Yvonne Ferry Mystery Man (Short story

Mystery Man

Mary examined the scruffy-looking man who was sitting directly opposite her in the cold, dilapidated waiting room of the bus station. His face looked vaguely familiar to her. He was tall and thin, had hunched shoulders, unkempt hair, with stubbly growth on his jaws and chin. She reckoned that he was in his early forties, something near her own age.

Mary was a tall, large-boned woman aged forty-five. She had dark brown hair, cut in a youthful bob. She had blue eyes and a lively confident look about her. She was very sporty; she walked, cycled and had run some marathons. But her real love was dancing. Her week was not complete unless she got in at least two or three dances. She followed all the latest country bands and loved jiving to all the fast music. She couldn’t wait to get on to that dance floor! She was of an independent nature and somewhat restless and always said that she never intended to get married and she didn’t.

The man stared back at Mary. The more she looked at him, the more she felt that she had met him somewhere, perhaps many years before. Although he had a slight menacing air abut him, Mary decided to speak to him. “Are you going on a holiday?” She asked, noticing that he had a rather large black suitcase beside him. “Yes” he said, “I’m going to Spain. I’m hoping to get a job there, maybe hotel work. There’s nothing for anyone in this darn country and I love the sun” he added quickly. “I’m going to Spain myself, on holiday” said Mary, brightly. I’m joining a group who do set-dancing there, in Benalmadena”. “I’m going to the costa too” he said, “Maybe we’ll bump into each other and have a trip around the floor together”, Mary smiled but did not answer. I hope you’ll be dressed up and look smart then, Mary said to herself as the bus arrived.

She took a front seat and he went to the back. Mary met her friend and former classmate Nora at the airport. Nora was a fair-haired stylish lady of forty-four. She had a plumpish figure and was of average height. Apart from her family, nieces and nephews, she loved animals and had cats and dogs always. She lover Art and had many paintings to her credit. She also loved to travel abroad two or three times a year. She was a magnet to men with her easy nature, but somehow she had not met the right one to date.

Both Mary and Nora now lived and worked in Dublin, but they both camefrom Monaghan and had gone to school together. They had kept up their friendship through the years and were now looking forward to this holiday together. On the flight, Mary told Nora about the man with whom she had had those few words at the bus station and how he had looked familiar to her. She wondered had they met as children, or had they gone to the same school. “Maybe it was Rory Kelf” said Nora, who had a good imagination. “Do you remember he was suspended from school, after they found out that he had stolen a £10 note from Miss Crehan’s desk?” “Had he a dimple on his chin?” asked Mary. “No” said Nora. “Well then he’s not my mystery man” Mary concluded. There was no sign of the mystery man on the plane or at the airport. The two women enjoyed their holiday to the full, sharing an apartment and eating and drinking to their hearts’ content. There was swimming, walking, a few trips by bus and boat and of course plenty of dancing! The ten days passed all too quickly. They boarded their plane for Dublin on a sunny Sunday morning. Mary settled herself comfortable in her seat and opened the newspaper just as the plane began to ascend. There was the face! The face of the man whom she had met at the bus station at the start of the holiday! “Irishman arrested for drug dealing in Spain” she read. Derek Noonan was arrested in Marbella. He was part of a gang of drug dealers. Mary quickly covered the name and showed the picture to her friend. “That’s Derek Noonan” said Nora, after studying the face gravely. “What’s he there for?” She read on. “Good Lord, drugs! Do you not remember he was in the class above us in national school? He had lovely blond hair and blue eyes and butter would not melt in his mouth.” “I remember he gave me a lollipop one day, when I was crying because my mother was late collecting me for home. We were only about seven years old at the time.” Mary too remembered Derek as a kind, thoughtful boy and wondered what circumstances had changed his life for the worse. At least the mystery that had preoccupied her idle moments during the holiday was solved. Nora was still reminiscing on those old school days. “I had a crush on him as a teenager” she added. “We used to dance together at the disco and I really fancied him, but I think he went abroad very young; Imagine turning out like this” she continued regretfully. “That’s life” said Mary. “Wasn’t it lucky we didn’t meet up with him last week?” “Maybe or maybe not” replied Nora wistfully.

Yvonne Ferry