The Life and Loves of Gringo Greene (54 page)

   ‘Fancy lunch today?’

   ‘I don’t know. Have I done anything wrong?’

   ‘Not that I know of. Have you?’

   ‘Probably,’ she grinned, a smile that brought a smile to his weary face.

   ‘No, there’s something important I want to talk to you about.’

   ‘I’m not sure I like the sound of that.’

   ‘Please,’ he said, pleadingly, fixing her with his Labrador dog-like black eyes, a face that few women could resist.

   ‘All right, Gringo. I’ll meet you in Shaman’s at half twelve.’

   He smiled again and this time there was something of the old sparkle there. ‘Great,’ he said, ‘see you there.’

He found her waiting just inside the door, though her mind still seemed elsewhere, for it took her a second or two to recognise him.

   ‘Come on,’ he said, ‘let’s find a table,’ and he took hold of her arm and led her in. She made no attempt to free herself and that pleased him, and suddenly she seemed happy and relaxed in his company.

   Jackson Skeets was standing silently at the end of the bar, sipping from a green bottle of lager, his piggy eyes estimating every few minutes how that day’s takings were running. There was no sign of Naomi, while Colum was running the bar, flirting with the girls as he always did.

   Gringo and Mel settled at a table and ordered food and drink from a podgy young girl they had never seen before.

   ‘So,’ said Melanie, sipping the newly arrived wine. ‘What did you want to talk to me about?’

   ‘Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve heard on the grapevine that you might be…’

   ‘Up the duff?’ she volunteered.

   ‘I wouldn’t have put it quite like that.’

   ‘Well either way, it’s true.’

   ‘Congratulations.’

   ‘Thanks.’

   ‘What does Brian think about it?’

   She paused as if choosing her words with care, and then came out with a noncommittal answer that he ignored. ‘I don’t really care.’

   ‘I was wondering…’

   But again she interrupted.

   ‘What you really want to know, Gringo, is, are you the father?’

   ‘I wouldn’t be human if that thought hadn’t crossed my mind. Am I?’

   ‘I have no idea.’

   ‘You must have some idea.’

   ‘I don’t. Honestly I don’t.’

   ‘How come?’

   She took another sip as the lunches arrived.

   ‘You know that game Scissors, Paper, Stone?’

   ‘Yeah,’ said Gringo slowly, wondering where this thread might lead.

   ‘Well Brian’s the Scissors, you see, ’cause he’s had the snip, if not literally, you get my drift. You’re the Paper, ’cause you’re always faffing about with bloody papers, and Richie’s the Stone, ’cause he lives in a huge stone building and he’s as hard as... well… stone,’ and she giggled at her own perceived cleverness.

   ‘Richie Henderson?’ said Gringo, his voice betraying surprise and disbelief.

   ‘The very same.’

   ‘What’s this got to do with him?’

   ‘What do you think?’

   ‘You tell me, Mel.’

   ‘It all started that weekend you took me to the country club. When I finally arrived home and before Brian got back, I gave Richie a ring.’

   ‘You told me that before.’

   ‘I did, but what I didn’t tell you was that when I saw him standing there, I was amazed at how I still felt about him, deep inside, you know. You only get so many chances at happiness, Gringo. I couldn’t believe it myself. I hadn’t felt that way about any man, sorry Gringo, not even you, for years and years and years. Something just went pop deep inside me. It was an extraordinary feeling. I couldn’t stop myself, and afterwards I just had this overwhelming urge to ring the guy. Can you understand that?’

   Gringo recalled the feeling only too well, and the crazy sight of his disobedient hand flashed to the forefront of his mind.

   ‘So let me guess, you didn’t ring to warn him about mentioning seeing us together, with underlying hints of revealing tales of underage sex?’

   She let out a tiny snort.

   ‘Nope, course not, that was all a fabrication. I’m sorry for lying to you, Gringo; I just didn’t know what else to say.’

   ‘Don’t worry about it. People lie all the time.’

   ‘You can say that again. I’ve met more than my fair share of liars, and most of them have been men.’

   ‘But what about when you rang me late at night, when you said you and Brian had never been happier?’

   ‘More lies, Gringo, sorry.’

   He sniffed and grabbed a tired gherkin from the little dish before them.

   ‘So what happened?’

   ‘I arranged to go round and see Rich at the first opportunity.’

   ‘I thought you said you could never get away.’

   ‘Well, needs must; and I needed. There was a volcano erupting inside me. I did the only thing I could think of. I told Brian my mother was ill and that I had to go round and stay with her for a couple of days. He hates my Ma and will never go near her.’

   ‘Pity you hadn’t thought of that ruse before.’

   ‘Who said I hadn’t?’ she said, smirking again, tossing her hair away, and emptying her glass.

   Gringo waved at Colum for a refill. He grinned and mouthed a
Won’t be a mo.
 

   ‘So you went to see him at the Henderson?’

   ‘Yeah, you could say that.’

   ‘What happened?’

   ‘What do you think happened? Do you want chapter and verse?’

   ‘No, now that you mention it, I don’t.’

   But she ignored his answer and continued anyway.

   ‘He did exactly what you did. He bought me a great dinner, he ploughed me with drinks, he took me upstairs to his private apartments; he removed all my clothes, and did whatever he wanted, just as you did, Gringo, just as little boys always want to do with their little girlies. That’s the way of the world, if you hadn’t noticed.’

   ‘That wasn’t quite how I remember it.’

   ‘Oh don’t get me wrong, Gringo. I enjoyed the evening I spent with you immensely. I’d never change a thing, and I’ll always remember it with great fondness, but meeting Richie again; well that was something altogether different, and I have to thank you for that. I realised straight away that Richie was the only man I could ever truly love, while Brian is a man I should never have become involved with in the first place. I’ll never stray again, and that’s a fact. Richie feels the same way you see, he said there hasn’t been a day go by in all those years when he didn’t think of me.’

   Gringo would suspend judgment on that thought.

   ‘Does Brian know?’

   ‘He does now. I left him a week ago and moved in with Richie. I live at the Henderson now. He drives me all that way to work every morning, and picks me up every night, so he must be keen. Richie has this fab apartment on the top floor. You should see it. Talk about lush, you wouldn’t believe it. I was there on Saturday night when you turned up with Glenda. He came and told me you were in the house and I immediately knew who you’d brought from his description. I’d normally have come down, you see, but kept well away, seeing as you two were down there. I didn’t want to spoil your fun, but he said you went home dead early in a big huff with a face like a packet of Frosties. What is going on between you and Glen?’

   Gringo ignored the question.

   ‘So does Brian know you’re living at the Henderson?’

   ‘Nah. But one day he is sure to find out, and when he does, he’s bound to come running looking for trouble. Richie knows that well enough, but you don’t own and run a place like the Henderson Club without coming across some pretty heavy characters. You have to be prepared for it, you have to have a contingency plan, and Richie has that in spades. If Brian isn’t careful, he might get more than he bargained for.’

   ‘So who’s the father, Mel?’

   She opened her left palm, balled her right fist, struck the palm three times and threw a…

   ‘Stone! It’s Richie! Hard as rock! Let’s hope that’s right, eh, but in reality it’s an even Steven three way bet, though perhaps Brian, with his incredibly low sperm count, should be treated as a rank outsider,’ and she giggled and smiled at Gringo at her colourful description of her predicament.

   ‘And if it isn’t Richie’s?’

   ‘Who cares? I don’t. Richie is a very wealthy man and he’s pledged to look after me and the child regardless.’

   ‘People sometimes change their mind after the birth, Mel, especially if they imagine they’re not the father. Are you going to have a blood test just to be sure?’

   ‘Certainly not! If the kid has a black moustache we’ll all know the truth of it,’ and she giggled again at the thought of it.

   ‘You are not the first person to say that.’

   Once more Melanie laughed, more girlishly and a little distant this time, as she took another slug on the wine.

   ‘Does he know it might not be his?’

   ‘I suspect he does, but it doesn’t seem to worry him.’

   ‘Bit of a mess, isn’t it?’

   ‘Not really. I’m happier now than I’ve ever been and that’s all I can ask for, but enough about me. Are you going to tell me what’s going down between you and Glen?’

   ‘Nothing at all.’

   ‘Come on, Gringo. I wasn’t born yesterday.’

   ‘She’s in love with this Yankee banker, so she imagines. I suspect she will be going back there soon.’

   ‘And that’s got up your nose?’

   ‘Maybe a bit.’

   ‘I can see that it does. Don’t let her hurt you, Gringo. You could do a whole lot better for yourself.’

   He had heard that before. People often say:
You could do a whole lot better than her, or him,
when they are trying to be kind and sympathetic, but it doesn’t help one iota, and more than that, it’s rarely true.

   ‘You think?’

   ‘Sure, keep looking kid.
She
will come along one day, and when she does she’ll blow you out of the water, just look at what happened to me,’ and Mel reached across and clasped his forearm and gave him a comforting squeeze.

   ‘Thanks, Mel. You’re great, anyone ever told you that?’

   She smiled like the sister he never had, and then he said: ‘So you’ll be leaving us too?’

   ‘Yeah, and not just on maternity leave either; I’ll be leaving for good. My engineering administration days are definitely coming to an early end.’

   ‘Any idea when?’

   ‘You’ll be the first to know, Gringo.’

   Naomi Skeets came into the bar accompanied by a pretty petite girl with mousy hair. Gringo recognised the kid. She worked in some firm based on the ground floor in Frobisher Buildings. He had smiled and winked at her on a couple of occasions when they had been coming or going at the same time, but she had walked through his attention like a blind girl.

   They watched as Naomi couldn’t stop smiling and touching the girl, who effusively smiled back. It was obvious to everyone in the bar, including her embarrassed husband and separate lover, that these two women were an item. Glen picked it up in an instant.

   ‘Look at them,’ she said, staring transfixed. ‘Have you ever seen two people more in love?’

   Gringo continued to gaze that way, and at Naomi’s husband Jackson beyond. For a moment the two men found eye contact and Jackson rolled his eyebrows, set his bottle down on the bar, and hurried down the wooden steps to the tiny basement, ostensibly to check on how the lager was running.

   ‘It’s a strange business,’ said Gringo.

   ‘Life is a strange business,’ said Melanie, hugging his arm and pulling herself closer, before pecking him on the cheek, just as his mother had done when seeing him off to school. ‘We just have to make the best of it. We need to find happiness where we can. In the end, Gringo, happiness is all there is.’

He collected Linda from her flat at just gone eight and took her to a quiet steak bar where the food was good and the service better. She’d slipped on a black leather skirt and tight blouse, and judging by the fragrant heat she radiated, she’d recently taken a bath, and all through the meal she gave him come-and-get-me signals that a bloke on an aircraft carrier with hand-boards would have been proud of.

   Afterwards she suggested returning to her flat, which might mean he’d get the brush off on the doorstep, but it didn’t happen that way.