Beyond the Mirror

A man who thinks he is haunted or imagining things.

 

BEYOND THE MIRROR

 

Julius stepped up to the mirror in order to see how well he had shaved himself. It was Monday, the first day of the week, and he always liked to start off on a good foot. There was a rapid movement behind him, as if someone, or something, had darted away on being observed. He turned round to see if there was anything there. Nothing. Julius thought to himself that perhaps he was getting old, or suffering from low blood pressure. He finished his toilet and dressed, then left his flat to go to the garage for his car. Julius’s car reflected his taste. It was large, dark blue, and comfortable. It was that of someone who had arrived. If anyone had said that to Julius, he would have laughed in their face. Now, nearing retirement age, he felt more than ever that he had lost out on many things in life, that others less fortunate had managed to obtain - a wife and children. Many times he had thought about how he had missed the boat, while others had no problem in having it all. In his youth, Julius had been considered quite a catch by all his mother’s friends who had marriageable daughters. With dark good-looks and well-paid, those who knew him were unable to understand why he hadn’t got married and set up a family.

Julius was the owner of a menswear shop in a fashionable part of town. It was one of those shops that make made-to-measure shirts and tailoring. It also stocked off-the-rack clothes: such as woollen garments, accessories, and ready-to-wear jackets and trousers. It was a successful business, but recently Julius had been getting rather tired of it. He wasn’t quite sure what he should do, but one thing for sure, he was going to see a doctor to make sure he was still up to working in the shop. As the shop was directed towards men’s clothes, only men worked in it. When he had opened it at first, his mother, Angelina, had been the cashier, but with the disappearance of cash registers, his mother had also gone. She too had decided she’d had enough, and nowadays spent her time gossiping on the phone, or going out with her family or friends. She was never bored or fed up, but Julius was.

 

Monday is never a busy day in any business. The large sales are generally made after Wednesday, when the population suddenly sees the approaching weekend and begins to wake up. On the Monday in question, Julius had a very quiet day. At half-past four he told his assistants to go home, as there was nothing doing. He rang up his doctor for an appointment that evening and then, closing the shop, and pulling down the metal blind, he got into his car and drove home.

The house was neat and tidy with nothing out of place. The only person who entered his flat was himself, and a girl who helped one morning a week. He sat down in an armchair and rubbed his forehead with one of his hands. His eyes were closed and he made an effort to try and concentrate - without success. Feeling none the better for the short rest, Julius got up and went into the kitchen to make himself something to eat before going to see the doctor. He sat at the kitchen table and had some fried chicken and chips, a large cup of tea, and a piece of the cake his mother had given him. He was washing up the dishes when a sudden movement caught his eye, he spun round to see who it was, but there was nothing. The kitchen was just as it had been when he had been eating. Julius rubbed his eyes, and then washed his face and hands before going to see the doctor.

 

The waiting room was quite full of people who looked anything but ill. Nobody spoke, there was a deathly silence, that was broken only when the receptionist entered to tell the next patient to go in. Julius was bored and felt like leaving. He leafed through a couple of magazines, but they were so old they were an insult to the eyes. On hearing his name, Julius got up and followed the receptionist to the consulting room. The doctor was a woman, which disconcerted him for a moment. He sat down in the chair indicated to him and started wishing he had never gone, and how he could get out of there as soon as possible.

Doctor Mildred Miller sat on the opposite side of the desk to Julius. It was difficult to tell what she was thinking, as she had learnt the art of hiding behind a professional mask of good manners and fleeting interest. For Mildred, Julius was just another man who was getting on in years, and the pen in her hand was almost writing out a placebo before he had uttered a word.

“Good evening, Mr Walker, and what can I do for you? I see you have never visited this surgery before. Are you new to the district?”

Julius felt as if he were under siege. The woman who was facing him was, in his opinion, imposing herself on him. He wasn’t that sure of what to say to her. “Good evening. I’ve been feeling a bit off colour just lately.”

“Just what do you mean by ‘off colour’?”

“I think I see a movement, and when I try to investigate, I see there is nothing there. Do you think I maybe going mad?”

“Mr Walker, please undress down to the waist, and I’ll take a look at your chest and lungs.”

Unaccustomed to showing off his body, Julius reluctantly undressed as the doctor had ordered. He felt the cold of the stethoscope on his skin and did his best to ignore it. The doctor said, “You may dress, now.”

Julius, feeling warm and safe once dressed again, returned to the chair opposite the doctor.

“Well, Doctor, what do you think it may be?”

“I think you are suffering from overwork and exhaustion, so I’m prescribing you a tranquiliser. You are a bit heavy, so I suggest cutting out some of your unhealthier habits.”

“Doctor, the only habit I have is work, and I can’t cut that out, otherwise I’d starve to death, and the people who work for me, too. And what about the visions?”

“Every day someone comes in to say they see something that doesn’t exist. It seems to be quite common. Have you had a cat or a dog recently?”

“I’ve never had a pet. Why do you ask?”

“When a cat or dog dies, the owners of the pet sometimes see, or think they see, the cat or dog moving in the house.”

“Doctor, I haven’t had a pet since I was very young, and even when it died, I don’t remember seeing it as if it were a ghost. Do you think I’m being haunted?”

“Mr Walker, I think you’re beginning to imagine things. Here’s the prescription for the tranquiliser. Please take it, and I’m sure you’ll soon feel better.”

Julius stood up. “But you still haven’t said what’s wrong with me.”

Doctor Miller said, “Physically there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong, so I can hardly send you for a scan. However, if you have any more visions, please come and see me. Good evening.”

“Good evening, Doctor.”

 

First stop was the chemist’s where his prescription was made out in a few minutes. The chemist said, “To be taken three times a day after meals. Good evening.”

 

Julius finished driving home and went into his flat. He removed his coat, shoes, and gloves and began to wander around his home. He stared at every object as if he had never seen it before. Then he sat down in an armchair and thought about where all the years had gone to.

 

When Julius was born, his brother was three years old. The age gap, which at first seemed insurmountable, became smaller as time went by. Nevertheless, Clarence’s jealousy towards Julius, never ever vanished completely. Time after time, Clarence would do his best to discredit Julius. A mirror broke, and Julius had done it. The telephones ripped off the wall, and Julius had somehow or other managed to do that too. Taps turned on and flooded the bathroom, Julius of course was the culprit. Their mother’s jewellery disappeared and was found at a pawnbrokers, with Julius’s name on the ticket. Julius had once been in love with a girl called Nydia.  Clarence was so mad that he set out to conquer her. He succeeded, and to agonize Julius even more, he and Nydia got married. Julius hid his hate and did his best to keep the peace, although Clarence had no such idea. The fights continued and when Julius started making a good go of the shop, Clarence was even more jealous.

Time passed and Nydia had a son, who was the apple of his parents’ eyes. Clarence went into some dark businesses and wasn’t seen much of. He and Nydia moved to a better area and led a high life style.

 

Their father died, and Clarence counted every last item and money that the father had left, to make sure that Julius didn’t get more than him. Bit by bit, Julius saw what kind of shady deals his brother was getting into. There was no helping Clarence. He got crazier and crazier. Nydia left Clarence, taking their child with her. He was absolutely furious and went to fetch her back, but Nydia wasn’t for changing her mind. Clarence tried to get her back by force, but her brothers fought him off. Angelina had never understood Clarence’s jealousy - when he had so much.

Julius felt sad when he knew of the separation of Clarence and Nydia. He wasn’t bitter, it didn’t form part of his nature and so, like that, Julius spent his life, trying to get to grips with the fact that he had lost Nydia to his brother, and for Clarence then to let her and the child go out of the lives of Julius and his mother, as well as Clarence’s.

 

The brothers still had fights, and as time went by Clarence became more aggressive and violent towards him for no apparent reason. The childhood jealousy became an obsession with Clarence, and he lashed out at Julius whenever he could. At times, Angelina shouted at them to stop it, but Clarence desired to hurt Julius as much as he could.

 

The crunch came when Clarence asked his mother for money, and without telling Julius she was to meet Clarence on a beach, well out of the way of Julius’s shop, following Clarence’s instructions. Angelina rang up Julius to let him know, as she considered this the correct thing to do. After all, it was family money - not just hers. Julius left the shop in the hands of his worthy assistants, and drove to the beach. He saw his mother hand over the money to Clarence. He ran forward to get it, and Clarence dropped the envelope into the sea and the two brothers began to fight. Down they went into the waves over and over each other, punching as hard as they could. Angelina tried to separate them but it was useless, as her height and weight were much less than that of her sons. In one specific moment, the waves got higher and higher, and Julius hit Clarence much harder than he had before. Clarence went down and stayed down for some seconds. Julius dragged him back up, and Angelina screamed and shouted ‘Clarence’ many times over. Julius rang for an ambulance, which arrived very soon. Angelina got into the ambulance with Clarence. Julius sat back on his heels in the water and felt empty of any emotion. Angelina gave Clarence money to leave and set himself up in another business. It was never mentioned again.

 

Julius had thought at first, that the fleeting movement he saw was something to do with Clarence, whom he hadn’t seen in many years.

 

Angelina had had a series of small dogs which, when dead, she had had stuffed. They were then placed on cushions near the sofa where she could stroke them and talk to them as if they were alive. Julius didn’t agree with her about this, finding it rather sick.

 

Julius forgot to take the tranquiliser, had a shower, put on his pyjamas, and got into bed. He closed his eyes but sleep evaded him. Oh, the tranquiliser! He got out of bed and went to the bathroom again to take it. He saw something strange when he opened the door. His favourite dog, Bobbi, who used to accompany him everywhere, was standing in the corner.

 

His mother had asked the taxidermist to put a little motor inside Bobbi, with a timer, to keep Julius company when he was getting ready to go to work. This meant that the Chihuahua would take a little walk around the bathroom when he switched on the light.

 

In spite of the late hour he rang his mother, “Mother, have you got any mechanised stuffed dogs?”

“No, Dear, but you have. Isn’t he lovely?”

“Well, I’ve just found Bobbi. I’ve been seeing things in the mirror, and thought that maybe Clarence was haunting me, or something. Was it you?”

“Yes, Julius. I took Bobbi round to your flat as a surprise. Isn’t he cute! I thought you needed a little company while you were getting ready for work.”