Slur: The Riverhill Trilogy: Book 1 (11 page)

‘I know,
but it’s not easy when people who used to chat to you suddenly just blank you
or give you dirty looks. Mike Marston completely blanked me today. I think he
must have heard the rumours.’

‘Face him
with it then. Find out what his problem is instead of just stewing over it. If
he’s letting that stand in the way of taking you out then he’s not much of a
bloke is he? You’re better off without him Julie. Besides, you’ve still got Vinny.’

‘Did have,’
Julie corrected her.

‘You’ve not
bloody finished with him have you?’

‘Not exactly,
no. I just can’t be bothered at the moment and after a night out with Mike, Vinny
seemed so boring.’

‘Give over
Julie. I’ve told you before, Vinny’s a decent bloke, and at least he’ll stand
by you, not like this bloody Mike. You’re living in a dream world if you think
you’ve got something going with the likes of him. I know his type. I bet he’s
all smarmy and trying to show off about how clever he is.’

‘Not really,’
Julie defended him but lacked any argument to back up her case.

After a
moment’s lull in the conversation Rita declared, ‘It’s time I was getting off.
I’ve got a busy day’s shopping ahead of me tomorrow.’

‘OK,’ said
Julie and, as Rita left, Julie promised to speak to her before her holiday.

‘See you
then,’ said Rita, ‘and don’t forget, don’t let the bastards get to you!’

Julie only
managed a frown in reply. Once she was left alone again to mull over the
situation, one thought dominated all others: “
Rita didn’t seem at all
concerned over Amanda’s death.
”

Saturday 5
^th
July 1986

The call from Vinny couldn’t have come at a worse time for
Julie. It had been two days since the funeral and Thursday had been a particularly
traumatic day at work. As Norma had attended Amanda’s funeral, Julie was
responsible for managing the switchboard with the assistance of an office
junior who had been trained to relieve them in the event of absence.

Management
had instructed Julie to tell all callers that they were operating a skeleton
staff due to special circumstances and to ask them to call back the following
day. This had proved challenging since many of the callers were curious about
the ‘special circumstances’ and Julie had found it very upsetting to have to repeatedly
give an explanation. There was also the odd difficult customer who insisted
that he had important matters to discuss, which couldn’t wait. Every time she
had to mention the word ‘funeral’ she could feel her voice shaking and was on
the verge of leaving the building on a couple of occasions.

It had also
been a day since Rita had left for her holidays, and her departure was still
fresh in Julie’s mind adding to her feelings of fear and isolation. It was no
wonder then that Julie was anything but receptive towards Vinny.

‘Hi Julie,
I thought I’d give you a ring to see if you’re feeling any better,’ he began nervously.

‘Vinny,
this isn’t just a cold that will go away after a few days you know; my mate’s
dead and I’ve been accused of killing her! I couldn’t even go to the funeral
because they would have lynched me. So how do you think I bloody feel? Put
yourself in my shoes. How would you feel?’

‘Julie, I’m
not trying to play it down. I know it must be bad. I’m just worried about you,
that’s all.’

‘Well you
don’t need to be! I’m doing enough worrying on my own.’

‘Don’t be
like that Julie; I’m just trying to help. I’ve left you alone for a few days to
give you some space. I was hoping that things might be getting a bit easier for
you by now.’

‘Well
they’re not; in fact they’re worse. The whole bloody world thinks I did it now,
thanks to some bastard scrawling all over the toilet walls at work! And if that
wasn’t bad enough, Rita pissed off to Greece yesterday and left me to it.’

‘You’re
joking! Some kind of a mate she is eh? I told you you’d have to watch her.’

‘Stop
having a go at Rita! I’ve told you, she’s all right. I can’t blame her for
going away really. I just wish that I could handle it as well as her.’

‘Yeah well,
she doesn’t have to work at the same place, does she?’

‘Oh cheer
me up Vinny, why don’t you?’ Julie replied.

‘Sorry
Julie. It’s just difficult not to talk about it. I tell you what, why don’t you
come round here and I’ll have a proper go at cheering you up?’

‘No Vinny.
I’m sorry, I’m just not in the mood.’

‘Oh suit
yourself then, I’ll see you around!’

Julie then
heard him replace the receiver. She put the phone down and stared at it for a
few seconds while she thought about the conversation that had just taken place.
Julie knew that she had been awful to Vinny, but there was no point phoning him
back as she couldn’t guarantee that she would be any nicer a second time. She
was just too troubled.

The loud ringing
of the phone made her jump. At this proximity it seemed to take on a life of
its own. She was tempted to ignore it, but resisted. She was amazed to hear the
sound of Rita’s voice at the other end of the line.

‘Hi Jules,
how’s it going?’ Before Julie had a chance to respond an animated Rita
continued. ‘Oh Julie, you should have come. It’s brilliant here, fuckin’ brilliant
I tell ya! The place is gorgeous, the hotel’s right next to the beach, there’s
a happy hour every night and loads of talent.’

Julie had
difficulty hearing Rita because of a commotion in the background.

‘What’s all
that noise?’ she asked.

‘Oh it’s
just Debby having a laugh with this fella.’

‘She’s not
copped already has she?’

‘Oh aye. You
know Debby, she doesn’t waste any time. First night out and bang, but don’t
worry; I’ve got my eye on a really fit barman.’

There was a
roar in the background.

‘What was
that?’ asked Julie.

‘Debby and
her fella,’ Rita replied between giggles. ‘I think they approve of my choice,
or maybe it was me mentioning the bang on the first night.’

A further
series of roars and giggles echoed down the line.

‘How are
you anyway?’ Rita continued. ‘Oh shit, the pips are going already. See you in a
fortnight Julie, and keep your pecker up.’

This
brought about peals of laughter from Debby and her companion until the sound was
cut off and Julie was left holding a dead telephone receiver.

She put the
phone down once again and gazed towards the window at the other side of the room,
feeling contemplative. It was clear that Rita and Debby were having a whale of
a time with not a thought for poor Amanda. She let the tears of frustration and
bitterness flow freely until they clouded her eyesight. Suddenly, as she looked
towards the living room window a vision appeared.

It was a woman;
a young woman, pretty with dark hair. It was Amanda. Julie watched dumbstruck
as Amanda gazed back at her with a pained expression on her face, her eyes red
and misty. 

The vision
continued and Julie was drawn to it. She stepped forward, approaching the window
until Amanda’s face was almost within reach. She stretched out her hand towards
Amanda, but the vision died just as rapidly as it had appeared. Julie dashed to
the window in search of an explanation, but the only thing she saw was her
father’s rose bushes swaying in the breeze. She sank to her knees and let out
an almighty yell while holding the sides of her head. ‘No, no!’ she shouted.
‘I’m going fuckin’ mad! NO!’

There was
nobody to hear her screams. Her parents and Clare were all out shopping. Julie
didn’t know how long she remained like that, shaking and sobbing uncontrollably,
but it seemed like an absolute age before she calmed down and rose to her feet.

She didn’t
tell anybody about the vision. Julie knew it was just a figment of her
imagination brought on by stress, and felt foolish discussing it. Besides,
there was nobody she could discuss it with. Hadn’t she already brought enough
trouble on her nearest and dearest without giving them even more cause for
concern? She decided to put it behind her and try to continue her daily
struggle through life.

 --------------------  

Monday 7
^th
July 1986

Julie
decided to confront Mike as soon as she returned to work on Monday. Even though
she had enough on her plate as it was, she was determined to get some answers
from him. Rita was right, there was no point in stewing over it. Apart from
that, she deserved an explanation; he had promised to take her out again when
all said and done.

The moment
she spotted him, she asked if she could have a quiet word and led him to an
interview room at the rear of the reception area. She decided to come straight
to the point.

‘Why have
you been avoiding me Mike?’

‘I haven’t,
I’ve been busy.’

‘Come off
it Mike! Your work doesn’t stop you from saying a quick hello. Besides, I
thought you were supposed to be looking forward to seeing me again.’

He squirmed
uncomfortably; he wasn’t going to wriggle out of this one.

‘All
right,’ he conceded, ‘I’ll come clean. I think you’re a great girl Julie and
I’d love to take you out again, but I can’t.’

‘Why, is it
because of Amanda?’

‘Sort of.’

He grasped her
hands, trying to ingratiate himself. ‘I don’t think you’ve done anything wrong
Julie, but I can’t ignore the rumours.’

She wrenched
her hands out of his reach.

‘It could
damage my career Julie,’ he pleaded. ‘Let’s just wait until everything settles
down, then maybe we can go out again.’

As she
stooped her head she could sense his discomfort while he awaited her reaction.
‘Just go Mike. Get out of my sight!’ she responded.

It was no
better than she had expected, but now she knew for sure why he had been
avoiding her and she wouldn’t waste any more of her time on him. She didn’t
shed any tears. Why bother crying for something that you never really had, or
was it because she had prepared herself already for what he was going to say?

When she
returned to the switchboard, a few moments after Mike had sauntered past, she
was relieved that Norma didn’t prompt her to relay her conversation with Mike. Perhaps
the expression on her face told Norma all she needed to know.

Thursday 10
^th
July 1986

Betty received the card in Thursday morning’s post addressed
to “Betty and Bill”. It was the long awaited invitation to her niece’s wedding.
Betty was surprised to receive the invitation so late as the wedding was just
over a week away, yet it had been the subject of conversation within the family
for months. Her niece had said how lovely it would be to see them all at the
church, but apologised that Clare would not be able to attend the reception as
it was an adults only affair. Betty had expected, however, to see Julie’s name
on the invitation since the wedding had been discussed openly in front of her.
She was at a loss to understand why Julie wasn’t invited, but decided to ring
and check, rather than just bring her along.

The reason
given wasn’t very convincing; they wanted to keep the numbers down due to cost,
so they had been forced to leave some people off the list. Although Betty wasn’t
overjoyed with the situation, she accepted the excuse.

When Julie
arrived home from work that evening, Betty decided to broach the subject with
her.

‘We’ve had
the invite to your cousin Dawn’s wedding love,’ Betty began tentatively.

‘Oh good,
that should be something to look forward to.’

‘I’m sorry
Julie but they’ve only invited me and your father. They said that they’ve had
to cut down on numbers.’

‘You’re
joking, I can’t believe it! Dawn’s been telling me about the wedding for months.
She wanted me there! What the hell are they playing at?’

‘Well I can
understand it in a way love,’ Betty replied, attempting to calm Julie.
‘Weddings are a dear do these days and I expect they’ve just got to cut
corners.’

‘That’s a
load of crap and you know it!’ Julie yelled. ‘We all know the reason I’m not
being invited so why don’t you just admit it?’

‘Don’t talk
such bloody rubbish!’ Bill interrupted. ‘The world doesn’t revolve around you
and your cronies you know. People have got better things to think about. And
don’t speak to your mother like that!’

Julie gave
a sad-eyed glance towards her mother then retired to her room. Betty could read
the hurt and despair in Julie’s eyes, which told her more than any words could
do, and her heart cried out in sympathy.

--------------------

Saturday
19
^th
July 1986

It was Saturday,
the day of the wedding, and also the day on which Rita was due to return from
her holidays in the early hours of the morning.

‘Well what
do you think?’ asked Betty as she swirled around in her peach, georgette
two-piece outfit.

‘You look
fine Mam,’ Julie answered.

Seeing the
look on her daughter’s face, Betty tried to quell some of her excitement, but
this was marred by Bill when he walked into the room and announced, ‘You look
smashing Betty love. You’ll be the bell of the ball!’

Hearing a
rare compliment from her husband, Betty gave a girlish giggle, unable to
contain her joy. ‘Go on with yer, I’m a bit old for that!’

But Bill’s compliment
had touched her. When the taxi driver rang the doorbell, Bill rushed to answer
the door. Continuing his merriment, he shouted, ‘Right ma’am, your carriage
awaits!’

‘You daft
beggar!’ Betty answered as she headed towards the front door. Before leaving
the house, however, she caught sight of Julie’s despondent expression. 

‘Are you sure
you’ll be all right love?’ Betty asked.

‘Of course
I will Mam, don’t be daft!’

‘All right,
I’ll see you later then, and make sure our Clare comes in on time for me won’t
you love?’

‘Yeah, stop
worrying! Just go and have a good time.’

‘All right,
bye then.’

Betty
breathed a sigh of relief as she left the house, glad to be away from the
stifling atmosphere. For the last week or so it had been like treading on
eggshells. Every time she had mentioned anything connected with the wedding,
Julie’s face had dropped.

Betty and Bill
had decided that they should go to the entire event alone as there seemed
little point in taking Clare to the church and then having to return home with
her prior to attending the reception. They had explained the situation to Clare
and she had accepted it. Grown up parties held no interest for her. She would
sooner go to one her friends’ birthday parties where they could run around,
play games and compare outfits.

With Julie
though, it was a different matter. Julie would normally have been the very
person that Betty would have discussed the wedding with. They would have
chatted merrily about what the bride would be wearing, where the honeymoon
would be, how many bridesmaids there were etc. etc. It had been difficult for
Betty trying to keep her enthusiasm to herself.

‘I do hope
our Julie will be all right,’ she said to Bill inside the cab.

‘Stop
worrying about her Betty! She’s a grown woman and can take care of herself. It’s
not your fault she hasn’t been invited, so stop taking it all on yourself. It’s
like you said, they’re just trying to cut corners, that’s all!’

‘It’s just
a pity it had to be our Julie though, especially after all she’s been through.’

‘I know
love, but it won’t be just Julie. There’ll be plenty of other people that
haven’t been invited. I bet it will only be a small affair.’

The wedding
service went well. The bride looked beautiful and Betty couldn’t help but shed
a few tears as she watched her walking down the aisle, recalling Dawn as a
toddler not so many years ago. After the photograph session, they were taken in
a minibus to have a celebratory meal. As they approached the splendid five star
hotel by means of its lengthy driveway, Bill turned to Betty and whispered.
‘Bloody hell! They’ve pushed the boat out here, haven’t they?’

‘Yes,’
Betty replied as she gazed in awe at the impressive surroundings. The hotel was
set in acres of gardens with lawns stretching out for miles to the sides of the
building; the grass cut to perfection and surrounded by colourful herbaceous
borders.

They
entered the hotel, marvelling at their opulent environment. Betty noticed the
detailed cornicing, marble pillars and crystal chandeliers. As she stared about
her in a trance, Bill nudged her and indicated towards the bride and groom who
were preparing to meet their guests. Embarrassed, they joined the line of
people.

As Betty
shook her niece’s hand she said, ‘Ooh this is lovely! It makes me feel like
royalty.’

‘Enjoy it
Aunty Betty,’ said Dawn while the groom grimaced at Betty’s lack of social
etiquette. Betty shook his hand awkwardly, then she and Bill made their way
towards a table lined with glasses of champagne laid on for the guests.

‘I never
expected a do like this!’ Betty commented, surveying the surroundings.

Bill, ill
at ease in such environs, replied, ‘Aye, so much for cutting bloody corners!’

‘Well
perhaps they overspent and had to cut back at the last minute,’ said Betty,
defending her sister’s family. ‘See, there aren’t many here for the meal, not
as many as there were at the church.’

‘I’m not
surprised!’ said Bill. ‘I bet it’s costing a bloody fortune just to feed this
many!’

Several
people turned round on hearing Bill’s raised voice.

‘Shsh!’
whispered Betty. ‘Don’t make a show of us!’

For the next
few minutes they remained silent, each engrossed in their own thoughts. Betty
knew just as well as Bill did that the excuse about cutting corners wasn’t a
valid one. At first she had refused to see it. How could her own family turn
their backs on Julie? But now, in light of what she had seen, she realised that
there was only one reason why Julie hadn’t been invited to the wedding.

Betty’s elderly
aunt Mary came to talk to them, commenting on what a lovely do it was, and
telling them all about the groom’s family as she pointed out who everybody was.

By the time
they sat down to the meal Betty and Bill had learnt that Dawn’s husband came
from a family with money. His father ran his own factory, but Dawn’s new husband
had not followed in his father’s footsteps. Instead, he had studied law at
university and was now a well-paid solicitor.

During the
lavish four-course meal they indulged in small talk with some of their
relatives and acquaintances, but they were unable to enjoy it. They both felt
out of place and disheartened at the way Julie had been treated.

As soon as
they had finished the meal, Bill found them a small table in a side room. Betty
noticed that there were two chairs at the table and guessed that this suited
Bill as it would deter other people from joining them. 

‘Bill, they
haven’t done the speeches yet,’ she said, once they were out of earshot.

‘Sod the bloody
speeches! It’s nowt but a load of old codswallop! What’s wrong with booking the
local labour club, and having a good knees-up? It’s a load of nonsense, all
that shaking hands and drinking bloody champagne. I’d sooner have a pint anyway!’

‘If that’s
the way they want it Bill then it’s up to them. Anyway, we both know that isn’t
what’s really upset you. It’s our Julie isn’t it?’

Bill paused
and drew in his breath sharply before replying. ‘Well it isn’t right! Who are
they to judge? It’s not as if she’s been charged with anything!’

‘All right
Bill,’ coaxed Betty. ‘I’m not overjoyed with it myself. That’s supposing that
it is the reason Julie wasn’t invited. We don’t know that; we’re just surmising
aren’t we?’

‘It’s
obvious Betty! Our Dawn’s married into money and they don’t want to be shown up
by having a murderer in the family. That’s the way they see it anyway.’

‘Look Bill,
we don’t know whose decision it was. And we still don’t know the real reason.
You can’t take it out on everybody. Besides, it might not be the reason.
There’s only close family to the meal, and all of those that I know are more closely
related to Dawn than our Julie is. We might be reading too much into it. Let’s
just relax and try to enjoy it eh? It isn’t every day we get the chance to live
it up in a place like this, is it?’

Eventually,
after a couple of drinks, Betty was relieved to see Bill begin to relax. As the
evening guests arrived, they noticed a couple of acquaintances, and their
conversation helped them to settle down and start to enjoy the occasion. While
they were chatting, however, Betty observed the guests that were arriving for
the evening reception, noting that there were many of Dawn’s cousins amongst
them.

When they were
left alone Bill echoed Betty’s thoughts. ‘I wonder what their excuse is for not
inviting our Julie to the evening do. The world and his wife are here.’

Betty
remained silent but bore a troubled expression.

‘I’m going
to the gents,’ Bill said, patting Betty’s hand as he left the table.

Betty
watched the other guests enjoying themselves while she waited for Bill. After a
couple of minutes she could see him heading back towards her. Bill had remained
calm for the last couple of hours so Betty was shocked to see him storming
through the room with a face like thunder.

‘Sup up
Betty, we’re going!’ he shouted, banging on the table for effect.

Betty
stared at him in shock.

‘You heard,
sup up we’re going!’

Betty wasn’t
used to seeing Bill like this and knew that there must be a good reason for his
behaviour. She quickly downed her drink, conscious of the many faces watching
them as she gathered her handbag from under the table.

Aware that
they were on show, Bill took the opportunity of making his feelings known as he
led Betty away.

‘Come on,
we’re going home! I’m not staying where we’re not wanted for a minute longer.
They can all bugger off! Our Julie’s better than the lot of them put together,
for all their bloody airs and graces.’

He sped through
the crowd, leading Betty by the hand into the hotel lobby. As Betty watched him
in astonishment, he strode up to the reception desk and ordered a taxi to take
them home.

While they
waited for the taxi, Betty said, ‘What the hell’s got into you Bill?’

Bill began
to explain the conversation he had overheard in the gents amongst two of
Betty’s relatives. They were maligning Julie, saying she was unfit to be seen
at such a function. While Bill was apologetic to Betty for having spoiled her
evening, at the same time, he made it clear that he valued his daughter over
and above anybody present and he wasn’t prepared to put up with her being
treated as an outcast. Betty knew better than to argue with him. Bill, normally
a quiet man, could be quite headstrong at times.

The taxi
soon arrived and Bill and Betty left the hotel. In the ten minutes that they
had been waiting in the foyer, nobody had been to see them.

It was only
ten o’clock when they arrived home, but Julie wasn’t downstairs. They surmised
that she must have gone to bed early and, as she didn’t come downstairs to see
why they had arrived home so early, they decided not to disturb her. Instead
they settled down to watch television for a couple of hours. Betty did,
however, pop her head round Julie’s door before she went to bed, just as she
did with Clare. Julie appeared to be sleeping soundly.