The Night He Came Round

A woman caring for her son gets an unexpected visitor.

                                                

                                         The Night He Came Round

Debra touched her son’s forehead, thankfully the temperature was down.  He peered up, then yawned as it had been a long day for him.  Going to school when you didn’t feel at all well was not something he would do again in a hurry.  When he woke up this morning David felt on top of the world, as all boys should do at the age of seven.  But as the day dragged on, he realised with utter horror he didn’t feel too good.  When his mum had finally arrived at the end of the day, David was so thankful, he began to cry.

“Do you feel a little better, sweetheart?” asked Debra softly, brushing a hand through his fine hair.

His bottom lip quivered before answering, “I do now, mummy.  But I don’t want to feel like that again in a hurry.”

She kissed him softly on the top of his head, and could still smell the shampoo in his hair.  It smelt nice.  “You should of told one of the teachers.  Promise me something, little man.  If you ever feel like that again, then notify someone and I’ll come for you.”

The little boy gave a slight smile, then said, “Okay, mummy.  I’ll remember that.”

She looked at him lovingly.  “You’re my brave little boy, and I love you very much.  Now, try and get some sleep.”

He closed his eyes, and she made her way to the door.  Carefully she closed it then headed for the living room.

She sat down and noticed the wind howled outside.  Through the window only the darkness of night, and this unnerved her a little.  Her husband was away on business, and the thing which she found very strange was, when he was at home she found him extremely annoying, but when he was away she would feel anxious.  For sometime now they weren’t getting on as well, and to be fair it was more her fault than his.  For a short time she had been seeing someone else.  But it hadn’t worked out.  This is when she came to the decision to stay with her husband until the boy was old enough to understand why mummy and daddy weren’t in love anymore.

Debra switched on the television and on BBC1 was Eastenders.  She loved this soap, even though it was the most depressing programme on the box.  She watched eagerly as one woman poured a drink over another woman’s head, before shouting, “Get out of my pub.”

From the doorway that led to the hall she heard a noise which she couldn’t quite workout.  What could that be, she thought.

She turned the volume down, and listened patiently.  Some seconds later she could hear coughing coming from her son’s room.  Oh, I hope he’s okay.

All of a sudden the doorbell rang making her jump out of her skin.  What a time to call round.  She looked at the clock on the wall.  The time was only 8.12pm.

Begrudgingly she got up and walked to the entrance of the house, still hearing poor David coughing.  She turned the key in the lock, and in all honesty she expected a neighbour to be standing there, probably wanting to borrow something, as this happened quite frequently.  But the person who stood just a metre from the doorway sent alarm bells in her head.

“What the hell do you want?  I have an ill son in the other room, and I don’t need your grief.”

The man whose name was Frank, answered, “Just listen to what I have to say.”

She noticed he hadn’t shaven for some days as the stubble was thick around his chin.  He also wore a baseball cap which covered his shaven head.

“You look a mess.  What if my husband had  been here,” she said.  “Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but as I said before I have a very ill boy that I need to look after.”

He peered down at the doorstep with a sad look, before saying, “I understand you’re busy, but this is very important to me.  Give me 5 minutes and then I’ll go.”

Debra was getting sick of this now, for god sake.  “Make it quick, as I don’t need this, especially today.”

Frank stepped into the hallway and followed her to the living room.  He sat down on one of the leather chairs thinking about what he should say, because he missed her terribly.  They’d only known each other for a month, but in that time he had fallen for her.

She gave him a questioning stare, then said, “So, what do you want?”

He rested his elbows on his knees and half smiled at her, remembering the good times, which usually involved a hotel room.  “I know you miss me, Debra.  I can tell, you see.”

More coughing was heard coming from down the hall.

For a second she forgot about him and thought about her lovely son who lay just a few metres away.  Then she peered back at him, realising she’d made a mistake.  “I’m sorry, Frank.  I think you should leave.”

Then something happened which made her feel on edge, using his fist he smacked the coffee table which stood only a yard from him.

He raised his voice a little, “I’m not leaving until you explain why you dumped me just like that.”

She would be lying if she didn’t admit to herself that she felt rather intimidated by this person, and answered the best she could, “Okay, you want a reason why we aren’t together anymore, it’s because I love my son, that’s why we broke up.”

Suddenly he kicked the coffee table and it toppled over.  “That’s why my heart is ripped in two, because you were worried about him.  That’s not the truth.”  

Her heart raced.  What could she do?  “It’s the truth I tell you,” she said, quite scared.

Frank stood up and his 6 foot frame towered over her, then he came closer.  “Just tell me the real reason and I’ll go.  That’s all I ask.”  He smiled at her, but his eyes told a different story, as she looked into them all she could see was coldness.

Debra had had enough of this now, and keeping her voice down knowing her son was trying to sleep, said, “If you don’t want to believe me then it’s your problem.  If you don’t leave right this minute I swear to you I will call the police and have you arrested.”

He stayed silent, his eyes not leaving her.  

What should she do?  She waited to see how he’d react.

Frank scratched the top of his head, and he sighed like he was deep in thought, finally he spoke, “Okay, I understand.  You want to protect your son, even I can understand that.  So, I have an idea.”

“What are you talking about?” she answered quietly.  Please just go.

He took a couple of steps and joined her on the sofa, and said, “Let’s both go to your son’s room and explain to him how we feel about each other.  I’m sure he would understand.”  He smiled at her again and this time it seemed genuine.

A shudder ran through her.  “Just bloody go, because you’re doing my head in now,” she shouted.

He grabbed hold of her throat, and yelled, “What did you just say to me?”

Debra was terrified.  Please just go.  “Frank.  Listen to me, Frank.  I did like you a great deal, and I’m sorry it didn’t workout.  But you’re scaring me more than I have ever known, and my David is very ill and I need to be with him.”

He seemed to calm down and took some deep breaths, before saying, “But we were good together and it’s like you played me on purpose, because at the time you needed a thrill, and I was the poor b*****d who you dragged into your childish hurtful games.  And I can’t forgive you for that.”  He backed away from her and put his face in his hands, and began to cry.

This was another reason why she had dumped him, as she found him very insecure, and she looked at this as a form of weakness.

“Stop acting like a baby, because I’m not impressed.  You had your chance, now go,” she said sternly, staring at him with disgust.  You remind me of my pathetic husband, she thought.  She turned away from him.

“Okay, I’ll leave,” he said.  Then he saw something in the hallway and for a few seconds he looked, he wasn’t sure what to do, but a thought entered his brain, and with confidence, said, “I’ve heard a great deal about you.  Don’t be scared, come closer.”

The boy shuffled to the doorway peering in.  “Mummy, who is this?” he asked wide eyed.

Debra turned round, realising her son was there, and replied in shock, “It’s nobody important.”

Then all of a sudden hell broke loose.

Frank flew up from the floor and ran to the boy shouting, “It’s all your fault.  Because of you your mummy doesn’t want to be with me anymore.”  He shook the youngster until he started to cry.

Debra watched this with horror, then cried out, “Get off him.”

Frank glanced up and she slapped him hard across the face.  With his hand clenched he punched her square in the nose, and she fell back onto the living room floor blood spilling down her face.

He didn’t know what to do at this point as the situation was not going the way he wanted.  All he could do now was beg for forgiveness.  He left the boy and crawled to her while she held her face with her bloody hands.

David ran back to his room.

“I’m so sorry.  I didn’t mean to do that,” he grovelled.  He watched her and he felt terrible.  

Without him noticing she picked up an ashtray and with all her strength smacked him as hard as she could around the skull.  He let out a scream.  While he held his head with an agonising look on his face Debra quickly got up from the floor, one hand holding her nose and with the other she pushed her way through the hallway heading for the entrance, because she needed to get help.  Hopefully one of the neighbours would be in.  She was desperate to say the least.  She reached the closed door and opening it ran out onto the front lawn, this is when she realised how giddy she felt.  Debra fell to her knees absolutely exhausted.  She needed to gain control, as her beloved son was in danger.  Then she had an idea, knowing her son’s window had been left open due to the weather still being quite warm, she decided to head in that direction.  Her legs felt heavy but the best she could she made her way to his window and peered in.  The lamp light was on which stood on a cabinet beside the bed.  But she couldn‘t see him, and this worried her.

She neared the glass, and said as quietly as she could, “David, are you there?”

No answer.

A little louder, “David, answer me.  Are you there?”

Then with utter shock Frank stepped into the room, he seemed disorientated while he swayed about, then he spoke, “Where are you, you little bugger.”

Debra stayed quiet, and as carefully as she could she crept back to the entrance of the house, walking into the hallway she saw patches of red on the carpet.  She could still hear Frank in the other room while he searched for her son.  

Over my dead body, she kept thinking.

Debra carefully picked up a vase that stood on a little table, and with caution proceeded to her boy’s room, being as quiet as humanly possible.  At the doorway she peered in and could see Frank holding his head while looking under the bed.  This is when she charged for him, but the problem was he saw her coming and knocked the vase from her grip as it smashed onto the carpet.  

“You really are taking the piss,” he yelled.

He placed his hands around her throat.  She had trouble breathing and tried the best she could to scratch his face, but this didn’t change anything.  He stared at her with a hatred in his eyes which she’d never witnessed before.  She was now petrified.  She tried to speak, with no luck.  Within seconds she was dead.

Frank couldn’t believe what he’d done.  The rage which he had felt had now gone.  Her eyes were still wide open, but the sparkle had disappeared.  From her mouth blood ran to her chin.

He got up, he didn’t feel too good.  Then he heard a noise coming from the wardrobe which was a metre from the bed.  There was only one more thing to do.

………………………………................................................................................................

The next morning around ten he parked the car on the drive just in front of the house.  Fred got out and saw that the front door was open, which he found a bit odd.  He drew his attention away from the entrance of the house and opened the backdoor to retrieve his briefcase.  Once he had it firmly in his hand he headed towards the family home.

When he first stepped into the hallway he saw patches of red on the carpet.  Fred’s heart started beating quicker.  In his mind he began to imagine the worst.  

Was he overreacting?

To stop any doubt in his head he called out her name, “Debra, it’s me.”

No one answered.

She might be in the back garden, he thought.

He knew it’d been a long drive and he was knackered.  Once this mystery was put to rest, the better, because all he wanted to do was sleep for a few hours and then have dinner with his family.

He made his way up the hallway when his eye caught something in his son’s room.  Panic then set in.  On the floor lay his wife.  Her body beaten black and blue.  Around her throat was terrible bruising, and dried blood covered her face and clothes.

He fell close to where she was.  He couldn’t think straight.  “Debra?  Get up, darling.”

Her eyes were blank, her once beautiful face distorted.

Then with horror he thought he heard a faint voice coming from close by, and it said, “Daddy, is that you?”

“David?” was his only reply, his mind was spinning.

“Yes, daddy.”

It came from the wardrobe.

Without thinking he raced to the wardrobe and swung open the doors.  Huddled inside was his son.  The moment their eyes met young David smiled, and said, “Thank you, daddy.  I was so scared.”

Fred needed to know the truth, and asked, “What happened?”

The boy seemed nervous at first, but after some seconds replied, “A man I’ve never seen before was arguing with mummy.  Is mummy okay?”

He needed to be brave, more for his son than anything else.  “We’ll talk about mum a little later on.  So you didn’t recognise the man at all?”

“I’ve never seen him before,” David answered, innocence in his eyes.

Fred needed to call the police.  He peered at his son, trying his best not to cry, and with determination, said, “Stay here, I’ll be back shortly.  I need to go to the kitchen so I can ring someone.  Trust me, David.  I’ll be back very soon.  Be brave for me, sport.”

“I will, daddy,” was all he said.

Thankfully David hadn’t seen the body that well as the bed had covered most of it.

Fred closed the doors, “Stay in here until I come back.”

“I will.”

Fred proceeded to the kitchen, and went straight to the phone.  He peered out of the window while he waited for an answer, and noticed something which made him drop the receiver to the floor.  At the end of the garden he saw a body hanging, the noose tight around the man’s neck, looking closer he all of a sudden found the face familiar.

It was a man he used to work with years ago, and then a bizarre thought entered his mind.  Had she been having an affair?

His whole world then crumbled.

He began to puke.

                                      

                                                                The End

Reviews

[Marie]

THis is very good Steve. I didn't realize until the last that her husbnd hadn't known. What a terrible tragedy. At least the little boy was all right.
Look at this:
It wasn’t nothing out of the ordinary as the weather was very mild...
That's not good grammar...

[steve]

Thanks, Marie. Yes, agreed, bad grammar. I've changed it now.