HOODY AND HIS GYAL Number 3
James Met Sally
By Nicholas Vaughan
James was on his way to work in deep thought about the argument he had with Samantha earlier. It was about them not getting on very well and finding it hard to live with not much money coming in from his photography business to pay the bills. Work was hard to find now he has lost his best customer and the possibility of them splitting up was real.
As he drove along with the roof down on his black 3 series BMW dick extension, as Samantha called it, he suddenly realised he’d been crawling along the country lanes in the hot sunshine behind a tractor that was plastered in shit.
3/2
The smell was evil, and he was getting pissed off with it. He looked at his watch and realised it was just after mid-day and he was late. He pressed his horn repeatedly. The tractor driver turned to look at him with his middle finger up in the air. Then James noticed the indicator light flashing on the tractor as it drove off the road and into a field.
“HOORAY!” James shouted and put his foot down on the accelerator to get away from the smell.
After a few bends he could see some smoke rising in the distance, and as he drove over the motorway bridge, he noticed the smoke was all over the motorway, the traffic on the other side was slowing down and had almost come to a standstill.
When he looked back at the road, he could see a girl thumbing a lift in front of him.
The first thing James noticed apart from her amazing figure and legs was that she wasn’t wearing any shoes.
She had her arm up in the air with her red high heels dangling over her thumb.
James pulled over, and she walked up to the car. “Today might not be so bad after all!” He said to himself as she opened the door and got in.
“Sorry,” she said smiling with a frown.
3/3
“It’s ok I was talking to myself. Where are you going?” James asked.
“I need a garage; my car has broken down back there.” She said pointing over her shoulder. She was blonde about 25 had a stunning figure covered in a cream dress with faint flowers all over it. She grabbed her seat belt as they pulled away. “Where are you travelling too?” James asked as his phone rang. He looked at the screen and turned it off. He realised it was the girl that was talking to Samantha earlier on the house phone.
James looked her up and down “Sorry it was work. You were saying!”
“I came down to see a friend.”
“Where does your friend live?”
“She lives in Coventry about 5 miles away.”
“Do you want me to drop you at your friend’s house?”
“No, honestly a garage will do.”
“My name is James!” he added.
“My name is… Sally!”
“Where are you from, Sally?”
“I’m from Manchester.”
“That’s a coincidence,” he said. “Mustang Sally is on the radio.”
She half smiled and looked away.
“Are you staying with your friend for a while?”
3/4
“Just a couple of nights Why?”
James lent over and opened the glove box.
“Here is one of my business cards; my number is on there if you want to ring me."
Sally looked at James with a smirk.
“Just in case you need any help with the garage or your car!” She took the card from him and pushed it down her cleavage.
“Thank you!” she said smiling.
James closed the glove box and said: “You have no bag?”
“I know I left it in the car when I jumped out.” She replied.
“Do you want me to take you back to get it?”
“No, no there’s nothing in it, I have my cards and my phone on me.”
James smiled and wondered where, as they drove along the winding roads.
“Meriden Garage is just around this corner,” James said.
“Thank you so much! You have been a great help.”
James pulled up on the forecourt and decided to put some fuel in the car while he was there.
Sally got out and put her shoes on and thanked him again for the lift and went into the reception.
James stood looking around while he filled up and then went into the shop to pay.
3/5
As he left and walked towards the car a taxi pulled up and he watched Sally climb in the back. He was a bit confused and watched the taxi drive passed as he got in his car. He couldn’t see Sally at all. Curiosity got the better of James, so he followed it onto the road. After about 3 minutes he saw the top of Sally’s head pop up. Then it looked like she was climbing over the seat to get in the front. James had been following the taxi for about 10 minutes when it pulled up on the side of the road.
James stayed back behind the three cars in front of him. Then he noticed the taxi driver get out and stand on the road. He watched the drivers’ door shut, and then the taxi drove off leaving the driver with both hands on his turban. James was even more confused.
Again James followed the car along the road until it turned off and drove into the NEC train station and parked in the car-park. He sat and watched for a couple of minutes. While he waited he phoned his assistant at the shop and told her he wouldn't be into work for a while.
As he put the phone down he was shocked when Sally suddenly appeared from the taxi with black hair. She looked around and took all the magnetic A to B taxi signs off and then she opened the boot and threw them in
Slamming it shut. Then Sally grabbed a pink jacket
3/6
from the passenger seat and put it on. She looked around once more, pushed her hands through her black hair to loosen it and shut the car door.
Just then the radio got louder as the local news came on.
“Here is a news flash!”
“There is congestion on the M42 motorway northbound. It seems a car that was left abandoned on the hard shoulder and it has burst into flames a short while ago. The fire brigade is dealing with the fire, and no one is reported to be injured. The police are looking for a person that got out the car and climbed up the embankment minutes before the car court fire.”
James turned the volume down and watched Sally lift a phone to her ear. Then he jumped as his phone rang out. “Hello…!”
James’s first reaction was to switch the phone off and drive away. But he couldn’t do it. He was intrigued and wanted to find out what was going on, so he pretended not to know anything.
“Yes of course, where are you…?” “What can I help you with…?” James watched Sally talk to him on the phone from his car. Then she looked at her watch as she walked across the car-park to the train station entrance. “Yes ok, ring me back when you are ready!” James said.
Sally hung up as she walked through the main doors.
3/7
James decided to park the car and follow her while she was in the station.
He ran across the road and into the entrance looking around all the time. He got a glimpse of Sally standing on the platform reading something as he hid behind a billboard.
James heard the loud noise, and the screech of the brakes as the train pulled in and stopped.
He peered around the sign and watched her. She walked towards the first carriage looking around and stopped. Then she looked down at what she had in her hand.
People appeared from everywhere, running, pushing and shouting.
James lost sight of Sally as the train pulled out the station. He waited still watching carefully.
James thought he’d lost Sally as she appeared with a small holdall and walked passed James. She went up some stairs and disappeared.
Just as he was about to follow her, Sally reappeared on the other side of the train line. She walked along the platform looking at something else she had in her hand.
James glanced up the track to see if another train was coming from the other direction. Sally sat on a bench and crossed her legs with the holdall still on her back.
3/8
James quickly ran up the stairs and onto the bridge above the train line and watched from there.
Sally sat reading for a couple of minutes. Then she stood up and walked into the shop disappearing again. James waited patiently. She walked out unwrapping something small, and it looked like she put something in the waste bin and sat back on the bench.
Just then he heard the thunderous roar of the train coming into the station. Sally looked up and moved forward on the bench. She slipped the bag off her shoulder and stood up.
James moved over as the train rolled in and again she walked to the front carriage.
This time he had a clear view as she passed the bag to someone on the train and walked away.
As the train pulled out, she walked towards the stairs. James ran back to where he was standing on the other platform while Sally came down the steps. She eventually made her way out of the station and back into the car-park.
James followed Sally and watched from the main entrance.
Sally walked across the car-park she stopped by a car similar to the taxi and waited at the back. She bent down and disappeared for a couple of minutes and stood up looking around.
3/9
James noticed Sally had something in her hands as she walked to the front of the car and bent down again. This time when she stood up, she walked back to her car. James moved over to get a better view. Sally was taping another number plate on the back of the taxi.
She did the same on the front and stood up looking around once more.
James got into his car, and the phone rang. “Hello…!” “Yes… we could have a drink. Where are you…?” “Didn’t you get your car fixed?” James was watching her in the car-park talking to him on her phone again. “Where shall we meet then…?” “Where about are you in Coventry…?” “What’s the address…?” “OK, I’ll be there as quick as I can!”
James watched her get in the taxi. He sat patiently waiting, then it started, and she reversed.
James hid leaning over the passenger seat as the taxi approached the exit. He heard the barrier lift and watched as she pulled away.
James waited and followed her out the car-park and on to the road. He drove along knowing he shouldn’t be doing this but he was obsessed. James wanted to know what was happening. As he drove towards Coventry on the dual carriageway, he could see the taxi in the distance. He followed her onto a housing estate until she stopped by
3/10
some shops and went in. He waited until she came out got into the taxi and drove off again.
After a few minutes, she stopped again. This time on the side of the road and she got out. She walked along the pavement and passed a few houses and sat on a small wall.
James pulled over and waited for a while watching.
After a few of minutes another A to B taxi pulled up, and a man got out. As he looked around James recognised him as the taxi driver that she dumped by the train station. He walked over opened the door and got in the car leaving the door open and one leg hanging out.
Then he stood up and walked to the back. He pulled the number plate off and then he went to the front and did the same. After he opened and closed the boot, he looked around and got back in and drove off.
Even more confused James waited for a while and watched Sally talking to someone on her phone. She was still sitting on the wall and she had blonde hair again.
James slowly drove over to her. Sally looked up and waved switching her phone off.
He smiled back as she got in the car. They pulled away and drove back towards Meriden. James found a little country pub called the Griffin on a sharp bend.
As they walked across the car-park, James asked: “What would you like to drink?”
3/11
“Can I have a vodka and tonic with ice please?”
James left Sally sitting at a table in the garden and went in to order some drinks. When he came out, she’d disappeared. The first thing he did was to look to see if his car was still in the car-park.
He sat and looked around for a while, and she appeared at the entrance to the pub.
“That’s better,” she said, “I’ve been dying for a wee for ages!”
Sally sat opposite and sipped her drink. Then a packet of silk cut appeared from nowhere. James watched her lighting her cigarette.
“What’s wrong? Oh sorry, do you want one?”
James shook his head. “No thanks.”
Sally placed the packet on the table and a lighter with bits of brown sticky tape on it. What a beautiful place to spend an afternoon she said throwing her head back.
“So you are waiting for a call about your car?” James asked.
“Yes, should be any minute now!”
“What car is it?”
“It’s Just a little red mini with a union jack on the roof.”
It was quiet for a moment.
James leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table.
3/12
“Let’s cut the bullshit!” he whispered with a smile. “I’ve been watching you all day!”
“What do you mean?” Sally said flicking her ash into a glass.
James looked around. “I watched you in the garage get in the taxi. You drove off, and I followed it. I saw the driver get out when you got near to the train station. I watched you park the taxi, put on a black wig and a pink jacket and then I followed you into the train station where something went on. You then drove to Coventry in the taxi after stealing some number plates and I’ve just seen the taxi driver collect the car and drive off in it when I came to pick you up just!”
Sally’s head dropped as she opened the packet and pulled out another cigarette, lighting it off the old one.
“SHIT! You need to forget all about it?” she said as she looked up.
“No, you need to tell me what is going on!”
“I can’t… Forget it and don’t get involved!”
Sally stumped out her old cigarette.
“Tell me!” James asked.
Sally blew the smoke into the air. “There’s nothing to tell, I do a courier service that’s all.”
“And?”
“I drive to different places and deliver things.”
3/13
Sally felt under her dress and pulled out her phone and lifting one finger said.
“Hello…!” “I know I’m sorry, but I wouldn’t have been able to do my job would I …?” “Yes, I got a lift there …!” “What do you mean…?” “I collected it took my money and passed it to a hand…!” “His hand came out the window. It had the black circle on his thumb as usual…” “Yes, I’m sure!”
Sally put the phone down and was quiet.
“What’s wrong?” James asked.
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
James had a drink and put my glass back on the table. “I might be able to help!”
Sally stumped her cigarette out forcefully while James sat looking at her and waiting.
“Tell me what’s going on!”
“I travel from one place to another, this time it was the train station. I had to get something from one person and give it to another. That’s all!”
“What is the something?”
“I don’t know!”
James waited.
“I don’t. It could be anything!”
“So it could be… drugs?” James asked.
“Yes, it could be!”
3/14
“What’s the bit about the black circle?”
“Most people draw a black ring on their thumb in ink so they can wash it off. Some people like my brother Thomas wear a black ring on their thumb. It’s so that whoever does the collection and delivery know it’s the right person that all!”
“So you don’t talk to them or meet them?”
“Look, I don’t know, I just get paid extremely well!”
“What about the taxi driver?”
“I gave him £200 in cash and told him to collect it from that address in one hour.”
“Why change the plates on the taxi?”
“Just in case something went wrong and he decided to report it stolen.”
“Why didn’t you let him take you there?”
“I didn’t want him to know where I was going.”
“You’re not telling me everything!”
“There’s no more to tell! Look let’s have another drink and forget about it.”
James had another mouthful and went to the bar and while he waited he thought about it all.
James ordered Sally a double and took the drinks out and placed them on the table.
“What about your car?”
“It’s been dealt with!”
3/15
It went quiet again.
“Its scrap anyway!” Sally said.
“What makes you think that?”
“Don’t you know?”
“Know what?”
“It burst into flames!”
“Hold on something doesn’t add up. How do you know?
Sally picked up the lighter and held it in her hand. “I did it. I set it alight, OK!”
“You burnt it?”
“Yes! I was supposed to drop the car into the NEC car-park and leave it there for someone else to collect. When I phoned my boss and said it had broken down, he just said torch the car. So I tipped some nail varnish remover on the seat and lit it.
I jumped out, climbed the embankment, and you know the rest!”
“Why burn the car?
“I don't know, fingerprints maybe. I just do what they say! I thought the police were following me this morning in a grey Audi, so I had to get away from them. I came here on a different route. M6, M5, then onto the M42!”
“Obviously it broke down under the bridge on the motorway.”
3/16
The double vodka was working well. James thought to himself.
“And then I picked you up!”
“Yes.”
“So… I assume Sally is not your real name?”
“No Its Harriet Slone, my friends call me Harry.”
Do you live in Manchester?
No, I live in Liverpool; just down the road from Abbey road.
“Do you live alone?”
“No, I live with two other girls Alexandra and Sarah; they rent part of a house with me.”
“How on earth did you get a job like this?”
“My brother got me into it because it’s easy money.”
“This is all amazing, but I have to go for a pee!” James said and stood up.
“Sit there and don’t move. I need more info from you!”
As he entered the toilets, he heard a loud screeching noise but was desperate for the loo and carried on.
When he came out, he sat on his own and waited, looking at the cigarettes and lighter on the table.
He waited for a while and then he went into the toilets to see if she was in there but they where empty.
James went back outside and waited a while longer.
3/17
Sally didn’t show, and eventually, he decided to leave. As he started to walk across the car-park, he looked back. James noticed his business card on the floor, so he picked it up and looked around once more.
Just then the barman collecting the glasses shouted. “You have left your cigarettes, mate!”
James turned and went over to him. He picked them up and put them in his pocket. “Did you see the girl that was here?”
The man shook his head “Sorry mate!”
Not knowing what to do next James thanked the man and left to get into his car. As he walked towards it he saw a mobile phone on the floor. He picked it up and switched the phone on. There was no information stored on the phone. There were a few withheld calls and only three mobile numbers. James knew one was his and he assumed the others belong to Harriett’s bosses, whoever they were.
Disgruntled James drove along the road. He was thinking about Harry and the things she’d said. Just then her phone lit up on the passenger seat. James pulled over and answered it.
Hello, Hello, is that you…!” James stopped before he said her name then listened. “Who is this…?” James replied.
3/18
James listened carefully then it went quiet until he heard a loud voice in the background shout “JUST DO IT!” followed by a loud scream and the phone went off.
After thinking about it, James pulled away and drove home realising she left the card and phone so her boss wouldn’t know who she’d met.
James decided to have a drink closer to home. He pulled into the Red Lion car-park. As he grabbed the key to switch the ignition off, the radio got louder again.
“Update on the incident on the motorway earlier today where a car court fire. It has been confirmed; there was a body in the boot of the car. Police are trying to find the person that left the car on the motorway. Can anyone help the police with their inquiries?”
A cold shiver went through James as he turned the key. He sat there listening not knowing what to do.
After a while, James decided to turn the phone off and keep it. Then he went home without a drink.
James got home after 7 in a world of is own. He seemed to be lost in thought with a mobile phone in his hand that Sam didn’t recognise.
“The police have been here for you today.”
There was no reply.
“Did you hear me?”
3/19
“Yes I heard you, some kids tried to break into the shop again!”
“Are you OK?”
There was no answer again.
“What’s that?” she asked as she placed a dinner on the table in front of him.
“What this? It’s nothing!”
“Where did you find it?” Sam asked trying to make conversation.
“It was on the floor, just by the car.”
James picked at his dinner still in a trance.
Samantha gave up trying to talk to him and went to bed leaving him with a bottle of vodka and a small shot glass.
Three vodka shots later James’s was still in a trance. He was thinking about Harry when his own phone lit up with a number he didn’t recognise. He answered it before it rang out. “Hello… Hello.” It was quiet no one was there. “Hello… who’s this?” James whispered. “Harry… what are you doing calling me on my phone and how do you know the number…?”
James stood up and went into the garden closing the door quietly.
“Where did you go…? Are you alright…? Why what’s wrong…?
3/20
James stood looking at the sky not knowing what to say or do. “Don’t be silly, why do you think they’ve killed your brother…?" It went quiet again, and James could only hear a sniffle now and again. “Have you tried calling him…?" “Well try calling him first…!" “Where are you now…?" "Do they suspect anything…?" "If they did would they look for you at your place …?" "Find a hotel and stay there the night…!" “Can you get down here tomorrow…?" “Don’t talk to anyone about this OK…!" “Just go straight to the hotel…!” "I will figure something out, I promise and don’t worry…!" “Remember; do not talk to anyone...!” “Oh, get some new clothes and dump what you’re wearing; I think your boss is tracking you!”
James turned his phone off and crept back into the house. He put Harriet’s phone in the kitchen draw quietly then he sat watching the television trying to forget it all with a couple more vodka shots.