Chapter 10

Next day was Friday, forgetting to turn on my alarm, I woke up late. It was past 9 am. The flat was empty Mario must have taken the bus to college. Making myself, coffee had a few sips to wake me up then I jumped into the shower. Quickly got dressed then left for the gym. On locking my front door, I heard a voice behind me.

“Hi, stranger.” It was Vicky.

“Hi Vicky, long time no see, what are you up to,” I said.

“Got the day off, going to do some shopping, I need to get out of the house.”

“I haven’t had breakfast yet fancy joining me?” I asked.

“Sure why not.”

I drove to a cafe in Palmers Green which I had never been too. We both ordered a full English Breakfast. Since the day Vicky helped me clean the flat, I haven’t had the chance to spend some time with her. We stayed there for quite a while talking in general. That is when I realised we had a lot in common.

It was nearly 1 pm when I asked the waitress to bring me the bill. In her place, a gentleman came in his 50’s wearing a chef’s uniform. He said. “Hello my name is John, I hope you enjoyed the breakfast.” He said.

“It was very nice, thank you for asking. I just requested the bill from the young lady.” I said.

“There is no charge for anything. What you are trying to do for our community is the least we can do for you.” You have a beautiful day and come back again.” Shock my hand. “I need to go now to prepare for lunch time.” Walking back to the kitchen.

Returning to my car Vicky said. “very impressive getting highly respected from the community.”

“Just trying to help,” I said

I drove her to Wood Green station, as she wanted to get the Picadilly line to central London. Before she got out of the car, we made plans to meet up on Sunday evening for a meal.

The gym was very busy when I got there, Mario was showing some youngsters how to use the speed bag, while Mr Brown was with two other youths who were sparring in the ring. I went straight to my office closed the door dropping on the task chair. A few minutes later the door knocked.

“Come in.”

Mr Brown entered the office came up to my desk putting his hands on the desk then leant forward. “I guess you know who came in today.” He said.

“Fuck I thought he wouldn’t turn up, believe me, he wasn’t too happy when he saw me yesterday. I suppose he left when he didn’t see me here.”

“No, actually he’s with a group of kid’s, that joined today, explaining to them how to use the equipment safely. You did the right thing, George, I think our team is 100% now.”

Letting Radovan finish with what he was doing I then went to have a quick word with him. “Hey, thanks for coming down today.”

“I didn’t have much choice Milana literally pulled me out of bed. But I am glad I came. Speaking to those kids gave me a purpose in life. If it’s ok with you from next week, I come from Monday to Friday.”

“Like I said yesterday, you are an inspiration for these kids,” I called Mario over introduced him to Radovan, chatted with them a while, then told Mario to show Radovan around the gym.

It was Saturday evening, Mario had gone out on a date with Angela, my parents and I had gone around my sisters for a meal. We had our dinner, the kids went upstairs to play on their Playstation, Tina sent mum and dad to the living room to relax while we cleaned up. Putting away some plates in the cupboard next to the fridge I notice a picture held onto the refrigerator door with a magnet. It was Gary with the boys, taken in front of a semi-detached house.

“Hey sis where was this picture taken with Gary and the boys.”

“That is St. Christophers Park in Ellistown Village, Gary’s mum lived there, we took that picture just before she passed away.”

“The boys must really miss their dad?” I said.

Turning her back to me she said. “What could I do George, I tried my best to keep our marriage together.” She then got a tissue to wipe her eyes.

Going next to her I put my arm around her. “Hey don’t worry everything is going to be ok sis.” I rubbed her back. “Go sit with mum and dad I’ll make the tea.” While waiting for the water to boil I had another look at the picture on the fridge, looking closer to see the number on the house, memorising it.

After dropping off my parent’s, it was after midnight when I got home. Mario was in the living room watching a movie on Netflix.

“Hey, how did your date go,” I said.

“Pretty good we’re going for dinner tomorrow night.”

“That’s good I’m going out for dinner with Vicky maybe we could book a table for four.”

“Sure,” He replied.

Going into the kitchen, my laptop was on the dining table. Firing it up I went straight to google maps putting 37 Christopher Park, Ellistown then pressed enter. The map data came up with a small picture of the same house I saw earlier on tina’s fridge. Zooming out to see were Ellistown was in the UK, I felt goosebumps all over my body. It was situated not too far from the two cities Gary was making his ATM withdraws, Birmingham and Leicester. My first thought was to call our private detective or the police, but I scrapped that idea.

Looking over at Mario I said. “How long till the movie ends.”

“It’s nearly finished if the volume is too loud I will turn it down,” He replied.

“When the movie ends fancy going for a little drive.”

“Sure where we going.”

“Leicester.”

“Why would you want to go to Leicester at 2 in the morning.”

“I’ll tell you on the way.”

He switched off the TV, then went to change from his tracksuit into some casual clothes, I put the kettle on to make us some coffee to take with us in a thermal flask. At that time in the morning, we will need a lot of caffeine to keep us awake. When we were both ready, I said. “Let’s go.”