Seventies Bound – Flatmates
The
transistor radio was playing in the background as Erin emptied the tin of baked
beans into the small pan, and placed that on the smaller of the two rings on
her tabletop hot plate.
Hiawatha didn't bother too much
'Bout Minnie Ha-Ha and her tender touch
Till she took him to the silver stream
Then she whispered words like he had never heard
That made him all shudder inside when she said
Wig-wam bam, gonna make you my man
Wam bam bam, gonna get you if I can
Wig-wam bam, wanna make you understand
Try a little touch, try a little too much
Just try a little wig-wam bam
She started
to sing along as she removed the wire cage from under the ring, smiling as she
saw the bread was toasting before she placed it back underneath.
Running Bear never cared enough
About Little White Dove and her tender love
Till she took him to the silver stream
She told him all about what he couldn't live without
And made him all weak inside when she said
Wig-wam bam, gonna make you my man
Wam bam bam, gonna get you if I can
Wig-wam bam, wanna make you understand
Try a little touch, try a little too much
Just try a little Wig-wam bam
Wig-wam bam sham-a-lam
Wam bam bam sham-a-lam
Wig-wam bam sham-a-lam
Wam bam bam sham-a-lam
She moved her
hips to the music as she grabbed a plate from the rack above the sink, put it
down and then placed the toast on it, before piling the beans on and grabbing a
knife and fork from the drawer.
Hiawatha didn't bother too much
About Minnie Ha-Ha and her tender touch
Till she took him to the silver stream
Then she whispered words like he'd never heard
That made him all shudder inside when she said
Wig-wam bam, gonna make you my man
Wam bam bam, gonna get you if I can
Wig-wam bam, wanna make you understand
Try a little touch, try a little too
much
Just try a little wig-wam bam, and she said
Wig-wam bam, gonna make you my man...
“And there we
are,” Erin said with a flourish, “a meal fit for a queen!” She took the plate out of the kitchen area
and sat in an old padded brown chair, putting her feet up on the small table in
front as she watched the news on her black and white television. She was in her final year of her medical
degree, enjoying a rare evening off by balancing the plate on her lap as she
cut into the toast.
She had long
brown hair, which at the moment was falling over the shoulders of her off-white
woollen jumper. The bottom of the jumper
was tucked into a pair of Levis, a thin gold leather belt round her waist,
while the legs of the jeans were tucked into a pair of cream coloured leather boots,
a spiral design on the outside making them resemble cowboy boots.
“Hey – is
that Heinz on toast I smell?”
“Cross and
Blackwell – the Spar was out of the real thing,” Erin said as her flatmate came
in. Dot was in the second year of her
doctorate in English Literature, and had spent the afternoon debating the works
of Thomas Hardy and the way society in them was reflected in the modern era
with her tutor.
“Lucky you,”
she said as she took off her brown bomber jacket and threw it over the back of
a seat. Underneath the jacket, she was
wearing a short sleeved chocolate brown top, with lighter stripes and a diamond
pattern on the cuffs and along the v-neck.
She also had on a pair of knee length leather boots, tan leather ones in
her case with a cork stack heel, the legs of her chocolate brown corduroy pants
tucked into them.
“Top of the
Pops will be on in a while,” Erin said as she placed another forkful of toasted
bread and beans into her mouth, “want to sit with me and watch it?”
“Nah,” she
said as she turned off the transistor radio, and out the kettle on. “I’ve just got time to grab a coffee before I
meet the guys down the pub. Night in
for you?”
“Oh yes –
enjoy the free time while I can,” she said with a smile. The two women lived in a small first floor
flat, above a pawnbroker’s shop on the high street. It wasn’t great, but it was cheap, and
central – the two most important things for them.
As the kettle
sat on the ring, and steam started to come out, making a whistling noise, both
girls heard the knock on the door to the flat and looked over to the stairs.
“You
expecting anyone?”
“Nope,” Erin
said as she stood up, and returned the plate to the kitchen area. “Want to go and see who it is?”
“Okay then,”
Dot said as she walked down the staircase, and opened the front door.
“Yes – can I
hlppphhmggddhrruu?”
“Quiet,” the
man hissed as he pushed Dot against the wall, a wool gloved hand over her
mouth. He was wearing a black donkey
jacket, dark trousers and heavy boots, but he also had a woollen scarf wrapped
round the lower half of his head, covering his nose and mouth.
He also had a
very large and very real knife in his free hand, which he moved round in front
of Dot’s eyes as a second man came in and closed the door.
“Who is it,”
Erin called down, Dot’s eyes looking up as the man hand gagging her said “get
up there – make sure she knows what’s happening.”
She could do
nothing as the other man ran up the stairs, and she heard Erin scream “SHIT!”
“As for you,”
the first man said, “say anything, and I kill you, understand?”
Dot slowly
nodded, whimpering as he said “good – turn round, put your hands behind your
back, and keep quiet.” He took his hand
away, and drew a length of brown cord from his pocket as Dot turned. She grimaced as he pulled her hands behind
her, and then felt the rough fibres as he pulled it tightly round her bare
wrists.
“Who are you?
Why are you – ouch – why are you doing this,” Dot asked as she felt the thin
cords pulled tightly around and between her arms.
“None of your
business, toots,” the man said as he turned her round, “get back up the
stairs.”
As she walked
up, Dot could see Erin lying on her stomach on their sofa, the second man pulling
twine around her wrists as they lay against her back.
“Where are
your purses?”
“On... Mine’s on the seat,” Dot said as she looked
to where her jacket was.
As she spoke,
she watched the second man take a second length of twine from his pocket, and
use it to bind Erin’s ankles tightly together, her boots squeaking as they were
forced to rub against each other. The
man holding her pushed her towards the free chair, watching as she sat down
before the second man moved over and grabbed her booted legs.
She watched
as the twine went around and between her own ankles, forcing them together, but
it wasn’t the rubbing of leather that she heard – it was her pants as she tried
to move, the corduroy rubbing as the armed man said “stop struggling – you’re not
going anywhere for the moment.”
“Who the hell
are they,” Erin said as she rolled on to her side, trying to find any give in
the thin, tight bands around her wrists and ankles.
“I don’t know
– they barged in, and now they’ve...”
They both
watched as the man with the knife walked to where the telephone was attached to
the wall, using his knife to cut the cord running from the wall to the Bakelite
telephone. He then nodded to the other
man, who grabbed their purses and pulled the notes from their wallets.
“Hey look -
this one’s got one of those new fangled Access cards.”
Erin groaned
as he held up the green and white credit card.
“All right –
we take that as well,” he said as he took from his pocket a wide roll of brown
fabric plaster.
“What are you
going to do with that?”
“Keep you
quiet, toots,” he said as he popped the lid off, and tore a strip free from the
roll. “Put your lips together.”
Dot stared at
him, but nodded as she put her lips together, trying not to cry as he pressed
the strip of Elastoplast firmly down over her mouth, his fingers pressing along
the sides to make sure it stayed in place.
Tearing off a second strip, he turned and pressed it over Erin’s mouth,
before he put the covered roll back into his pocket.
“Watch them –
make sure they don’t do anything,” he said as he headed for the rear of the
flat, Erin watching as he forced open the door that led to the rear yard and
heading down the stairs.
The second
man stood and looked at them his green eyes visible under the fringe of his
long black hair, darting between the two women as they looked at him, and then
at each other. On the television, Jimmy
Saville said “It’s Thursday, and it’s Top Of The Pops,” the sound of David
Cassidy coming from the set.
How can I be sure, in a world that's
constantly changing
How can I be sure where I stand with you
Whenever I, Whenever I am away from you
I wanna die cause you know I wanna stay with you
How do I know, Maybe you're trying to use me
Flying too high can confuse me
Touch me but don't take me down
Whenever I, Whenever I am away from you
My alibi is telling people I don't care for you
Maybe I'm just hanging around
With my head up, upside down
It's a pity, I can't seem to find someone
Who's as pretty and lovely as you
How can I be sure
I really, really, really wanna know
I really, really, really wanna know
How's the weather, Whether or not we're together
Together we'll see it much better
I love you, I love you forever, you know that I can be found
How can I be sure in a world that's constantly changing
How can I be sure in a world that's constantly changing
How can I, how can I
How can I, how can I be sure
If you won't let me know
How can I, how can I
How can I, I really wanna know
I really wanna know
How can I, how can I
How can I, how can I be sure
If you won't let me know
How can I, how can I
How can I, I really wanna know
I really wanna know
There was a
banging on the front door, the man looking at Erin and Dot before he ran down
the stairs. They both heard the door
open, and then the sounds from the street outside as they looked at each other.
“Ruullrrtt,”
Erin said as Dot started to cry.
“Msccrddd –
ehthpnnndd?”
“Dnttknn,”
Erin said as she managed to sit herself up, and look round. “nnddewhethrssrsrr?”
“Whrrwhtsss?”
“Sssrss –
ssrsstctwf.”
Dot looked at
Erin, and then nodded to where her handbag was lying on the floor. Erin pushed herself off the chair, and then
along the floor, her boots squeaking as she edged towards the brown bag. Dot watched her as she emptied the purse on
the floor, and then managed to pick up the nail scissors, opening them and
using it like a saw as she rubbed the blade on the cord holding her wrists
together.
She could
feel the twine slowly fraying, as she kept going, looking at Dot and trying to
smile before she finally felt the band give way. Bringing her wrists round, she rubbed them
before using the scissors to cut the twine around her ankles, and then pulled
the sticking plaster away from her mouth.
“Ouch,” she
said as the fabric finally came away, working her jaw before she said “what the
hell just happened?”
“Dntkknn –
ctmmfrrr?”
“Oh yeah –
sorry,” Erin said as she cut Dot’s wrists and ankles free, and then reached
up. As she peeled the plaster away,
there was the sound of footsteps on the stairs, and a policeman appeared.
“We were just
going to call you – what happened,” Erin said as Dot looked at the young man.
“Robbery in
the pawn shop downstairs – the man came through the back door, and I saw your
front door was open.”
“There were
two of them – they tied us up,” Erin said as she held up the knotted bands of
twine, “and used sticking plaster to gag us.
One of them went down the back – he must have been the one who broke
in. Was anyone hurt?”
“Shaken up,
and tied like you two, but unhurt,” the officer said as he took out his
notebook, “you’d better tell me what happened...”
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