Trouble on home soil.
We were due home Monday, but the three of us managed to hitch a ride to Kings Lynne on a transport plane Saturday, 2am. The short two-hour flight went quickly, we were in the car heading home by 5am. It would be nice be in my own bed again after being stuck on a base in Germany for the last week for debriefing.
We all had leave for a month unless a call came, so I had planned to hit surf on the beaches of Cornwall before the bad weather of winter arrived just to blow off steam.
The ride back down the M11 heading back towards the smoke through my old stomping grounds bought back some happy, some sad memories of my childhood. I grew up in this part of Essex with my grandparents, they are gone now much like my mum and dad, they were killed when I was young. It's just me left from my family now, I don't have kids yet, but we hope we will soon.
Mandy is my family now, we married four years ago after a whirlwind romance in Ibiza, a small Spanish island in the med.
I am entering my last six months of duty, we have decided that I would retire from active duty and settle down, hopefully somewhere quiet near the sea.
"OOOOFFF!"
I got a sharp dig from my right side,
"Oi Chump, what are you smiling at?"
It was Horn, he had given me a sharp elbow to my ribcage just as I was nodding off.
"Fuck you, Horn!" I hissed.
"Fuck me? Yeah, in yer dreams."
He was an asshole sometimes and hard to keep in line if he was in an aggressive mood.
The glow from London lit the dark sky on the horizon as we got closer.
"Nice to be home after that shit-hole innit boss." Archie said from the front.
"It's just nice to be home." I replied.
Our driver looked across to Archie saying, "Shit-hole, what shit-hole you lot been to then?"
Archie didn't have to reply, just the look was enough for the cabby to know he needed to stop talking.
"M25 coming up, are we dropping in London or Orpington first?" the driver asked.
"Orpington please mate, me first" I replied.
The cab dropped me in the high street outside McDonalds, I needed to get some food inside me before I went home.
"Cheers mate, have a safe journey home fella's. Horn, be good. Arch, I'll contact you next week ok. Now fuck off home and make your wives scream in ecstasy."
I had known Horn since his early training days, he had that look about him that said he was a nasty fucker, just the type that fits with us. To this day he never let me know why his nickname is horn. I am his C.O. He calls all commanding officers chumps, he has the personality that allows him certain privileges, this is one of them that I allow.
It was cold and wet, the pavements were shiny with water slowly draining into the kerbsides. McDonalds was empty, it was nice sitting there alone in my thoughts. I had missed this.
A couple of young lads came in and sat at a table across the way from me, they looked like builders on the way to work. The younger one kept glancing my way, commenting to his buddy. I wondered if I was the topic of their conversation. After fifteen minutes with their brekky done they rose to leave, on his way past my table the younger of the two dropped a five pound note in front of me onto my empty plate.
"Here mate, take it. Good luck."
I tilted my head towards him and looked at him puzzled.
"Take it." he smiled down at me with a kind face.
"Thank you sir." I said. "thank you."
It was then I realised he must have thought I was a tramp keeping warm in the shop. I went into the toilets for a pee and a quick wash up. looking in the mirror I could understand his mistake. I badly needed to shave and clean up.
I pulled my collar up and made the short walk home, it was daylight now. The day didn't seem so dank now the rain had stopped.
It would be good to see Mandy, she would still be in bed, it was the weekend and only 8am and she was not expecting me home for another two days.
I made the turn into my road, nothing had changed. Still the same safe suburban street, rosebushes overhanging the garden walls, the odd cat sitting on pathways leading to safe semi-detached houses.
I had been away seventeen weeks this time, it was nice to see my home.
My front lawn needed a trim, "I would do that tomorrow." I thought to myself as I walked up my pathway to the front door.
I travelled home light, just a small duffel bag, I had stowed my kit in Norfolk, it would follow on in a couple of days. I turned my key in the lock, the house smelled the same, my old green fishing coat still on the hook. God it was good to be home.
I chucked my bag at the foot of the stairs and made my way to the kitchen, my plan was to take coffee and toast up to my wife and surprise her. The kitchen was a bit of a mess, "unlike her," I thought.
The kettle was still hot, she must be up and had one already. An ashtray on the table? She doesn't smoke. Two half drunk glasses of wine next to the ashtray?
The hairs on the back of my neck rose and my training kicked in. something was off here.
I quietly looked around surveying the kitchen, a few things out of place but nothing really wrong other than what I had seen previously.
I went into my lounge, it was much the same as the kitchen. A bit messy, two cups of cold coffee on the side, and one that was half full and still warm. But what was really unusual, a bra and panties on the carpet. This was not like her.
I stood and listened to the silence around me, my heartrate had risen slightly. I could feel the blood flow in my ears, it sounded like a drum. The house was eerily quiet. I walked through the hallway and up the stairs avoiding the creaky steps, again I stood silently praying I wouldn't hear what I thought I might. Did she have someone here? It would explain the mess.
The bedroom door has a slight squeak so I just opened it enough to poke my head around. She was sleeping alone. The relief washed over me like a tidal wave, I was just about to enter the bedroom when the front doorbell chimed. I backed away looking over the banister to the door.
"Hang on John, I'll be right there!" came the call from the bedroom.
John?
I quickly retreated to the spare room hiding behind the door watching as she emerged naked from our bedroom. She made her way down the stairs but stopped in her tracks on the third step from the bottom. I know it was the third one because it creaks.
"Shit." I heard.
"Shit, shit, oh fucking shit!"
The bell chimed again, I made my way to the banister and peered over. She had seen my bag at the bottom, she ran to the door, still naked and I heard a man's voice.
"I have croissants and fresh cream."
She whispered something I could not make out and quietly closed the door. Mandy then made her way into the lounge, then the kitchen. I made use of the time by pulling the covers from our bed and smelling the sheets. There was no doubt in my mind now as I laid them back into place.
"Barry, are you home?" she shouted from the base of the stairs.
I stayed silent.
The familiar sound of the creaks invaded the silence like bombs going off, a real bomb would surely go off in the next few minutes.
I heard her tentatively walk alone the landing and stop outside of our bedroom door, she opened the door and slowly entered.
"Barry?"
Again I kept silent.
I stood behind the opened door and let her enter the room by a few feet before I slammed the door shut behind her. She screamed and turned.
She looked petrified, she was visibly shaking. Her arm came up to her breasts and the other covered her snatch.
"For fuck's sake Barry. You scared the shit outta me!"
She backed off a little before saying,
"Why are you home? I thought you was back Monday?"
I still stayed totally silent and just looked at her standing there naked. The silence between us was not broken for a few seconds.
"Who is he?" I calmly asked.
"What?"
"Don't fuck with me Mandy, who is he?"
I said in a very menacing tone that I had developed over the years in service.
