Papercuts #6: The Eagle Has Crash Landed by Colin Bateman

Author:Colin Bateman [Bateman, Colin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781784973759
Publisher: Head of Zeus Ltd.

‘Excuse me – can I help you?’

Michael had zoned out. As he focused back in he saw that Navar was back at the Land Cruiser, with the rear door open and a plastic Tesco bag in his hand, and looking at him with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion.

‘I—’

‘I know who you are, but what are you doing here at my home?’

‘I was doing a story... on the accident and thought...’

‘You followed me to my home?’

‘No... yes... I was just wondering...’ Navar moved closer. He looked quite young, maybe still in his thirties, and his demeanour wasn’t exactly stern, and definitely wasn’t threatening. He was no Crilly, that was for sure. ‘I was just... well, to tell you the truth, yes, I am doing an article on the accident, but also my boss thought there might be a story in you as well.’

‘In me?’

‘Yes, I mean – he saw that your whole family seems to be working at the car wash, and he was worried that you were being exploited by Mr Crilly.’

Navar nodded his head slowly. ‘I see,’ he said. ‘Well, ahm...?’ He raised an eyebrow.

‘Oh – Michael, I’m Michael.’

‘Well, Michael, perhaps you would like to come in and have a cup of tea?’

Without waiting for a response, Navar turned back to his house. After just a moment’s hesitation Michael followed. He was led along a tiled hall that gave him glimpses of large family rooms on either side, both with impressively huge televisions, and into an equally spacious and modern kitchen, which they had to themselves. He could hear footsteps above and the sound of water running. Navar indicated for him to take a seat at the long wooden bench-style table and then set about filling the kettle.

Michael said, ‘This is... lovely. But I have to ask – if you live here, why are you working for Mr Crilly in his car wash?’

Navar smiled round at him: ‘And what makes you think it’s his car wash?’

‘I, uh, just presumed. And the way he orders you about and he collects the money and seems to come and go as he pleases...’

As he waited for the kettle to boil, Navar stood against the sink with his arms folded. He had a slight smile on his face. ‘I’m afraid, Michael, that you have the wrong end of the stick. I own the car wash. Mr Crilly works for me.’

‘He... are you sure? I mean, it doesn’t look like—’

‘And that’s deliberate. He talks to the customers and he collects the money – you see, in towns like this, people are not comfortable talking to foreigners. They’re not – racist, if you understand, they’re just... shy, perhaps? Afraid of the unfamiliar, even in this day and age. It is not a problem, it is what it is.’

‘But your whole family is working there, even your little children...’

‘It is good for them to learn the family business.’

‘But shouldn’t they be in school or...?’

‘They are home-schooled. And they are doing extremely well. We can set our own hours, it works well for us.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.