Sweet and sour

Sweet and Sour

By Steve Laker

Doug seemed preoccupied as he hurried down the street towards Pete.
Pete couldn't tell if Doug was speaking to someone on his mobile phone,
or swearing at it. He smiled, but Doug just pushed past. As he arrived
at his house, Pete looked for signs of activity from Doug and Karen's
next door but could see none. He knew that he would have to wait the
usual five minutes before going round to see if Karen was okay.

Pete paced restlessly back and forth across his living room, glancing
occasionally at the clock on the wall. He willed the time to pass as he
wondered what he might find next door. Occasionally he'd look out over
the front gardens to make sure Doug wasn't returning unexpectedly as he
often did. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, his time was up
and he hurried out of the front door.

An uneasy feeling gripped Pete as he walked up Karen's garden path.
Although it was growing dark and the living room curtains were drawn,
there were no lights on in the house. He glanced nervously behind him
and made sure no one was around before knocking on Karen's front door,
then tried to conceal himself in the shadows while he waited.

Eventually the door opened, just an inch and there was a pause as Pete
tried to peer into the darkness inside. The lights in the street behind
him were beginning to flicker into life and their orange glow caught a
glistening eye looking back at him from behind the door. As she opened
the door further, Karen's face took on a haunting glow as the
streetlights picked out her features and formed shadows across her
face. She stepped outside, her head bowed, and glanced up and down the
road before taking Pete's hand and leading him inside.

As Pete closed the door behind him Karen tugged at his hand, pulling
him into the house. They walked through the hall and Pete could see a
flickering light in the kitchen. Karen didn't speak; she just looked at
her feet as she hurried into the kitchen where a candle flickered on
the table. She turned to face Pete, her head still bowed. Pete placed a
finger under Karen's chin and gently lifted her head to face him. Just
as he suspected, she had been crying again. As she looked at him
through glazed eyes, Pete placed his hand on her arm. "What is it?" he
asked, "Karen, what's wrong? What's he done this time?" Her lips were
quivering as she struggled to reply. She burst into tears and buried
her face in his chest.

"Oh Pete, I'm so sorry." Her words were muffled. "I'm so
embarrassed."

"Embarrassed? Don't be stupid, you know you can tell me. What's he
done?"

Karen shook her head against Pete's chest. "I'm so sorry. You shouldn't
have to see me like this."

"Come on, you know I'm always here for you. Whatever it is, you can
tell me." Pete held her tightly and spoke quietly and reassuringly into
her ear. As he held her, he noticed that her sobbing had changed. She
was chuckling.

Pete eased Karen away and tilted her head toward him again. The
flickering candlelight danced across her face, at the same time picking
out the glistening of her tears and the creases at the sides of her
mouth where she was now smiling broadly. Karen looked at the ground and
placed her hands on her cheeks. She shook her head and began to laugh
aloud. Now Pete shook his head, in confusion. He took hold of Karen's
hands and she looked up at him, still shaking her head and still
smiling. "Karen, what is it?" Pete's voice was growing impatient.

"Oh, Pete I'm sorry. I'm so glad you came".

"Why? What's he done?"

"No, it's not Doug, he's fine."

"But I saw him on my way back from the station. I
thought&;#8230;"

"No, no, nothing like that. He just had to rush off because he was
late for work. The trouble is, just after he left, this happened."
Karen gestured an arm around the kitchen. "I think one of the fuses has
blown. I don't know where Doug keeps the spares though, and I can't
stand the dark." She was crying and laughing at the same time.

"You're in this state because you don't like the dark?" Pete couldn't
suppress his smile by now as the situation began to make sense. "I need
a drink".

"I'm such an idiot. I'm really sorry. Help me fix the lights and we'll
have a drink okay?" Karen began to pace around the kitchen. "Where
would he put them? Where do you keep your fuses Pete?"

"I don't. I haven't got any spares. Maybe by the fuse box?"

"But I don't even know where that is. Oh I wish he'd phone
back."

"Mine's under the stairs." Pete paused. "Phone back? What,
Doug?"

"Well I tried ringing him, but his phone was off so I left a
message."

"So you're saying he might come back?" Pete glanced behind him at the
front door.

"When you saw him, was he going to the station?"

"Well, he was headed that way, why?"

"Did you speak to him?"

"No, he was on his mobile."

"So that's why I couldn't get through. I thought it was too soon for
him to be on the train. It must have been that bitch."

"Who?"

"Oh, just some tart he knows from the pub."

"Karen, what are you on about? You reckon he's seeing someone
else?"

"No, it's okay. If he was going that way, he must have been going to
work." Karen looked thoughtful.

"What is it?"

"Look, don't worry. You're just helping me fix the fuse okay? Under
the stairs you say?"

"Yeah. Look, if there's any chance of Doug coming back, I'd rather not
be here. Maybe this isn't such a good idea. Maybe I should go."

"Oh, thanks. Leave me in the dark why not?"

"Come back to mine then."

"No." Karen shook her head and looked at the floor.

"Why not?" Pete placed his hand on Karen's shoulder, but she shrugged
him off.

"Because this isn't to do with me and you. I thought you were going to
help me." Karen sounded impatient. "Look, if you're worried, just help
me fix the fuse and then go okay?"

Pete realised that he was screwing things up. "I'm really sorry. It's
just that Doug really scares me sometimes."

"Well he's not like that now. He knows about what happened and he
knows it's in the past."

"Is it?" He knew Karen was denying the truth about Doug.

"Oh please Pete, you know it is. Don't do this to me."

Pete smiled. In that one contradictory sentence, Karen had said what
she always did and confirmed again what he'd always thought. He knew
that deep down inside, she still had feelings for him. He took the
candle from the table and led Karen into the hall. He nodded toward the
cupboard under the stairs and smiled. "In there."

"No, you go", said Karen.

"Okay. Wouldn't want the monster under the stairs to get you, would
we?" Karen tried to muffle an embarrassed giggle as Pete opened the
door and held the candle inside. "There you go". The flickering flame
lit up the fuse box and as Karen watched Pete fumble around in the
cupboard, she was eventually relieved when he flicked a switch and the
lights in the hall came back on.

Pete heard Karen sigh with relief as he blew out the candle and ducked
back out into the hall. As he turned to face her, he could tell she'd
been watching him. She was smiling and the tracks of her tears now
resembled a map, glistening in the light as they had followed the paths
of many expressions.

"Thanks" said Karen, regaining her composure. "Do you want that drink
now?"

"I'd love a Gin and tonic."

"Coming up. I'll have to get some ice from the freezer. The gin and
tonic are both in the fridge", said Karen, gesturing back toward the
kitchen. "Pour it yourself and I'll bring the ice up." Karen opened the
door to the cellar.

"See you in a minute." Pete called down the stairs as Karen
disappeared from view.

Pete walked into the kitchen and over to the cupboard where he knew
they kept the glasses. Taking a crystal tumbler, he placed it on the
table. He opened the fridge and smiled as he surveyed the contents.
Cans of beer were lined neatly on the shelves, occasionally giving up
room for a fresh steak, some proper butcher's sausages, lovely looking
rashers of bacon and fresh fruit and vegetables. Alongside the bottles
of milk in the door were some half-decent wines and the dairy
compartment contained some fine cheeses. Taking out the bottle of gin
and an individual bottle of tonic water, Pete thought how lucky Doug
was to have ended up with Karen.

Pete heard the sound of a key in the front door. It must be Doug, he
thought. As he heard the key turn, he panicked and looked around him
for a means of escape. The back door was in direct line of sight with
the front, and by now the front door was opening. Pete decided to sit
tight and face Doug. If he ran now, Doug would only vent his anger on
Karen and Pete couldn't live with himself if he allowed that to happen.
His heart beat faster and his mouth was growing dry as he heard the
front door close. "Oh, you've fixed it then?" said Doug as he walked
into the kitchen. Then he saw Pete. "Oh."

An uncomfortable silence fell over the room as Pete looked at Doug and
tried to think of something to say. He'd be honest, he thought. Doug
would think he had another motive for being there anyway. "Hello Doug.
I just came round to help Karen. One of the fuses had blown."

Doug remained silent as he reached inside his jacket. Time seemed to
slow down for Pete as Doug walked toward him and drew something from
his inside pocket. Pete closed his eyes. "I know. She left me a
message", Doug said. Pete opened his eyes to see Doug placing his
mobile phone on the table. "Where is she?"

"In the cellar getting some ice."

"Right." Doug said nothing more, turning and heading out of the
kitchen. Pete heard him open the cellar door and walk down the steps.
He sat alone, wondering what to do, wondering what Doug might be doing
to Karen in the cellar. He considered his options. This couldn't go on,
he thought. Now was the time to make his stand.

Opening the cellar door, Doug was already half way up the stairs. "I
could do with a drink. Let's go to the pub", said Doug as he closed the
door. "No ice."

"Where's Karen?"

"Oh, she's okay. She's just filling the freezer." Doug's words struck
fear into Pete. He imagined Karen lying in the freezer, possibly still
alive. He needed to get to her, but he knew that Doug wouldn't let him
and would probably kill him too. If he went with Doug, he thought,
perhaps he could tell someone what he had done. "Come on", said Doug,
closing the cellar door behind him.

Pete sat quietly in the corner of the pub, watching Doug as he ordered
their drinks. This being a Monday evening, it was quiet. He needed to
get to the phone on the bar, or attract the barman's attention, but all
the time Doug was going to be there. They'd had four pints each by now
and not once had Doug needed the toilet. Doug brought the drinks over
to the table and sat down. "Are you not going back to work then?" Pete
asked the first thing that came to mind.

"No, I phoned in on the way back home. Said Karen was ill." Doug
smiled and Pete grew more nervous. Lost for something to say, he gulped
his pint. "Listen, thanks for sorting her out for me." Now it seemed
that Doug was going to frame him. Pete put his drink down.

"What?"

"The fuse."

"Oh, right. No problem." Again Pete fought with the thoughts in his
head, trying to think of something to say. "You looked bothered when I
saw you this morning. Everything okay?"

"Fine. When did you see me?"

"This morning, on the way to the station. You were on your
phone?"

"Oh, that was Sarah."

"Sarah?" Pete wondered why Doug would be telling him about the girl
that he was cheating on Karen with. Maybe this would be a full-blown
confessional from him before he bumped Pete off, he thought.

"Yes, she's a girl I see in here sometimes. She's a florist."

"Oh?"

"Yes, she was sorting out a little surprise for Karen for me." Pete's
thoughts returned to Karen, in the freezer. This surprise of Doug's was
obviously not the sort you would normally expect of a florist. That was
obviously it then. He and Sarah were planning a new life together and
they'd been plotting between them to get Karen out of the way. Pete
could take this no longer, but he remained calm.

"Listen, I'm hungry. Do you fancy coming back to mine for some dinner,
or will Karen have made something?" Pete was angling for an
incriminating remark, but Doug was clever.

"Oh I doubt that."

"Why not?"

"Well, she'd find it a bit hard to cook at the moment." Doug was
smiling.

"Why?"
"Because I'm not there. She can't cook. I do it all." Pete knew that
Karen wasn't the best cook in the world, but something was wrong here.
He sensed that Doug was playing with him.

"Okay then, we'll go back to mine and do the cooking, then we'll go
round for Karen when it's ready." Pete expected Doug to have a reason
against this, but it was not forthcoming.

"Fine by me", said Doug and he tipped back the rest of his pint.
"Let's go." As they stood up, Doug stumbled and laughed. "I think I'm
drunk".

Knocking on Karen's door, Pete thought how futile it was. As he
suspected, Karen did not answer. He knocked again, not knowing why, but
he needed to gather his thoughts and decide how to handle this.
Undecided, he was about to knock a third time when the door
opened.

"Karen?" Pete's voice was full of surprise.

"Well who else did you expect?"

"I don't know. Are you okay?"

"Fine. I was just asleep. Pete, what's up?"

"Nothing. Everything's fine. Listen, do you want to come over for some
dinner?"

"Where's Doug?"

"He's at my place, cooking."

"Oh, okay. What are we having?" Karen closed the front door and they
walked down the path.

"Sweet and sour pork. From a pig."

"As opposed to beef, from a cow you mean?" Karen chuckled at Pete's
stating of the obvious.

"Yes. That's for another time."

Opening the door to Pete's house, a beautiful aroma wafted from the
kitchen. "That smells lovely", said Karen as Pete closed the door
behind them. He walked into the kitchen and Karen had already sat down
at the dining table. She was looking around. "Where's Doug?"

"Oh, he had to go somewhere. He'll be joining us soon. Wine?" Pete was
uncorking the bottle on the table.

"Yes please." Karen surveyed the spread that Pete and Doug had laid
out on the table. There was a Chinese food warmer in the centre with
night light candles inside, prawn crackers and crispy won ton were
elegantly presented in Chinese bowls and each setting had chopsticks
and a beautifully starched and folded napkin. They'd obviously gone to
a lot of trouble, she thought. "Thanks", she said as Pete filled her
glass to the rim. He filled the other two glasses and took a sip from
one.

Pete looked at his watch. "Well he'll be here in a minute, so I'll
dish up." Karen looked intently as Pete placed each dish from the oven
onto the warmer before sitting down. "We might as well start", he said,
and took Karen's bowl, filling it with food from each of the dishes.
Then he filled his own bowl and tucked in. He noticed that Karen wasn't
as adept at him with the chopsticks, so he took a piece of meat from
one of the dishes and offered it over to Karen. "Here. This is the
sweet and sour pig. Try it, it's delicious." Karen took the meat in her
fingers and put it in her mouth. She hadn't had Chinese food for a long
while, so wasn't sure if she'd like it, but this was delicious.

"That's lovely", she said, wiping her mouth with her napkin.

"I know I've not seen eye to eye with Doug in the past, but he
certainly makes a tasty dinner."

Karen was about to speak when there was a knock on the door. Pete got
up to answer it. Standing on the doorstep was a man with a huge bunch
of flowers. "Sorry to bother you mate, but there's no-one in next door.
Would you mind taking these in for them? They're for Karen?"

"Sure, she's here in fact."

"Oh, they must have given me the wrong address. So you're Doug?"

"No, he's inside too. I've just got them round for dinner."

? Steve Laker 2000