Southend U3A

Writing for Fun

January 2016

The Neighbour - Gerry Miller

Claire's face whitened with shock; she had never thought that she would see him again, at least not in this life, and as there was certainly no belief in the hereafter that meant never again. She hurriedly left two pounds on the table in payment of her coffee and left. Claire's mind flashed back over ten years and fought hard not to relive all the horrors involved with her stalker. Brian had seemed such a harmless friendly neighbour, married with a wife and one child whom she regularly babysat for. Her parents had socialised with the Browns and indeed all the residents of Palmer Close mixed well together.

She followed him at a distance, remaining on the opposite side of the road, the Saturday shoppers and footie supporters kept her hidden amid the throng. But as she watched Brian her certainty grew he was totally unaware that he could be recognised. He smiled at people and made full eye contact, as though he did not have a care in the world. Claire' anger grew; so this was what rehabilitation meant – a few years banged up and then relocated. It had been a stroke of luck that she had ended up in Kensal Rise this morning and she smiled to herself all their careful thoughts of justice and revenge were now forefront in her mind.

In some ways the fact that he received such a short sentence was in part due to her and the other two girls whose lives he had attempted to destroy; they had chosen not to give detailed statements. Enough to put him away for a while and to give his wife and daughter a chance to escape his clutches. They had indeed disappeared into the wild blue yonder, no rumours as to where they were. The three remain united, only they really understood the terror they had experienced and together they had succeeded in reclaiming their lives.

She phoned the other two and said just the two words: 'Brian' and 'Alibi'; the call was then promptly deleted from memories. Claire watched as he went into the station and using her Oyster card quickly trailed behind him. The platform was heaving with football supporters all going to the match. Her eye was fixed on Brian; he was clearly not in the right position yet. Claire felt ice cold and calm; patience she quietly told herself as the train pulled in and she squeezed on not far behind him. He was still in her vision as they all piled out at West Hampstead and nearly all headed for the Jubilee Line to Wembley Park.

Brian headed down towards the front of the platform standing just by the yellow line, and now at last Claire's manoeuvrings suited her ambitions. Remembering every detail of her captivity and rapes her resolution was steadfast. In the background she could hear the growing rumble of the approaching train rising above the jocularity of the fans, the crowd started to surge forward. Claire leant over and whispered her name in Brian's ear and as his hearing registered her name his body felt the push and his feet went from under him.

The poor driver did not have a chance to stop and splatters of brain and body matter sprayed passengers on the platform. The panic and screaming started and people rushed to get away. Claire moved back to the adjoining platform and on to the train just about to pull out. She quietly sat down and waited to arrive back at Kensal Rise; within half an hour she was back sitting in the same cafe. The sense of calm she had felt earlier now changed into peace and tranquillity. Justice had at last been done.