Widows

What Audrey didn’t know was that the letter contained the deeds to the house, a copy of Harry’s will, and a letter of instruction for Dolly’s lawyers to sell the house and everything in it. The lawyer would then bank the money in a new account. This was it for Dolly. No turning back.

As Shirley entered Dolly’s bedroom, the smell of burning was still in the air, although there was no sign of fire or anything burned. The contents of the dressing table still lay scattered across the bedroom floor where Dolly had thrown them. A bottle of nail varnish had smashed against the wall near the wardrobe and the deep plum colored contents had slowly seeped out and onto the cream carpet. Shirley was shocked to see such a mess in an otherwise pristine house and blamed it on one of Dolly’s meltdowns. Searching the drawers of the dressing table, she eventually found Dolly’s dark glasses and was about the leave when she noticed a stray scrap of material on the carpet. She slowly opened the wardrobe door and gasped. There wasn’t a single article of clothing in Harry’s wardrobe that hadn’t been cut to shreds. Even his shoes were slashed or stained with a rainbow of nail varnish colors. How tormented Dolly must have been to be so destructive and how strong she must have been to hide it all morning. Shirley realized that there was much more going on inside Dolly Rawlins than she could never imagine.

Back in the lounge, Dolly handed Audrey her own tatty coat and woolly boots. ‘Stick them in the boot of the Merc,’ Dolly instructed.

‘I might have to wear the boots, actually. I’m no good on the clutch in high heels.’

‘There is no clutch,’ Dolly replied. ‘The Merc’s an automatic.’

‘A what?’

Oh, God, thought Dolly. I’ll have to give the stupid woman a crash course in how to drive! ‘Come through to the garage. I’ll show you.’ She was being as patient as possible, considering that it was now almost 4:30 a.m. and they sun would be up soon.

Audrey got into the driver’s seat and Dolly explained the two pedals and shift stick. Dolly could see that Audrey was getting her left and right mixed up, so she punched her hard in the left thigh. ‘Don’t use the leg that hurts, all right, love?’

They headed back into the house, where Shirley handed her mum the dark glasses to complete her disguise. Audrey took some deep breaths; this was the most exciting thing she’d ever been asked to do.

‘Well,’ she said to Shirley. ‘Have a nice time away. And I suppose I’ll see you when you get back.’ Audrey leaned forward to kiss Shirley on the cheek, but Shirley grabbed her and hugged her tight.

‘Bye, Mum,’ Shirley whispered.

‘Come on. We got to go.’ Dolly didn’t want Audrey to start thinking there was something wrong.

‘I love you’ Shirley added, turning quickly away from her mum. She went out of the front door to open the garage doors from the outside, so Eddie could see her.

Audrey put the Merc into reverse and started to back it down the drive. Shirley waved from the front door step. ‘See you later, Dolly,’ she called and started to close the garage doors. A nervous Audrey put her foot down a bit too hard on the accelerator and the car lurched backward at speed into the road. Audrey hit the brake and turned the wheel at the same time. The car screeched: the rear wheels skidded off to the right and in a panic Audrey slammed it into drive. It lurched forward and took off at high speed down the wrong side of the road, but Audrey soon righted herself and off she went.

Eddie had watched all of this unfold. As soon as Dolly’s Merc fired up, Eddie had started the Granada. It was unusual for her to kangaroo down the road as clumsily as she did, but Eddie figured that she was in a hurry. Maybe she’s cracking up, he thought. If so, then taking the money from her would be like taking candy from a baby. Eddie smiled to himself as he thought about all the money he, Bill and Harry would end up with. ‘Stupid bitch,’ he muttered as he took off after Dolly’s Merc. ‘You done all that hard work for nothing. Cos now we’re coming for you, Dolly Rawlins.’

From the living room, Shirley watched Eddie’s car turn the corner. Behind her, Dolly stood, all ready to go, holding the two suitcases.

‘He’s gone.’ Shirley took one suitcase from Dolly and they both headed for the front door.

‘Come on then, Shirl — move it. The way your mum drives, we might not have as long as we need.’

Dolly and Shirley ran as fast as they could down the road toward the cul-de-sac where Shirley’s Mini Estate was parked up. Shirley’s ankle was still bruised and every step was agony. ‘You still there?’ Dolly shouted back without looking.

‘I’m right behind you,’ Shirley replied, battling through the pain. Then the adrenalin started to take effect and Shirley found her stride, closing the gap between her and Dolly. When they reached the car, they threw the two identical cases into the boot on top of Shirley’s suitcase.