No Way To Escape | Novel

CHAPTER 40: EDWARD-I

As I opened my eyes, I saw myself at some familiar place. It did not take me much time to realize that I was standing in the hall of the Warwick's. I was watching at the mansion in its prime. It looked entirely different without its characteristic darkness and eerie atmosphere. It was morning time but I could not see the rays of the sun. The now-worn-out glass panes of the mansion, which were looking intact, were having some droplets of water over them.

As I started having a good look over the house, I saw a woman sitting next to the furnace on an arm-chair, an outdated one. I slowly walked closer to her, hoping she doesn't see me. But she didn't. I was like... inconspicuous. She was reading some journal and seemed quite old. It took me a while to recognize that it was the same old woman from the woods. She's a Warwick too!

'Darling!', the voice of a man called out up from the second floor. I woke down to the point where the stairs started to the second floor. It was him - Edward with the late-forties look. He was coming down the stairs, rolling up the sleeves of his flannel shirt. 'Yes, hon?', replied his wife and came out of the kitchen in the floor I was standing. Her face was recognizable too, but I didn't seem to recall it. Edward came down, passed right through me and then got his wife by his hand, dragging her to the back of the stairs, trying to ignore the attention of his mother. What's this sonofabitch gonna do to him? I was anxious and I followed them.

As they got behind the stairs, out of sight, Edward's face moved closer to his wife's and they started kissing passionately. I didn't know how to react so I moved my face away with a blush.

'Happy Anniversary, Laura', he said, his voice lowered.

'To you too, hon'. She replied and then the act continued for a while.

'Where's Ruth?', he asked.

'Up there in her room, playing with her dollies', Laura said.

'Tonight... I am gonna buy you a wonderful gift. Am sure you are gonna love it'

'Really?!'. She was looking quite charming and beautiful now. 'In that case... I will be waiting for my dear' He kissed her back and then they dispersed. Laura slowly started walking to the kitchen and Edward moved towards the front door in haste. 'Momma! Am going to the press', he called out to his mother. 'Come back home in time, Ed', she said. Her voice was very frail and weak. Collecting a brolly from the stack of brollies, putting on his hat and then getting on his shoes, he opened the front door. As he looked back, Laura was looking up to him lovingly, giving a smile. He smiled back at her and then closed the door.

Then my glance shifted. I was standing in front of some antique shop. I was wondering what I was doing there when I saw Edward going into the shop. He was looking enraptured. I started looking around the place. An old, but familiar place. Reynburg. The streets were emptier than now. Old-modelled cars like that of Rolls-Royce, Heine-velox were lined up on the streets. People were dressed in some 1920-ish attire. The date printed on the newspaper, I had read at Father Richard's, the year, flashed upon my eyes. It was overcast and there was a distant rumbling. For a moment I tried to search for an umbrella and then the obvious struck me. I could not move. I could just witness. Moreover, nothing's gonna touch me.

After some minutes, Edward came out of the shop and started walking away. My glance shifted again. I was now inside the cabin of some man in a press. The man had a cigar on his lips and was smoking. He was a bald, white man and looked sophisticated. Must be in his fifties. He was sitting on the chair adjacent to the central desk, putting a leg over the other. He was reading some articles over the desk, in front of him. Perhaps, he was analyzing something. Then came Edward Warwick running into the room, bashing open the door. There was a bright smile over his face. He looked cheerful.

'Hey Dave, look what I have got for you!', he said excitedly. He put his hand into his pockets and took out some papers. 'This is gonna take us to the top, Dave. Stan's are gonna rock!'. He put the papers down on the desk and stood there, waiting for some reply from the bald man.

'I need to have a chat with you, Ed', the man said.

'Yeah sure... What happened? You look a bit gloomy'

That man, Dave, sighed and then said, 'I am sorry, Ed but you are fired', with a serious, grim look over his face. I was suddenly reminded of how I had been searching for some job when I was new at Reynburg and how the employers used to reject me. Firing someone must be more painful - I thought. Now the cheerful Warwick looked serious. 'What, am sorry?'

'You are fired, Ed', Dave said with a calmness on his face and then moving his hand forward, he got the papers and stuffed them into the drawer of his desk. 'And I am gonna take them as your last work'

Edward looked grim. 'Why is it so? I have been working here for a long time, Dave. What's my fault? You can't fire me without any reason. Tell me'

'Workers are finding it difficult to cope with you, Ed'.

'Finding it difficult to cope with me?!'. His voice was louder and more baffled now.

'Boss had come yesterday to inform that he is hiring new men in the press and we need to let go of some men for that'

'The fuck do with him! I have been working here for years, Dave. You know it. How can you fire me?'

'I have to fire men. You are not the only one, Ed. Please co-operate buddy'

'No!... You hear that? It's a fucking no! I am not gonna do that!'. Edward banged onto the desk. He was infuriated now.

'Don't behave like that. I have to... have to-'

'You have to what, Dave? Kick me out? Throw me away? Do that. I wanna watch it', Edward walked across the desk and got hold of Dave by the collar, lifting him off his chair, onto his foot. 'Do it! Fucking do it!', Edward shouted loudly.

Frightened, Dave started screaming for help. An angry Warwick started punching on Dave's face repeatedly. After a while, three men came running in to the cabin and started getting hold of Edward. It took them apply some good strength to detach him off Dave. Edward was tormenting in their grasp and yelling, 'I am gonna kill you, you fucking son of a bitch! I will fuck your brains out... That's my work which you just sneaked into your fucking drawer! Give me that. I want that back! Give me!...'

'Just throw this fucker away!', Dave exclaimed, wiping the blood, which was now coming out of his nose, by his hands. The three men carried Edward out of the building and then threw him onto the sidewalk. Edward's body slipped on the wet path and he struck the waste-bin out there. Then the men went in, locking the door behind them. The passers-by were looking down at him with wince.

Edward got up onto his feet slowly and shouted at the building with a board of Stan's Printing Press hanging over the big front door, 'Oh you fuckin' Dave. I fuckin' know why you threw me out. You feared that... I would take your fucking job'. He was screaming loudly. 'You know what... Fuck you, Dave!'. Fresh spittle flew out of his mouth as he uttered those words. He picked up a small pebble by the road and threw at the board. But his bad luck - the pebble bounced off the board and landed back on his head. He groaned in pain and then holding his head he started walking away slowly, in his wet dress. I could see some people laughing and pointing at him as he slowly disappeared further in the sidewalk.