No Luck

No luck ?

by Jonathan Browning

Graham Wall was unusually likeable . I say unusually because of his
occupation , a traffic warden . In the small town of Porton where
Graham had lived all his life , the vast majority of the residents
found him to be adorable .
Now all this had nothing to do with good looks . Graham had the sort
of face that improved with a paper bag over it . All rubbery , wrinkly
and worn out . This in itself is not a terrible thing, but at the
tender age of thirty-two it doesn't help much . The women of Porton may
have liked him immensely , but only Graham's mum and a girl called
Louise had ever really loved him .
The main reason for his popularity was down to a little girl called
Karen Wood . Young Karen ( she was about six ) , had been walking along
the high street with mummy one hot afternoon . Whilst mummy stopped to
admire the dress in the front window of a shop , Karen saw a ball of
silver paper in the road . Only it looked to her just like a huge
diamond , so she ran out to fetch it .
Graham stood across the street , eyeing up an illegally parked Rover .
Seeing the child , along with the articulated lorry hurtling down upon
her ; he took the only action possible . Two almighty strides and a
dive brought his hands upon the unsuspecting girl . Throwing Karen to
safety , the inertia of his body almost took Graham clear of the
enormous wheels . Almost .
The horrifying scream sickened every onlooker , but the young hero did
not even hear it . As the lorry crushed his left ankle and foot an
overwhelming avalanche of unbelievable pain pushed his mind into
darkness .
Waking to the sound of echoing voices afar , Graham became aware of
the grip on his hand . Weeping eyes looked back at him , as he opened
his to find the source of this grip .

" Mother , you look awful, are you ill ? " he enquired seriously
.

"Since when did you start calling me mother , eh ? " she laughed
.

Graham laughed too , until he felt the pain . Looking down the bed he
noticed that there was a cage over his left foot , holding up the
bedsheets .
" What is that , mum ? " , pointing to the bottom of the bed .

Mrs Wall looked away from her son , hiding the tears that were
beginning to pool in her eyes .
How could she tell him of what he had lost ? As her only son lay in
this hospital bed , unaware of his newly aquired disability ; the ache
in Ruby's heart threatened to stop the intense beating altogether
.

" You saved that little girl's life , son . The whole town send their
love and best wishes to the new hero ."

" My foot . Is it badly broken . Mum ? "

Turning to look her Graham in the eye , the tears streamed from Ruby's
own . As she told him of the five hour operation to save his ankle and
foot , which had completely failed ; the young man at first stared
ahead in utter disbelief . All of a sudden a smile dawned across his
face , lifting the wrinkles upon it like some crane on a trawler ,
pulling up it's nets out of the ice-cold sea . Now his mother looked
oddly at this smirking face , unable to comprehend the reason for it
.

" Don't you see . I bought little Karen's life with my foot ! It had
been decided to take her soul , yet I managed to cheat the Reaper of
his victim . A foot is not too much to ask , surely ? I mean it might
have been both my legs. "

Eventually after a lot of struggling , Graham learned to walk again .
The new plastic foot and ankle combination had been expensive ,
although the money raised by the townsfolk more than covered it . When
he felt ready , Graham re-applied for his old job back . After a lot of
discussion at the Police Station a letter of acceptance was posted to
the Wall household . This letter had been typed by someone new to the
station ,a WPC Louise Read.
Louise knew that Graham lived in Porton , as she herself had when they
were both teenagers . Seeing his name again brought all the memories
bouncing back into her imagination .
Those wild nights in the park , where most teenagers in the area would
meet up . Listening to whatever tape was playing , in whichever
soundbox that had been brought up .
The eldest or tallest present would be sent to the Spar with a pocket
full of change , normally returning with a 2 litre bottle of Dry
Blackthorn .
It was when Graham went shopping once , due to him looking older ;
that she decided he was boyfriend material . He had walked back into
the park struggling with four bulging carrier bags .

" I found a tenner on the way there ! " he shouted to them .

He almost tripped up over one of the bags in his haste . There was
cider , lager and Jamaican Rum . Not to mention the chocolate bars ,
crisps and even twenty fags .
That night they all had a fine time getting drunk . Louise sitting
next to Graham , waiting for a kiss . In the end she had to ask him to
kiss her . The poor lad just stared at this wonderful creature sitting
next to him , his mouth open .

" Come here , before you catch a fly "

&;#8230;Louise said as her hand grabbed the back of his head ,
tugging their mouths together .
Graham was the first boy to ever make love to her . Why he
had succeeded when so many others were refused at the first fence
remained a mystery to her even now . Maybe the kindness Louise could
see in his eyes before that initial kiss , or merely because Graham had
not pocketed the ten pounds like the rest would have .

It was possible that going to University in Bristol that autumn had
saved her from marriage , mortgage and motherhood . But seeing the name
on the application , thinking back now to her
past ; had it worked out any better ?

Knock! Knock!

" Who's there ? "

" Mrs Wall ! My name is Louise . Is Graham in please ? "

" Louise who ? "

" Louise Read . I used to live in the village . "

" I remember you . Went to University and that was the last
my Graham ever heard of you . Broke his heart you did . "

Louise turned and proceeded to walk away , still in uniform . The door
opened behind her , Ruby stared after the girl . Louise turned to look
back , her face wet with tears .

" Why do you want him . You got a warrant for his arrest ? "

There was no malice in her voice now , only curiosity and motherly
protection . Louise took a step forward , risking a smile .

" Maybe a life sentence if I am lucky . If I deserve a second
chance , that is . "

Ruby paused to think , weighing up all the possibilities open
to her . Eventually she pointed down the road .

" Number 23 . He plays chess with Mr Norman on occasion . I guess it's
not for me to deny you that second chance , girl . "

With that the W.P.C. ran full pelt towards No. 23 , blood pumping
through her arteries as if bringing life to an otherwise dead body .
Reaching the house chilled Louise's spirit , sobering her to the
possibility of total rejection . After an age , came the knock .

Knock ! Knock ! Silence . Brief , yet eternal .

The door opened to reveal a man , surely the oldest to still draw
breath . He spoke in a calm , buttersoft tone .

" May I help you , constable ? " he enquired .

" I , I , er&;#8230; is Graham here please ? " she stammered
.

Graham came from behind the man , to look , then stare at the face he
saw most nights in his dreams . Coming forward ; Graham embraced the
only girl that he had ever truly loved .

THE END