Without You I Have Nothing (32 page)

_{His thoughts roamed
back to when Peter and he had interviewed the girls and Peter had insisted on
signing them up as new workers.}

_{‘Ah, yes, Peter. How
could he stop himself-destructing?  The silly Bastardo!’  Shaking himself, Joe
realized he mustn’t greet Peter with “Che Cazzo fai (What the fuck are you
doing)?”  He had slipped back into his native Italian and realized that would
never do.}

_{Slowly he walked into
the office to ask Mark if there was any news about Peter.}

_{Nights became days
and days grew into weeks until late one Friday as the workshop was falling
quiet after a day’s noise, Joe heard a shout from the main doorway.}

_{“Peter’s back!”}

_{One of the female
apprentices, screeching her pleasure, rushed to hug him.}

_{“Peter, we’re all so
glad to see you.”}

_{Joe just stood there
with his arms folded, watching, his face beaming as Peter shook hands all round.
He was aware that these warm handshakes expressed a depth of loyalty that
Peter’s workers could never express in words.}

_{Belying his true
feelings, casually he called out to Peter.}

_{“Yes, about time the
boss did some work instead of lazing around chasing good looking nurses up and
down corridors.”}

_{Peter looked across
at him and smiled. He knew that was all the sympathy he could expect from Joe
who’d already turned away to lead him on a tour of inspection.}

_{In his reliable way,
Joe had repaired the truck from the attempted hijack, renewing his friendships
with the Italians at the trucking company. There were only five trucks still
awaiting delivery and then the contract - the miserable business - would be
over.}

_{Joe began pushing
Peter harder.}

_{“Three months until
Christmas and we might get our bonus if the boss isn’t Scrooge. One truck is to
go off tonight. Are you fit enough to deliver it?  You know what they say about
falling off a horse - the sooner you get back in the saddle the sooner you lose
your fear.”}

_{Peter just laughed.}

_{“Wait until I get my
welding gloves and my overalls. Then I’ll leave. It’s no problem and thank you
all for putting up with me while I’ve been - well - away.”}

_{He paused and turned
back.}

_{“Oh, and yes, Joe
I’ve got the hint. The Christmas Bonus will be really special as a gesture of
my thanks.”}

_{Later, Peter called
Joe upstairs.}

_{“Joe, go and get your
wife. The three of us will eat at the motel up the street before I head off
into deepest, darkest Bathurst.”}

_{At the end of the
day’s trading, an icy hand seemed to grip Peter’s heart. He remembered his last
trip and Jennifer’s visit to the hospital. Shrugging, he turned towards the
setting sun and waited for Joe and Maria.}

_{Eventually they
arrived, with Joe looking very suave and continental in a black, open neck
shirt with a black and red cravat and black jeans. Maria was a little
well-rounded Italian woman whose welcome smile reflected her pleasure at seeing
Peter. Her Italian accent was more pronounced than Joe’s and her devotion to
Joe shone through as they approached holding hands}

_{Laughing and joking,
with Maria between them, they walked up the street to the motel that Peter had
heard was running a good, licensed Italian restaurant.}

_{Maria ordered for
them and the Italian rolled off her tongue in a never-ending stream. She seemed
to know the chef when he rushed out to greet her as a long lost friend.}

_{Joe didn’t seem the
least bit frazzled when the chef arrived at their table and lifted Maria from
her seat to hug her warmly.}

_{“He’s another one of
Maria’s myriad relatives. She’s got them everywhere,” was Joe’s amused comment.}

_{Peter laughed as the
chef returned to the kitchen.}

_{“I see you haven’t
lost your taste for the old country,” Peter remarked when Maria started on her
meal of Porcini Dusted Sea Scallops with Tomato Relish while he and Joe hoed
into thick T-Bone steaks.}

_{As Maria and Joe
sipped their Cortese di Gavi, (a dry, white, sparkling wine from Piedmont)
Peter suddenly realized that he’d been drinking tomato juice with a slice of
lemon.}

_{Paling, he put down
his knife and fork and stared at the glass before him. His heart thumped as he
remembered it had been Jennifer’s drink that very first night with her. Almost
unable to cope, he found that he couldn’t speak for a few minutes while his two
dinner companions prattled on, oblivious of his distress.}

_{Maria stared at him
as he tried to cover his true feelings by laughing.}

_{“It’s okay for you
two drunkards to get stuck into the wine but this boy is driving tonight!”  He
saw Joe staring at him and he winked before sculling his glass of juice and
rejoining the conversation.}

_{With an aching heart,
he tried to be cheerful and to hide his inner feelings from Maria.}

_{Her motherly pat on
his hand showed that she knew of his inner turmoil.}

_{The meal ended and
knowing he had a few hours driving he paid the bill and stood to leave.}

_{As they returned to
the workshop, they laughed and discussed the weather almost as though they
wanted to stay clear of any topic that could possibly include Jennifer.}

_{Peter took Joe and
Maria into the workshop office where they waited around, filling in time while
he went off to put on his overalls and gloves and to find his jacket. He
returned with some papers in his hand.}

_{“You two behave while
I’m away. There’s a suite arranged at The Majestic on the Quay which has world
famous Italian Cuisine. As well I have booked you for a seaplane flight and
lunch on Sunday.”  Enjoying the stunned look on their faces, he threw the
booking on the table. “Enjoy your second or is it your 22nd honeymoon. Maria,
tell me if he plays up. I’ll see you Monday Joe, if you can remember where work
is. All charges are on me.”}

_{He chuckled at the
unbelieving looks on their faces as they turned to look at each other. His
generosity had stunned them.}

_{“But don’t send the
company bankrupt,” he included as a parting shot.}

_{Ignoring their
embarrassed thanks, he marched off surprised at the change in the weather. Rain
lashed down out of leaden skies and he pulled his coat tighter about him as the
unseasonable, freezing wind whipped about him.}

_{Within an hour, Peter
was back on the merry-go-round - the relentless succession of pick-ups and
deliveries, the drive to Bathurst and the train trip home. The grumbling engine
dragged him up the mountains with the headlamps stabbing into the fog and mist.}

_{It seemed only hours
before he was back on Monday ready to deliver the next truck.}

_{He had delivered
truck two and then truck three with little difficulty, he thought. Yet it was
only as he hauled himself up into the cab of truck four that Peter realized he
was again relying on those same damn tablets from an earlier trip with Susie. Clad
in his usual garb of worker’s thick overalls and welding gloves, he settled
into the seat and started the engine.}

_{He remembered that it
was Friday and he should be with Ted and Bob. Shuddering, he realized that he
couldn’t be with them - too many memories there for him. Peter shook his mind
free of such thoughts and began to concentrate on the trip. Trying to remember
exactly when he had last been to bed, he realized he ached too much to bother.}

_{His throat was dry
and his eyeballs felt seared as he stared into the fog that came rolling down
the road from the mountains to swallow his lights. Rain smashed against the
windscreen and the wipers sang an endless lullaby as the truck crawled through
the traffic. Drivers hurrying home speared past, ignoring the darkness, the
danger and the water.}

_{Visibility became
worse and the downpour continued to lash down. Carefully he began the long haul
up the eastern escarpment, past the restaurant where he and Jennifer had dined
all those months ago at the beginning of that weekend of magic. Still the truck
crawled onwards with Peter’s hands and feet dancing a constant tattoo - brake,
accelerator and clutch until his legs ached.}

_{He felt hungry but
refused to stop. No, there were still too many memories. Mount Tomah loomed
into view. Stretching his right leg, he winced at the remembered pain of that
trip which so easily could have cost him his life.}

_{His thoughts centered
on Jennifer. ‘Why have I punished myself?  I tried to win Jennifer and lost. That
ending was so final. Yet, his mind pressured him to go on. Jennifer’s departure
for Melbourne - I just have to grin and bear it. Ah, well, life goes on.’  He
allowed his thoughts to wander freely.}

_{Shaking his head, he
forced himself to concentrate as the fog became a thick white wall replacing
the rain and the engine growled its distaste at his efforts to crawl cautiously
around the mountainside.}

_{Even his police
friends must have found it miserable and he gave them a friendly blast on the
air-horns as he edged past.}

_{Behind him, two
lights intensified from mere candles in the fog to penetrating searchlights,
scorching their message into the mirrors and burning his tired eyes.}

_{“Bloody car driver,”
Peter muttered under his breath as a little green Mini flashed past.}

_{“Jennifer!”  Peter’s
shriek was unheard. “Slow down, there are dangerous curves ahead.”}

_{The red taillights
disappeared around the bend into the fog, but then, even over the loud
complaints of the engine, Peter heard the scream of tortured metal and the
crash of the impact.}

_{“Please, God,
noooooo!”}

_{Even in the short
time it took Peter to arrive at the scene, a number of cars had stopped and the
drivers had grouped around the burning wreckage. They jumped clear as his truck
skidded to a halt.}

_{Tongues of fire were
licking the interior of the car as Peter threw himself at the wreckage. The
other drivers reached out to hold him but he beat the well-wishers aside. No
army could have stood between him and his Jennifer. He was ripping and tearing,
screaming as if demented.}

_{“Jennifer, Jennifer,
I’ll get you out!”}

_{Peter shattered the
driver’s window and tore the door open.}

_{The driver’s skirt
was already alight as he lifted her in his arms. The fire, denied one victim, attacked
him, but he could only laugh wildly as he was holding his Jennifer once again. His
head bent to hers as he heard a sudden loud crump and felt an iron fist smash
into his back.}

_{The wreck had
exploded, hurling him and the woman in his arms through the air, their bodies
crashing heavily against a distant gum tree.}

_{A week later, early
on Friday morning, Susie called in to visit her husband, Bill, in his office
and to talk over their change in fortune. They had already discussed Peter’s
mysterious disappearance and were engrossed in a close examination of the
pleasing figures in their books when she heard the door open suddenly.}

_{Looking up, Susie was
surprised to see two burly police officers standing before her.}

_{“Mrs. Williams?”}

_{Susie’s heart sank. The
tone of the officer’s voice boded ill news. She could only nod her head in
agreement.}

_{“You are the
next-of-kin of Mr. Peter O’Brien?”  They paused, awaiting her reply.}

_{Unable to speak, as
if frozen in time, she again nodded.}

_{“Mr. O’Brien is on
life support at Royal North Shore Hospital. We advise you to go to the hospital
as soon as possible. He’s there as the result of trying to save a woman who was
killed in a car accident. Should you wish to see him, we advise you to move
quickly.”}

_{Almost with a feeling
of relief, Susie sank into one of the office chairs. Slowly she looked up at
the officers with tears in her eyes. Turning to Bill, she found the strength to
give orders.}

_{“Get Joe!  Tell him
Peter’s been found. Get Jennifer’s phone number, quickly please.”}

_{By the time Joe
arrived, it was clear that Bill had informed him of the bad news as he
immediately picked the phone and began ringing a number.}

_{“Hello?  Hello,
Jennifer?  Oh, Mrs. Blake. I need to speak with Jennifer - it’s a matter of
great urgency.”}

_{He paused.}

_{“Oh sorry, I’m Joe -
Peter’s foreman. I’m Peter O’Brien’s foreman. No, I’m not playing games,” he
said abruptly then he seemed to lose all patience. “For Christ’s sake Peter is
dying and we need Jennifer now!”}