When you are handed a losing hand

Content Warning: This story contains themes of stalking and marital conflict

                       When you are handed a losing hand

I gently pulled back the curtain so that I could look down at the street without being noticed. There he was standing near the lamp post on the other side of the street. It was raining quite hard but that didn’t seem to disturb him. He wore a heavy macintosh with a large hat that covered any chance of seeing his face. I let the curtain fall back into place. 

“Harold, it is bizarre and frankly scary. There is a man standing across the street in the rain. For the last few days I have been seeing him. He is often on our street, sometimes in the subway when I go to work, twice at lunch in a restaurant near the hospital when I am having lunch with a friend. I think he is definitely stalking me. But why? I notice him as he always wears a macintosh and a hat that covers to a large extent his facial features. His eyes are covered over by a pair of dark glasses. I think we should go to the police.

Harold, my husband, reacted with a violent reaction. “There is no question of involving the police in this matter.”

I sat there stunned by his reaction. During our period of dating and being recently married Harold always appeared to me as a mild, gentle man incapable of losing his temper or showing any strick of violence. These were some of the qualities that attracted me towards him. I had recently finely extracted myself from a messy divorce to a violent and brutal man. I remember thinking while dating Harold he was the complete opposite in character to the husband I had devoiced,

“Well what do you suggest we do? His presence is beginning 

to scare me.”

“Would you like me to go down and talk to him?”. He said this in a calm and helpful tone. 

“No, not tonight. It's pouring with rain. The next time I see him I will call you and maybe at that time you could come and investigate. But why not call the police and let them deal with the matter”. 

My mention of the police again bought out a violent reaction.

“You are not listening. I don’t want the police involved”. His tone of speech had changed into issuing an aggressive command’.

Something in my makeup pushed me to try and find out his reasoning to eliminate any contact with police. 

“May I ask why?”

In response he started mumbling about a tax problem he had in his business. I knew instantly this was not the reason but a lame excuse. It was pointless continuing unless I was prepared to have a major row. Calling the police about a stalking problem and your husband’s tax problems seems like comparing chalk and cheese. But what did disturb me is that I had seen another side to my husband that I never thought existed. Was I now married to a man that possessed hidden violence tendencies? That night I did not sleep well. 

We had only been married for three months after dating for about five months. After my divorce I had declared that my days of being married were a thing of the past. After a trial period of a few months I began to feel lonely without a permanent partner. Through a friend I started dating Richard, a kind, considerate, gentle man. He owned a local plumbing business. He had never been married. When he asked me to marry him I asked for a period of twenty four hours to consider his proposal. He understood, particularly as I had recently suffered from a difficult divorce. I was certainly attracted to him, but I was in love? After a sleepless night carefully weighing all the fours and against, I accepted. 

The next day I had an urgent need to talk to one of my best friends about the incident with Harold the previous evening. I called Pricella who was my bridesmaid at our wedding. We agreed to have a drink after work. 

How’s married life? 

“A very great improvement on the first time I tried it.” 

This made Pricella laugh. We had been firm friends since school days. She knew all my secrets, well nearly all. I think most of us have inner secrets that we share with nobody.

“He is a very kind and considerate man. He wants me to stop working. He tells me his business is very profitable and he can well afford for me to be at home and prepare for us to have children. I have not given him my reply yet as I am not sure I just want to be a home mum. But what I want to talk to you about is that I not only think, but I feel sure I am being stalked by somebody. I told Richard last night and suggested we contact the police. The calm, gentle man I have been living with for the last three months flew into a rage and forbade me to contact them.”

“Emma, darling, the first question is why do you think you are being stalked. 

“I have no idea. Do you think it could be somebody like Ronald,my ex, employing someone to scare me? It would be just like him.”

“No, I understand he has left for Europe as he had a job offer.”

“It’s odd! It really is starting to disturb me”.  

“If you don’t want to go to the police, let's try and talk to him directly. We will question him and at that time and threaten him with the police if does not stop.”

“Not a bad idea, but only if we are together”

“ Where do you see him the most often?” 

“ Apart from outside my apartment in the cafe near the hospital.”

“Good, as we both work in the hospital the next time you see him give me a call and I will come.”

A week later I saw him in the cafe. I called. Within minutes Priscalla and I had approached him. Priscella asked the first question “Why are you following my friend? If you continue we will inform the police.”

At this he took his hat off and removed his dark glasses. We could see from the colour of his facial skin he was from some middle eastern country. He was a good looking man with dark piercing eyes. Before he spoke his face lit up with an engaging smile.

“It’s true I occasionally follow her, but I am much more interested in her boyfriend. I have been following her to see if she is involved in her boyfriend's affairs like his last girlfriend that died in a shooting accident related to drugs”. 

“My boyfriend is my husband and what’s this about drugs. He owns and runs a plumber’s business.”

“Oh! This time he got married. Smart guy. No doubt he has signed some of his assets to you.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Do you know anything about your husband's business?” 

“No, not much. I once visited his office. It’s a relatively small business where they act as plumbers for the surrounding area. They also have a subsidiary that imports and sells plumbing material and equipment. This side of the business takes up most of his time”. 

“Well, the import business is a cover up for sizable quantities of imported drugs. He owes my boss a large sum of money for the last shipment we sent. We are starting to count the days. The police are also putting a surveillance team on him so maybe you should warm him.”

I put my open hands on the table and let my head drop into them. I muttered, "Why is it that I am involved with men that have seriously complicated characters and lifestyles?" I felt the warm arms of Priscella embrace my back. 

The next thing I heard was. “Well ladies I think I have found the answer I was looking for. The stalking of your friend will cease. I suggest you warn your husband we will be closely watching him." He replaced his glasses, adjusted his hat and left the cafe. 

“What am I going to do? I paused a moment before speaking again. “I cannot face him alone. Can you come to dinner tonight or tomorrow? With you by my side I will confront Harold with what we heard today?”.

“Yes, given the circumstances I think is probably the best course of action. I am not thrilled at being a witness, but given the accusation it's important. I cannot tonight as I am on duty but tomorrow at eight would be fine”

I was so relieved. I gave her a big hug. 

Harold phoned and said he would be very late that night. I should go to bed and not wait for him. When I saw him at breakfast the next morning I told him Priscella was coming for dinner. He seemed pleased as he wanted an early night. He also told me on coming back home late last night he thought he was being followed. 

That evening as the three of us sat down to dinner. I opened the conversation. 

“Richard, regarding my fear of being stalked with the help of Priscella two days ago we confronted the man and said that we were prepared to go to the police if he didn’t stop”. 

“I thought I told you never to evolve the police”. 

“That is why I used the word that we were prepared to go to the police. In fact he was only following to make sure I was not involved in your business as your previous girlfriend was before we started dating. Apparently she was shot sometime ago in a drug episode. He said he was following you as you owe a chuck of money to his boss for the last delivery of drugs. He went on to say the police were starting to be interested in your business

Harold turned his head towards Priscella then looked at the dish of sushi I had put before him. In a controlled and clear voice he said. 

“It’s true. Through my importation side of the business I am involved in drug smuggling. It started a few years ago when I had just launched the importing business. I was approached by a foreign group from the middle east. I was young and naive to the ways of the world. The money they were talking about made my head spin. They claimed a small import business of plumbing materials was an ideal cover for their trade. I didn't have anybody to advise me so after a few sleepless nights I agreed and became one of their partners. The whole operation was highly successful beyond most people's imagination. Then I met you Emma. For me it was love at first sight. As our relationship developed and you agreed to marry me I realized I would have to put my affairs in order. But I had no intention of allowing it to spoil or damage our relationship. Discussing it with you I believed would have been the end of our marriage. Be assured my love for you is even greater today than when I first met you. I alone can carry the burden of unravelling the drug business. I should have never gotten involved.

“You should have told me.”

“Should I? Would you be sitting here today? Look, I don’t think there is anything more to say. I will drive Priscella home. I am sure none of us feel like eating. 

I sat there stunned by his little speech. They left. He never came back. I phoned his portable. The number had been disconnected. 

A few weeks later I received a letter from a lawyer detailing various assets I owned in my name transferred to me by my husband.

David Nutt                          February 2025