Chapter 5

It was a bright sunny morning, the birds were singing in the trees outside the open window.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the weather looked as if it might stay just perfect for the barbecue at Penelope's house.

The days had passed slowly as he had waited to see her again, but as Sylvester buttoned up his shirt in front of the mirror he smiled as he thought about seeing her again.

He decided against a tie and he picked up his jacket – he was wearing a new suit, he had been shopping and now his closet was full of new clothes. He had chosen to go for a smart look as opposed to casual because Sparks liked him to look presentable as the new manager of the bar.

But the work was easy because Snoozy did the bar work and took care of all the manual duties and Sylvester's only job was to run the office and take care of the paperwork. He guessed that things had worked just fine before he came along and Snoozy had managed to muddle through without any help- but Sparks had been determined to give him a job and a roof over his head, and he had wanted that job to be legal, too – so he had given him the task of running the office.

It was an easy life.

Sylvester felt tempted to tell his boss that his job was too easy – but he didn't want to complain, not when everything was going so well.

He felt warmth washing over him as he thought about the woman he loved- it would be difficult not to show his true feelings in front of Clyde, but he understood why Penelope wanted to do things like this – she wanted to have him established as one of her friends before Clyde ever knew they'd got together, to hopefully make things easier to accept when he found out the truth...

He hoped she was right that Clyde would accept everything she had to say, because no guy liked to be dumped by his girlfriend- and from what he had seen of Clyde, he didn't seem the type to take bad news calmly at all...

Then he heard a tap on the door.

"You don't have to knock when I'm alone in here, Snoozy!"

He came into the room and looked at him apologetically.

"Sorry, but I always knock now - so I don't forget when you're not on your own. You look good, Sylvester. Have a nice time at the barbecue."

"Thanks, I will."

He turned to leave but Snoozy was still standing there.

"What?" He wondered.

Snoozy thought about the things he knew he ought to say to Sylvester, but the words just wouldn't come because every time he tried to say them he remembered being pinned to the wall with Clyde's knife up against his face...

"I...I just wanted to say... have a nice time, have fun."

Sylvester looked at him thoughtfully:

Snoozy's life was spent working the bar. He didn't seem to go out much or do anything else with his time...

"Would you like to come with me?" He wondered, "I'm sure Penelope wouldn't mind."

"No!" He said in alarm, then he noticed the way Sylvester looked at him, wondering why he was getting so worked up.

"I mean...I just don't think I should turn up when I wasn't invited..."

Sylvester looked him in the eye.

"What's going on, Snoozy? You didn't like Penelope when you first met her, now you don't want to come over to her house – why?"

Snoozy fell silent for a moment, looking down at the floor. But as he looked up again, Sylvester was still looking hard at him.

"Talk to me?"

Snoozy took a deep breath, remembered Sylvester was his friend and tried to get the truth out.

"It's not Penelope. I like her. It's nothing to do with Penelope at all..."

Sylvester was still looking at him intently.

"I just don't think I should come with you." Snoozy said, feeling frustrated at his own lack of courage and feeling as if he'd just let his friend down badly, "Have a nice time today...I'll see you later, I've got work to do."

And he turned and walked out of the apartment, hurrying down the stairs and heading for the bar.

Sylvester thought about his excuse, then assumed Snoozy was possibly shy around strangers because he couldn't think of any other explanation for his behaviour, then he put on his jacket and headed for the door.

The patio doors were open and Penelope was out in the garden, standing there watching as Melanie lit up the barbecue.

"I'm definitely telling him today." She said, "Not as soon as he gets here – I'll choose the right moment and take him to one side and tell him we need time apart."

The coals were alight.

Melanie stepped away from the barbecue and took off her apron and smoothed down her short black dress.

"I'll make sure I'm not far away when you do tell him."

Penelope felt surprised at that remark.

"What in the world do you think he's going to do to me?" She exclaimed.

Melanie forced a smile.

"Nothing, I hope."

Then the silence was shattered by a brief blast of music from a loud sound system, before Clyde turned off Chuggaboom's engine and the peace was restored once more.

"This is it," Melanie said, "He's here now. I hope this goes the way you want it to go, Penelope."

But Penelope said nothing as she stood there in a thin, pink flowery summer dress and she nervously toyed with her small gold necklace.

Moments later Clyde walked around the side of the house and joined themin the garden.

"I've missed you, babe!" He exclaimed, pulling her close and aiming a kiss on her lips that missed by a mile and landed on her cheek as she turned her head.

She stepped aside and freed herself from his embrace.

Clyde's smile faded.

"What's up with you today? I haven't seen you for days, you keep saying you're busy and now I don't even get a kiss?"

"Not right now," Penelope said to him, "I've got things on my mind...we can talk later, after lunch."

Hearing her say that took the edge off his mood.

"We do need to talk; we need to start making plans for the future."

Then he headed back into the house and Penelope followed - and so did Melanie as she wondered if a quarrel was about to blow up between them...

Clyde went through to the kitchen and looked at the bottles that were lined up.

"Fruit juice and soda?" He exclaimed, "Good thing someone brought some booze along!"

And he took a quarter bottle of vodka from his pocket and set it down next to the juice.

"I'm not drinking." Penelope said, "It wouldn't be fair on Sylvester. He can't drink at all because of his epilepsy, it can stop his pills working."

Clyde gave a sigh.

"Well I'll bet freaky Sneekly's gonna be a bundle of laughs when he shows up – we already know he's crazy because he tried to kill you once, Penelope – and he can't even drink so I guess he'll just sit in the corner all day long. The only entertainment he'll provide is if he has another one of his seizures!"

Then Clyde noticed the shocked look on Penelope's face and realized he had said way too much.

"How could you be so mean about him?" She said in a hushed voice, "I didn't know you could be so cruel!"

"I was only thinking of you!" He said, trying to pull everything back in his favor, "The guy tried to kill you fifteen years ago – he tried to kill he woman I love, the woman I'm going to marry! How do you think I feel knowing you're friends with the guy?"

Penelope closed her eyes for a moment and took in a deep breath, remembering Clyde knew nothing of exactly how close she had become to Sylvester.

Then she looked back at him and kept her voice low.

"He's my friend. He was sick at the time when he attacked me. That's over with; it was over fifteen years ago! And don't call him names or make fun of his health condition because if you do that one more time you won't be welcome in my house again!"

And Melanie saw the stunned look on Clyde's face and got a certain amount of satisfaction from it.

"I think I'll have a drink." She said, "I know you don't mind sharing because you're such a nice guy, Clyde..."

And she swiped the vodka and opened it up, pouring a very large measure into a glass before adding some orange juice.

Melanie took a sip and put the glass back down again, then she walked over to the window on the other side of the kitchen and looked out at the garden beyond, aware that Penelope's conversation with Clyde was far from over...

"When we get married things will change around here." Clyde told her, "I can see you want to forgive Sneekly and be friends with him - maybe he screwed up your head when he attacked you, maybe you're not thinking right. But that's nothing new! That's why I want joint ownership of Pitstop Shipping when we're married. You're unstable, Penelope. You're just not thinking clearly..."

Penelope looked at him sharply as all plans to choose the right moment to make a break from him vanished from her thoughts in an instant.

"We're not getting married." She stated, "I want some space, Clyde. I need to be on my own for a while, I'm not sure were right for each other."

Clyde fell silent as he stared at her, seeing all his plans crumble as her eyes reflected such coldness.

"You don't mean that..."

"We'll talk later." She replied, "Right now I don't want to say anything to you, Clyde!"

Then the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Penelope said, glad for an excuse to make a swift exit from the kitchen.

Clyde turned to Melanie.

"I think Penelope's not thinking straight." He said, "I'm worried about her."

Melanie looked at him, making no attempt to hide her real feelings because she didn't need to do that any more.

"I make her right." She replied, "Because I don't think you really love her, certainly not enough to marry her. Who knows, maybe you're after her money."

Then she felt a flicker of fear as she saw cold anger building in Clyde's eyes and in that moment she knew she was right about him, she was totally right... it was also unnerving and she stepped back a little, then felt instant relief as she heard Penelope talking with Sylvester as they neared the kitchen and she knew she wouldn't have to be alone with Clyde and his anger any longer.

Penelope walked through the door with a bright smile on her face as she glanced back at Sylvester.

"At last we can have some proper introductions." She said, "Sylvester, this is Clyde – I know you met him before, but maybe the two of you can have a proper chance to talk this time - and this is Melanie my oldest and closest friend."

Melanie smiled and said Hi. Then Clyde stepped forward, keen to please Penelope and offered Sylvester his hand.

"That's a good idea." He said, "I think we should get to know each other."

And they shook hands.

"Would you like a drink?" Melanie asked him.

"No booze for me –"

"I know," She replied,"Penelope told us about that. "

"I'll just have some orange juice." Sylvester said.

Melanie was pouring the juice into a glass.

Clyde glanced at the other, identical glass and smiled as an idea came to him...

"I guess someone should go and see if the barbecue's ready." He remarked.

"Let's go outside." Penelope said to Sylvester, and as he smiled at her Clyde swore he saw more than friendship pass between them in the look they shared...Penelope had looked right into his eyes and Sylvester had given her the same lingering glance...

As they walked out the door Melanie turned to follow, keen to avoid any more time alone with Clyde.

He quickly switched the glasses around on the kitchen table and called her back.

"Don't forget the drinks." He remarked.

Melanie picked up the orange juice in one hand thinking it was her own, and then lifted the other glass and swiftly left the room.

Clyde lingered in the kitchen for a moment, then he took a slow walk out to the back of the house, wondering how long it would take for that glass loaded with vodka to give Sylvester another one of his seizures...

By the time Melanie had started the food on the barbecue, Penelope was standing close to her.

Clyde was waiting over by the doors that led into the house, he kept glancing at her but she paid him little attention and the longer she kept her distance the more he began to worry, so much that his anger began to fade out:

If Penelope broke off their engagement now, he stood to lose more than a fiancée and he knew it – he would also lose his plans for the future that involved her wealth and control of Pitstop Shipping – and losing ties with her now could even cost him his import arrangement...that was something that could see him losing his life because the guys he dealt with wouldn't take kindly to their dealer suddenly cutting ties... drugs was a deadly business in every way, and he didn't want to think about the downside if everything fell apart...

Sylvester had been sitting down at a patio table and he got up and wandered over to some rose bushes that were a vivid shade of orange.

Penelope turned away from Melanie and saw Sylvester smelling the roses.

She went over to him and gently touched his arm.

His eyes lit up as he turned to her and he wanted to kiss her but remembered he couldn't do that in front of Clyde.

"Have you spoken to him yet?" He wondered.

"Not yet." She said, keeping her voice low, "I lost my temper with him before you showed up and I told him we were over- but I'm not sure if he thinks I mean it. I'll talk to him after lunch."

"Good idea."

Sylvester blinked as the rose petals seemed to blur for a moment.

He turned away from the roses and looked intently at Penelope.

"I feel strange."

Penelope blinked.

"Why?"

As Sylvester looked around the patio he felt confused:

He was dizzy and everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, from birds flying through the sky to the smoke rising off the barbecue. He looked back at Penelope who blinked again and the movement of her eyelashes seemed so slow she looked as if she stood there with her eyes closed for a second or two before she opened them again.

He started to wonder about the drink Melanie had handed him a while ago; after trying that juice which had tasted a bit sour he had drunk half of it and tipped the rest away. But he had had felt warm and slightly dizzy ever since... And this feeling of the world moving in slow motion was nothing new- it was the kind of warning he got just before a seizure.

"I think I should go inside."

Penelope stared at him; Sylvester looked scared and he was breaking out in a sweat.

"Why? What's the matter?"

"Nothing." He said quietly, heading for the open doors.

Penelope rushed after him, feeling worried now.

Clyde didn't move from where he sat at the patio table; he just watched as the scene unfolded, then he smiled as he guessed if Sylvester having another seizure wasn't enough to put Penelope off her new friend, at least Melanie would get the blame for it:

Maybe this would even get the best friend out of the way – and she had to go for sure because she had made her feelings perfectly clear back in the kitchen...

"Sylvester?"

"I'm fine."

As he spoke the front room seemed to revolve sharply and he stumbled, leaning against the wall as he entered the room.

Penelope reached for him. She was worried; he knew that because he could see it clearly in her eyes.

He wanted to tell her he was fine but then he knew nothing, falling forward and hitting the rug, missing the coffee table by a combination of a near miss and sheer luck as he lost consciousness and his body started to shake.

Penelope fell to her knees and carefully reached out to try and hold him.

She wasn't even sure if holding him still was the right thing to do because she knew nothing about his health condition – but he was lying there on his side and shaking violently and all she knew for sure was that she wanted to help him.

She grabbed hold of him and he was stiff and unresponsive as his body continued to shake.

As she shouted his name in panic Melanie ran into the room and Clyde followed.

"I don't know what to do!"

Penelope's eyes were wide with fright.

Then Sylvester stopped shaking and his body went limp on the floor. His breathing began to slow to an even rhythm as if he was sleeping and he rolled onto his back and gave a sigh.

"What do I do?" Penelope said as she looked up at Melanie and Clyde.

"I don't know!" Melanie replied, "Can you wake him up?"

Penelope put her hand on Sylvester's shoulder and gave him a gentle shake.

"Sylvester? Can you hear me?"

Tears filled her eyes and Clyde noticed and then he spoke up.

"Maybe he shouldn't be here. Maybe he should be in the hospital. He's obviously got a big problem - this is the second time this has happened. I told you there was something wrong with the guy –"

"Shut up!"

The anger in her voice silenced him.

She ran her hand over Sylvester's hair as she spoke quietly to him.

"Oh please wake up! Why did this happen again?"

Sylvester slowly opened his eyes, looked up at the ceiling and wondered why he was in Penelope's house. Then he remembered the barbecue and how strange he had been feeling. Penelope was leaning over him and she had been crying, tears were still wet on her face.

"Don't cry." He whispered, "I love you..."

Penelope didn't care that Clyde had just heard what he said while he was still in a state of confusion.

"Can you remember what caused this?"

Sylvester tried to move and promptly gave up because he ached all over.

"I feel..."

He knew what he wanted to say but the seizure had made him feel like his whole vocabulary had been shaken about.

He searched for the right word and found it:

"Drunk?"

Melanie's eyes grew wider as she thought about cooking at the barbecue, picking up her glass of vodka and orange and wondering why it seemed like there was no kick to her drink any more...

"Oh no I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed, "It was my fault - I was in the kitchen..."

She thought about it some more and her eyes clouded with confusion- she had been sure she had icked up the right glass back in the kitchen...

"I'm sorry Sylvester, I gave you the wrong glass!"

Sylvester was trying to sit up but he was still unsteady and Penelope put her arm around him as she helped him.

She glared at Melanie.

"The wrong glass? How could you do that and not realize for more than an hour, Melanie?"

"Well I was busy with the cooking and I thought my drink wasn't quite right but I was busy and –"

"This is YOUR fault!" Penelope yelled, "You know he can't drink! You gave him a seizure!"

Sylvester was still on the carpet but sitting up by now and Penelope's raised voice cut through his head like a knife.

"Could you please stop yelling?" He said weakly.

Penelope had barely heard him.

"Get out of my house!" She said sharply.

Melanie stared at her as tears glazed her eyes.

"It was an accident! I'm sorry! I wouldn't have done this on purpose!"

"Get out!" Penelope said again, and as Melanie turned and tearfully walked out of the room, Penelope didn't give her friend a second thought as she spoke to Sylvester.

"Come on honey, you need to get up."

"No I'm okay." He said, wishing he could sound like he meant that, but in truth he knew he still felt slightly dazed.

Penelope managed a smile on hearing him say that.

"You can't stay on the floor, Sylvester! Let me put you on the couch."

As he leaned on the coffee table and she helped him to his feet Clyde made no attempt to lend a hand.

"Maybe you should go home, Sylvester." He said, "You're clearly unwell. You'd be better off at home. Maybe I could give you a ride, I don't mind."

Penelope helped him onto the couch and she shot Clyde a furious look.

"Maybe you should take a ride and go home!" She snapped, "Don't pretend to feel sorry for him because I told you we're over! It won't make a difference – I don't want to see you again, Clyde!"

And Clyde stared at her.

"No, Penelope – you just threw Melanie out. I can understand that; she did a stupid thing and he suffered for it. But it's not fair to take this out on me. Even if you have your doubts about us, I still love you, babe!"

It was his last attempt at trying to sweet talk her.

And he knew it wasn't working.

Penelope was glaring at him with more rage than he imagined her capable of possessing.

"GET OUT!" She yelled, "Leave me alone, Clyde! What do I have to do, call the cops to throw you out of here?"

At the mention of the word cops he decided to make a swift exit.

"Okay, I'm leaving. But you'll regret this, Penelope – you'll regret this when you come to your senses and wish you'd never taken up with him, when you're sick of wasting your life looking after him!"

Penelope's eyes fired up with more rage but then Clyde turned sharply and walked away, slamming the door so hard it shook against the frame as he left.

She took a deep breath as she thought about how Melanie had warned her about Clyde's temper – then she sat down on the couch and gently eased Sylvester down on to it.

"There you go, just lie still for a while."

He gave a groan.

"Oh no, not the couch again! I don't need to be put on the couch I'm not a little kid...just let me sit up."

And he pulled himself upright again and the room span around thanks to the booze and he promptly laid back down.

"Maybe I will lie on the couch for a while."

Penelope's eyes clouded with worry.

"Will this happen again? I mean, if your medication's stopped working –"

Sylvester felt lousy, both from the seizure and from the clash of the alcohol and the medication in his bloodstream.

He had closed his eyes for a moment but he looked up at Penelope and quickly put her mind at ease.

"My seizures are relatively mild when they do happen. Unless I'm severely stressed and get other contributing factors – like I did with the light – or if alcohol stops my meds working, that's the only time I'll get a trigger for a seizure. I don't think I'll have another one, I'll probably be okay. But I do feel lousy and I do need to rest. I just need to take it easy for the rest of the day. I'll be back on my meds tomorrow and I should be fine."

Penelope's dark eyes widened.

"Should be okay?"

"There's no reason to assume I won't be. But I don't drink and there was a lot of booze in that glass. I feel sick because of that too. I'll call Snoozy later, get him to drop my meds off for me."

"You don't have them with you?"

"I took my pills this morning. I had no reason to think I'd need to bring the bottle with me."

Penelope got up and leaned over him, raising his head as she put a cushion behind him.

"You just lie back and rest. You're staying here tonight, I want to take care of you."

Sylvester gave a sigh and closed his eyes.

He guessed he could do without all the fuss but he knew Penelope loved him and if fussing over him made her feel better, he could go along with it just to make her feel a little happier.

"I love you." She reminded him, then she kissed his cheek.

Sylvester had closed his eyes again and the feel of her kiss brought a faint smile to his face.

"I love you too." He murmured, then as he slipped into an exhausted sleep, Penelope hovered over him for a moment anxiously watching him as he rested. Then she walked out of the room to find his jacket, which she was sure was draped over a chair in the garden – she needed to take his cell phone out of it, because he needed his meds - She needed to call Snoozy and get him to bring those pills over as soon as he could...

Snoozy was also lying on a couch, but he was'nt unwell he was just resting after coming off the phone from a very long conversation with Yak Yak about the old days and then about any random stuff that Yak Yak wanted to start yakking about.

He had called him mainly to hear his voice, to hear from a friend who also remembered Clyde- but when he had brought up the past and Yak Yak had started laughing about the good times, the serious stuff had shifted to the back of his mind – the only other thought Snoozy had entertained was the possibility that telling Yak Yak a big secret like this would probably be the last thing he should be doing, because that guy never knew when to keep his mouth shut about anything...

And so he had said nothing about Clyde.

When the call was over he had watched TV for a while and the warm air filtering through the open windows had made him feel sleepy.

He had taken a nap, only to be shaken out of it by his phone ringing.

Snoozy had woken up sharply and slammed his hand down on to the coffee table, only to find his phone was not there.

Then he had grabbed it from the floor, looked at it and realized he had in fact picked up the TV remote control instead.

Snoozy had sat there on the couch and listened to the muffled ringing of the missing phone:

The phone went on ringing...somewhere...

Then Snoozy had rolled over and stuck his hand down the couch, smiling triumphantly as he finally retrieved it.

He answered it quickly before the caller gave up.

"Hi!"

"Hello, Snoozy? This is Penelope."

His smile faded.

"Oh, hi Penelope. Is Sylvester okay?"

She sounded worried as she started to explain.

"No he's not okay, Snoozy. My friend Melanie accidentally gave him the wrong drink – it was full of vodka and he didn't realize and he drank it and he had a seizure. But he's okay now, he's resting. He's staying here with me until tomorrow. But he needs his meds. Can you bring his pills over to the house? Just get his pills and I'll give you my address and you can just –"

"No!"

"Excuse me? I just told you Sylvester needs his meds. He's your friend! Why can't you do that for him? I could come over and get them for him but I don't want to leave him right now."

Snoozy felt a wave of panic wash over him as he thought about Clyde.

"It's difficult..."

"Just bring the meds over. He needs you to do this for him, Snoozy! He's laid up on the couch and he's feeling lousy! I'll see you soon."

And the phone call ended.

Snoozy put the phone down on the table and looked at it as he thought about going over to her house, about the possibility that he would bump into Clyde:

If Clyde saw him and found out he was Sylvester's friend... even worse, if Clyde suspected Sylvester was seeing Penelope... it would lead to trouble, the worst kind of trouble he could imagine because he knew all about Clyde...

He shook his head.

"I can't do this..." He whispered.

Then the phone lit up.

He accessed his messages.

Penelope had sent her address along with the message, Hurry up!

But Snoozy just sat there holding the phone and hating himself for not having more courage.

He wanted to help Sylvester but it seemed the stakes were too high. He still hated himself for not telling his new friend the truth about Penelope's boyfriend, too.

And he continued to think about her message but still sat there doing nothing.

Snoozy gave a sigh.

"Please don't ask me again!" He said aloud, "You just don't know what's going on..."

Then he thought about Sylvester and felt sick with worry.

The minutes ticked by and the phone lit up again.

He gave another sigh, knowing more messages asking for his help would just make him feel even worse about a situation he felt powerless to change. He still wanted to warn Sylvester about Clyde, it was on his mind constantly - but he was scared and no one knew that, no one knew what Clyde was capable of...

Snoozy accessed his messages again.

This time his gaze lingered on the screen as he felt deep concern for his friend.

Penelope had taken a picture of Sylvester but he didn't know anything about it; he was fast asleep on a couch and he looked pale and exhausted.

Snoozy read the message she had enclosed:

Please come over here and bring his meds. He needs your help.

Snoozy hit the reply button before he had time to think about it and back out:

Ok, I'm on my way...

Then he grabbed his jeans and put them on, slipped on his shoes and went into Sylvester's room to find his medication.

The pills were in a drawer next to his bed.

He put them in his pocket and then headed for the door, pausing to grab his car keys.

Then he hurried out to his car, thinking only of the fact that his friend needed his help and pushing aside all other thoughts, especially the one that scared him the most - the thought that he might turn up at Penelope's house and find himself face to face with Clyde again after all these years...

Long after Melanie had left Penelope's house, Clyde had sat in Chuggaboom with the engine running but the music turned off as he thought about the problem that he faced:

The best friend didn't like him, but she was gone now thanks to his stunt with the drinks.

Sylvester Sneekly was now his biggest problem - and it was becoming clear that Penelope's feelings for him ran deeper than friendship, which on the scale of things put all of his plans in jeopardy.

Sneekly had to go and Penelope needed to be back where she belonged, back in his plans - at least, her money and her business did...

Clyde thought about it as he looked over at her house, recalling a dark and stormy night long ago when he had broken in and shot her parents to death in an upstairs bedroom and then robbed the safe.

Penelope had no clue that he was the man who had killed her parents. She didn't even know what he did for a living; she knew nothing about the drugs business that stolen money had helped him to build while it was stained with her parent's blood.

She knew nothing at all.

Then he thought about Penelope's crazy dreams, and about what Sylvester had done all those years before...

Why had that all started up, because of the shootings?

What had she called the man who staked her nightmares?

Clyde smiled as a plan began to form in his mind, a plan that would break Penelope and drive her back into his arms once more:

Of course she would fall for it, she was still afraid of him...

Clyde laughed softly as he drove away from the house, still thinking about how terrified Penelope would be when she found out her boogeyman had come back to haunt her all over again...

"You'll come back to me," He murmured as he drove away, "You'll beg me to save you from The Hooded Claw..."