Page 22 of The Family Across the Street
‘But John is out, isn’t he? You heard him leave this morning, you said.’
‘Did I say that?’ asks Lou, looking confused.
‘I should call Katherine…’
‘You’re just interfering. People will start to think you’re crazy.’
‘Lou, John left early this morning, just screeched off, making enough noise to wake you, that’s what you said before. Maybe they had a big fight. Maybe he… maybe he hit her or something… I don’t know. Maybe she needs help and that’s why the children made the sign. Surely you can see that something may be wrong?’
She pulls her mobile phone out of the front pocket of her apron, spilling a couple of tissues onto the floor, which she then has to bend down to retrieve.
‘Well, just call Katherine, then.’
Gladys is quiet.
‘I said just call her, then,’ repeats Lou.
‘Yes, well, I have done,’ she admits, ‘four times already and she hasn’t answered.’ She looks down at her phone, biting her lip. What is the right thing to do?
Lou’s eyes widen. ‘You’re going to get arrested for harassment, Gladys. Imagine you in jail! What will I do then?’ He pulls at the fabric of his shirt and shakes his head as he speaks. ‘What will I do?’ he moans again.
She moves quickly to reassure him, resting a hand gently on his fidgeting fingers.
‘That’s not possible, Lou,’ she comforts him. ‘I won’t call Katherine again. I’ll just call John at work quickly and then I can put this whole thing out of my mind. It will only take a minute. I’ll just ask after the children and… Oh look, I don’t know, I’ll make something up. I’ll call him at work.’
‘How come you have John’s work number?’
‘I don’t have it, but I know he works at Barker and Partners, don’t I? Katherine gave me a whole collection of notebooks from his company because she said they were changing their logo. I’m going to call, and if he sounds even a little cagey on the phone, then I’ll march back over there and see what’s happening.’ She doesn’t look at him as she speaks, but down at her phone instead. She’s not going to give him a chance to talk her out of this.
Lou folds his arms and waits.
Gladys peers at her phone through her glasses, slowly typing the name of John’s company into Google. ‘Ha,’ she says triumphantly when she finds it and presses on the number on the webpage entry. Katherine was very proud when she told her that John had made partner in his firm. It’s a big company with over a hundred employees. Gladys knows because she looked it up.
‘Yes, hello,’ she says to the woman with a very competent voice who answers. Gladys clears her throat. ‘I’m hoping to speak to Jonathon West.’
‘May I ask who’s calling and what it’s in reference to?’ says the woman.
Gladys contemplates the truth but decides that a quick lie would probably get her further. ‘I’m his next-door neighbour and I think that there is a pipe leaking in his backyard. I can’t get hold of his wife and I’m worried that it’s going to flood the house.’ Gladys crosses her fingers. The truth would have sounded very strange. The convenient lie just popped out. She did once have to phone Katherine because they had left the hose on for hours while they filled the swimming pool, and the water level just kept rising. Gladys had looked out of her bedroom window and seen that it was going to overflow. ‘Thanks goodness you called,’ Katherine told her afterwards.
‘Just a moment, I’ll see if he’s available.’
Gladys looks over at Lou and he nods his head. He’s interested now as well. They both need to know that Katherine is okay. She feels sort of motherly towards the young women in the neighbourhood. Katherine’s mother is no longer here to protect her daughter, and sometimes younger women need the help of an older and perhaps wiser woman.
‘I’m sorry, Mr West didn’t come into work this morning,’ says the woman, returning to the call.
‘Oh, are you sure he’s not just in a meeting? I’m happy to leave a message.’
‘I’m afraid not. As I said, he didn’t come in today at all.’
‘Well, where is he then?’
The woman hesitates. ‘His assistant did not give me that information,’ she says.
‘Oh, perhaps I’ll call him directly. Can I get his mobile number?’
‘Didn’t you say you were his neighbour?’
‘Yes.’
