CHAPTER THIRTEEN - A SLIGHTLY NAUGHTY SUGGESTION

An assault by a youth on Simone's breasts in a nightclub had unpredictable consequences.

Mr Potts put one hand on his daughter's shoulder and squeezed it gently.

“He was well known way back,” he said, “Alfred Oliver. He was a bit of a celebrity in his own way. That model you saw, of his part of the county was on the television at one time, had a documentary all of its own, and he got an award for it, I forget who from.”

“His wife seemed such a pleasant person too,” sighed Paula.

“I remember when I was a kid,” put in David, who'd called for Paula just before a summer shower had arrived to trap them indoors, “My mum used to take me there. And the old man's wife was just like she is now. She seemed old to me back then!”

“Anyone over forty seems old to a child,” suggested Mr Potts. “What are you two planning to do today?”

“I wanted to find out about Simone,” said Paula. “It's hard to believe now, but we were friends once.”

“I can help you there,” said her father. “I saw her, in town, only a couple of hours ago, and had a word with her. She looks strained.”

“What happened, dad?” asked Paula quickly.

“You mean, to get her into trouble?”

“What else could I mean?”

“I thought you might be suggesting I shouldn't have bumped into her!”

“No. I didn't mean that.”

“I'll tell you how she explained it to me. She was in that big club in town, you know, where the young 'uns go when they want to let the world think they're old enough to stay up beyond midnight and like to bop to ear-shattering music...”

“I know, Mr Potts,” said David. “I went once. And only once! It's not my scene at all. Too noisy, and everyone was off their heads on this or that! I know for a fact that there are drugs around.”

“Well, a lad she didn't know came up to her and bought her a drink. She said she'd never seen him before and realises now she shouldn't have accepted, but at the time it just seemed a friendly move by a lad with more money than sense! She didn't think anything was wrong until he moved in on her and started groping her. Apparently he'd said that buying her a drink was part and parcel of buying her body and now he wanted to have a good feel of what he'd bought!”

“If a strange lad tried … groping … me I'd see red,” declared Paula. “I don't know what I'd do!”

“I should hope you would be angry! Anyway, Simone felt around in her handbag for something �" anything �" to poke him away with, and it was a choice between her purse and a nail file. A humble little nail file! She says she grabbed it as tightly as she could and slashed out at him with it, not meaning to hurt him seriously but to let him know that she wasn't his plaything. And by one of those zillion-to-one miracles she managed to stick it into him, and by a staggering bit of rotten luck, into his heart. It shouldn't be possible, she'd probably never do it again even if she tried to repeat it a million times ... but it happened.”

“So is it murder?” asked David doubtfully.

“I don't think it's even manslaughter,” said Mr Potts, “but it's going to court, of course. I don't think she even wanted to hurt him. She just wanted him to get his hands from out of her top and off her breasts! And there were plenty of witnesses who apparently saw what happened and confirm her story. Apparently there's a tribe of women willing to say he was always doing that kind of thing, buying a drink and looking on it as a cash deposit for some sort of sexual grope! It seems he had quite a breast fetish!”

“It's all horrible,” sighed Paula.

“Simone being a virgin helps her story too,” said her father.

Paula's eyes opened wide at that. “Simone a virgin? That's never true!” she exclaimed. “She's always boasting about the boys she's had in this or that shed or on the back seat of whoever's car! From what she says she's more experienced than most, and that's saying a lot. She even came here and announced she was pregnant, remember? And with David to boot!””

“She's been examined by a gynaecologist,” murmured Mr Potts. “Not everyone tells the truth about themselves or what they do, you know, and apparently Simone was big when it comes to boasting and far more sensible when it comes to flesh and blood activities. But don't feel too bad about it: even her parents were surprised when they found that she was intact still.”

“So I'm not the father of her child?” said David, grinning. “I rather suspected I couldn't be!”

“What's going to happen now, dad?” asked Paula.

“It'll go to court, of course, she being charged with manslaughter, and the chances are the case will be dismissed on grounds of self-defence. After all, it was just that and in all truth she can't have thought she'd do any more than scratch the youth with that nail file. All she wanted was for him to get his hands out of her blouse, and if you were in the same situation, Paula, I hope you'd do the same as Simone did.”

“You mean, kill someone?” asked Paula, eyes open wide, shocked.

“No, silly: defend yourself with whatever apparently harmless implement happened to be at hand, and if it went wrong like in Simone's case I hope the rest of the world would be prepared to give you the right to self-defence.”

“I'd have to think twice...” began Paula.

“Sometimes we don't have time to think even once,” said her father gently. “Now I'm off round the Girdler's for half an hour. If I leave you two alone you won't start pricking poor young David with the contents of your handbag, will you, Paula?”

“Dad!”

Grinning, Mr Potts walked off.

“Hey, you're not likely to stab me, are you, now that we're alone?” said David with an uncomfortable smile.

“What? For nothing?” asked Paula.

“If I … accidentally … you know...” he stammered.

“Rubbed against my tits?” she teased.

“Accidentally,” he reinforced.

“Or deliberately. Deliberately would be better.” Paula's voice was suddenly quiet, thoughtful, almost seductive.

David groaned. “There's one thing I've never been able to get my head around,” he muttered.

“What?” Paula was suddenly in an impish mood.

“I can never tell when you really mean something or only say you mean it,” he murmured.

“I know. Life is such a b***h, isn't it, and so confusing...” laughed Paula. “Why don't you find out the practical way? I wouldn't even think of stabbing you, you know, even if you got it wrong...”