Mandy
rolled a gel ball around between her fingers. She found the motion soothing.
She needed soothing after the row they’d just had. He’d stormed out as usual,
revved the engine of his motorbike and squealed off up the road.
She didn’t have the luxury of buggering off when things got tough. She couldn’t drive. It’s how he liked to keep her: financially dependent, kids, unable to read, and unable to drive. He’d kept her this way since she was fifteen. He liked the control it gave him – and she knew it.
But he didn’t know she did.
He thought she was dumb, but the older she got the more she understood. And once she’d discovered audio books, she’d understood a whole lot more.
She looked at the gel balls in the glass, how they were clear at the top and grew darker as they reached the bottom – although the ones at the bottom weren’t gel, they were metal.
The doorbell rang. She opened the door a crack and saw two uniformed policemen standing there.
“Mrs McNally?”
“Yes?”
“I’m PC Banes. Does your husband own a Honda GTX motorcycle?”
“Yes.”
“May we come in?”
Mandy opened the door and led them into the lounge. They remained standing.
“I’m afraid we have some bad news for you. I think you might need to sit down.”
Mandy sat, her eyes on the PC. “We’re not quite sure how it happened yet, but it appears your husband lost control of the bike ...”
Mandy caught sight of her phone while the PC continued to tell her how her husband hadn’t made it to the hospital alive. She glanced down at it and saw it was still on; the book she had been listening was still playing. It was what had caused the row – him finding out she’d been listening to books.
Fortunately it was a different one to the book she’d been studying the last few weeks. That one had helped her through the difficult bits when tinkering with his motorbike in the garage while he’d been out at work.
Word Count: 348
She didn’t have the luxury of buggering off when things got tough. She couldn’t drive. It’s how he liked to keep her: financially dependent, kids, unable to read, and unable to drive. He’d kept her this way since she was fifteen. He liked the control it gave him – and she knew it.
But he didn’t know she did.
He thought she was dumb, but the older she got the more she understood. And once she’d discovered audio books, she’d understood a whole lot more.
She looked at the gel balls in the glass, how they were clear at the top and grew darker as they reached the bottom – although the ones at the bottom weren’t gel, they were metal.
The doorbell rang. She opened the door a crack and saw two uniformed policemen standing there.
“Mrs McNally?”
“Yes?”
“I’m PC Banes. Does your husband own a Honda GTX motorcycle?”
“Yes.”
“May we come in?”
Mandy opened the door and led them into the lounge. They remained standing.
“I’m afraid we have some bad news for you. I think you might need to sit down.”
Mandy sat, her eyes on the PC. “We’re not quite sure how it happened yet, but it appears your husband lost control of the bike ...”
Mandy caught sight of her phone while the PC continued to tell her how her husband hadn’t made it to the hospital alive. She glanced down at it and saw it was still on; the book she had been listening was still playing. It was what had caused the row – him finding out she’d been listening to books.
Fortunately it was a different one to the book she’d been studying the last few weeks. That one had helped her through the difficult bits when tinkering with his motorbike in the garage while he’d been out at work.
Word Count: 348
Ouch! Clever girl. x
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading!
DeleteWhoa. Did not see that one coming. Brilliant ending.
ReplyDeleteGlad it worked. Took a while to work out how to deliver it.
Delete