Red Bicycle 11-12

 

11.

 

 

The garden centre was filled with pungent aromas – the same enticing aromas he remembered from the elderly man’s garden. Tables filled with shrubs stood outside a small wooden building housing all manner of gardening equipment. Beyond stood an indoor nursery – an large barn where customers could browse flowers and plants displayed on long tables. Alexander took out the note and began searching for the items he was required to re-place. It must have been apparent that Alexander was struggling to find what he wanted because an assistant appeared.

 

‘Can I help ?’

 

The assistant was a rather thin man, with grey wisps of hair and rheumy wide eyes. Alexander said yes, he might need some help, and showed him the list.

 

The man nodded and said: ‘Leave it to me.’

 

Alexander waited as the assistant collected a large, metal trolley and began making up the order. There were few customers at the centre. He could see an elderly woman through the window of the smaller building standing behind a till. Another male assistant of similar age was slowly wheeling a barrow across the yard, his cargo a single tree with a Sold sticker tied to a branch. Alexander felt uneasy. He wasn’t sure why; perhaps it was the strange circumstances of Katya’s bicycle - the burning and thumping and the way it suddenly moved away from the car to the field’s gate. And why had Natalya been so sure the brusque nature of the elderly man would change ? Just because he had high standards didn’t mean they should befriend him. Or was it his address that had impressed her - the smart private cul-de-sac where only wealthy people lived ? Alexander felt swamped by a thousand unanswered questions. The situation was beginning to make him angry. He just wanted to leave and pay his debt as quickly as possible. Then their lives could return to normal.

 

The assistant returned with the trolley and the note. ‘I think that’s everything’ he said. ‘If you take them to the till the cashier will deal with your payment.’

 

Alexander pulled the trolley into the smaller wooden building. The elderly woman began to sort through the contents. ‘Your garden will look very colourful this year’ she said. Alexander was not interested in small talk. He told her that the purchases were not for him, but for somebody else. He handed her the note and asked her to double check that all of the items on the list were accounted for.

 

The woman stared at the note for a while. Then she called over a second assistant, the one who Alexander had seen wheeling the tree. The woman showed him the note; they stood together studying it, whispering to one another with an air of concern. Alexander grew impatient. ‘Is there something wrong ?’ he said. The elderly woman shook her head. ‘No, no. There’s nothing wrong. It’s just that, we know the person who wrote this. His handwriting is very distinctive.’

 

‘He’s a very respected man. He lives in a private street – a cul-de-sac’ said the second assistant.

 

Alexander sighed and said yes, the man did indeed live in a cul-de-sac. He was about to explain the background to the purchases but thought better of it.

 

‘Well, that’s very strange’ the woman said. ‘I don’t understand. He usually collects all of his plants himself.’ 

 

Alexander snapped: ‘Look, I’m in a hurry. I’d just like to pay and be on my way.’

 

The woman cashed up the items; Alexander paid. He gave the woman a curt, slightly ironic thank you and wheeled the items to his car. There wasn’t room in the boot now that he’d decided to keep Katya’s bike so he laid out the plants and shrubs on the rear seat. When he was finished loading, he returned the trolley to the garden centre’s yard. All three of the elderly assistants were staring at him, their gloomy faces etched with a mixture of helplessness and sadness. ‘What are you all looking at ?’ said Alexander. ‘Haven’t you got anything better to do ?’ The assistants didn’t answer and for a moment he wondered if they had slipped into a catatonic state, overcome by the rich aromas of the plants they worked with. He got into his car and began to curse as he reversed and began to drive towards the city. There was no end, it seemed, to the strangeness of the day.

 

 

 

12.

 

 

Alexander pulled onto the car park opposite his apartment block and knew immediately that something was wrong. There was nothing different about the apartment block, everything looked the same. And yet a coldness ran through him as his intuition suggested otherwise, a feeling similar to when he learned that Katya had died.

 

He took the lift to the fifth floor and discovered the door to the apartment was slightly open. He could hear a man’s voice along with the sound of Natalya’s laughter from the kitchen. As he passed the lounge he looked in, saw Lukas on the floor playing with a toy - a large lorry with flashing blue and red lights that Alexander hadn’t seen before. Even though his family seemed safe and well, the situation disturbed him. Somebody had encroached into their home, entered the family’s most sacred space without his knowledge. What’s more, the man’s voice sounded familiar. He took a deep breath and opened the kitchen door.

 

‘Alexander, there you are’ said Natalya. ‘Look - we have a visitor.’

 

She was leaning against the kitchen unit, wearing her floral kitchen apron, the one she always wore when she was preparing food. She looked surprised, and slightly embarrassed, as if she hadn’t expected him to return so soon. Standing close to her, dressed in a pair of mustard trousers, a thin checked shirt, and his trademark silk cravat, was the elderly man who lived in the cul-de-sac.

 

‘Forgive me for intruding’ he said. ‘I should have sent word and arranged a time with you before I visited. But I was nearby and decided on the spur of the moment to seek you out. Your beautiful wife has been very hospitable.’

 

Natalya giggled and there followed a moment’s silence as Alexander weighed his response. He felt angry that the man was here; angry too that Natalya had allowed him entry. Alexander said: ‘I haven’t forgotten that we have an agreement to repair your garden, if that’s what’s worrying you.’

 

The elderly man laughed. ‘That was not the reason I came’ he said.

 

‘Then why are you here ? Disturbing people when you’re not wanted…’ said Alexander, his voice sharp, irritable.

 

Natalya said: ‘Alexander! Please, that’s not the correct way to speak to a guest. You really should apologise!’

 

The man waved his hand, as if brushing away a tiny insect. ‘There is no need for Alexander to apologise’ he said. ‘I’ve disturbed your routine and for that I apologise. I’ll endeavour to keep my visit brief. I can see that it’s an inopportune time for you both.’

 

Lukas ran in to the kitchen, holding the toy lorry. ‘Daddy! Daddy!’ he squealed. ‘Look what the man bought me. Isn’t it wonderful ?’

 

Alexander looked at his son’s new toy, then at their well to do visitor. ‘Well ?’ he said.

 

The elderly man walked towards the kitchen window and looked out for a moment, surveying the city from a great height. He turned and said: ‘I’ve been considering certain things, about what happened to my garden, and how, on the day of the accident – or should I call it a mishap ? - I was very brusque towards both you and your son…perhaps also a little heartless. I came here because I wanted to make amends. Therefore, I hope you accept my gift to Lukas in the spirit it is intended.’

 

Natalya said: ‘Well, isn’t that nice of the gentleman, Alexander ?’

 

Alexander said nothing.

 

‘Does that mean we don’t have to replace your garden plants, mister ?’ said Lukas.

 

The man smiled and ruffled Lukas’s hair. ‘I think it would be best if we adhered to the terms of our original agreement. A man who commits a misdeed should always accept his punishment with good grace, don’t you agree ?’

 

Lukas nodded. Then, holding the lorry aloft as if it had been blessed with the power of flight, ran back into the lounge.

 

‘But there is something else I’d like to do’ said the man, addressing Alexander and Natalya ‘to further make amends for my ungentlemanly behaviour. I can see that your living arrangements are - how shall I put it ? – inadequate for your needs.’

 

‘There is nothing “inadequate” about our home’ snapped Alexander.

 

‘Please, do not misunderstand me’ said the man. ‘I am sure that this area of the city offers many benefits to a young family. But will it still prove desirable in years to come ? When Lukas is older ?’

Alexander said: ‘My mother and father lived and died here. It was “desirable” enough for them…’

 

Natalya, sensing her husband’s increasing anger, said: ‘Alexander! Please, let us hear what the gentleman has to say.’

 

‘Very well’ he said. ‘Let me go straight to the point. There is a bungalow lying empty in the cul-de-sac where I live. The couple who lived there have passed on and the family, the inheritors, have decided they do not want it. The house, unfortunately, has been empty for a while and I cannot abide to see houses empty. Houses should be occupied, otherwise they deteriorate, are you of that opinion too ? So, I would like to offer you the bungalow. It would be yours – a spacious property situated in one of the most desirable areas of the city. You would pay a nominal rent, of course, but I can guarantee it would be no more than you pay for this apartment.’

 

Natalya gave a deep sigh and said: ‘I…I don’t know what to say…’

 

‘Think of it as another gift’ said the man ‘a place where the two of you and little Lukas can truly prosper.’

 

Natalya, shocked, looked towards her husband.

 

‘We live here’ Alexander said in the same combative tone as before. ‘And we have no wish to move away from our home.’

 

The man nodded. ‘Very well’ he said.

 

‘But isn’t it something we should consider ?’ Natalya said to her husband, having now fully understood the terms of this unexpected offer. She began to tell the man how the rooms in the apartment were prone to damp, how the plumbing was faulty, the rent too high, and how the city council was indifferent to the upkeep of the area.

 

‘All the same, we like it here’ Alexander said, hoping it would prove to be the final word.

 

‘At least let us consider the gentleman’s offer’ said Natalya. ‘Perhaps you can give us the name of the owners and we can arrange to visit’ she said to the man. Then, to Alexander: ‘It would be wrong if we didn’t at least consider our future!’

 

The elderly man smiled. ‘You misunderstand. There is no need to contact anyone. I own all of the bungalows in the cul-de-sac. I am the one who determines who lives in the houses. You may visit the property whenever you wish.’

 

Natalya said: ‘Well Alexander ? Can we at least visit ?’

 

Grudgingly, Alexander nodded.

 

The man collected his cashmere coat from the stand in the hallway as well as his scarf and felt hat. ‘Please, take your time and consider my offer’ he said. ‘There is much for you to discuss. If you have any further questions don’t hesitate to knock on my door tomorrow when you come to repair my garden.’

 

Alexander said: ‘How do you know that I’m coming tomorrow ?’

 

The man turned and said: ‘One of my employees at the garden centre told me. You were there today, with my list. I am the owner. The garden centre is my business.’

 

He dug into his coat pocket and produced a small card which he handed to Alexander.

 

After kissing Natalya’s hand, he said ‘I’ll see myself out. Good day to you.’

 

Alexander read the card. Beneath the details of the garden centre’s address, opening and closing times was the name of the proprietor: Mr Benjamin Molloch.

 

 

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