Whitelake – 01

It was a deceptive looking place. Whitelake was a scenic village, a place where you might drive through one day and think ‘I’d like to retire here one day’. Large, neatly pruned trees hung over the roads. There were either no fences blocking off people’s front gardens, the lawn met the pavement and allowed passers by to see into people’s front rooms, waving ‘politely’. Fredric sat in his front room, one eye on the morning news, the other out the window. The time in the corner of the screen had just turned seven thirty-seven, which meant that Rosa, his next door neighbour, would be returning from her morning jog with her dog, wearing spandex shorts and a tank top. And there she was, bouncing along happily, the basset hound trotting at her feet. She waved politely to Fredric, who smiled in return. She knew that he enjoyed watching her run, she enjoyed the looks she got on her jogs, her husband didn’t give her much attention anymore, this gave her confidence. Even though the male gaze came with envious glares from their wives. She jogged because she didn’t want to talk to people, whenever she walked the dog in the mornings people tried to talk to her. Jogging took away that social obligation. She didn’t like talking to the locals. A year ago a new Methodist minister arrived in the village, it turned out to be a female vicar, that lead to a so called ‘coincidental’ rise in attendance at the Catholic church. Most of the locals don’t mean to be offensive, the older residents came from a different generation. Rosa’s generation, the ‘mums’, follow their parents example, not wanting to disagree with the people who raised them, and not wanting to upset the people who had control of their inheritance. Rosa couldn’t stand them, and they couldn’t stand Rosa. She did have one friend in the village, Vinessa, who ran the post office, Vinessa knew everyone by name, gotten to know everyone’s routine, she knew who walked into her shop without looking, because every day was always the same. She also knew everyone’s dirty little secrets. Various Magazine subscriptions which were to be kept a secret, paid in cash, and concealed in newspapers so no-one would see. She could see the sender on various parcels she handled, most of them were harmless, but there were a few companies which she knows to specialise in ‘adult products’. She was also the village dealer, she keeps them under the counter in rolled up newspapers. Customers come in and give her the money, she hands them a rolled-up newspaper, and any onlookers are none the wiser. Vinessa has no problem gossiping with her friends about the various shenanigans that the locals are getting up to. There was always something else behind the smile and the polite wave, an ulterior motive, a gloating smirk.

It was seven forty now, Fredric was peering curiously out his window, Taylor was normally on her run now. She wore a full track suit but she was more full bodied, and Fredric had an imagination. Rosa was out in her front garden, stretching off. Rosa didn’t mind Taylor, they didn’t not get on, but they didn’t get on, but Rosa enjoyed the fact that Taylor still didn’t know about the casual swinging affair she was having with Taylor’s husband. Vinessa was eyeing up the post office door, a rolled up newspaper with two oz’s of marijuana waiting with Taylor’s name on it. Normally she was in just before the Doctor with his twins, Morning and Dawn, she sometimes buys the twins a small chocolate bar to share before school.

This disruption in the villages routine was concerning for these three people, but when four police cars came haring down the main street of the village, lights flashing and sirens wailing, almost running off Laurrie who was on his bike, scrapping the side of Mr Sutherlands new BMW, and centimetres away from running over Toby, Fredric’s cat. The whole village stopped, and merely peeped out of the window.