PROLOGUE.
I am writing a series of six short stories in this category. No.6 has been published; this is No.4. I live a disordered life.
The themes are:
Corruption
Suppression
Blackmail
Exploitation
Losing Inhibition
Opportunism
The characters in this story are aged 24 and 18. Locations are generic not specific.
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It was all because of Doris.
Doris is a cello. An expensive cello. Doris belongs to my sister Sally and, together with her polycarbonate travelling case, Doris takes up most of the space in the Volvo wagon, despite the seats being folded flat. When you add in in Sally's cases and bags, stuffed with everything from frocks to socks there was hardly any space for my small overnight bag and some basic eats and drinks for the journey.
We all live in or near Southampton, Sally is off to study music at a prestigious academy in Edinburgh. And she needs Doris to go with her. Taking the train would involve crossing London to change stations, flying would mean Doris needing her own seat, together with all the other paraphernalia. So, using our own transport is the only option. Dad owns the Volvo, it's new and ideal for the 450-mile journey, but he works as a senior air traffic controller and can't get four days off, and Mum won't drive that distance, especially having to return alone. So, they need a mug who can take the time off, and that mug is me.
My name is Alan, I am 24 and live a few miles from the family home. I studied electronics at Cambridge, and then set up as a freelance consultant, working in the aerospace industry. I fell on my feet and am kept busy resolving glitches in instrumentation systems. Sally turned 18 last Easter, she was a star at school, and her musical talent resulted in a scholarship to the Edinburgh academy. It's just a shame it's so far away. Mum and Dad are both 45, we have a nice house and enjoy a decent lifestyle. Mum is a partner in a specialist travel agency, and we have enjoyed some good holidays.
As Sally wanted to get into her accommodation before the weekend, we agreed to set off early on the Thursday, as it's a 450-mile trip, and Mum was arranging overnight accommodation into Scotland to break the journey. Dad was having the Volvo serviced and typing a detailed schedule, as was his habit. Mum said she wanted to have a chat to me before we set off, so I arranged to go over for dinner on Tuesday. What could possibly go wrong.
Plenty. On Tuesday afternoon Mum ran into a door at work and banged her head causing concussion. She was whisked into hospital where a scan revealed no damage, but she was kept in for observation for a couple of nights. So, our dinner was cancelled, and when I arrived on Thursday to drop off my car and pick up the Volvo there was only Sally at home, Dad having left early as usual. Sally was waiting with the small pyramid of luggage in the driveway, together with Doris. We spent a happy half hour wedging everything into the wagon, and she handed me a stout envelope from Dad containing quite a lot of cash for the fuel, although he had filled the tank the night before, and the detailed route instructions. I asked where Mum had booked our stop, and Sally waved a printout saying it was all sorted. So, I locked up my battered Golf, put the keys through the letterbox, smiled at Sally and we set off. Dad's plan was for us to take the A34 northwards, then the A43 until we joined the M1 near Northampton, and when we got up to Leeds, we switched to the A1 which would take us all the way to Edinburgh. Seemed like a good plan.
Sally and I have always got on, there were patches when I went off to Uni and she was just getting into her teens when she could be a pain, but I guess I was no better. She is about five six, and well proportioned, her skinny years had passed, and she looked good in tight jeans and a fleece top with soft leather boots. Her dark brown hair had recently been cut into a smart bob, with cute highlights. I am no oil painting and am a shade under six feet and about one-eighty pounds, I keep in trim at the local velodrome, where I own a couple of fixed wheel track bikes and it's a good social scene as well.
We hit the A34 and Sally texted Dad and Mum to say that we were on our way. Dad replied, but Mum couldn't use her phone yet. We fell into easy conversation, part of her last terms had involved a couple of trips with the small orchestra in which she played, I knew that they had been to Holland and Ireland and wanted to know all about it. In return she was asking about my love life, but I had to tell her that Lily and I had split, she had a career in London with a big advertising agency and wanted to be part of the 'scene', as she put it. Sally said she didn't have a boyfriend, it had all gone wrong, but she didn't elaborate, and I didn't pry.
Our conversation flowed as we headed north, Dad suggested that we broke the journey into chunks, with a coffee break, a lunch break, and a tea break before reaching the overnight stop, with each 'leg' being about 100 miles. So, as I had not had a proper breakfast we stopped near Silverstone and headed for the cafΓ©. I carried the tray with coffees and bacon sandwiches and sat opposite my sister. She took a breath and looked at me without smiling.
"I guess you didn't have the chat with Mum that she asked for."
"No, it was arranged for Tuesday, but she had just been taken in."
"Oh."