@GeraldineBanksJanuary2025
The next night, Friday, at exactly 7.00pm the doorbell rang . Martin opened it to a tall gangly young man with a mop of red hair. He was dressed casually in a checked shirt and well lived in tightly fitting jeans.
” Hi , I’ve got your fresh veg delivery , do you want me to bring it in? He looked at the large black plastic delivery box sitting at his feet.”
“Oh yes, sure, that’s be great.” Martin held open the door as the young man passed by him carrying the box at shoulder height.
“The kitchen is straight on through.” Martin closed the front door.
Sandy made her way downstairs quickly, she had put the twins to bed and they had settled down after she read them a story. They were fast asleep and she was desperate for news about Alex.
She nearly bumped into the young man at the bottom of the stairs and after he dodged her he followed her into the kitchen.
” I’ll put the box on the kitchen table , will I ?” he turned and spoke to her .
“Yes that would be fine” She spoke to Martin. ” The Twins are fast asleep, they love those dragon stories, I hope they don’t have nightmares.”
Martin moved towards Sandy and said ” They’ll be fine”
” I’m parched any chance of a cup of tea , this is my last call and I’ve got an hours drive back to the depot” The red headed young man said.
Sandy smiled at him ” Yes of course, the kettle’s not long boiled , Martin and I will have one too. Sit down and have a rest. Do you take sugar and milk ?”
” Yes, thanks, just one sugar, I got to watch my weight” He laughed as he patted his very thin torso.
Martin had anticipated and had got the mugs down and was already boiling the kettle.
Sandy sat down at the kitchen table and she began to open the box which was full with fresh fruit and vegetables. However, once they were removed she could see there were compartments at the bottom that had been well hidden by the produce.
“These boxes are great” The young man said” As this is your first delivery , you keep that one then each time I deliver we give you a fresh one and take the old one back”.
“May I ? ” Sandy pointed to the compartments.
The young man nodded “Yes go ahead”
Sandy opened the first compartment, and took out an envelope , it had numerous photographs of Alex, over the last few years. Her mouth opened but no words came out.
” Our products are well cared for , organically grown, we nurture them, family firm”
Sandy spread the photographs on the table, and looked at each one intently.
“Look Martin!” She turned just as Martin was bringing the mugs of tea to the table. He put the mugs down and picked up one of the pictures.
” Wow, that’s not long after he left us, my he really doesn’t look very well, but look at that one, that’s later what a change.”
” I don’t want to say to much, I don’t really know how they do it. I am just a delivery driver.”
“That’s fine, I suppose the less each person knows the safer it is for everyone else. ” Sandy took all the photographs out of the compartment and spread them on the table. At the bottom was another sealed letter. She took it out and opened it .It was an invoice for the groceries. It was for £1000. Sandy stared at the amount, she knew they could not get hold of that sort of money.
” We can’t afford that!” Sandy cried and showed it to Martin.
Martin looked at it but did not react. He handed the delivery driver his tea and the driver thanked him.
” How often do we get a delivery?” He asked the driver.
” Once a week, same time each week” The driver replied.
” And the charge is the same , each week” Martin looked directly at the driver.
” Yes, as far as I’m aware, one week in arrears.”
“I’m not sure we can afford this delivery , it’s an awful lot of money. Is there any alternative?” Martin sat down and faced the driver.
The driver began to stand up. He slurped the last of the tea out of his cup.
” Look , I’m only the delivery driver, I’m told to leave the box with you and if it turns into a regular slot I’ll be back each week”
” So we have a week to sort this out, that’s not long really.”
” I know, but I’ll get instructions and if I’m to collect next week I will. Thanks for the tea, I’m off home, it’s been a long day and I’ve got to drop the van off at the depot. They are really nice photos, he looks a nice little boy. I hope you can work something out. We don’t leave any loose ends, hold onto the box until next week.” He smiled and stood up, I can let myself out.
Sandy’s eyes followed the man as he went out and then she looked at Martin. When she heard the front door close, she began to cry.
” Martin, where are we going to get that sort of money each month, we can barely make ends meet as it is?”
Martin moved his chair closer to Sandy’s. He reached out and took her hands and held them gently in his.
” Sandy, I know Alex is not my child.”
“Martin” Sandy screamed ” Not now, not now!” She cried and pulled her hands away and held them to cover her face, her elbows almost seemed embedded in the table. Gently Martin moved her hands away from her face.
” Sandy, we need to talk about this. I love Alex as my son, he is my son, I’m the only father he knows. There might be a way to get this money. Alex’s biological father has got to help us and , I need to know who it is.”
Sandy’s face changed to one of total disbelief.
” That bastard, he wouldn’t help anyone. He just used me, I’m nothing to him. I was just a piece of meat”.
“Sandy, look I can only think it was one of your Media Colleagues. You were using him just as much as he was using you. Who was it? I know this is painful, but we have to do something if we have any chance of keeping Alex alive. “
Sandy’s eyes met Martin’s as she gave a sideways glance.
” So you knew all the time.”
” Well, I suspected, but I didn’t know for definite. Alex’s illness came out of the blue, but it’s all beginning to make sense now. Who is the father, is he a well off bastard, I’m thinking he might be an A1?”
Martin continued.
“There’s been a massive cover up with this, I’m not sure why no one pursued where the defective gene in Alex came from, let’s face it , they knew it wasn’t from either of us”.
” I’m so sorry Martin, it was just one time , but you are right, the timing is right , I hoped against hope, but Alex’s sire is a man called Gerry Reid, he’s very high up in the Company I work for. Whether he is an A1 , I wouldn’t know.”
“Well Sandy , you really went for a Celebrity! My heavens Gerry Reid! I suppose a boring archaeologist can’t compete with the likes of that. He must be in his 60’s now though for Heaven sake! “
Martin brushed Sandy’s cheek ” Gerry Reid!” he squirmed.” Tell me you prefer the younger man now though! This younger man loves you ,always has , always will. You make me happy.”
Sandy smiled and gently raised her hand to hit Martin on the shoulder.
” Oh you !Stop it! ” she began to laugh.
” It was a big mistake and I hate myself for what happened. I was just being stupid and I can’t see how I’ve made you happy . Look at the mess we’re in .”
” You’re not going to like this Sandy , but we are in a mess and there’s only one way out if we want to give Alex his best chance. For better or worse we said, I believe that and I love you and what we have made together. Alex is mine just as much as he is yours. Let’s face it Gerry Reid has been no father to Alex, I have. He’s mine and I’ll look after him, I will fight for him. You and I are strong and we both will be strong for each other.”
” Martin what are we going to do?” Sandy looked directly at Martin.
“Gerry Reid will have to pay his due and supply the money to these people . They are blackmailing us and we will have to blackmail Mr Reid.”
” What ? How?” Sandy looked in disbelief.
Martin picked up one of the photos of Alex from the kitchen table and held it up so that they both looked at the healthy looking little boy.
” We’re going to do everything we can to help Alex, he’s my little boy, I’m his dad.
“Yes he is. Ours”. Sandy hadn’t a clue what Martin was planning.
thenotsomightyom 