18 comments/ 42886 views/ 11 favorites Joe's Legacy By: The Wanderer I thank my LadyCibelle and Techsan for their patience, proof reading, editing skills. I have to add my thanks to JB for his heads-up on something in this one; he knows what I'm talking about. It seemed to me like I'd known Joe all my life. His family lived next door but one to mine; looking back I'd say Joe and I spent all our spare time together as kids. We didn't actually go to school together because Joe was American and he was sent to the nearest American school, somewhere in town. Maybe that's why he never did lose his Yank accent although he spent nearly all his spare time with us Limeys, as he insisted on calling most of us, in jest of course. You know the sort of thing. He'd refer to us as Limeys and we'd refer to him as the Yank; it was all in good fun. As we got older Joe and I developed a special kind of bond. Something like some brothers have between them. I knew that I could rely on Joe to back me up in an argument or ruckus, and he seemed to know by instinct that he could rely on me, up to a point. That one point was to develop when we got older, and it concerned females. When Joe and I started dating girls I soon learnt that Joe had no morals whatsoever where the female of the species was concerned. It seemed that Joe's one purpose in life was to lay any bit of skirt he could talk into bed, or into the woods in the park, or just about anywhere else that was handy. And, boy, was Joe good at the old chatting the birds up bit. Even when he did have a steady girl he was still shagging anything else he could lay his hands on. Joe wasn't choosy either; any old bike would do for him. Anyway fast forward a good few years and Joe's father had finished his stint in the UK and the whole family had moved back to the US. I can't say that I missed Joe that much, because I felt his antics with women were beginning to get embarrassing. You know as we were on the face of it good friends, I was beginning to get painted with the same brush in some peoples' eyes. Joe kept in touch with me, by mail, writing surprisingly regularly and giving me the sordid details of his sex life, whether I wanted to read about it or not. I wasn't in the least surprised to hear, about a year after he'd returned to the US, that he'd put a bun in some bird's oven who he'd met at college. I think he was at what we'd have called university by then. Much to my surprise I learnt that Joe was going to do the right thing by her and he invited me over to the States to be his best man at the nuptials. As, back then, I couldn't afford the airfare, Joe's father - who had some influence with the US forces - fixed it for me to travel on a US army transport plane, FOC as far as I was concerned. I was to fly back two weeks later, the same way. I'd been surprised by the invite, because, as I said, where women were concerned Joe was a complete arsehole and I'd expected him to cut and run. Look, just because I liked the bloke, it doesn't mean that I liked or agreed with his attitude towards women. Mind you, I figured that Joe had fallen on his feet when taken up with Winnie (Gwendolyn). Talk about wet dream, the girl was absolutely gorgeous. Long blond hair, a beautiful face and figure, and what I thought was a wonderful personality. Yeah, well, there was a slight protrusion in her stomach that was just beginning to show, but that would only be there for a few months, wouldn't it? I know that I would never have kicked her out of bed in a hurry. I do believe that I was envious of the man, for the first time in my life. As I said, I thought Winnie's personality, was wonderful. She was very quiet and reserved, actually not really Joe's type at all; but knowing Joe as I did, I doubt he was thinking about a long-term relationship when he took Winnie's virginity. Shit, if I'm being honest, had I been asked, I'd have changed places with Joe at that altar without a second's thought. Winnie was the girl of my dreams. I seemed to get on pretty well with everyone over there. I think most folks were fascinated by my accent, although my London colloquialisms appeared to cause some confusion on occasion. Of course there was Joe's Stag Night about a week before the wedding. The Yanks appear to refer to them as bachelor parties, by the way. Anyway the one for Joe - as I had assumed it would - featured several very questionable strippers and I'm pretty sure that Joe laid them at one time or another all during the evening. And maybe the bird that had been on reception at the hotel the party was held at as well. I can't be positive, but when Joe vanished for a while and I went looking for him, no one was on reception and there was some familiar and curiously interesting noises coming from behind a locked door marked "Office". The wedding went off fine. Except for the fact that I knew Joe very well and I could see the lustful looks he was giving Winnie's numerous bridesmaids. Personally, I was quite taken by one of them myself and, as she was giving me the old googly eyes bit, I thought I might have a chance with her later. But I hadn't figured Joe into that equation! I don't think the dancing had been started for more than ten minutes when Joe came over and asked me to dance with Winnie for a while. "Do me a favour, Ray, and keep the little lady occupied for a while. I got something I got to do," Joe said to me. Like a complete moron, I assumed that Joe had some kind of a surprise that he was setting up for Winnie. It was only when he didn't reappear for half an hour or so and I realised that one of Winnie's bridesmaids was also missing that it struck me what Joe was really up to. I do believe he pulled the same stunt with his younger brother about an hour or so later and using a cousin of his later still. Well, that fucked my chances (literally) with the bridesmaid that I fancied, because I never was partial to following anyone else down the highway of pleasure. Especially if they were as promiscuous as Joe was. Christ knows what you could pick up. Although AIDS wasn't around back then. Well, we'd never heard of it anyway. I seemed to spend quite a bit of time in Winnie and her family's company that evening, as I had done for most of the time I'd been over there. Although I'd told Joe that I wasn't covering for any more of his exploits after I'd realised what he'd pulled the first time he'd asked me to dance with Winnie. Winnie's father was a great bloke. He'd spent a lot of time in the UK with the USAF and we seemed to get on quite well. It was pretty obvious to me that he wasn't keen on Joe and possibly had a good idea just how much of a little shit Joe could be. Winnie's mother seemed to spend a lot of the evening crying. Whether because she thought she was losing a daughter, or because she had a good idea about Joe's true personality, I don't know and didn't ask. Winnie herself was obviously crazy about Joe. You know for a lot of the time I really wished that I'd refused to go to that wedding. My conscience was telling me that Joe was never going to change, and she was in for a big disappointment when she eventually found out about his character and exploits. I had three days in the US after the wedding before I was due to fly home again. Joe and Winnie had gone off on honeymoon somewhere, so at first I thought I was going to be at a bit of a loose end. But of all people, Winnie's sister Tammy and her boyfriend came to my rescue. Although at the time I'll admit that I thought that they were looking to make some kudos with her friends by having this English bloke along with them. Tammy introduced me to her friend Sam and the two of us hit it off like a house on fire. Now hold on, there's no point in not being completely honest here. Sam and I shagged away most of my last three days in the States. I had to wonder why I hadn't hooked up with her earlier in the trip; Sam had been around all the time. My only surprise was how hard it was to lay my hands on a re-supply of condoms in their small town. The other thing that shook me was that you weren't supposed to drink until you were twenty-one. Christ, you can legally drink in pubs in the UK from the age of eighteen and I'd been frequenting them since before I'd turned sixteen. Depends on how old you look whether you get challenged and thrown out. Mind you, I thought American beer was crap. Most of it sterilised chilled, and had a head put on it with CO2. Back in those days all English beer was cask conditioned and sold at cellar temperature. Did you know the colder beer is, the less your taste-buds work, so they can serve you up with any crap that they fancy? Not surprisingly, British pubs went the same way as the American bars a few years later, when the big mutli-nationals took over all of the breweries and using TV advertising, pushed the lager habit big time. Never mind the quality, look at the alcoholic content became the watchword, and they wonder why we have all these lager louts around nowadays. Those wankers wouldn't know the flavour of a good beer if you gave them one. Anyway I've digressed, where was I? Oh yeah, Tammy's friend Sam. Well, Sam and I hit it off quite good together. Sam was never in Winnie's class. I'm taking about the chemistry that Winnie had stirred up in my loins here; she was a real looker. But beggars can't be choosers and what with Joe's antics over the proceeding week, my hormones were giving me some real strife. To be fair Sam was a really nice girl and, had she lived in the UK, I think it could have led to something more than the three day shagging marathon that it was. We wrote to each other for a while after I got back. There was some talk of her coming over to the UK or me even going back over there for a visit, but neither happened in the long term. In the end, the time lapse between her letters got longer and longer, until Sam just didn't write back one time. Surprisingly, over the next couple of years, I'd get the odd letter from Tammy. It was she who informed me that Winnie had given birth to a little girl. And just over a year later, Winnie had a second one. And of course I got Christmas cards for a few years from Winnie and Joe. They usually had a brief 'keep me up to date' note in them, but that was all. Then quite suddenly it all went quiet. I kept sending my Christmas cards to Joe and Winnie, and for some reason to Tammy and her husband as well; at least Tammy always sent one back. But she never mentioned her sister or Joe in the accompanying notes. I was to hear no more about Joe or Winnie for nigh on eight or nine years. As I went through my early twenties, I had my fair share of girlfriends; I even shacked up with a couple of them, for a while. But by the time I was twenty-nine, I'd become convinced that marriage wasn't in the cards for me. None of the women that I ever met seemed to match up to the picture that I had in my mind of a wife. Although exactly what that picture was, I didn't really know. It was in 1972 that things began to change, although I didn't know it at the time. A friend and I were on holiday in Venice, Italy of all places. I don't why I like Italy so much, but I'd been there quite a few times before. The two of us were sitting at an outside café in St Marks Square knocking back what the Italians call beer. "Beera, big one!" was how we used to order it. Our hands gesturing to an imaginary glass about three feet tall. Then two ice cold one litre (or maybe bigger) glass jugs would appear on the table; probably at a horrendously inflated price. But anyone who can remember Italian money back then will know that everything was priced in what seemed like hundreds of thousand of Liras. Vince, the bloke I was travelling with, and I were attempting – pretty unsuccessfully, I think – to chat up two Swiss - or maybe they were German – women who were sitting on the next table. Vince, regretfully didn't have the same bullshitting talents as Joe when it came to women, maybe that's why he was still single at thirty-five. Anyway we weren't really watching what was going on around us. So when someone asked, "Would you be so kind as to take a photograph for us?" In a vaguely familiar American accent, it was with some surprise that I realised the question was directed at me. I turned around to see who had made the request and was completely gobsmacked to see Sam standing there grinning back at me. "Bloody Hell Sam, where did you spring from?" I exclaimed, as I jumped out of my seat put took her in my arms and kissed her. Almost immediately noting that Sam didn't exactly return the kiss with enthusiasm. Actually she seemed quite embarrassed. Well so was I, when she introduced me to her husband, who was standing off to the side grinning at us. Luckily for me, Jake had been a friend of Tammy and Sam's way back when Joe got married and he seemed to know that Sam and I had had a little fling at the time. "Sorry to disappoint you buddy, but I laid my brand on Sam some time back." Jake grinned at me. We then dropped into a humorous exchange, where I accused him of stealing the love of my life from me. He took it in good heart and we finished up with Sam looking even more embarrassed than she had when I'd kissed her. Jake and I hit it off straight away, it turned out that we had a very similar sense of humour. The two Swiss birds were forgotten from then on, as Sam, Jake and I dropped into small talk about everyone that I had met in the US. And of course the subject of Joe and Winnie came up. Sam said that they lasted about six years before Winnie finally realised that Joe was not going to change his ways and they separated. Joe had joined the services somewhere along the line. I had never taken Joe for the military type; but thinking on it, both Joe and Winnie's fathers had been in the services, so I suppose it stood to reason. "Joe's a damned good father though." Sam added. "As a husband he was a real asshole to Winnie. But you can't fault him on the way he dotes on those two girls of his." "When he's in the country!" Jake said sarcastically. But that seemed to go over Sam's head; well, she ignored it anyway. "Oh, yeah, Joe's out in Vietnam most of the time nowadays," Sam explained. "But Winnie's never short of money; god knows where Joe gets it all from." "Probably he runs a Saigon brothel for all the other servicemen out there. That's about his mark." Jake offered. I got the feeling Jake didn't like Joe. "So how have things been going with you since we last heard from each other?" Sam asked, probably to change the subject. "Did you ever get married?" I went on to give them an extremely brief and extremely sketchy run down on the last few years of my life. Then we made plans to meet for dinner that evening. I was to discover from Jake later that Joe had tried to seduce Sam a few times. Sam had always taken Joe's attempts as a joke, but Jake knew better and had had to keep a close eye on the pair of them. Not because he didn't trust Sam, but Joe was quite an expert and Sam could be so dammed naive sometimes. ----------------------------- "Jesus, she's something," Vince remarked, after we'd seen Sam and Jake onto the Waterbus back to their hotel. "You're not kidding. We only spent three days together and my bleeding balls ached for at least a week when I had to fly home and leave her," I replied. "Jesus, Ray, how did you let her get away?" "Look, mate, she was on one side of the world and I was on the other and, well, when a girl's got a sexual appetite like Sam's... Jake was local, wasn't he?" "Can't say I can blame the bugger," Vince said. "Neither can I. I think Sam fell on her feet there though. He sure seems like a really good bloke to me." "Better than that mate of yours, what was his name, Joe?" Vince suggested. "Yeah, Joe is a complete arsehole, always was. But he was just one of those characters; you just had to like him," I said. "I'll believe you, but from what Sam and Jake had to say about him, I'd say thousands wouldn't," Vince commented. ------------------------- At first Vince wasn't going to join Sam, Jake and me for dinner that evening. Although, as he had sod all else to do and it was the first that time he'd been out of the UK. I think he was a little hesitant to go out around Venice on his own, so in the end he decided to come along. I do believe it was possibly the best decision that he made in his life. Sam and Jake turned up at the restaurant with Cyn in tow. Cynthia was your typical American tourist, or unfortunately, what is often taken for the typical American. She was/is very um... outspoken, and extremely loud. Anyone and everyone in that restaurant, who could vaguely understand English, soon learnt that Cynthia was a thirty-something-year-old war widow. Her husband had been one of the first US advisors to be sent out to Vietnam and he'd returned home less than two months later to claim his personal spot in Arlington cemetery. Cynthia had three children and her father owned a print shop, where she apparently worked, or drove everyone nuts. I think during the meal Cynthia did almost all of the talking; hind legs off Donkey style. I'm not sure who's idea it was later to take an evening gondola ride, but somehow Sam, Jake and myself finished up in one boat, whilst Vince and Cynthia got into another. And that was the last that I was to see of Vince until the last day of the holiday. As I understand it, he and Cynthia married a few months later and he now manages her father's print shop in some small midwest town somewhere. Apparently whilst Sam and I had been chatting earlier in the day, Vince had told Jake that he worked in printing in London and Jake had played matchmaker. It was a long shot, but it worked out well for Cynthia and Vince. I spent the rest of my holiday playing gooseberry to Sam and Jake, but they didn't seem to mind. I knew Venice quite well and took them to a few places that I doubt they would have found without me. When I got back home, letters stuffed with photographs of Sam and Jake and their children started to turn up with regularity. After a while some pictures of Tammy, her husband and their children showed up as well. Then finally some of Winnie and her and Joe's two girls, along with a little note from Winnie saying that she was so pleased to hear that I was doing okay. I suppose it was in the early spring 1973 when I received a letter from Sam telling me that she and Jake were planning on bringing their children over to the UK for their family vacation that year. I'd bought myself a fairly reasonable sized house by then, and invited them to stay with me. I think I was just slightly offended when the offer was turned down. At first, I took even more affront, when they refused my offer to collect them from the airport and take them to their hotel. But then in another letter Sam mentioned that the party they would be with would be far too large for a single car. It was then that I realised that either Sam or Jake's parents, or perhaps both, must be coming with them and that explained them refusing my offer of accommodation as well. Sam called me on the telephone the moment they got to their hotel and invited me to join them for a formal breakfast the following morning. As previously arranged I'd taken a couple of weeks off of work to be available to act as a local guide to their party. I gladly accepted the offer of breakfast, but I was not at all prepared for what greeted me when the waiter led me to the table Jake had arranged. It was bloody massive; I think you could have sat a football team around it. Shortly I saw Jake and Sam leading a quite large entourage in my direction, as they got close I stood to greet them and this time it was Sam who took me in her arms and kissed me full on the lips. "Take it easy, girl. Didn't Jake tell me he was a crack shot with a thirty-eight the last time I saw you?" I whispered in her ear. I'd been sent plenty of pictures of Jake with his shooting trophies. Joe's Legacy "Don't worry, Ray. He only shoots his little target pistol, and they wouldn't let him bring it on the plane," she replied, grinning at me. "Damn, woman, if you two keep carrying on like that I'm sure I could pick up one over here somewhere." Jake said, as he shook my hand after I'd untangled myself from his wife. But as he'd said it, I spotted that Tammy and her husband were standing behind Sam and Jake. Both of them gave me a hug, Tammy's husband - like me - had been a pseudo-hippie when I had first met him, so it wasn't such a strange thing for us guys to do. But as Tammy was kissing me on the cheek, I spotted that long blond hair on the woman waiting her turn at me. "Winnie!" I almost shouted. At that time I hadn't realised how much the woman had gotten into my skin. I should have realised long before that it was most likely Winnie that I'd always been comparing other women to. But even when I took her in my arms, the truth didn't sink home in my psyche. I was formally introduced to the hoard of children, not that I could fit the right names to most of them, until just before they returned home. I'm afraid that meeting Winnie again kind of flustered me some. All of the children immediately and regardless of who their parents were started to refer to me as Uncle Ray, so that didn't help much either. For some reason it was Winnie's two girls who where the only ones that registered in my mind straight away. Possibly because both Reba and LeAnn were young versions of their mother, even down to the hairstyle and mannerisms. After breakfast I led the party on its first excursion into London's Underground system. Getting off the train at Lancaster Gate we walked through Hyde Park following the bank of Long Water and the Serpentine and then the path on the Hyde Park Corner. Winnie and I led flanked by Reba and LeAnn. Reba walking on my left and Winnie on my right; suddenly Reba, after a very clumsy attempt to pretend that she had stumbled, took a firm grip on my left arm. At first I was somewhat flattered to think that the child who had only just met me, appeared to like me so much that she wanted to hold my arm. But I soon began to realise that there was more to the gesture than first appeared. Or should I say that Reba and LeAnn – who, after Winnie and I bumped shoulders a couple of times, I noted was hanging onto her mother's right arm - were inexplicably pushing us two adults together. Eventually Winnie was forced to hold onto my right arm to stabilise the situation. After that, Winnie it appeared had gotten into the habit of holding on my arm. Some time after we'd crossed Hyde Park Corner and the visitors had taken photographs outside Buck house; anyway we were walking up The Mall toward Trafalgar Square when I realised that Reba and LeAnn had disentangled themselves and were walking behind with the other children. When I looked around to check where the girls were, my eyes locked with Tammy's for a few seconds. Her face broke into a massive grin and she winked at me. As I turned my head back to the front, my eyes were caught by Winnie's for a few seconds and she gave me a little smile as well, before she blushed and turned away. "Is someone trying to tell me something?" I asked Jake, later when we were alone in the gents' toilets in Trafalgar square. "I'm not supposed to say anything my friend. But Winnie's always had a soft spot for you, you know," he replied. "Since when?" I asked. Jake grinned, "I'm told since the day she first met you, when you stepped off of the aeroplane. Tammy claims that Winnie nearly called off the wedding over you." "You're funning me." "It's no joke, Ray. The times we've heard Winnie say that of the two guys standing at the altar that day, she had to go and marry the wrong one." "But, she doesn't even know me," I blustered. "Not really." "Don't ask me, man. All I know is that Winnie thinks that the good Lord made you and her for each other. For some reason Tammy and Sam have always agreed with her. And after meeting you again in Italy last year, I'm of the opinion that you're pretty stuck on Winnie myself." "What makes you say that?" "Your main topic of conversation over there, Ray, that's what!" Jake replied with that grin still on his face. "No joking, man, considering that you hardly knew her, you spent most of your time talking and asking questions about Winnie." "I did?" I said in surprise. "You sure did, my friend," Jake assured me. God knows how long Jake and I stood in those toilets talking. But all of the women were waiting for us impatiently when we reappeared. Kind-of turned the table on the usual scenario. Winnie latched onto my arm again and we all strolled off towards Piccadilly to continue our walking tour. I think that we were all feeling a little tuckered out by then, especially the children. So after having lunch in a restaurant off Leicester Square, we took in a matinee at one of the cinemas. Then at the children's insistence, it was a trip back to their hotel on the top deck of one of the old Route Master's that London was so famous for. After they had eaten their evening meal – I didn't join them for dinner that night; I'd eaten enough for one day but Americans appear to eat much more than most British folks do – the adults settled into the hotels lounge to drink and chat the rest of the evening away. The young ones played havoc up in their rooms; Tammy had to go up and restore order a couple of times. I left the hotel about midnight to make my way out of town to my home in the suburbs. Pleased with myself that I'd decided not to take my car that morning, I was in no condition to drive that night. Sitting in the almost empty last train to Stanmore, I played over the day's events and what I'd learnt about Winnie, in my mind. Almost ten years on and she was still a really fine looking woman who had taken my breath away the moment I laid eyes on her, just as she'd done the first time we'd met. I wasn't sure that I loved her – Christ, I'd always thought love at first sight was something you read about in books – but I was pretty convinced that I wouldn't have to be around her for very long before I was infatuated by her. Perhaps I already was, and that's why I hadn't been able to find love with any other woman. I had the weirdest dream that night. In my dream we were back at Joe and Winnie's wedding; only Winnie wasn't marrying Joe, she told the minister that she was going to marry me instead. "Good on you, man. You'll make her a better husband than I ever will!" Joe had said, then he had pushed me towards Winnie with a big grin on his face. ----------------------- The next few days were kind of repeats of the first day. I met them for breakfast and then we all went out to some tourist sites or shopping places in town. Most of the evenings were spent in the lounge of their hotel, except for the one evening we all spent at St Martin's Theatre watching "The Mousetrap" the mystery play that holds the record for the longest continuous run in the world. I think all the adults enjoyed it, but I fear the younger children would have preferred to have been back at the hotel watching TV. It must have been on the six or seventh day. As arranged I didn't arrive at the hotel until ten that morning. They'd all had their breakfast and we set out on yet another walking tour almost straight away, Winnie promptly taking up her usual position hanging on to my arm. By then she had to gotten used to regularly changing sides. It didn't take her long to work out that the man always walks on the outside nearest the curb. "It goes back to the old horse and cart days," I'd explained. "I'm supposed to take any 'you know what' that gets splashed up from the road, to stop it getting onto your dress and also to ensure that you don't stumble off of the curb, of course." I think everyone smiled at that one, but then I noticed that the other two guys had begun changing the side that they walked on when we crossed the street after that. That day we took the underground to Trafalgar Square and then walked down Whitehall so that they could take pictures of the Lifeguards on their horses, then we went on past Downing Street to Parliament Square, where - as usual - I had to explain to the children and possibly the adults as well that the tower was called the Clock Tower and that it was the biggest bell inside the tower that was called Big Ben. I was quite enjoying playing tour guide by then. After that we embarked on one of the river cruise boats to take a ride to Tower Pier, from where we did the Tower Bridge thing, and then visited the Tower itself. Culminating the day was a climb to the top of The Monument that was built to commemorate the Great Fire of 1666. There were so many of us that we kind-a took over the viewing platform at the top, for a while. From there, as my American friends were beginning to get hungry, we headed back into the West End of town and found a restaurant to eat in. I suppose it must have been about eight o'clock when we decided to conclude the day with a walk along the embankment. I can't even remember how we got back down there. Winnie, as was usual by then, was hanging onto my arm, and I was spouting off about the old ships moored along the river there. We were heading away from Victoria, intending to make our way to Cleopatra's needle, when Winnie and I suddenly realised that we were alone. "Where'd they go?" Winnie asked. "Buggered if I know. They were all there five minutes ago," was all that I could reply. "Well, it is sort of romantic here. Perhaps they thought we should be alone for a while," Winnie suggested. "I hope they haven't got lost," I said, Winnie's statement having not really registered in my brain. "Don't be silly, Ray. Where could they have gone astray? The river's on one side and the road on the..." Winnie stopped speaking because at that moment a bus went past with most of the rest of the party, waving at us wildly from the top deck. Jake was standing on the rear platform and he shouted that they'd see us back at the hotel, as the bus disappeared into the distance. "Not very subtle, are they?" I suggested. "Well, what do you expect? The way you're going I'll be lucky if I get a kiss out of you before the vacation is over," Winnie replied. "Is that what you want me to do, kiss you?" I asked. "Ray, we've got fourteen days left of this vacation. Let's make the most of them, shall we? Christ, you were quicker than this when you took Sam to bed," Winnie said, then she put her hand behind my neck and pulled me down to her level. Well, the embankment in the evening is a place for courting couples, so no one batted an eyelid that Winnie and I stood there kissing and cuddling for I don't know how long. I had no idea where all this was going to lead. After all, besides being an American, Winnie was still married to Joe; although I don't think I would have called him a friend by that time, not after the way he'd treated Winnie. Winnie and I eventually did make it as far as Cleopatra's Needle, but it took us an hour or so because we kept stopping. Then we grabbed a cab to take us back to the hotel. The reception we received when we entered the lounge was loud and embarrassing for both of us to start with. But they laid off us pretty quickly when they realised how embarrassed we were. It was about midnight again when I suggested that I thought it was about time that I went home. "Do you have to go?" Winnie asked as she came over to the door with me. "If I don't go soon, I'll miss the last train home," I told her. "Then miss it. You can always stay here for the night." "Winnie, that sign over there says no vacancies!" "Who cares about that? There's a vacancy in my room with me." "Winnie, what about the girls?" "They have their own room, Ray. I planned ahead." "There's confidence for you," I said laughing, "No, I wasn't confidant, but I knew how I felt about you and how you felt about me when we met before the wedding. And Sam told me she thought that you were still sweet on me when she ran into you in Venice last year." "What do you mean, how I felt about you at the wedding?" "Ray, I saw the way you looked at me and you were overheard giving Joe a piece of your mind about what he did with one of my bridesmaids that night." "Shit, I wasn't, was I! Who overheard us?" "Never mind, it's not important. But I wish you or someone had told me about what Joe did at the time. As it was, they only told me after I caught Joe with some slut and threw him out." "I'd hoped Joe would start behaving himself," I said sheepishly. "Come on, Ray. I'm sure that you knew Joe better that that. I don't think he knows how to keep it in his pants." "I'm afraid to say that you're probably right on that one, Winnie." "Anyway are you going to share my bed with me tonight or not?" "Christ, Winnie!" "I'm sorry to be so forward, Ray, but I told you earlier, we've got fourteen days left to work out whether we can make something out of what we feel for each other. Besides Sam says you're quite a stud on the quiet." "Oh, she does, does she? I wonder what would Jake say if he heard her say that." "I think Jake's words were, 'You get the bastard into bed, Winnie, and keep him there or I'm likely to lose my wife on this trip. I always knew she was comparing me to someone,' " Winnie told me with a grin on her face. I think I was still contemplating that statement when Winnie tried to drag me into the lift. "I'm sorry, Winnie, you are a wonderful woman, but you are still married to Joe. I'm sorry, girl; but I'm afraid as much as I'd like to, I can't do that kind of thing." A look of disappointment came over Winnie's face. "Alright, I understand. I'm used goods in your eyes." "Oh, Christ, no, Winnie! I think you are the most wonderful person in the world. I really think... No, damn it, I know that I am falling in love with you. But... I'm sorry I've just got a conservative nature, I suppose. Separated or not, you are still technically married to Joe and it just doesn't seem right to me for us to... you know... while you still are," I tried to explain. A little smile came back onto Winnie's face. "Damn it, I did mess up when I married Joe, didn't I. My father told me that you were a real gentleman, but I didn't realise how right he was until now." "I'm flattered. Winnie, if you were divorced from Joe, I'd ask you to marry me right now, this minute. And your feet wouldn't touch the ground until we hit that bed together. But you're still hitched in the eyes of the law, so no matter how much I'd like to, I just can't." "God, I can't half pick 'em, can't I?" Winnie said, a big grin back on her by then. "Its not like I don't want you or anything, Winnie, but... Well, for one thing there's Reba and LeAnn to think about as well. What kind of a message would it send out to them if we jumped into bed together at the drop of a hat?" Winnie blushed and it could be that a guilty expression came over her face. Then she said, "I guess you're right, Ray. Although it pains me to say it." We went into a clinch, kissed and Winnie told me she'd see me the following morning; then I left the hotel and headed home. I got some strange looks from a young couple – the only other people in the same carriage as me - when I suddenly heard myself saying, "You know, you're a pompous bloody idiot, Ray Price!" out loud during the journey home that night. I'd just had my ideal wet dream inviting me to take her to bed and ravish her, and like a bleeding idiot I'd turned her down. ----------------------------- After breakfast the following morning, Winnie asked me to go up to her room with her so that we could talk in private for a little while. "Ray, didn't I tell you that I planned ahead? Reba and LeAnn's room is three floors up with the other children's rooms. They would never have known if you'd spent the night in here with me unless we told them," Winnie said, as we entered her room. Then going over to the little stand that her suitcase was on, she opened it and took out a large manila envelope, withdrew several documents from it and handed one of them to me. "My divorce from Joe will become final in six weeks time. Here, look for yourself. I'll be a free agent, Ray, and I'll be able to do what I like," Winnie said smiling at me. "I'm pleased to hear that, Winnie, but before we go jumping into anything, you must think this all through carefully. After all you know nothing about me really. Except that I was a friend of your extremely dodgy ex-husband. You never know, I might be an axe murderer or something." "Ray, I have some very good friends and a loving family. I made a complete mess of it when I got involved with Joe. Do you really think that they would let me make the same mistake again?" she asked. "I have no idea, Winnie." "Well, they wouldn't. Now please don't be annoyed about this; they were only trying to protect me, but I owe it to you to show you this," Winnie said, offering me some more papers from that envelope. I glanced through the little file. "Well, I'll be buggered!" was all I could think of to say. Look, it isn't everyday that you find yourself reading through a private detective's report on yourself. "Bloody thorough, weren't they?" I said. "Yeah, they cost my dad and Pete (Tammy's husband) a few thousand. I hope that you aren't annoyed about it." "After Joe, no, I don't think I could be, Winnie. I think that I can understand their concerns, but why?" Because you've been bugging me ever since I first met you. Ray, do you believe in love at first sight?" "That's a question I've been asking myself for a long time, Winnie." "So you do feel the same way as I do." "Yes, Winnie, I think possibly that I do." "Good, so there is hope for us then!" "Now hold on a minute, girl. This isn't as simple as all that." "Why ever not?" "Well, think about it. You live three thousand miles away, so if we find we can't live without each other, someone's got to move a long way away from home. Now I'm sorry to say that isn't in the cards for me, because I've got a damned good job here that pays extremely well. I'm willing to bet I wouldn't find an equivalent one in the States in a hurry." "So the girls and I will move into that nice little house of yours, with you." "What, just like that? What about their schooling and leaving all of their friends and things? And what about how far you'll be from the rest of your family? Then there's Joe. He might not like the idea of you bringing his children over here to live." "God, you are really trying to find anything to keep us apart, aren't you?" Winnie sounded a little annoyed. "No, Winnie. I'm trying to be realistic. I'm honestly very attracted to you, but things are going pretty fast and beginning to get out of hand here," I told her. A very disappointed look came over Winnie's face again and she sat down on the bed. I chose to sit on one of the chairs by the dresser. "Winnie, things are just going too fast. You seem to have come to the conclusion that I'm some kind of knight in shining armour, but I'm not. I really don't want either of us to get hurt if things don't work out between us." "Raymond, I've spent years dreaming about a life with you. I know that we can make it work if we want it to." That was the first time that Winnie had ever used my given name and it sort-of took me by surprise. "Don't get me wrong, Winnie. I would love it to work. And don't go thinking I haven't dreamt about you a few times either." That statement brought a slight smile back to Winnie's face. "Wet dreams?" she asked. "Real buggers, had to change the bed. I sleep in the buff by the way." I grinned back at her. Joe's Legacy Winnie's smile turned into a grin as well. She reached under the pillow on the bed and pulled out a negligee or something, then threw it in the general direction of the waste bin. "Sounds like a good way to sleep to me. Look, Ray, I know you think that I was rushing things a little... Well, a lot actually. But the clocks ticking, as I said yesterday we've only got fourteen days left of this vacation. As far as Joe goes, he's happy for me to move over here." "How do you know that?" "Last night, after you left, I called him to ask him. They do have telephones in Thailand, you know." "I thought you said Joe was in Vietnam." "So did I, but when I tried to call him, I have this special number in Washington that I call and they put me through to him wherever he is. Anyway Joe was out in the field and they couldn't put me directly through to him last night, but he called me back from Thailand about eight this morning. The line wasn't very good and we lost the connection a couple of times. I heard the operator say Bangkok when they were reconnecting us. That's in Thailand, isn't it?" "Yeah, I'm sure it is. I wonder what Joe's doing there?" I replied. "I don't know - on furlough or something, I suppose. Anyway I told Joe that when our divorce was final, I wanted to come to England to live and move in with you. He said that if the children were happy then it was fine with him." I was somewhat surprised that Winnie had told Joe that she'd hoped that we would be getting together. But then what else was she going to say? If she'd asked Joe if he was going to object to her moving the children to the UK, he would have undoubtedly asked why she wanted to come over here. And I suppose he would have wanted to know the identity of who his children were going to live with. Telling him that it was me up front was the logical thing to do, I suppose. "Winnie, what do the girls say about all this? I assume that you have sounded them out about living in England?" "They are cool with the idea, a little reticent about moving to a strange country I should imagine. But they seem to like England and they definitely think you are something special." "That's flattering but why?" "I'm not sure. Because you are different to the other guys I've had chasing after me, I suspect." "In what way?" "Well, for a start you're English. And well, because unlike most of the guys who've been hanging around me since Joe left, you haven't had the same goal in mind. I think the girls can sense that." "What goal?" I asked. Winnie looked at the bed and then looked back at me. "Oh, I see," I said. "Hey, Ray, please don't get the idea that I've been jumping into bed with every guy that I've met since Joe's been gone. I've only ever slept with two guys in my whole life. Joe and another guy, who I thought was a friend. But as it turned out he was only after one thing. Once I realised that he was happy to bed me but he didn't like the idea of taking the girls and me on full time, I got rid of him." Winnie had a very serious and somewhat concerned look on her face. "I can't say that I was in love with the guy, but my ego needed a boost at the time. It doesn't do much for your self-esteem when you find out the guy that you thought worshipped you has had a whole string of other interests. When I found out that Joe had been playing around on me since before we were married, I lost confidence in myself a hell of a lot." "So why were you in such a hurry to jump into bed with me?" "Because I love you, Ray, and I'm damned sure that you love me. When Sam and Jake came back from Italy and told me they'd spent most of the holiday with you, I couldn't believe my ears at first. Then they told me that you weren't married and had spent most of the time asking questions about me. So I knew... well, I hoped... that you felt the same way about me and I couldn't wait to come over here to see you. I even asked Joe for a divorce the first chance I had. He was fine with the idea; the bastard can't wait to get shot of his responsibilities to me. But we couldn't start the ball rolling until he came home on leave and could sign the papers." Suddenly we were disturbed by the telephone ringing; it was Sam asking if they should take all the children and go on without us. Winnie told her we'd be down shortly. Then she gave me a quick kiss and said, "We're going to make this work, aren't we?" "I certainly hope so, Winnie," I replied. "But I think it's going to depend on LeAnn and Reba in the long run." "It's going to work all right!" she said as we left the room. When we got to the hotel entrance, I realised the weather had turned to the threatening clouds I'd seen as I travelled, and they were unloading themselves; it was raining hard. I suggested a change of venue for the day and we headed for the museums at South Kensington. It was a pretty full day and very tiring for all of us, although the children seemed to fare better than us adults. I didn't stay as late that night, even though Winnie had tried to persuade me to linger longer. I had some telephones calls that I had to make myself. On arriving home I called my sister, even though it was pretty late, and told her about Winnie. Mags asked me if I knew what I was doing and had thought it all through. All I had to say was, "You know me, Maggie!" "I sure do, brother. When do we get to meet her?" Margaret replied. "As soon as I can arrange it, sis. The whole bunch of them are coming to my house on Sunday; perhaps you can bring the kids over and meet them." "Oh, I might have guessed it. I know who's going to be doing all the cooking. We'll be over about nine. How many am I catering for, but the way?" We went on to count all the heads that would be present and then Mags wished me good luck. I could always count on my sister to come to my rescue in times like that and she'd been bugging me to settle down with a 'nice girl' for years. -------------------------------- It must have been four in the morning when I was woken by the telephone ringing. "Hey, you limey bastard, what's this I hear about you fucking my wife?" the voice demanded. "Joe, is that you?" I demanded. "Of course it is, good buddy. Who else's wife have you been giving it to?" he replied. "Joe, for a start I haven't laid a hand on Winnie. Well, not in that way anyway." "Hey, man, you're kidding me. She's one of the best fucks there is! But then I guess that you're still playing the English gentleman, aren't you, my friend? You always were a little slow around the women." "What do you want, Joe?" I said. I was getting annoyed with the bugger. "Take it easy, my friend. I was just calling to give you my blessing. I know I haven't treated her right, but I'm damned sure that you will," he explained. "Thanks, Joe," I said reticently. "Look, mate. It's my kids I'm worried about. You will look after them, won't you?" There was something about the way that Joe said those words that I had trouble getting my head around. I think it was the word 'mate' that told me this wasn't the usual Joe talking. Mate is an English term often used to a close friend. Joe knew it from when we'd been together as children, but I'd never heard him use it before. "They'll still be your children, Joe. I hope you'll come and see them as often as you can." "Ray, this is a crazy war out here; guys are getting killed everyday. I'll be lucky if I ever make it home again." "Fuck, Joe, that's no way to talk," I said. "Listen, my friend, I'm with a special unit and we... well, it ain't like any army unit I've worked with before. I'm going to be lucky if I can get out of here in one piece." "Jesus, Joe, you be careful and keep your bleeding head down." "I'll try, my friend, but don't be surprised if I don't make it. But now listen; I've got something important to tell you. If I don't make it, there'll be a guy; he'll call you and tell you he's got a present from Joe. You understand that? 'A present from Joe!' You will reply 'I've been waiting for it since Christmas.' Those exact words. Ray, you understand?" "Yeah, I think so but why?" "Ray, don't ask any questions. You just do as the man tells you and look after my three girls. Okay, good buddy, I doubt I'll be able to make it to the wedding. Good luck!" Then the line went dead. 'What the fuck is Joe up to now?' I thought as I lay there contemplating the strange call. In the back of my mind was a lot of worry; I really didn't know whether I could trust the guy. ---------------------------- I mentioned the call to Winnie the next day, but I didn't mention anything about Joe's strange instructions about the mystery guy. I just told her that Joe had given me his blessing. I don't think Winnie trusted him either though, because she said something about wondering what he was up to as well. The Sunday at my house went off great. Margaret, her husband and children met all my visitors and I noticed that Winnie and Margaret spent a lot of time together talking. We four guys went down to the local pub for a quick get to know each other drink whilst the dinner was cooking. When we returned the women had things completely under control. During the afternoon we all went for a walk on Stanmore Common where I tried to explain to the guys the intricacies of the cricket match that was in progress there. I don't think any of them understood what the hell was going on. But they clapped when the rest of the onlookers did. One of my sister's boys managed to fall into a pond. It wasn't deep, so there wasn't much in the way of danger. Although some of the folks who were fishing got out of their prams a bit over him disturbing the fish. "She seems like a good catch to me," my sister said when we got a quick moment only. "And what have you done to those two girls? They seem to think that the son shines out of your arse." "I don't know, Mags," I replied, "but those two precocious little tykes pushed Winnie and me together on the first day, physically." "Sounds like you've found yourself a nice ready-made family, Ray," Maggie assured me. "I hope that they settle down alright over here." ------------------------- The rest of the holiday we continued doing the tourist bit, although a couple of times Winnie and I did manage to get away on our own for a few hours. But all too soon it was time for them to fly home again. It was a pretty tearful departure at Heathrow, even though I was going to fly over to the States in a few weeks to marry Winnie and bring her, Reba and LeAnn back to the UK for good. ------------------------- "Ray, Joe's dead!" It was Tammy who had called me at my office just two weeks later. "Are you sure?" "Yes, Winnie's still listed as his next of kin and some army colonel turned up at the house yesterday and told her that he'd been killed in a plane crash." I went on to mention that we'd have to put the wedding back. Winnie couldn't go to Joe's funeral when she was married to me. I knew that the Americans nearly always fly their dead home. "There won't be a funeral, Ray. That's one of the reasons that that colonel called to see Winnie. The plane he was on exploded and there weren't any remains left for them to recover, according to the colonel." "Jake's not sure but he thinks that the plane might have been somewhere it shouldn't have been and they can't get in there to search for any bodies. Jake and Sam were at Winnie's house when he called. Jake asked him some awkward questions and Jake said the answers the colonel gave him didn't make much sense. You know that Jake was out there for a while before he got wounded." ------------------------------ Whatever, after talking to Winnie later in the day, we decided that the wedding would go ahead as planned. So just another couple of weeks after that I flew out to the States to marry the girl of my dreams. Margaret, her husband and children – my only close living relatives - flew with me. I was very flattered that my boss and his wife also flew over there to attend the wedding, although he had planned a holiday in Florida that year anyway. They changed the date so that they flew up for the ceremony. When we arrived at the hotel we were staying at, I was further surprised to find that a couple of distant cousins and their families - who I hadn't seen in years - had come down from Canada to be with us. Maggie along with Winnie had arranged all of that. Although with all of that family around it was impossible for Winnie to do the one thing that she had been hoping to do, rubbing herself up against me one night she told me that as she was now a widow, she had been hoping that we'd get together the first night I arrived. "It was only Reba and LeAnn being so upset about their dad that stopped me climbing on the first plane heading for England. You wouldn't have any excuse, would you?" she giggled. "Only, respect for the..." I began to say, "Jesus, Ray, Joe played around behind my back; he didn't show me a drop of respect. Why should I give a damn about him? But you are right, maybe that's what stopped me calling Pan Am." The wedding itself went off without any hassle. It wasn't as big as Winnie's previous wedding and certain of the bridesmaids who had been present weren't in attendance, but that was no surprise to anyone. During the evening I made a point of returning to Winnie's side after I'd danced with anyone else for the first hour or so, but then Winnie dragged me aside. "Ray, cut it out! You aren't Joe and I trust you completely, I know that you aren't going to disappear up to a room with anyone so stop trying to reassure me. Or is it that you don't trust me?" "No, of course I trust you. I just thought..." "Ray, we're married. If after the way I threw myself at you, you wouldn't bed me when I was still married to Joe, I know damn well you aren't going to misbehave. Now let's dance and then see if we can slip away for a little while. I'm getting really horny." We didn't get a chance to slip away. I think Reba and LeAnn were feeling just a little insecure; whenever Winnie and I tried to slip away the two girls soon found us. It must have been two in the morning before Winnie and I made it to the room we'd booked in that hotel. Tammy, Margaret and Sam were looking after Winnie's two for the night. I'm not sure which of them took the girls back to Winnie's house and spent the night there. Once the bedroom door closed, my world took a whole new turn. As we were going up to the room in the lift, Winnie boldly pulled up her wedding dress, then after showing them to me removed her panties and pushed them into my pocket. "I wanted to do that hours ago." She grinned, and then started rubbing my groin with her hand. As I closed the bedroom door Winnie threw herself onto the bed. Lying there on her back she pulled up her dress and demanded. "Come on, let's have it. I'm as horny as hell." "Should we take a shower first? Besides what about your dress?" "Damn the dress, Ray, I don't intend to be wearing the thing again. Come on, I'm going insane here. Just fuck me. We can make love later." The next few hours were the most tiring of my life. Not that me being tired stopped play though. Winnie was a dynamo in bed and she must have known every trick in the book. But then she'd been married to Joe so that wasn't really any surprise to me. I have no idea what time Winnie decided that she wasn't going to get the little fella to stand up on his own again and settled for laying beside me, just holding on to him. I know she woke me early in the morning by sucking on him again. We managed to do it twice before breakfast; once with her on top and once in the missionary position. That was a long one because we were kissing and cuddling a lot. I must have been quiet as we ate breakfast, I don't know. I do believe I was wondering if I would be able to keep up with Winnie. "I know what you're thinking, Ray," Winnie suddenly said. "You do? That's worrying, if you can read my mind that is," I replied smiling at her. "No, you're thinking how can a woman who likes sex as much as I do have been celibate for the last six years and only have had two men." I didn't speak because I believe that question was in the back of my mind somewhere. "I was a seventeen-year-old virgin when Joe talked me into letting him fuck me. And I have to admit I loved it. That was one thing in Joe's favour - he was bloody good in bed, he knew all the right buttons to push and when to push them. Christ, he was almost as good as you." I assumed that reference was put in for my ego's benefit. I very much doubted that I could match up to Joe's experience. "But I kind of lost the plot a bit, wasn't as careful as I should have been and... Well, you know I finished up getting pregnant. It wasn't very long after the wedding, before Reba was even born I think, that I realised that Joe was more likely than not playing around on me. Joe forgot one thing. He didn't have your staying power and he took a damn sight longer to recover. So it didn't take me too long to realise he was using his energy somewhere else." "I guess I should have thrown him out right away but, well, I liked sex too much to cut myself off from the only cock that I'd ever known. It wasn't like I could come looking for you, was it? You were in London living with that girl Stephanie." "How do you know about her?" "Oh, Ray, you know when I met you I nearly didn't marry Joe. But what would you want with your friend's cast offs. A slut that had got herself pregnant by an arrogant asshole. But I had some friends in the UK who kept an eye on you for me." "Winnie, I would have jumped at the chance to marry you even with Joe's baby inside you." "Easy for you to say now, Ray, but what would your family have thought. No, I'd made my bed and I had to lie in it. Besides his wanderering ways, Joe wasn't a bad husband, although he must have fucked nearly every friend I ever had. Except for Sam; she told me he tried to, but she loves Jake. "Anyway I had two choices, kick Joe out, or put up with his antics and enjoy the sex. Like a fool I chose to enjoy the sex. That is until some woman in town here got that STD they were on about all the time. Gonorrhoea or something like that, that some of the guys picked up in the brothels out there in Vietnam. From the stories that I've heard, it's resistant to antibiotics and can leave a woman sterile. That was it; I had no idea what Joe was going to pick up, especially after he was sent out to Vietnam himself. "I couldn't take that kind of a risk with my girls' future, no matter how much I enjoyed the sex. So the next time Joe came home on leave, I just followed him and caught him in the back of a car with his trousers down. Then I threw him out. You know, he didn't put up much of a fight. He just told me it was my fault for being frigid and useless in bed. "That was the bit that hurt the most, I loved him in a way and I definitely loved having his cock in me any chance I could get. And he said that I'm frigid. "That's when I took up with the other guy. I'd been sleeping with him about a month - not often, a couple of times a week. I can't say he was getting the job done, but then Joe hadn't been doing that for a long time by then. Anyway the guy got a bit weird. I didn't mind that he wanted me to beg him to fuck me. Christ, I was doing that anyway. "But then he started calling me his slut, because I was still married to Joe. Then to make things worse he wanted me to call myself his slut while we were having sex and even asked me if he could bring a friend along. Yeah, well, that was the last time he had me. I had to get Jake to have a word with him about pestering me. Everyone in town knows Jake's a crack shot. Joe's Legacy "From that day until you did me this evening I've been celibate. Although I've got a few toys..." A surprised expression must have come onto my face. "Oh, I've shocked you. I'm sorry, but women masturbate as well as men, you know." "I'm sorry, I've never thought about that before, Winnie." "Well, some of us do especially if they enjoy having orgasms as much as I do. Anyway the point is I've only had those two men in my life. I need to be positive that you believe me when I say that." "Winnie, it wouldn't make any difference to me how many men you've been with. God knows how many women I've slept with over the years." "Yes, it would. You hold the institution of marriage in high esteem. You proved that to me in London. For a while there, because of how Joe behaved, I forgot, but now you're my husband and I need to know that you trust me as much as I trust you. Without that trust we'll have nothing, Ray." "We have that trust, Winnie. Let's never mention it again," I replied. "Good. Want to go again before we go and see your new children?" --------------------------------------------------- We spent the afternoon and evening with Reba and LeAnn, before Winnie and I returned to the hotel for another tiring night's gymnastics. The following morning Winnie and I flew down to Miami for a few days on our honeymoon. A completely pointless exercise really because, except for eating and letting the cleaners in, we hardly left our hotel suite. Well it was a different bed and we had our own Jacuzzi en-suite so, I suppose it might have been worth the money. On our return, life turned into a real rush. All of Winnie and the girls' stuff that they wanted to take back to the UK had to be packed up for the shippers to collect. There was also an endless round of impromptu goodbye parties for Winnie and the children to attend. One of the things that I found difficult to get used to was Reba and LeAnn referring to me as their dad so quickly. Although it took them a while to switch from calling me Uncle Ray to dad. We went through 'father' for a while on the way, but I think they thought that didn't sound right. But the first time I heard Reba say, "I'll ask my dad" to someone on the telephone brought a lump to my throat. "Look at this," Winnie said the morning before we were due to fly back to the UK. She was holding the mail that I'd just taken from the postman outside. "What you got?" I asked, as I was pouring out a cup of coffee. "I'm finally divorced!" Winnie grinned at me. "I'm divorced from a dead man. Don't suppose anyone thought to tell the court that Joe was... What is it you say? 'Off this mortal soil?' " "Something like that, Winnie." "Well, I suppose I'd better hang on to this and put it with Joe's death certificate," Winnie said, folding the paper and putting it in her bag, or rather her purse as she referred to it. ---------------------------- Reba and LeAnn seemed to settle down very quickly in the UK. For the time being they went to an American school over here, but in time they switched into a British public school and continued their schooling in the British system. Both of them finishing up at university many years later. There was, surprisingly, a lot more for us to do about Joe after we'd flown home than either Winnie or I imagined. Joe had died before the divorce came through so Winnie inherited his estate. I had to wonder where Joe had got all of his money from, because he owned property all over the USA. Some Winnie kept and rented out through agents, others she sold and we put the money into trust funds, for Reba and LeAnn. The only odd thing that happened in the next few years was a guy from the US Embassy paying a call on us. We never were sure why he turned up or what he really wanted. Other than wanting to see everyone in the family, he even asked to see our marriage certificate, Winnie's divorce papers and for some reason he showed interest in Joe's death certificate. But maybe that was just because it was with the divorce papers. Winnie said that she had the strangest feeling that she was being followed when she went out a couple of times after that. We told a neighbour of ours who was a policeman about it and I do believe he looked into it, but it came to nothing. The next time I mentioned it to Winnie, she told me that she wasn't getting the feeling any more. So that was the end of that. Winnie and I had been married for about four years and Winnie was pregnant with our second, her fourth, when the telephone call came. "Ray?" a voice asked, when I picked the receiver up. "Yeah." "I've got a present from Joe!" the voice said in a definitely Australian sounding accent. For a few seconds, I was confused about what the guy was on about. Then I remembered. "I've been waiting for it since Christmas," I replied. "South end of Chelsea Bridge at nine this evening. By the power station, there's a tea stall there. You'd better come alone," the voice said and then the line went dead. I wasn't at all sure about this, but I decided that I'd have to go, or my curiosity would kill me. I took back-up along though in the form of a couple of my friends. They would turn up at the tea stall well before me in a van. In those days there was always a few vans and trucks parked there whilst the drivers took a break and had something to eat at the stall. After ditching my car in the back streets of Chelsea, I walked across the bridge to the stall where I ordered tea and a bacon sandwich. My two friends were sitting in the van parked in the road right by the stall, but I managed not even to look in their direction. Because there were so many people waiting to be served, I moved away from the stall a little, back towards the bridge. As I did so an old VW Microbus pulled up to the curb. "Ray?" the driver called out to me. I walked over to the Microbus. "Yeah?" "Joe said I was to give you this, if he didn't make it," the guy whose face was hidden in shadow inside the Microbus said, as he handed me a thick package. "What is it?" I asked. "I don't know. You'll have to open it and see. But I wouldn't open it here. Make sure that you're somewhere private." Then the guy let out the clutch and the old van bumbled off making the usual VW sewing machine noise that they do. I took a quick look in my friends' direction to make sure they'd seen the guy pass me the package and then began to walk back across the bridge. When I was nearly all the way over my friends drove past me and I saw them turn into the road where I'd left my car. They'd parked in front of my car, so I jumped into the back of the van when I finally got there. "What is it?" one of them asked. "Don't know. I'll have to open it to find out," I replied and began to tear at the package. "Hold on. It could be a bomb or something," the other friend suggested. "Don't feel like a bomb to me," I offered. "Ray, when was the last time you handled a bloody bomb? How the hell do you know what a bomb is going to feel like?" "Yeah, that's a point. What do we do to find out if it is?" I asked. "We could get it ex-rayed, but my brother's got one of those metal detector things. It would have to have metal wires and things in it, if it was a bomb, wouldn't it?" my first friend suggested. So we headed over to his brother's house, where the package was ceremoniously placed in the rear garden, whilst his brother ascertained that it contained no metal with his toy. Then I retreated to my car again where I tore the package open. Inside I found twenty thousand dollars in US currency, a letter from Joe and some paperwork written in French that I couldn't understand. The letter told me that there was a considerable quantity of money tucked away in a certain Caribbean Island Bank, and that the paperwork in the package would allow me access to it whenever I wanted it. I hadn't let my friends see what I removed from the package so I told them it was just the cash, giving them a thousand dollars each to keep their mouths shut. Everything else I put into a safe deposit box a few days later and in the next few years I only touched some of the money when Winnie and I went to the States to visit everyone over there. Our lives went on; we were very fortunate. I had a good job and rose up in the company until I was a director. We moved to a much bigger and very expensive house overlooking Stanmore common. Among our neighbours were Saudi princes and the like. My income alone would not have enabled us to afford to live there, but we also had regular money coming in from the property of Joe's that Winnie had kept. So to be honest we were having it easy. Reba was our first daughter to graduate from university. Tammy, her husband and children came over for the graduation ceremony that was to be held in Bristol Cathedral. It was quite a long day for all of us, some of which we spent in a pub-come-restaurant having lunch. The problem there was that, as the ceremony came to an end, I needed to find a gents in a hurry. Leaving the rest of the family in the queue to have formal photographs taken, I eventually found the conveniences; they were tucked away and very difficult to locate. So there I was doing my thing and relieving myself, when a voice behind me suddenly said. "I told you she was a good lay, didn't I? That's two great looking kids you've got there." I turned to find Joe leaning against the wall behind me. "Fucking hell! Joe, you're supposed to be dead," I blustered. "I am, Ray, and for god's sake don't tell anyone I'm alive." "Why ever not?" Stupid question I know. Joe was quite obviously hiding from someone. "Yeah, well, things were a real mess out in Nam. I was in a special unit working in Laos and Thailand. We even went into Burma some of the time. Look, mate, everyone was on the take and we were handling all sorts of stuff. You know the US was handing out money, guns and ammo to every Tom, Dick and Harry going. "Well, some of us thought we'd set up a little business for ourselves. There was thousands of dollars going into everyone's pockets; why shouldn't we have some. The next thing you know the CIA is nosing around so we all had to disappear permanent like." "So what have you been doing since? Where have you been?" "Around, don't worry. We still got the business going, we just have to change our identities every now and again. I've been watching how my girls turned out. You've done a good job on them. It worked to my advantage Winnie marrying you; someone might have spotted me in the States. I think I got a little too close a few years back, you know, when the embassy guy paid you a call. Looks like they aren't convinced that I am dead." "So, should you be here? They might expect you to turn up at Reba's graduation." "Oh yeah, I'm pretty safe. Someone still on the inside has put out the rumour that I'm in Argentina; they called the dogs off for this little do. Look, Ray, don't let on to any of them that I'm still alive. I wasn't going to tell you, but for some reason I couldn't help myself. You've done right by them, Ray. I only wish I had. Now you'd better get back to them before they start to worry." That was many years ago and I've never seen or heard from Joe again. As he asked, I never mentioned the incident to Winnie or the girls. Joe's Legacy, the money in that Caribbean Bank? Well, I suppose that it will stay there unless Reba or LeAnn need any cash in the future. Life goes on.