Interception - diamonds
Fiction writing

A long day and a police interception

9th August 2019 /

A long day

My day had been long and hot and sweat poured off me as I pulled into my driveway.  All I wanted to do now, was to sit with a beer and watch the football.  If I had known how the evening was going to end with an interception I would have felt more worried.

I knew that Gloria and the kids would have other ideas. Not seeming to understand that I’ve been at work all day, whilst they’ve been at home.  It’s school holidays and my boss, Jeff, would not allow me annual leave, so any chance of a holiday away was out.

Now sitting in the car, I thought I knew what’s ahead of me. My head is throbbing but I’m ready for my daughter, Janie to launch herself at me. For Freddie to show me his latest Lego building and an exhausted Gloria, to tell me that my dinner is in the oven.

Late evenings

Night after night I have reheated food, though to be fair the time is now 9 pm. Gloria has often looked suspiciously at me on these late evenings. I’ve told her that I’m too tired to entertain playing away as I’m working for many hours.  Now loosening my tie, I lock the car and walk into the house. Immediately I hear,

“Daddy.” As Janie in her pyjamas, intercepts me in the hall. I hug her tight, it’s nice to be home but the sick, stressed feeling remains. Gloria is sat watching television, catching up on her favourite soaps.  Janie should have been asleep by now, but she will always wait up for me. Giving her a kiss and telling her to go to bed, Freddie appears forming another interception, I can feel my tummy rumbling, I need my dinner.

Now pushing potatoes around my plate, I reflect on our life. Gloria is a school teacher, a hard-working mother to our two children and I’m an accountant. Balancing our working lives and home is hard. The ongoing stress we both feel is often coming between us.

Terry

My extreme tiredness prevents me from relaxing watching the soaps. Often I will watch television alone in the kitchen. As the football now starts I hear a sad voice,
“Michael.” Looking up I can see she is crying. Now I’m concerned.
“What’s happened, why are you crying?”
“Jen has just phoned, it’s Terry.”

“What?”
“Today he went to work and has not come home. She’s phoned the police, but no news yet. He’s usually home by 6.00 but it’s now 10.00.”
“Maybe he’s in the pub. Doesn’t he have other friends?”
“The only friend Terry has is you. He always comes straight home.” She then added, “We need to do something about us.”

Life and stress

“How do you mean?”
“This animosity between us, I always feel that I’m not good enough.” She was now sobbing hard. I reached for some tissues, so she could wipe her face and blow her nose.
“You are good enough, plenty good enough. I’m always tired from work, Jeff is a real slave driver”. Pulling her close, I was now lost for words. Terry was my best mate, he had been since school and we would talk most nights on messenger. I hoped that he was alright but I couldn’t help thinking there was something more.

The last time we spoke he had said that a man had been following him. I had dismissed it, saying why would anyone follow you? Terry worked in a jewellers and he had felt he was being watched.
“Gloria I need to phone the police, this could be serious. Terry said something, this is not good.” Head pounding and feeling sick, I now phoned the police. I told them what Terry had told me and gave them the address of the jewellers. I wondered now if they had been planning a heist. Maybe Terry was safely tied up inside. I hoped the police could intercept the thieves if this is what had happened.

        ☆ ☆ ☆

The ‘Princess Diamonds’

Sat now in a tiny little room, Terry looked at the barrel of a gun.
“Safe code?”
“I don’t know it, I only work here” he lied.
“Come on, we know the ‘Princess Diamond’s’ are in there. Give us the code and we can all go home.”

Terry knew he was lying. He suspected that as soon as he gave them access to the diamonds they would shoot him, he needed to play for time. Feeling a sharp kick to his ribs he squealed in pain but told himself that he could not give in.  It felt like he had been there many hours when he heard glass smashing upstairs. Then shouts and searching. The men stiffened, what now? they had nowhere to hide. Terry tried to scream but was given a sharp kick as he went to open his mouth.

Interception

The sound of police radios could now be heard. Terry willed them to find him and wondered how they had known to search the jewellery store.  He now heard boots on the stairs and a gun being fired. Trying to intercept the policemen, the thieves had tried to run. The police woman at the top of the stairs, Sarah, now shot both in the legs preventing them from moving any further.

Terry now felt the warmth of two police officers untying him.
“How did you know I was here.”
“Your friend, Michael phoned us. He told us about you being followed and that you might be here.”
“They wanted the valuable ‘Princess Diamonds’.
“Well you and them are safe now”.

☆ ☆ ☆

Safely home

Early the next morning we were woken by Jenny. Terry was safely home, I was glad that he had told me about being watched and followed.  The scare had made Gloria and I realise we needed to make more time for each other. The stress of work needed to change. We had been unhappy for so long, we needed the spark back. Being exhausted just meant we were taking it out on each other.

Terry had survived his ordeal but he could just as easily have been killed last night. Now was a time to be thankful for our blessings, move on with our lives and try and be happy.

 

Written for Blog battle – Intercept

For more see, Money does not bring happiness

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29 Comments

  • Amy Blair

    9th August 2019 at 9:38 pm Reply

    Oh wow! I didn’t know where that was going! It could have definitely been way worse of an outcome for Terry. Very interesting. Seems like there is more to this story.

  • Gary

    13th August 2019 at 3:10 pm Reply

    Getting better each time I visit Marian! Also lovely to see comments from bloggers I recognise too. Good job it was you writing positively rather than me… I fear Terry might have had a bad ending lol. Solid message though about work / life balances. Too many I know commute, leaving early, coming home late. With one caring for children it can be an unseen stress load by the commuter. True conversations become the distant past and things fester unsaid. I often wonder how many affairs begins through this process too (writers mind toying with such things in terms of MH and the conversations not being had by partner, but by someone else who’s there).

    Here we have both knowing things can’t continue and a shock wrt Terry to bring it to a head. Great writing.

    • Just muddling through life

      13th August 2019 at 7:36 pm Reply

      Thankyou nice to know I am improving. Yes I’m not very good at killing my characters. I like a happy ending. Yes work life balance is so hard for alot of people. When I get upset about our NHS salary I remind myself we are both day workers.. no long commute, no working evenings.. though working from home I might work outside my hours, I’m home with my family.

      • Gary

        13th August 2019 at 7:57 pm Reply

        I sensed character killing wasn’t you Marian. Nothing wrong with that…although with horror it gets tricky lol. Mind you, my latest BB one isn’t horror, but not everyone makes the end!

        Public salaries all round are poor for the work people do. Most are the real engines behind a true society too. When you compare it to frivolous (sport, films and so on) it gets pretty depressing. Fun ahead of reality. Seems wrong to me. Still, you put a good spin on it. Commuting, for example, is a huge day. Up at six, back at 7. No real family time. That part has its own payroll. Money isn’t always everything.

        • Just muddling through life

          14th August 2019 at 9:07 pm Reply

          No I’m not good at killing people. Ha ha. My husband works in an operating theatre and yes the wages are rubbish. However he is home every night in front of the television with me. Yes money is not everything,

          • Gary

            14th August 2019 at 9:10 pm

            I think you’re onto something though. Stepping back now and then to see what we have rather than what we don’t. I really must use that myself. It’s too easy to get washed away by constant media and advertising plundering. And that’s before politicians constantly go on about how broken things are. Bah. Life’s too short! #soapbox

          • Just muddling through life

            14th August 2019 at 9:14 pm

            Yes life is definately to short! Yes we have to keep thinking positive and seeing the good.

  • aebranson

    14th August 2019 at 3:38 pm Reply

    Interesting how you tied a life-and-death event to what many people would consider a mundane problem. Yet Mike and Gloria were facing their own life-and-death situation in saving their marriage, which is vastly more important then many people realize! I liked the complained-about-my-aching-feet-until-I-saw-a-man-without-feet theme.

  • Joshua Insole

    22nd August 2019 at 12:13 pm Reply

    This was a great read, Marian! I really liked the close examination of the struggles of Michael’s daily life — long work days, exhaustion, a strained marriage — and how these were juxtaposed with tension and excitement of Terry’s ordeal at the jeweller’s. Everyone has their struggles in life, some more mundane than others, but all are equally legitimate. This was nicely written, and has an important message. Great work 🙂

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