at Oakwood had broken down?’

Anna nodded. The knowledge had done nothing to assuage her mounting guilt.

‘It was a blow but, unfortunately, all I did was to try and solve the problems with Jamie. I had no idea that Eddie was in such a state himself.’

Some confession.

‘You wouldn’t have known,’ Anna reassured him. ‘Eddie was an expert at hiding his feelings.’

‘But I should have guessed. He took his care of Jamie so seriously.’

And you didn’t? Anna studied Dr Payne’s face for any implied meaning, but saw none. She was being oversensitive.

‘I should have seen that he needed help too, but instead I focused all my energies on Jamie.’ He paused. ‘How’s Jamie doing?’

‘He seems fine. It’s almost as if he hasn’t noticed that Eddie’s gone.’

‘And there are no ill effects from his ordeal on Sunday night? Is there anything to indicate that he’s distressed by what happened?’

Anna thought back to the police interview. ‘No, although someone called Sally seems to be on his mind, Sally-Ann.

You don’t know her, do you? One of Eddie’s friends perhaps?’

‘Sally-Ann?’ Dr Payne shook his head. ‘Not someone I know, I’m afraid, but then I wasn’t party to Eddie’s social life. Look, it might be an idea if I checked Jamie over at some point. Is he staying with you?’

‘At present, yes he is. But that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I’m finding it really hard…’ Anna floundered.

She didn’t want this to sound whingeing, but she needn’t have worried, the doctor was immediately sympathetic.

‘Of course. Although he’d withdrawn Jamie from Oakwood I know Eddie hadn’t ruled out the idea of finding alternative care for Jamie. In fact, despite your parents’ views, he’d expressed an interest in something far more comprehensive. We talked at length about what the options might be. I took that as being a wise long-term precaution, but now I wonder if he had other, very different motives.’

Like planning his escape.

Anna paused. ‘Well the thing is, I was hoping you could help me in the same way,’ she said. Dr Payne was already with her.

‘I’d be happy to. I compiled a list of possible residences for Eddie to try. I’m sure I must still have a copy somewhere.

Bear with me one moment.’ Getting up, he went out of the room, returning moments later with a handwritten list on a sheet of headed A4 paper. ‘I’m afraid it doesn’t look much, mainly because provision for adults with special needs is still pretty scarce. It’s a case of phoning up each and arranging a visit. As I advised Eddie: have a good look, be thorough and don’t be afraid to ask questions, these places vary enormously in what they offer for the price. And there may be some hard choices to make, particularly around issues such as the use of medication.’ He frowned. ‘The other thing you must be prepared for is that none of these places is cheap.’ So there was the rub.

Despite the encouragement, was that final comment subtly designed to discourage her?

Whether or not that was the case, as Anna left the surgery, those were the words that resounded in her head.

She felt ruthless doing it so soon, but the next logical step was to establish where she stood financially. From Dr Payne’s practice, Anna drove to the small block of offices on Harborne High Street that accommodated the Barham family solicitor. It seemed unlikely that Eddie would have made any kind of will; after all, he wasn’t yet forty—

‘But actually he had.’ Paul Jenner was another man who had lurked on the margin of Anna’s past life. That he was a junior partner in the firm was a misnomer as he must be fast approaching retirement and had been the one to assist Eddie and Anna through the legal minefield that had followed the deaths of their parents. As Anna had told him the news he’d whitened, called to request tea from his secretary, more for himself than for Anna, before moving on to business. ‘Fortunately, Eddie’s forethought will make things much simpler. You’d be amazed at the mess that can be left behind in some cases,’ he said. ‘But prudence would seem to be a strong quality in your family. Eddie came in to see me a few weeks ago to talk through the arrangements.