He’d felt really heartsore leaving him that day and every other time since then. That was one of the reasons he’d left the rigs. He wanted to see more of Ben. He wanted to be there to teach him to kick a football and ride a bike, clichéd as it was.
And he’d had a few opportunities like that, especially when Ben was a baby. He would spend entire afternoons with them. They took him to the zoo once when he was about eighteen months old and it had been a brilliant day.
When he met Gloria, he had been upfront about Ben, told her that he wasn’t with Jade. In fact, he’d never really been with Jade. She’d been a one-night stand in the beginning and then an unfortunate drunken mistake the night before he headed back to the rigs had resulted in Ben. Jade was just not his sort of girl. But Gloria was. She liked to dress up, make herself look pretty, banter with the boys, but also knew when to leave him to it.
Well, she used to anyway. Now it was all moaning, baggy tracksuit pants and not closing the door when she went to the loo.
It was her baby shower this weekend, so she’d gone to stay at her mother’s house, which meant he had all weekend to do just what he wanted. He suspected it would mostly involve the couch, football on the telly and pizza. He could spritz some Febreze around the place before Gloria got back on Sunday night and she’d never know.
He’d actually sent Jade a message to ask if he could have Ben for the weekend, but she’d said no. She’d been doing that a lot lately.
Maybe it was a weird jealousy thing over Gloria. You could never tell with women.
The fact that it was Halloween hadn’t escaped his notice. There were small kids everywhere, dressed in random costumes, trawling the streets, knocking on doors and asking strangers for sweets. Mark wondered if Ben was trick or treating, and his heart contracted as he thought about how it should be him taking Ben around. Not for the first time he wondered if Jade had a new partner and maybe that was why he was being frozen out of Ben’s life.
A mate of his had told him recently to get some legal advice on it – he had rights after all. But Gloria was due soon and then he’d have two kids to worry about. Maybe when the new baby was born, he would do something about Ben.
Right now, he was happy to sit in front of the football. He had a bowl of sweets next to the door for trick or treaters if they knocked – he loved seeing the kids’ faces when they were digging grubby hands into the bowl – but other than that, he wasn’t planning on moving from this chair.
*
Maddie realised halfway along the motorway that she really should’ve thought this through a bit more. She looked into the rear-view mirror to see Jemima in her car seat, fast asleep again, dressed in a pumpkin onesie. That was all that was left in the supermarket.
She was about fifteen minutes away from Mark’s house. Fifteen minutes in which to decide what she was going to say – or do.
She glanced over to her handbag on the passenger seat. She could just make out the handle of the large knife.
Maddie gripped the wheel tightly, conscious of the tiny person behind her. She had sent Gemma a message to tell her that she was taking Jemima trick or treating and had expected a message back telling her to watch how many sweets she ate, but she had received nothing back.
This was madness. What the hell was she doing? Maybe she should turn around, go home, pack up her stuff and disappear somewhere.
But she couldn’t. Jade would talk to the police and then Maddie would always be running, looking over her shoulder. The more she thought about it, the more she wondered what Jade had had on the girl who lived in her flat before her. Lucy. There was definitely a story there. Jade didn’t do anything for nothing.
Looking at Jemima now, Maddie realised she did have a reason to carry on, someone who needed her.
This had to end.
Today.
*
Mark wished he’d bought more sweets – and recorded the football. The cul-de-sac was teeming with kids, dressed in everything from ghosts and zombies to princesses and pirates. He was down to the dregs of the sweet bowl and had resorted to rationing the kids to one lollipop a piece. He would have to hunt in the cupboard for some biscuits or something soon – or stop answering the door. He’d thought about turning the lights off and pretending he wasn’t home once the sweets did run out, but his delight as seeing all the kids dressed up swayed him from that idea.
He’d missed all the goals in the match and instead of avoiding the final score, he’d caught a glimpse of it and knew his team had lost. But it didn’t matter. He was actually having fun.
The gaps between trick or treaters were drawing longer, so he might get some peace and quiet soon, maybe see if he could find the highlights of the game somewhere. He was sitting on the couch, counting the seconds between doorbell rings like a kid during a thunderstorm.
Yes, it was definitely slowing down. He opened another beer and put his feet up.
*
Maddie pulled the car up to the kerb in the cul-de-sac. There were one or two vampires and Buzz Lightyears wandering the streets with hands clasped tightly by grown-ups, along with the occasional teenager still trying to eke out the benefits of free sweets despite being taller than most of the people opening their doors. Sunset had turned the lights down and shadows were lengthening along the pavements and gardens.
Jemima stirred as the car stopped and rubbed her eyes.
Maddie sat for a moment watching number 11. It was a small, semi-detached house, with a neatly paved front garden and a dark red door. Artificial light from a television flickered in the front window. Someone was home.
What if he wasn’t alone? She hadn’t thought about that. She hadn’t thought about any of it. She’d have to take the risk.
She looked over at the cheap, plastic Shrek mask sitting on the passenger seat next to her handbag.
She felt numb, her mind struggling to process what she was about to do, so she tried not to think at all.
She grabbed her bag and the mask, before slipping from the car.
Jemima was still yawning and sleepy, but smiled as Maddie reached in to unclasp her seat restraints. Maddie felt her chest clench. ‘Hello, little pumpkin. Shall we go and do some trick or treating?’
She lifted her into her arms and straightened up the pumpkin suit. Taking a deep breath, she slipped on the Shrek mask. Jemima giggled and reached out to pull on the big, green ears.
Maddie locked the car and looked around. A few houses down, a group of witches and wizards were chatting as they headed off down the street. Maddie watched them go, then stepped towards number 11.
The doorbell sounded like a siren, loud and intrusive, announcing her presence to the entire street.
For a second, she hoped no one would answer. Her pulse was racing and she felt ridiculous and weirdly sinister behind the mask.
A shadow fell over the frosted glass of the door and it was pulled open.
A tall, slim man with a receding hairline stood in front of them, an awkward smile on his face. Maddie searched his face for some sign that he was the man she was looking for, maybe a resemblance to Ben, but there was nothing.
‘Oh, now that is a fabulous pumpkin!’ he said, then added, ‘I’m embarrassed to say I have run out of sweets, but I found some boxes of raisins in the cupboard – will that do?’
‘Oh, er, perfect. Much better for her anyway,’ Maddie replied.