Slur: The Riverhill Trilogy: Book 1 (5 page)

Julie obliged.
She was unaware that Inspector Bowden had been compelled to release her
following his meeting with DCI Marshall.

In a
neighbouring interview room Rita had also undergone stringent questioning from
one of Inspector Bowden’s colleagues, and this interview hadn’t yielded any
results either. So Julie left the police cells feeling a mixture of emotions;
relief that she was no longer in custody, but anxiety about the reception that
she would receive when she arrived home.

Throughout
her time spent at the police station, the one person who Julie had not given
any thought to was her boyfriend, Vinny. In the midst of her ordeal, it had
escaped her mind that she had arranged to meet him at the Bella Vida restaurant
at 8pm on Saturday evening.

Saturday 21
^st
June 1986

Vinny entered the Bella Vida just before 8pm. He was feeling
a combination of nervousness and excitement as he thought about his plan to
take his relationship with Julie to a higher level of commitment, and toyed
with the small package inside his jacket pocket. He was dressed smartly in a
pair of beige Chino trousers, a pale blue and beige striped shirt and a navy blue
jacket. Vinny had made a special effort for this evening, which he hoped would
be a memorable one. However, although he had arranged to meet Julie inside the
restaurant at 8pm, there was no sign of her. “
Oh well, I am a bit early
,”
he thought, and he took his seat at the table for two and waited patiently.

While he
anticipated Julie’s arrival, his mind became absorbed by thoughts of her. He
had known Julie for most of his life. When he was eleven they began to attend
the same secondary school; Vinny had recognised her as the well-presented and
attractive girl who lived a few streets away. Even at that age there was
something about her that made her stand out from the crowd. She later admitted
to him that until she saw him at secondary school, she wasn’t aware that he
existed.

That didn’t
surprise Vinny as he had been the quiet type. All through school they didn’t
have much to do with each other. They were in different classes for one thing. Julie
was in one of the top classes whereas Vinny was midstream.

He had
always liked her and when he reached the age where girls became a major
obsession, Julie was top on his list of desirables. He’d never had the courage
to approach her though. Although good looking, he wasn’t cool enough to be
considered a heart-throb, and he thought of girls like Julie as being well out
of his league. In a school of over a thousand pupils, Vinny saw himself as just
one of hundreds of ordinary boys.

After
leaving school he noticed her the odd time in the street or at the bus stop and
they would acknowledge each other with a polite nod of the head. He still
didn’t have the courage to ask her out until a couple of years after they had
left school.

He was in Saturdays
nightclub with some of the lads when he spotted Julie and Rita only yards away.
His heart began to race on catching sight of Julie, immaculately dressed and
oozing sensuality. He couldn’t help but stare.

Rita was
the first to react, and unfortunately, she seemed to be taking his staring as a
sign of encouragement.

He noticed
them deep in discussion; a discussion that seemed to concern him as Julie also
began to look in his direction. To his surprise she submitted a pleasing smile,
which he returned. He could feel his face flushing and he reacted by turning
away. Mentally he scolded himself as he knew that she would interpret this as a
lack of interest. He turned back, thrilled that she was still watching him, and
this time he managed to hold her gaze until she and Rita responded by
approaching him.

His first
impulse was to panic. “
Jesus, Julie Quinley’s coming over. What do I do,
what do I say?
” he thought. He was tempted to walk away, but he knew that
if he did he would miss his chance to impress her. So he stayed, and smiled avidly
as Rita opened up the conversation.

‘I thought
it was you,’ she began. ‘We haven’t seen you in here before. Is this going to
become a habit?’

He noticed
her initial use of the word “I”, subconsciously excluding Julie, and wondered
if they had approached him on Rita’s account. The situation then presented him
with more challenges; how to talk to them without making a fool of himself, and
at the same time let them know that it was Julie he was interested in and not
Rita.

He fumbled
for words, staring shyly at the two girls and aware of Julie’s eyes on him. It
took a few moments before he replied, but when he did he seemed to do OK. By
turning towards Julie and addressing his reply to her, he made it obvious that
she was the one he was attracted to. ‘It’s my first time here,’ he said, ‘but I
might just make it a regular thing.’

Once he had
broken the silence they began to make small talk, discussing mutual
acquaintances, school memories and careers. He occasionally eyed Rita, trying
to keep her a part of the conversation out of politeness, but the person who he
addressed most of his comments to was Julie. As soon as Rita sensed his lack of
interest, she slipped out of their company and found somebody else to chat up,
leaving him alone with Julie. The prospect no longer daunted him, however, as
the conversation was now in full flow and he felt that they were getting along
well. The four pints of lager that he had drunk also helped.

It was
obvious that Julie was attracted to him and he couldn’t believe his luck. In
fact, he was so eager that he couldn’t help but get tongue tied now and again. She
seemed impressed when he revealed that he had bought his own house. That didn’t
last long though when he told her that it was in the next street from his
parents, and that he still went there for tea most evenings.

As the
night progressed and the alcohol loosened Vinny’s tongue, he confessed that he
remembered her from as far back as about the age of seven, even before they
went to the same school. He had always admired her from a distance but hadn’t
done anything about it as he had thought she would not be interested in him. As
he put it, ‘brainy girls didn’t go out with lads from his class.’ As soon as he
uttered the words he felt foolish and inadequate.

When he
plucked up the courage to ask Julie on a date, she delighted him by saying yes.
That was two years ago, and they were still no further forward than they had
ever been. Vinny wondered why; there seemed to be an aloofness to Julie that he
couldn’t penetrate. He felt that even now she didn’t regard him as her equal.
But that wasn’t good enough for Vinny. He wanted more from the relationship
than just a casual acquaintance. Maybe with a ring on her finger everything
would be different, and if she turned him down, well that would prove that she
didn’t think that much of him anyway. What he would do if that situation arose
he wasn’t quite sure, but at least he would know where he stood, and the more
he thought about it, the more he knew that it was something he had to do.

By the time
it reached 8:20, the waiter had asked Vinny twice if he would like to order,
and Vinny had explained that he was waiting for someone. It was now becoming
evident, even to the waiter, that that someone was not going to show up. The waiter
fussed around a nearby table, straightening knives and forks and flicking
imaginary bits of dust off the tablecloth. Now and again he cast a sidelong
glance in Vinny’s direction, as though awaiting a decision.

Vinny had
already glanced at the menu several times and had long ago decided which dishes
he would like to order. His stomach rumbled in anticipation. As he tried to
occupy his time during the lengthy wait, he gazed around the restaurant at
happy couples tucking into their meals. Some looked back and, to Vinny, it
seemed that everybody in the restaurant knew that he had been stood up.

Eventually
it became obvious to him that there wasn’t much hope of her turning up this
late in the evening. After taking one last glance at his watch, he stood up,
sighed and nodded towards the waiter before he left the restaurant feeling
downcast and very humiliated.

His first
thought was to return home, but he decided that there was no point in sitting
there brooding. So he made his way to his local pub where he knew he would find
his friend Pete, amongst others.

When Vinny
walked inside the pub he knew it was a mistake. His clothing looked out of
place in the surroundings of his local, so it became apparent to everyone that
he hadn’t intended to stay there for the entire evening.

‘Where you
off to mate?’ asked an acquaintance called Danny.

‘I’m not
off anywhere, I’ve already been,’ Vinny replied.

‘Well
you’re soon back aren’t you?’

Vinny
sighed as he made the obligatory reply. ‘Let’s just say my arrangements didn’t
turn out.’

‘You’ve been
stood up, haven’t you?’ asked Danny sniggering.

The crowd
sitting with Danny were quick to join in the fun, as they laughed and made
jibes. Pete came to Vinny’s rescue. ‘All right mate, do you fancy a pint?’ he asked
as he put his arm around Vinny’s shoulder and led him to the bar.

Pete was
aware that Vinny had arranged to take Julie for a meal, so when he showed up in
his local a little after 9pm, he guessed what had happened.

‘Take no
notice of that bunch of prats. Let’s go and sit over there and you can tell me
about it.’

‘There’s
nothing to tell. I’ve been stood up, haven’t I?’

‘Have you tried
ringing her to find out why she didn’t show up?’

‘Yeah, I rang
her from two phone boxes on the way here but the phone was engaged all the
time. I thought about calling round to her house but that would just make me
look desperate.’

‘No, don’t
be a mug! Don’t worry about it mate. It’s not the end of the world.’

‘Maybe not but,
oh I dunno, I just don’t know where I stand with her anymore.’

Vinny shook
his head from side to side before continuing. ‘It’s not like it’s just any
bird, you know? I really thought that me and Julie had something good going, especially
after the last time I saw her. Christ, she couldn’t get enough of me!’

‘Look
Vinny, there’s plenty of birds you can have. Why wait around for Julie? It’s
obvious she’s not that bothered.’

‘It’s not
just about having a shag though is it? I want more. I want commitment.’

‘For God’s
sake Vinny, you’re starting to sound like a woman!’

An
uncomfortable silence descended over them; commitment wasn’t a word that
entered into Pete’s vocabulary. Vinny withdrew the package from his pocket and
showed it to Pete.

‘Oh I get
it,’ said Pete, nodding as the realisation hit him. ‘You were going to pop the
question? Jesus Vinny, you have got it bad!’

‘Yeah,’
replied Vinny, becoming annoyed. ‘Fuckin’ muggins, that’s me. Two hundred quid
this set me back and she can’t even be arsed showing up. She’s probably out
with that bunch of slags she hangs around with.’

‘Oh, Rita
the Man Eater and that blonde bird with the big tits, do you mean?’

‘Yeah,
that’s right; all out on the cop while I’m sat in a restaurant looking like a
right dick.’

‘I don’t
fancy your chances if she’s out with them two mate. I bet they’ve copped off
already.’

‘But
Julie’s not like them two Pete.’

‘Well,
maybe not, but I wouldn’t trust that Rita as far as I could throw her, not
after what she did to me.’

‘Yeah, but
you had only seen her a couple of times though, hadn’t you? You’d have probably
dumped her soon anyway. It’s not like me and Julie, we’ve been together for a
while now.’

‘That
doesn’t mean to say she’s not seeing someone-else behind your back though does
it? They’re all the same them lot; they just use blokes for what they can get.
I thought that Rita was a good laugh, but she was just taking the piss, letting
me take her for meals while she had other blokes on the go as well.’

‘Yeah, but
you were seeing someone-else as well Pete, weren’t you?’

‘At least I
wasn’t flaunting it in front of her face. I felt dead shown up when she walked
in Saturdays with that bloke and just sailed right past me without even letting
on. I felt like a right mug.’

‘I know how
you feel mate,’ Vinny responded.

This
prompted some sympathy from Pete who realised how carried away he had been in
maligning Rita when his friend was feeling hurt. He slung his arm around
Vinny’s shoulder in a rough, masculine embrace. ‘Look mate, don’t let it worry
you. There’s plenty of birds you could have. If she can’t be arsed, then find
someone who can.’

Vinny
looked down in silence and took solace in his pint of beer. Pete tried to
discuss other matters in order to take Vinny’s mind off the situation, but
after they had drank a few pints, Vinny raised the subject again.

‘I’m going
to ring her and find out what the problem is.’

‘She won’t
be in.’

‘Well I’ll ring
her in the morning then.’

‘Don’t be a
mug Vinny, it’s her that’s stood you up not the other way round. If anyone
should be phonin’ anyone, it should be her phonin’ you.’

As Vinny
began to recall the embarrassment of sitting alone in the restaurant while the
waiters whispered amongst themselves, his disappointment turned to anger.

‘Yeah,
you’re right Pete. Why should I ring her? Stuff her!’

Having made
his decision, Vinny removed his jacket, rolled up his sleeves and loosened his
collar. ‘Right, let’s get pissed!’ he said.

Now that he
was feeling more in tune with his environment, he spent the rest of the evening
playing pool, getting extremely drunk, and trying to forget about Julie.