A Cockney's Journey (19 page)

    “All right, enough is enough. I’m armed with a blade, so come out and knock this bollocks on the head,” I said aggressively, trying to hide the fact that I was really spooked. Inside the room, two figures stood facing each other, waving their arms like they were having an argument. I shone the torch directly between both figures and the point of light hit the wall behind them. The two ghostly apparitions didn’t even acknowledge the light, continuing to argue with each other, both oblivious to my presence. I stood watching in disbelief, realising my torch had penetrated their transparent forms. Suddenly, the white ghostly figure of a woman floated out of the room towards the stairs in a desperate attempt to get away from her companion. I froze to the spot; my eyes fixed with terror upon the approaching figure. I felt an icy draft penetrate my body, sending all my senses into mayhem. I couldn’t believe that she passed straight through me towards the stairs. My whole body was consumed in static energy, the hair on my head actually stood on end. Standing in complete shock, the second apparition followed her into the hall and down the stairs, both vanishing before my very eyes!
    
How am I going to explain this to Sue?
    I decided not to tell her the whole story, knowing she would freak out. I slowly returned downstairs to our bedsit; my mind going over what I was going to tell her. I stood knocking on the door, ready to explain what didn’t really happen and hoping she would believe me. Surprisingly, she believed my story about the wind that had banged an open window upstairs, along with my story of finding a big ginger tomcat running around the place looking for a way out. I actually cringed as I came out with all that bullshit. I must admit to feeling slightly guilty that Sue swallowed my story.
    The following day, returning home after work, I bumped into Al, who was waiting for me with his girlfriend outside the café.
    “All right sunshine! How’s your job at the mill?” he asked, grinning.
    “It’s not bad, but it’s not good. The place is full of bloody rats. The money’s OK, though. Mind you, I’ve only been there a few days. To be honest, it’s really boring.” I shrugged my shoulders disappointedly.
    “My God! I hate rats,” his girlfriend shrieked.
    “Yeah, I know, Sue’s just told me all about it,” Al said. “Listen, Ed, a few lads and me are going out earning at the weekend. Fancy coming along? It’s easy dough. You can earn more in one night than a month at that mill.” He sounded extremely convincing.
    “I’m not sure that’s a good idea, for me I mean. I’ve got Sue and Daniel to think about. Know what I mean, Al?” I was trying to get out of it.
    “Exactly, mate! You’d be able to buy them everything they need, no sweat! Don’t be a mug, give it a go,” he insisted.
    “OK, I’ll give it a bash.”
    He was going to badger me till I gave in anyway. And the thought of buying them anything they wanted, especially a new pram for Daniel, was too tempting not to say yes to.
    “Good! We’re on the case Saturday night, but before that Sue’s invited me and Jane round for dinner Friday night,” he informed me.
    “More like a Chinese takeaway. The poxy stove is fucked.”
    “We’ll all chip in for the food and the booze,” Al said happily.
    “That’s fine by me, Al. I’ll get a film out from the video shop,” I said, agreeing with the plans for Friday night.
    “See you Friday, Ed, about 7 o’clock,” Al said, boarding the bus.
    That evening, after dinner, we sat watching the box while drinking coffee.
    “Daniel’s a bit quiet. I’ll just go and check on him,” Sue said, getting up and walking towards the bedroom. I watched her open the bedroom door and enter quietly, not wanting to disturb him. Suddenly, she screamed hysterically shouting for my help. I leapt up out the chair in panic; my coffee cup went flying and splashed all over the television. Yanking the door open I saw Sue completely freaking out, pointing to the cot, crying. Rapidly approaching the cot I leaned over to where Daniel was fast asleep, oblivious to his mother’s screams. Fucking hell, hundreds of the bastards. I reached in and pulled Daniel out. The sudden jerk woke him up. His scream sent a shiver down my spine. He was covered in fucking cockroaches. I frantically brushed the aliens off my son, treading on the fuckers and squashing them into oblivion. The cot was riddled with them. I handed my boy to Sue and motioned her out of the room. I spent at least an hour killing them, chasing them around the bedroom.
Fuck me, can they move?
I thought. Eventually, all the cockroaches had either been killed or escaped. The room was now clear.
    “They’re coming up from the café,” I told Sue. “Don’t worry, I’ll get Rentokil here tomorrow to fumigate the whole house.”
    That evening, the three of us slept on the settee feeling very uneasy. We left all the lights on so they wouldn’t come back.
    The next day, I called in Rentokil, who fumigated the café and the rest of the building. We were told to make other arrangements for at least 24 hours. The landlord reluctantly shut the café and paid the bill. After spending two days at my mother-in-law’s, we returned to our flat hoping the extermination had worked. Sue spent the day cleaning everywhere, checking every corner for signs of the cockroaches. When she was satisfied they had gone, she took Daniel out shopping. I returned to work at the rat-infested paper mill. During the afternoon, the supervisor asked me and another worker to move all the reams of paper from the warehouse to the yard, ready for delivery.
    “Job and finish,” he informed us. We stacked hundreds of reams on pallets all over the yard, finally finishing and completely knackered at 4 o’clock, an hour early. I left the mill with my first pay packet, feeling pretty pleased with myself and looking forward to the weekend, especially tonight’s Chinese meal with Sue Al and Jane. As I let myself in the front door and ran up the stairs to our flat, I could hear Sue crying. The flat door was ajar and the sobbing grew louder as I neared the top flight. Quickly pushing the door open, I saw Sue sitting cradling Daniel in her arms sobbing. I stood scanning the room and noticed shopping bags unpacked with the contents spilled all over the floor. Our wedding photos were thrown all over the place and some had been ripped to smithereens. The bedroom door was wide open and Daniel’s cot looked like it had been ransacked.
    “What the fuck’s happened here, Sue?” I said frantically.
    “I’ve just got home from shopping and found this. Look at the state of the place, Ed,” she sobbed, her eyes red from crying and her face covered in runny mascara.
    “We been robbed or what?” I asked, shaking my head in disbelief. “How did they get in, girl, did you lock up properly?”
    “No! We ain’t been robbed and yes, I did bloody lock up properly!” she said confidently. “I only left the window open a bit to get some air in here. Maybe that bloody tomcat got in and ran amok?” She wiped her face with the sleeve of her blouse.
    
I don’t think so, somehow; the bloody thing doesn’t exist.
    “Yeah, you’re probably right, Sue. Let’s clear this mess up anyway.” I suggested half-heartedly. My mind was churning over what had happened. It wasn’t the elusive cat, so who or what did this? I was thinking about the two apparitions I saw upstairs; maybe this was something to do with them. A strange feeling of unease consumed my body. I started to get wild thoughts of the flat being ripped up by poltergeists.
    
If that’s the case, they’ll be back; that’s a certainty. Maybe I should have come clean about the other night, but it’s too late now. I’ll have to keep schtum and hope nothing else happens.
    After clearing up the mess, I plonked down on the settee, feeling stressed and worried.
    “You having a bath before they arrive?” Sue asked me.
    “Yeah, I think I will, Sue,” I replied, dragging myself up from the settee and entering the hallway. To the left of our front door was the communal bathroom. Seeing nobody human lived in the building, the bathroom was ours to use as we liked. I entered the bathroom, pulling the light on by a tatty old cord. Leaning over the bath, I turned the taps on, while sprinkling Radox into the gushing hot water. The cold bathroom was soon engulfed in thick steam. I stood wiping the cabinet mirror so I could see. I felt the stubble on my face, debating whether or not I could be bothered to shave. I decided to leave it till morning. Getting undressed, I submerged myself into the welcoming hot bath. Lying there soaking, I heard the bathroom door open, but glancing over the tub, I couldn’t see anything except steam.
    “This bath is gorgeous, Sue. Do you want me to save the water for you?” I asked her, waving my hand about, trying to move the steam from my vision. There was no reply. I knew she was in the bathroom, I could sense her presence. “Well, do ya, or don’t ya?” I stopped in mid-sentence. I jumped up, grabbing the towel out of the wash-hand basin and wrapped it around me. “Who’s there? I know someone’s there. Stop fucking about,” I shouted out loud. Suddenly, there were loud thumping sounds on the bathroom door.
    “You OK in there, Eddie?” Sue asked through the door.
    I stepped out the bath, “Er, I think so. Can you open the door for me?” I asked calmly. I could hear the handle turning frantically to and fro.
    “It’s stuck, Ed. It won’t budge.”
    The steam in the bathroom started to evaporate rather quickly. My overactive brain feared the worst, however, to my relief, there wasn’t anything in the room except me. I walked over to the door and then suddenly the waste pipe started gurgling as bath water was being pumped down the pipe. I spun round, noticing the plug and chain hanging over the tub.
    
Bloody hell, something’s pulled the plug out. What the fuck is going on in this place?
    I turned the handle on the door and it opened with ease.
    “Bloody door got stuck. I must fix the latch in the morning,” I informed Sue, feeling agitated. Splashing aftershave over my body, I got dressed and left the bathroom door ajar, just in case it got stuck again. “How’s Daniel?” I asked, quietly concerned.
    “He’s fine. Fast asleep after his feed. I’m starving! What time are they coming?”
    “Should be here very soon. They reckoned about 7 o’clock,” I said, hoping they wouldn’t be late.
    Tap, tap, tap…
    “Ed, there’s someone knocking on the front door glass,” Sue called.
    “Must be Al. I’ll go down and let them in,” I said, carefully descending the steep stairs to the front entrance door. I could see two figures standing in front of the Georgian wire glass, one a geezer, the other a female. I opened the door, inviting Al and Jane up to our flat. We all sat in the front room, deciding on what to order from the local Chinese.
    “I’ll have a number 24 and 16 with sweet ’n’ sour sauce,” Sue said, smacking her lips in anticipation. She always ordered chicken chow mein with prawn balls. She loved dipping prawn balls in the sauce.
    “Yeah, I think I’ll have the same as Sue,” Jane said, rubbing her hands together. “I’m bloody starving, haven’t eaten all day,” she added.
    “I’m going to have number 35 with 92,” Al said, scrutinising the China Jade menu. “No I won’t, I’ve changed my mind. Number 79 instead of 92, Ed!”
    I crossed out 92 on my list, thinking that I fancied a pint of lager soon!
    “What you having, Eddie?” Sue enquired.
    “Roast duck with cashew nuts in yellow bean sauce with egg fried rice.”
    “That sounds tasty. I think I’ll change my mind and have the same. Be nice to try something different,” Sue reckoned. The last time she tried a different dish, she didn’t like it at all and I ended up throwing it away!
    “Right, we all happy with what I’ve written down,” I said, reading out everyone’s order and making sure I’d got it right. “Good! Come on, Al. Let’s get going down the China Jade,” I said impatiently, wanting to grab a pint in the local first. “Right behind you, mate,” Al said, following me out of the flat down to the front door.
    “Won’t be long, Sue. I’ll get a bottle of wine for you and Jane,” I shouted up the stairs.
    “OK, that’ll be nice!” Sue yelled over the top banister rail. “See you in a bit. Oh, Ed! Don’t forget the film,
The Devil Rides Again
, you know the one,” she added.
    
You’re having a bloody laugh. I’m not getting that film the mood I’m in. I’d rather watch
Tom and Jerry
and that’s a fact!
    We walked up to the Chinese and placed our order. Mr. Wang informed us it would be at least twenty-five minutes, due to the sudden rush of customers.
    “OK we’ll be back shortly,” I told him. “Come on, Al. Let’s have a pint in The Bull,” I suggested.
    “Good idea, Ed,” he said.
    The Bull was four shops down on the corner and within seconds we were standing at the bar ordering two pints. I took a large gulp and Al raised his glass, tapping mine.
    “Cheers mate! Not a bad pint in here,” he reckoned, swigging his lager. After a second pint, we left The Bull for the China Jade, carrying our takeaway booze from the pub’s off licence. Picking up our food, I couldn’t be bothered to walk down the High Street to the video shop so we made our way back to the flat. While we all tucked into our food, I lied and said that the video shop was chocker-block with customers.
    “If I had waited, our food would have been stone cold,” I said.
    Sue accepted my excuses, switching on the box convinced there was a hammer horror film on at ten. She was right;
The Pit and the Pendulum
with Vincent Price. Feeling stuffed and slightly pissed, we made ourselves comfortable.
    Halfway through the film I dozed off. I jerked awake to the sound of a long continuous beeping and crackling noise. My senses were on red alert. Rubbing my eyes, I noticed it was the telly making all the noise. Sighing with relief, I started rousing everyone from their slumber. I suggested that Al and Jane kip on the settee. Using the cushions as pillows, I threw a thick warm blanket over them. Wishing them goodnight, Sue and me then retired to bed.
    I woke in the early hours of the morning busting for a piss. Glancing over Sue’s peaceful body, I read the bedside clock that told me it was 3:30 a.m. I quietly slid out the bed, not wanting to put the light on for fear of waking everyone up. I fumbled blindly in the dark heading towards our front door. I was just about to open the door when I heard a whimpering, sniffling sound behind me.
    “Who’s there? Please answer me this time,” Jane begged sheepishly, sounding completely horrified.