Bob and Bobbie and Other Short Stories

By Derek Fairey

This second book contains a number of fictional stories and short write-ups. The short write up is meant to mislead the reader in order to make them think each story could be real, but does not explain which may not be.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Mar 11, 2024
• ISBN: 9798823086172

Book preview

Bob

and

Bobbie

and Other Short Stories

Derek Fairey

30332.png

AuthorHouse™ UK

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403 USA

www.authorhouse.co.uk

Phone: UK TFN: 0800 0148641 (Toll Free inside the UK)

UK Local: (02) 0369 56322 ([phone] from outside the UK)

© 2024 Derek Fairey. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 04/08/2024

ISBN: 979-8-8230-8616-5 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-8230-8617-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2024901146

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents List.

Title.

Bob and Bobbie

Dr Eff, Avenging Angel

Innocent Heaven?

Len & Del

Mrs Blank (Karma)

Our House.

She Never Had a Chance (Three is not a good number)

Sinister & Co (Hoist by his own petard)

The Apology

The Armless Victim Of Life

The Common Law Wife.

The Love Of His Life

The Magic Shirt.

Urban Cavaliers

The Wisdom Of The Ages

Working Life Dilemmas

26/09/2023

Bob and Bobbie.

Bob was not really a bad person, but he had been raised in a harsh environment, mainly produced by his father, aided, unintentionally by his mother, who had suffered a bad pregnancy. She imbibed alcohol and smoked, throughout her term because she was angry at the gradual loss of her figure, which she did not enjoy. Her husband did not help because he got more and more abusive as she naturally gained weight throughout and became, for him, less attractive and more of a drudge, doing the housework.

Neither parent was very intelligent, and his father tended to being violent when not feeling content or happy and looked after. Bob suffered much bruising and soreness as a young child and felt he had to hide this to stop his mother suffering in the same way.

At school, Bob did not realise he was being drawn to fellow students who exhibited traits and behaviour he saw in his parents. The difference in circumstance was that he, being tougher, and somewhat bigger, turned into the controller and not the controlled. At his school, Bob was an average student, found himself liking the female mathematic tutor and subsequently, working hard in her classes. Naturally he became good at mathematics, and on leaving school, at eighteen and with one maths ‘A’ level GCSE, was able to secure a position as, what is called a Settler in a bookmaker’s establishment.

The person who employed him was the local manager, who told him he had great potential.

Bob enquired as to the owner and the manager told he was away on holiday and would be back the next week to meet him. Bob asked his name and was given the name of a well- known person who lived in the area and was feared by most people.

On the following Monday, Bob was surprised that there were three people, including himself, doing his job. It was a quiet day and one good person helping him, the novice, would be quite enough.

Mid-morning, the owner entered the shop, confronted Bob and said, Well, I’ve got you at last.

This surprised Bob and he could not help showing it. He said, You talk as if you know me but I don’t know you and I can’t see how you would know me. His boss just laughed and said, I’ve known you since you kicked hell out of my son one day and he came home and went straight to bed without eating his evening meal. Bob said, But I don’t know your son. The boss, then said, When you know the truth, you will say correctly that you did not know he was my son. When he was born, I wanted him to enter my business with me. The trouble was, at that time my reputation was at its height and I wanted him to get the best start in life. He wouldn’t get that with my name, so we registered him under his mother’s single name to protect him. Bob then said, What’s his name then? The boss replied, You know him as Raymond Smith. Bob’s reply was, Wow. He nearly said, that toe rag, but he stopped himself in time. Then, with a slight hesitation, he asked, Why did you not send someone to give me a beating and teach me a lesson?

His boss, Raymond, like his son then said, My son, knowing I was his dad, thought he should be the big noise at school, and I would back him up if he lost a fight with you, but I wanted him to remain, low profile. So, when he came home bruised and beaten, I added a few more bruises to teach him a lesson, that’s why he was off school for a day or two after.

Bob again said, Wow, it seems I got lucky. Raymond then said, Yes, because it brought you to my notice, I’ve been watching you ever since and you fell right into my hands by becoming good at maths so I could steer you, through some friends, into my betting shop and give you the job you’ve got now. Bob’s reply was, Wow, thanks, I better get down to work to show my gratitude. The wages are great, and I’ve been promised it will get even better when I am fully trained. If I stay the course, I might even become a shop manager, and then the money must be even better.

Raymond then said, Its better than that, your job now is to work hard at your training and, outside of work, I have arranged for you to attend a course of self- defence, so you can look after yourself in any given situation. After all, betting shops can be dangerous places when losers get aggressive about their losses. I well remember the man we called ‘Alf the Ammer, ’someone told him the horse he backed had won and when he came for his winnings, we had to tell him different. He got very upset and aggressive, pulling out a hammer and hitting the bars in front off the counter. When they stayed strong and he was getting nowhere, he went outside, grabbed a TV, that was on display, outside a second- hand shop and brought it in to the shop and threw it at the bars. Luckily our staff were able to stop him and hand him over to the police. That was when I insisted that our staff get, self-defence training. He stopped talking and looked pensively out of the window, in silence. Bob was feeling a little uncomfortable and was about to break the silence when Raymond broke it for him, he looked him in the eye and said, In your case, things will be a little different, from that first shop that Alf attacked, my empire has grown somewhat, and betting shops are not our only enterprise. Now and again, some of the people we deal with in our businesses, step out of line and have to be dealt with, sort of disciplined as it were, and I need well trained staff to occasionally visit these people to inflict that discipline. When this happens and you are called upon to hand out their punishment, there will be a bonus payment due, so you can do even better than you think. Bob, somewhat surprised asked, When will I be trained enough to do that, I mean how long will it take? Raymond then said, You will know when the time comes because I will then allow, and tell you to call me Ray, when I give you the next instruction, but if I forget to tell you, you will know if I send you out alone instead of with a backup partner.

Bob, looked at Raymond and said, Thank you boss, what should I do now? Raymond said, Go into the front of the shop, straighten the chairs, clean up the discarded betting slips and trash, then get back behind the counter and help to settle the telephone bets that have come in.

Shock and Awe.

For the next month, Bob worked hard at both of his given tasks. He thought he was doing well, and on a Friday, he was on his way home when, in a quiet road he was suddenly attacked by two people. He fought back and felt he had done well because he had hurt them and they had run off. He was feeling a little sore, but he adjusted his clothing and started to complete his journey home. Feeling he had done well he put his hands in his pockets and started to walk somewhat jauntily. Suddenly he began to realise something was missing. He had started to produce a little tableau of not opening his wage packet every week, but would produce it unopened in front of his mother and then after opening in a public display as it were, he would flourish the money and peel off the amount he paid for his keep each week and present it to her like a prize she had won and her realising what he was doing thanked him royally, took the money and put it into her apron pocket with a flourish.

This week however, this little charade would not happen, his money had gone with the two people who had attacked him. Bob completed his journey home, explained what had happened to him and apologised to his mother for not having her money that week. She, being sad but understanding, lent him some money, from her small savings, and said for him to try to repay her as soon as possible.

The following day, being a Saturday and probably the shops busiest day of the week, Bob was at work as usual and at mid-day the boss made an unusual visit at lunch time. Bob said to a colleague, What’s he doing here today has something gone wrong somewhere? His colleague said. No idea, perhaps his wife’s kicked him out or something. Fifteen minutes later, Bob was called into the boss’s office. The boss was studying some papers on his desk. He pointed at a chair in front of his desk and Bob sat down and waited. After two minutes, Raymond signed a piece of paper and looked up at Bob. He said, What’s wrong with you this morning, you’ve got a face like a slapped arse, your normally smiling and happy?

Bob explained what had happened the previous evening, apologised for his demeanour and prepared to leave. As he started to rise from his chair Raymond said, Whoa stop there, sit back down, I’ve got more things to say to you. Bob apologised again and resat in the chair. Raymond said, So, you’ve got no wages and you’ve put one of my best men into hospital with a broken nose and given another man concussion, putting him out of work for a week.

Bob looked surprised, and in his head he was asking why this man kept doing this to him, and if he was some sort of sadist or something. The boss threw Bob’s wage packet onto the table in front of him and said," I’ve been watching your progress and I could not believe the good reports I was getting about you.

Things looked too good, so I decided to test you extremely early to see if the facts matched what seemed to be fiction. I thought you were cheating somehow, but obviously you were not. Bob replied, Well you’ve been more than fair with me, so I just wanted to show my appreciation."

Raymond looked at him and said,Hmmmm. He went silent for a few seconds and then said. There’s an important job to do next week and you have taken out a good man, with concussion, who was to go with my best man to do it. There is a lot of money involved here and the outcome means I either get it back, or lose a fortune I can’t afford and many, very rich men could not afford. I’ve decided that you will take his place, but you must do as your told. If you step out of line and we don’t succeed, you will be in great trouble. On the other hand, if you succeed, next week you will get two pay packets again, and I may even pay the tax and insurance on both. Meanwhile here is your second pay packet this week and with no tax and insurance taken out. And he threw the other packet on the table in front of Bob.

Bob struggled to remain calm and easy of mind, because he was beginning to think Raymond felt that showing emotion, of any sort other than tough mindedness was a weakness he did not want to see. In dismissing him his boss proved him right by saying," right get back to work and think about Monday but stop saying wow, it sounds wimpish.

On the Monday morning when Bob arrived at work, there was a strange man drinking coffee in Raymond’s office. The shop manager told him he was wanted in the office, and he went in to meet this person. The man introduced himself as Frank and told Bob they were travelling together to see some people and he, Bob, should only do what he was told, when he was told and only speak when he was asked to.

They went by car to another town, about one and a half hours travel away, and parked behind some shops. They entered through the back entrance of one of the shops and passed through a room which contained many cardboard boxes. When going through Bob thought he saw, through the boxes the door to what looked like a safe.

They entered a second room which was a poorly served office, Bob thought, like one he had seen in a second-rate film at some time. There was a person sitting at a desk facing what looked, to Bob, like a dirty window. Frank started to speak to the person but they heard what sounded like a shop doorbell going off. The man looked at the dirty window along with Frank and Bob, and Bob, seeing a person in the window, realised the dirty window was in fact a see- through mirror which was a window on this side and must have looked like a mirror on the other side.

The man at the desk excused himself, went through a door and appeared in the window talking to the person who must have entered through the shop door. Frank explained to Bob, that this was a pawn shop and the customers had to be seen when they came in, to pledge their belongings. Bob just said, Oh right. The other man seemingly, the shop manager, came back in after a short while, placed a piece of paper, in a filing tray, on the desk and a necklace on top of it saying, I’ll put that in the safe later.

Frank then