Denny's Downfall

Denny's Downfall

Denny scrunched down so she wouldn’t see him sitting in the car. He’d borrowed it from his mate Matthew and she’d likely not notice him but he didn’t want to take any chances. It’s not like he was officially warned against seeing her; it was her and not the courts setting the parameters here.

They’d been a young couple in love not that long ago to his mind anyway. She’d argued that and told him two weeks ago that his reality, and the schemes his brain came up with were beyond comprehension. He really hated when she used big words, it put him right off the point he was trying to make. He wasn’t stupid or mentally incapacitated, but he’d been told by the school counsellor that his mind was a realm with it’s own rules that defied explanation by those outside it.

She did admit to him during their ‘discussion’ (Lord he hated when she named their arguments) that she’d loved him once but that they weren’t young anymore, she’d grown up without him. He’d been a tool to use against her strict Catholic parents at first, eventually he’d charmed her family enough that there was a wedding and a small house and what he imagined was a normal life. He’d go to work at the brewery and she’d stay home and tidy and cook and whatever else women did by themselves for hours at a time. On the weekends he’d go with his mates to watch their city team play football, but only if they were at home. To his mind spending money to follow the lads on the road was just throwing away notes he could put towards a pub outing nearer to home.

Here he sat in an old cold Vauxhall watching his life move along without him. She was sitting with some lass at one of the pub’s picnic tables and like most women when they got together they talked non-stop as they sipped at a half of cider each. Katy was beautiful today he noted sullenly. Her strawberry blonde curls blew free, the coolness in the September air gave her soft cheeks just that bit of colour. She was clad in blue jeans and a sweater set in dark green, he knew that the shade brought out the hazel in her tip tilted eyes. He groaned inwardly at the memories of those eyes gazing up at him on so many previous happy occasions.

Their split had been all his fault. He was willing to admit that he should have gone straight home on the  night in question. His stance had been that a man needs to know he’s a man, married or not. Katy’s stance had been quite the opposite and was the reason he’d been kipping in Matthew’s spare room for the last three weeks. He’d been trying to talk her around, showing up at her new job in the craft shop, at her parent’s, and in the pub. She was having none of it though and two weeks ago she threatened to put the police on to him. He agreed to leave her alone for awhile until she had time to think, he’d nodded and held his hands up in supplication. He didn’t follow her into any buildings but she couldn’t stop him from watching her.

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Katy could sense him close by and straightened her spine. Facing Margaret, she asked her to discreetly glance around the parking lot for a ‘dark-haired cheating dog’. Mags peered around, and spotted Denny in a rusted black Vauxhall five cars away.

“I see him Katy, sunk down low like he’s some kind of private eye on a case. What are you going to do?”

“Nothing I can do, he’s allowed to sit in the lot all day if he chooses. I just don’t want to see him at the shop or anywhere I am for awhile. I mean, how am I supposed to figure out if I forgive him if he doesn’t give me the space, away from him. You know?” She finished off her cider and exhaled, blowing bangs off her face.

She rose from the bench and strode toward the bar to fetch two more ciders, and a bag of crisps. When Alisa asked if she wanted anything else she started to say no and then decided to order a sausage roll and have it delivered out to the only black car. She giggled at Alisa’s shocked face and filled her in on the parking lot situation. She couldn’t let her stalker starve could she? She was still smiling when she returned to the table, a glass in each hand and the chip bag held gently between her arm and body.

“Thanks Katie, last one this. I have to go sit with mom at the hospital tonight.” They talked about Maggie’s only parent and her cancer until they’d finished their round.

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Denny was surprised as heck when the barmaid brought out a warmed-up sausage roll. She thrust it through the open window and told him that a lovely, kind-hearted woman bought it for him, and that if he had any stones at all he’d get out of the rust bucket he was hiding in and apologize. Denny just gaped at Alisa, he’d gone to school with her, grown up in the same part of town. He’d thought she was a mate but after she flounced away he realized that in a situation like this, women stick together.

He wolfed down the pastry, savouring the spices used in the meat. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was. Matthew was one of those bachelors that stocked little food, he’d eat at diners or pubs, the odd time there’d be a container of left overs in the fridge next to the milk but it was never breakfast oriented. Denny had taken up the habit of ‘dropping by’ his mother’s house around noon to have a visit. To get some soup or a sandwich though, he’d have to endure speeches about loyalty and how lovely Katy was, and what kind of fool was he. The first time she asked him that he’d replied with a witty, “How many types are there?” He’d received a smart smack on the side of his head so he’d kept his replies polite after that.

The fact that his father had gone down the same path a decade ago and had been forced from his own house should have been a cautionary tale. He’d never been good at reading women or signs for that matter, so when he sowed his oats he thought it’d be forgiven and forgotten. Three weeks out of his own place, alone and chastised by the locals was becoming untenable. So, what was the next step he asked himself, brushing crumbs off his jeans and football jersey. He was raising his head when his eyes met Katie’s. She was standing directly in front of the car, he couldn’t see much more than her silhouette as the sun was sinking behind her, but his heart would know her anywhere.

He was about to push the door open but her hand went up to stop him. She dropped it when she saw that he’d stopped moving.

“I can say what I need to say with you where you are. I’ve told you to stop following me Denny, what do I have to do? If you don’t respect my wishes in this, how can I expect you to be the husband I need?” Her head dropped and a slim hand wiped an invisible tear from her cheek. She took a deep breath and waited for a group of men to walk past before continuing.

“I need one more week without seeing you or sensing your presence near me. I don’t want to hear you’ve been to the shop or walking by my parent’s house. Everyone in this community knows what a cheat you’ve been, I’ll probably be the most pitied woman around if I do take you back.”

“Don’t say that Katie, people would just think you have a big heart and want to stay married.”

“Why would I? What have you or marriage done for me Denny? You don’t take me anywhere, you’re cheap and vague on the rules of human relationships, the sex with Monica showed us all that.”

He dropped his head, what had he been thinking? One too many pints and a woman nearby who didn’t complain when he was late for his tea. Monica wasn’t what he wanted. He clearly wasn’t what she wanted either because as soon as their chests came unstuck she lit a fag and told him to head off home.

“I’m sorry Katie, I’m a bastard. I know that now. I’ll never touch another woman again. It was a drunken mistake that I’ll have to live with.”

“You have to live with?!” She yelled and moved around to the side of the car.

“Do you ever think what it’s like for me? The looks of pity on people’s faces when they come in for a skein of wool, my father’s eyes when he looks at his hurting little girl every Sunday, hanging around with our couple friends and feeling like a third wheel. All of this because you couldn’t keep little Denny in his trousers!” Her voice had raised incrementally throughout her tirade so the patrons in the pub garden had all turned a curious and collective ear. On her final sentence there was a huge roar of appreciation which mortified her at first, then made her laugh at the absurdity of it all.

“Go on back to Matt’s place Denny. Give me peace for seven days and we’ll talk then. No promises but I’ll agree to a meeting.” She turned on her Keds and disappeared around the corner.

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She and Mags had been discussing their week at the King’s Arms on the Friday, when they sensed a presence. Looking up in tandem they were met with the stunning figure of Monica draped casually over the wooden partition. She was clad in a purple flowered summer dress over bare legs that went on forever. Knowing the following conversation would be observed by everyone in the pub, Katie pasted a smile on her face, determined to be polite but distant.

“Monica, love that dress!”

“Thank you Katie, it’s a favourite. With the Fall coming though it’s the last time I’ll be able to wear it. Into the closet it goes.” Monica sighed dramatically. She motioned for Maggie to scoot over, Mags decided instead to shuffle out and walk towards the ladies room, leaving the two women as much on their own as they could be in a pub full of patrons.

“Katie, I wanted to say, face to face that I’m sorry for what happened with Denny last month. It was a mistake caused by too many G and T’s. I knew as soon as it was over that I’d messed up. It wasn’t personal, he was there and I was hot. You know there’s not much talent in this town.”

 “So, you decided to have someone else’s? How does that compute Monica, please I’d like to know. Couldn’t you just pull someone on holiday or something? My God, we were friends once.”

Katie sat up straight and sipped her wine. There was an eerie calm in her soul. She knew then that nothing would change unless she did. She was the only one responsible for her life now, for her consequences.

Standing up quickly forced her to be face to face with Monica. Taking up her bag she stared at her ex-friend and pointed to the left without speaking, Monica stepped back and waved her hand as if to say, ‘go ahead then’. Mags had emerged from the ladies and was standing at the bar watching the silent ballet. When Katie, head held high headed out the door Maggie followed.

They were at the zebra crossing when Maggie finally spoke up. She didn’t want to hear the answer but she had to ask.

“So, Katie, is this you heading to Matt’s to get your hubby back? Has seeing Monica brought home the old feelings?”

“It’s brought up some old feelings for sure, but it’s not what you think love. I finally understood something sitting there with her. She was just the first, well maybe she was the first I don’t even know. I do see though that I don’t want to be just his little Missus. I want one last shot at being myself Mags. I want to travel, to see the world not just this little corner of the UK, you know?” She took a look around at the cobbled streets and stone covered buildings, her home town that she never realized was so small.

“I’m going to Matt’s to tell Denny it’s over. He’s to come and pick up what he has left in the house and then I’ll file the paperwork on Monday. He’s been good about leaving me to decide what the next step is in our marriage, but I think that has more to do with home comforts than me as a person. I’ll talk to you later yeah?”

Maggie nodded, hugged her friend and they parted ways. Mags back to the hospital and Katie to a whole new life.