Chapter 7: All or Nothing
The desire to succeed was the one common goal which linked the individual residents of Appleby Street. Children learned from their parents that a good job was an essential part of life. Adults always seek to succeed in everything. But nobody can have everything. And unfortunately, that's a lesson we don't learn till we're grey and old.
Matt Bourne was not always the depressed man he was now. As a baby, he had been idyllic. Everyone would stop by his pram and say how handsome he was. As a young boy, he was always cheerful, had a lot of friends and wanted to be a vet. But things began to spiral out of control in his teenage years.
He had first started smoking when he was fourteen. It had been a way to deal with the stress of school, homework and home troubles. It was two years later when he'd become reliant on the nicotine to sort out his problems. It was his eighteenth birthday when he'd mixed in with the wrong crowd, and ended up in prison for smoking marijuana.
Since then, his friends and family believed he was a changed man. He was far from changed. As well as owing over £9,000 in bills for drugs he'd bought, he was steadily relying on alcohol and cigarettes again to solve his problems. And his wife didn't know, but Matt hadn't slept in days and the dealers were threatening to take more than money from him if he didn't cough it up soon.
So Matt did the only thing he knew best. He lied to his wife, stole money from her and paid off some of his bills. Then he decided to slow down his disastrous day and took a long drag on his cigarette. Matt was happy.
---
Charlene Gates had always been a private woman. Her relationships were never the street gossip. Her new looks were never discussed. Her teenage daughter was never brought up in conversation. Yes, Charlene was a secretive woman.
Charlene woke up earlier than usual that morning. She couldn't remember why. Getting out of bed, Charlene considered what she would do today. As she rubbed her eyes, she caught a glance at herself in the mirror. She reached a hand to her head, noting the jagged hair ends. And she grinned.
Charlene crept across the landing and into Amy's bedroom, with dark ideas in mind and sharp scissors in hand. She edged towards her idol, and looked at the sleeping woman. She looked so peaceful and beautiful. Charlene took the scissors, and snipped a small lock of the golden haired woman's curls off. Pleased with her work, Charlene returned to bed.
---
Florence was in the kitchen preparing breakfast once more. Humming merrily to herself, Mrs Smith was proud to have found yet another way to increase her husband's Niacin overdose. After some laborious research, in the early hours of the morning, on her computer, Florence had found several other items of food which contained Niacin.
After learning that chicken had Niacin in, Florence had ran to the shops, and selected the chicken which had the most Niacin in. Cooking a leg in the microwave, Florence was making her husband a chicken sandwich this morning. While she waited for the chicken to heat up, she began to make some biscuits, but not just any biscuits. These were full of bran, which was also a threat to her husband if overdosed.
As the pieces of Florence's plan fell into place, she heard distant sounds upstairs. Her husband was awake. Quickly removing the leg from the microwave and the biscuits from the cooker, Florence rushed about slicing and serving.
By the time Sam was downstairs; in his breakfast place were a nice warm chicken sandwich and a plate of biscuits.
"Sorry honey, we're out of cereal and I need the remainder of the bread for Bobby's packed lunch" Florence said quickly, busying herself in the fridge. There was a moment's silence, before Florence heard Sam begin to tuck in. She grinned. Everything was going to plan.
---
Erin Gates was shackled up in her house. She had been there for two days, and was starving. Bound to the floor by rope, she had been beaten black and blue by her own mother. Erin never thought that her mum would go to extreme lengths for her obsession. But she was wrong. And everything else was about to go wrong for Erin.
"Help," she sobbed, hoarse from shrieking for assistance for the last 48 hours. Her wrists were red and sore when she'd tried to get free from the ropes. "Somebody…help me…" she cried.
---
Andrew Dale knocked on the door of Mr Harrison. He was several miles from his home, and had only a newspaper in his hands. The door opened to reveal a short man, with greying hair, and a moustache. "Yes?" he murmured.
"Mr Harrison?" Andrew asked.
"Yes?" the man identified himself.
Andrew pulled out a gun.
"I didn't like your newspaper story," Andrew said. The man was obviously going blind as he hadn't flinched when the gun had appeared.
"Which
one?" asked the naïve old man.
"The one about Terri
Wilkinson" Andrew added and pulled the trigger.
A silver bullet was loaded directly into Mr Harrison's left lung. The man crumpled up and whimpered. Andrew pocketed the gun and headed home.
---
Ben and Ellie Jones were sat in their living room, considering the note which was in Ben's pocket.
"There has to be something we don't know" Ben concluded, sipping his tea.
"Or we haven't seen yet," Ellie suggested.
"I guess so," Ben said, offhandedly.
"Who would shoot Terri though? Nobody in this street would murder someone else," Ellie said, drinking her own tea.
"I wouldn't put it past that new guy, Andrew" Ben said darkly.
"He seems harmless enough," Ellie said, defensively.
"So did Brad"
The two continued to sit in silence, drinking their tea. Time was running out before Terri died. If only they'd bothered to ask Mrs. Gardener, but for their nosey neighbour, time was already up.
---
Mrs. Gardener was in her cosy home when suddenly life turned on her.
She was busy, wondering aloud, why Terri Wilkinson was luckier than her. She had a husband, a family and friends. Yes, what Catherine lacked would kill her.
She heard the door opened, but assumed it was Emily.
"I'm in the kitchen" she called to what she presumed was her friend. But any murder victim will tell you that presumptions are wrong. And Catherine's presumption would kill her.
There was a loud bang and Catherine's life ended, with the last thing on her mind being 'Why is Terri Wilkinson luckier than me?'
---
It was lunchtime when Amy received the single greatest shock of her life.
She was preparing a curry in the kitchen when she heard voices in the hallway. Pressing her ear against the door, she heard the voices of Charlene and her husband.
"Charlene…no…I'm married," Amy heard her husband protest.
"Nothing like that's ever stopped you before, Matthew," Charlene replied, seductively.
"What do you mean?" Matt stuttered.
"In High School, remember? You and I really hit it off," Charlene said, and Amy heard floorboards creak as her neighbour got closer to the man Amy loved.
"I…don't know what you mean…" Matt stammered.
"C'mon. You know what I'm on about." Charlene whispered. "You're the father of my child. You're Erin's dad."
Amy screamed, and the conversation ended. Matt flung the door open, to see his wife in the kitchen, glaring at him.
"How dare you?" she shrieked at him. "Get out my house!" she bellowed, and Matt obliged instantly.
"And you!" Amy rounded on Charlene. Raising one hand, Mrs. Bourne slapped Charlene with all the strength she could muster, leaving a red handprint on her neighbours face. "Get out! I never want to see you again!"
---
As marriages were under threat, a new love blossomed into life.
Nadine Jones was in her mother's garden, reading, when she saw her first true love on the garden of their neighbour, Tom Bourne.
He was tall, muscular, and handsome. He had his father's hedgehog hair, but his mother's warm blue eyes and gentle smile. He was stood, topless, mowing the lawn, as Nadine continued to watch him and his burly six-pack.
"Hey," he mouthed to her, grinning shyly.
"Hello." Nadine whispered, blushing scarlet.
Even when relationships were under strain, new ones were already being formed.
---
Terri was in hospital when she knew her killer had struck again. Terri nodded and closed her eyes.
There nurse monitoring her suddenly noticed that Terri's blood levels had dropped and she was unconscious.
So Terri laid there, her life balanced on the scales before her…
When we are just a baby, our parents want the world for us. As a child, we seek both happiness and wealth. As a teenager, we want acceptance and as an Adult, all we seek is money. But only the grey and old know our efforts are in vain. And sometimes, even the most independent of us, need to admit: It's time to grow up.