Something happened last Friday in the village that has changed the atmosphere...
Last Tuesday, Stephen, Dougie and Tricia's eldest son, arrived in the village after two years. Stephen is a thirtyish years old guy. Born and bred in Scotland with a very deep Scottish accent. First day I meet him he was arriving in the village to have a rest. His partner and his daughter's mum, the person he lived with for eleven years, was having an affair with another man and he just left the house with everything in it and came to Spain to get away from all the stress that this situation was giving him. This was nearly three years ago.
On Tuesday, the Stephen I met up at the bar was a completely different one. On Tuesday he turned up with long curly hair and a big smile on his face. He arrived at the bar with his mum and dad just ready to go to Bar Nuevo, another bar in the village where we go sometimes on a Wednesday, our day off, to have dinner together. They will have a meal there and then come back to the bar for a drink session.
So they did. After the meal, they came back. By then, Leigh and me were working behind the bar and we were doing not bad, considering it was a Tuesday and normally, it’s a quite day. I’ve got to say that the other two bosses, Davy and Iris, were back in Scotland for their daughter Karyn’s 18th birthday party.
As I was saying, they came back to the bar but Stephen was very tired of the trip and apparently he decided he wanted to go home for a rest. Dougie offered to take him home but Tricia just ordered a drink and she waited at the bar until Dougie came back to pick her up. And basically, that was Stephen’s arrival, nothing out of order.
Leigh and me finished the night, shut the bar and got ready for our day off on a Wednesday, and of course, we were ready to see Iris and Davy that were coming back to the village on Thursday.
I think is turn now to describe Leigh. Leigh is a 19th year old boy. Up in his head he thinks he’s very mature. Personally, I think he’s still got a long way to go. For God’s sake, is a young boy, he’s got a whole life to go. Anyway, first time I met Leigh, was at the bar. Right at the very begging, Malcolm was still the owner of the bar and I was still doing Sunday mornings. He used to arrive to the bar with his dad, a whole character, and ask for a coke. He was very shy them days. I suppose that was due to his embarrassing dad. They used to come to the bar to wait for Leigh’s mum, while she was in church. Later on, Leigh told me that his mum is a very good Catholic, at least, a Catholic of going every Sunday to church.
After that period of time, I lost contact with Leigh until the Scots came and took over the bar. Karyn, Davy and Iris’ daughter, started going out with a boy that I never thought it was Leigh, until she introduced him to me. Anyway, this relationship broke up when Karyn decided to go back to Scotland after eighteen months of living in Spain and realize that Spain wasn’t for her. Leigh loved her as much as man can love a woman. Now days, I think he still does. I’m not so sure about her. I still don’t know if she ever loved him. After this relationship was finished, Davy and Iris felt very guilty about the situation and started looking after Leigh as if he was their own son. That’s how Leigh became part of the bar. Now Leigh gives us a hand at the bar every time we need it.
On Wednesday, our day off and after coming back from the Hospital with my mum after her daily radiotherapy session, we went down to my land for a bit of chilling out.
Because I knew that Vicki arrived in the village on Tuesday night, about 6 o’clock I called them over to have a coffee.
Vicki is Tom and Jill’s daughter. Tom and Jill have been very close to us since the day we met, not just because the bought a plot of land not far from where we leave. It’s something else. I couldn’t explain it. We are very good friends. And of course, Vicki is like my sister. Since day one, we got on really well. I do remember the first day we met, I was teaching her how to swear in Spanish, so she could say that to her boss and not get sacked. We’ve always had a good laugh together.
Vicki came around the house for coffee with her mum and dad and a new friend. I still don’t know her name, sorry if you ever read this! While we were talking, Stephen’s name came around.
Here, I’ve got to stop and tell another story that happened exactly when Stephen first arrived to the village. As I said before, Stephen was coming from a broken relationship after eleven years and Vicki just split up with her last boyfriend. Dougie was all worried about his son. He mentioned to me that the best thing for his son would be a new woman in his life. Immediately I thought of Vicki and told Dougie about it. We both thought about getting them together and see what could happen. And that was it. After a Hogmanay together in the village, they were an item.
The relationship was going really well after that. Vicki used to go up to Scotland to see him, and Stephen did the same on the following weekend. They even came back as a couple to the village the following summer for feria (four days of party non stop). Plenty of drink, plenty of food, neither Vicki of Stephen could miss it.
Because we were having a bar outside, in the main street, we were on a strategic point to see everything. I can’t remember exactly what night it was, but all of a sudden, Vicki, Joanne and Gareth came back to our outside bar after a wonder and one of the told Dougie: ‘Stephen has disappeared’. Off he went to find his boy. After a while, Dougie came back and said that he found Stephen and he was ok. He was home.
After we closed the bar, went out for a drink somewhere else. On our way home, went by Bar Nuevo and, there he was. Drunk as hell, Stephen was next to the balcony outside Bar Nuevo crying his eyes out. We tried to get him back home, but after an hour, Tricia got fed up and left him there with Dougie. Vicki, Tricia and me went back to their place for a drink and see if we could get to know what happened. Vicki explained to us something that I can’t really remember. She mentioned something about Stephen jumping the other side of the railing of the balcony. He wanted to jump and kill himself. I never really got to know why, and anyway it’s not my business. Only thing I know is, the day after that Tricia gave him a really hard time.
I can’t remember exactly how long after that the following thing happened. One night, Tricia and Dougie were doing nights, but Tricia was behind the bar at the time. Tom and Jill arrived at the bar and told Tricia that Vicki sent them a text saying that she couldn’t get in touch with Stephen. Vicki asked her mum and dad to go up to the bar and ask Dougie and Tricia if they knew anything about Stephen. ‘He might has changed his phone number and never told me’ she thought. After a few text messages, a few phone calls with no luck, Tricia decides to phone Joanne, their daughter. After two days, she gets her way to get in touch with Stephen. I didn’t get to know where he was or what he was doing; the only thing I got to know is that he sent Vicki a text to her phone saying: this is finished, we are no longer together. They never met ever again.
That’s why, this time, after God knows how long, Stephen and Vicki would meet again. Having that coffee down in my land, she said she didn’t mind that he was at the village at the same time as her.
Vicki never turned up to the bar until her very last night in the village. And, of course, Stephen was there. A very cold ‘hi, how are you doing?’ was all.
Get back to the main point of this story, Friday. Mark (customer of the bar, and friend of mine) and Leigh spent the whole day working. Well, a whole day working for Mark starts about 11.30 and finishes about 16.00 (sorry Mark). Anyway, after they finished work and taking advantage of Wendy (Mark’s partner and a friend of mine as well) being away, they started drinking at the bar slippery slopes as Mark calls them (meaning vodka and coke) Leigh was on the vodka and fresh orange. I don’t really know how long they were drinking, but when I arrived to the bar at 6 p.m. they seemed to be a bit drunk already.
After a while in our bar, they both left to go somewhere else for a drink. Lorenzo’s was the place. Apparently they where there for quite a while and then, they decided to come back to the bar. I could see Mark’s face… He was well gone by then! I can’t notice that on Leigh’s face that well. But obviously, he was drunk as well. After a couple of drinks in our bar, Stephen turns up at the bar. He has just walked all the way down from his mum and dad’s to have a drink in our bar. When I saw him, I thought he was drunk. Later on, somebody told me he had two bottles of red wine. I don’t know if just himself, or the two bottles were between him, his mum and his dad. He came down with no money at all and after a while at the bar, drinking beers bought by Mark and Leigh, Stephen admitted he had no money with him. He was going to run up a tab that his dad will pay the following day. Mark and Leigh never let him pay for anything in between a few jokes of being Scottish and all that…
Time was up and Iris and I decided to close the bar. I forgot to mention, that night Iris was doing late because Davy was doing shopping the day after. Those three left the bar at the same time, Leigh and Stephen away to the disco and Mark crawling to his car. Only God knows how he got to his house.
On the Saturday evening when I arrived to the bar I could smell something different on the air… Davy and Iris told me: ‘last night Leigh and Stephen were fighting’. I didn’t want to believe it, but I wasn’t surprised about it. Of course, I wasn’t there to know exactly what happened, and I wouldn’t be fair saying what I know about it, because the only part of the story I know is Leigh’s side, Stephen can’t remember a thing of what happened that night. I’ve decided I’m not going to give any details about, just mention that Stephen has a black eye and a few cuts on his face. Leigh is ok physically, up in his head, I couldn’t say the same. He keeps repeating that he’s ok, but I don’t think so.
Stephen never turned up to the bar for a couple of days. Leigh never stopped coming because he says he never did anything wrong.
At the moment things are like that. Tricia and Dougie don’t speak to Leigh, what makes it really difficult when he’s at the bar, because they try to ignore him. Tricia got annoyed with Davy and Iris because Davy let Leigh work with me on Saturday night after the fight.
On the Monday after the fight, Stephen came to the bar to have a drink because it was Toni’s birthday. Toni and Alan are friends of Tricia and Dougie’s. When Stephen arrived to the bar, Leigh was standing outside having a drink with Chris. Stephen shook Leigh’s hand and told him ‘no problems. I hope you can tell me what happened on Friday night because I can’t remember’. And that was it. I think that was very nice of him. Even after that, Tricia and Dougie haven’t spoken to Leigh if they can help it.
I don’t know how this is going to get sorted… I don’t really know.
