SUSIE

by Richard Banks 

It was ten pm when we decided that something must be up. She was due home at nine, and by half past we were already on edge. It was so unlike her. She had never been this late before and, worse still, we didn’t have a clue where she was. She had left the house in a rush saying something about visiting a friend. By the time we thought to ask her ‘who and where’ she was through the door and away.

         We decided to phone her friends. They were all at home, mostly in their beds, as Susie should have been. Nobody had seen her or had any idea where she was. At eleven thirty we phoned the police.

         “Perhaps she went into Barchester and got delayed coming back,” they said. “Could she be staying overnight with a friend?”

         “No, no,” I told them, “that’s not like Susie. Besides she would have phoned us on her mobile.”

         Eventually, the police agreed to circulate her description to their patrol cars in the area. “Try not to worry,” they said, “she’ll turn up. They usually do.”

         Try not to worry, I thought, you must be joking. I could bear it no longer. “I’m going out to look for her,” I said to the wife. “Stay by the phone in case she calls.” I pulled on my overcoat and hurried out into the night.

         I decided to start with the cafe in the High Street where Susie sometimes hung out with her friends, but it was closed and the shutters down. On the other side of the road the neon lights in the George flickered off. I was alone, not a soul in sight. A grey mist was beginning to roll in from the river.

         I kind of panicked at that point. The thought of Susie being out this late, on her own, with no one to look out for her was more than I could stand. I sat down on the cafe steps and took in a deep breath of cold air.

         “Get a grip on yourself,” I said out loud. “What use are you to Susie like this?” The roar of a car was quickly followed by the glare of headlights as it accelerated past me. “Get up you fool, they’ll probably think you’re drunk. Get up and look for Susie.”

         I staggered off down a side street towards the bus station which was as dark and deserted as everywhere else. It was the same story at the war memorial where local youngsters sometimes gathered. After that, I wandered about for ages just hoping I would see Susie or someone who might know where she was.

         I was on the point of returning home when I thought of the kids’ playground. Susie seldom went there now she was thirteen, but it was worth a try. It was only a few minutes walk. At first, I didn’t see the young couple standing by the swings. As I drew nearer the woman turned towards me.

         “Hello there,” I shouted, I was still some way off, “have you seen a young girl, fair hair, red jacket, jeans?”

         “No, I haven’t, she said, but not to me. She turned towards the young man. “No I haven’t forgiven myself and I don’t think I ever will.”

         “But it’s been five years,” interposed the young man, “and anyway you weren’t to blame.”

         “Of course I was! If only I had phoned, it would never have happened. Dad should never have been out that night, not with his bad heart. Goodness knows how long he lay there before he died.” Tears filled her eyes and I wanted to wipe them away like I had done so many times before.

         “Susie!” I shouted. She was a young woman now, but still my Susie. “Susie, dear, it’s me! Don’t blame yourself. Everything’s fine, it’s OK. You’re safe. That’s all that matters.”

         She neither saw me or heard what I said, but somehow she understood, her eyes and face an open book. She smiled as the young man wiped away her tears. I smiled too. They hugged, then kissed, and all was well with them, and me.

         As they left the playground, hand in hand, a familiar figure came into view wearing his trademark Kannex and cloth cap. He strode purposefully towards me, choosing to walk through, rather than around, the children’s roundabout. He was in one of his moods. As he drew closer the barrage began. “Well, you found her then, about bloody time too.”

         “Dad! What are you doing here?”

         “What am I doing?” he repeated, fuming with rage. Well, I’m not walking the dog, that’s for sure. You daft loon, I’m here for you, and not for the first time I might add.”

         “What do you mean?”

         “I mean I was here before when you had your heart attack. What a fiasco that was. I came down in a beam, all welcoming like, and you went rushing off without seeing me. ‘Come back,’ I yelled. ‘I’m over here.’ Come back? did you heck.”

         “Why didn’t you stop me?”

         “How could I? You were like a headless chicken. There was only one thing on your mind - find Susie. Nothing else existed for you. Anyhow, I only had the beam for an hour. After that, we thought it best to wait until you calmed down a bit. Trouble was you never did. You just kept on looking, night after night, scurrying up and down the same old streets.”

         “And then I saw Susie.”

         “And then you saw Susie. Thank the Lord for that. Come on, son, it’s moving day. Let’s be off.”

Copyright Richard Banks