Derek Delaney Finally Sees

Derek Delaney Can Finally See

Derek Delaney, successful lawyer lives in a classy neighbourhood where the neighbours are posh and snobbish and that’s the way Delaney likes it. He is top of the list in those categories and likes to mix with the upper crust of society while appearing to be a caring, compassionate and benevolent man, he fools most, most of the time.

He is not a bad looking bloke, he’s tall and athletic runs 10k early every morning, rain, hail or shine not just to stay fit but it also helps him clear his head for the day.

Women find him easy on the eye with his dark hair and piercing blue eyes that are intensely hypnotic but he only has eyes for his wife Anne also a lawyer, who is a good looking redhead with green eyes and an shapely figure and together with their two equally good looking children they live what many see as an idyllic life. He has a few friends that he keeps in touch with from his early days but mainly he spends much of his life working and enjoying time with his family.

In contrast Derek’s parents grew up in the inner-city of a very rough neighbourhood where muggings and beatings were a daily occurrence, drug addiction was on the rise hence more muggings and beatings, not a place to raise a family and so through sheer hard work and bloody- mindedness they made enough money to move to a affluent area where they raised their only child, Derek, who wanted for nothing, he had a good education, had many friends and excelled at everything he put his mind to. The words ‘no’ and ‘can’t’ have never been in his vocabulary. From a young age Derek Delaney always got what he wanted.

Derek and Anne own a number of residential properties that they let out, and if for some reason the tenants are not in a position to pay their rent in time, no problem as Derek’s ‘employees’ are at hand to sort it out and so he never really has any problems to sort !

His men are a tight knit group of muscle and few brains and they do what is required of them no questions asked. They are paid a decent whack for their services and they keep their mouths shut, everyone’s happy.

Delaney is in the process of closing a deal on the purchase of a block of apartments as soon as he can eradicate the ‘rat problem’ as he refers to the tenants who live there, why? Because they are black, simple as that, yes Derek Delaney is a xenophobic racist.

The apartments are a block of two and three bed in a good location with a great view of the sea, however they are run down and in need of total renovation due to two brothers spending too much time and money fighting over their father’s Will, the only people laughing all the way to the bank are the lawyers which is how Delaney came to hear about it.

The outside of the block is stripped of paint, wires exposed, gutters missing, broken pavestones and where the entrance had previously been landscaped is now completely destroyed. The interior of the apartments are no better, there is a blockage in the water pipes which affects the toilets and the smell hits you as you walk into the building making you want to retch, the heating is always faulty due to an inept plumber which contributes to the damp, the walls are wet to the touch as there was no dry lining put in and a host of many anomalies which is why the asking price is so attractive. There is one problem however and that is the tenants and their ‘rights’. Derek could offer them alternative accommodation in a newly renovated property nearby but he doesn’t want to lower the ‘class’ of the area so he needs to come up with a solution, fast. He decides to send his ‘employees’ to the complex on a little visit to try and ‘persuade’ the tenants to look for somewhere else to live, most of these people are not in the country long enough to trust the authorities with their problems, they are just grateful to have somewhere safe to live and so say nothing about the nightly visits. However they have nowhere else to go and just put up with the bullying, they have come from countries where they witnessed and experienced much worse.

Derek Delaney’s tactics are not going to plan…

One damp cold morning Derek wakes up and finds he can’t focus his eyes, they are foggy, he rubs them with his hands and looks at a picture on the wall but he still can’t see, he wakes his wife Ann in a panic ‘Anne, I can’t see properly’ he says .’stop panicking, let me see, come here’ she puts up a finger ‘how many fingers am I holding’ she says ‘I don’t know oh god what’s happening’ Derek cries ‘call the doctor now, tell him its an emergency’. After an hour the doctor arrives and reassures Derek he is suffering from migraine and gives him a prescription for painkillers. Derek feels a little foolish for making a such a drama and calling the doctor over a damn migraine. All goes back to normal.

About a month later it happens again and the painkillers don’t work this time.

Derek doesn’t hang around and goes to a specialist Dr Mark Fennell and after some tests he is told he is suffering from specific type of cataracts and will have to have surgery immediately to prevent blindness. Derek is blown away with this news and apart from being shocked and somewhat scared he is pissed off as he needs to work on closing the deal.

The following day Derek Delaney is admitted to a private hospital, he will be in for a couple of weeks following his operation to recuperate.

Delaney is very apprehensive, his surgery is first thing in the morning and for now he contemplates the seriousness of his illness and what if it all goes wrong and he is left permanently blinded ? Or worse he dies under the anaesthetic or maybe it would be better to be dead than left blind, he thinks of his funeral who would come? not many he thinks, he assumes most of the people he associates with are much the same as him, they don’t really care, they will most likely say ‘ oh what a pity, nice fellow, shame’ or ‘lovely man, he would always stop and say hello, may God have mercy on him’ and his ‘employees’ what would they say ? Maybe ‘he was a tough boss but fair’ yes that is what he hopes they would say, so there he lies in his private bed in his private suite in the most expensive private hospital waiting.

On the day of the operation Derek is prepped for surgery and wheeled to theatre, he is anxious and feeling queasy but there is nothing he can do only take a deep breath and get on with it

Lunchtime, Delaney wakes up in his room, his eyes are bandaged, ‘hello, anyone there’ he says ‘ah Mr Delaney you are awake, I am Phil, your nurse while you are here, how are you feeling’ ‘ bloody awful, my eyes hurt’ says Derek ‘ ok, let me show you something’ Phil says as he lifts Derek’s arm and places the morphine pump in his hand ,he puts Derek’s finger on the lever ‘when you feel pain you press this lever and it will release the painkiller instantly and relieve the pain, but only use it when you really need it as it only dispenses morphine every thirty minutes’.

Over the next two weeks Derek and Phil enjoy a good banter, mostly about horse racing, a passion for both men and soon enough Derek finds he actually likes someone. Phil reads the newspaper to him and they do crosswords together, the Irish Time cryptic no less and as they are both very competitive they both try to outsmart the other, all in good fun.

On the day before Derek gets out of hospital he receives a phone call from Frankie, one of his employees, he tells Derek that the apartment situation remains the same, Derek is not impressed as the deadline is the end of the month ‘what the fuck do you mean its still the same, I’m in fucking hospital and you fucking told me you would have it sorted, this is a load of bollix, you better sort something out or I’ll have your fucking head for this, do you fucking hear me? roars Derek ‘yes boss I hear you but I don’t know what else to do, we have really tried to scare the shit out of them but they just take it, its fucking crazy, short of burning them out of it I really don’t know what else to do’ whinges Frankie ‘ well do it, burn one out of it and they will get the message’ Derek says barely audible into the phone in case anyone is nearby ‘but make sure the apartment is empty and make it look like an accidental fire ok do it tonight and call me in the morning right ?’ he continues ‘don’t worry boss it’ll be sorted’ says Frankie and the call is ended.

Later that morning, ‘Well it’s D Day tomorrow Derek, bandages come off and you can get out of here’ says Phil, ‘well Phil’ says Derek, ‘As much as I have enjoyed your company it will be good to get back home to my wife’s cooking and my own bed’. ‘ I know what you mean, I am glad I only work here, so what do you want to do for your last day then’ says Phil. ‘ Well now that you ask Phil, there is good racing on at Haydock and there is a few fillies I fancy, so if you set the telly up, look up my bookies number on my phone and a few small whiskeys and I’ll be happy’ say Derek.

Phil does as asked, Derek has a bottle of Jameson in the locker and has a few tipples each night to help him sleep.

The two men have a great day betting, winning and losing having the craic and at 6pm Phil is ready to go home. ‘See you in the morning Derek’ says Phil ‘good luck Phil, have a good night, see you in the morning and then I can put a face to the voice’ says Derek laughing.

That night an apartment is on fire, people are screaming there are people trapped inside, outside the neighbours are shouting at a man and woman to throw down the children, they promise they will catch them but the children are afraid and won’t let go of the man and woman’s necks, holding on as tight as they can and the little girl who is about four years of age screaming ‘mama no don’t throw me I’m scared no no please‘. Eventually the man prises the children free from him and the woman and each child is thrown to safety and as the woman is preparing to jump to safety, the room they are in explodes into flames. It is a scene of utter devastation and panic, the children screaming for their mother but she is gone nowhere to be seen.

Derek Delaney’s phone rings ‘ boss, boss, oh Jesus its all gone wrong oh God almighty we thought the apartment was empty but they came home we thought they were gone for the night’ Frankie cries down the phone ‘ what are you talking about who came back’ says Derek ‘ the mother and her kids, the apartment is blazing and the mother and someone else is trapped in it’, They’re dead boss they were trying to get out of the window and the place just burst into flames. Oh my God what will we do boss, please tell me what we can do, we will be done for murder, what have we done, what have we done’ says Frankie crying hysterically, ‘Oh Jesus Frankie you fucking idiot, where are you now?’ says Derek ‘ I’m down the local having a drink, Tom and Willie have gone home, I told them to just stay at home and say and do nothing till I call them, they’re in bits boss what will we do ? Says Frankie

‘Listen to me very carefully Frankie, this is not to be traced back to me do you hear. Just do as I say and we will all be fine, do you hear me’ says Derek ‘yes boss what do you want us to do?’ sobs Frankie ‘ nothing, absolutely nothing, have your drink just the one and go home, do not act weird Frankie stay at home for the next few days say your sick to your wife and tell the lads to do nothing just lay low until I contact you ok?’ Derek says as firmly and calmly as he can as he feels his head is about to explode ‘yes boss, I’m so sorry boss I really am I will never forgive myself this wasn’t supposed to happen’ says Frankie starting to get hysterical ‘ look calm down Frankie I know its terrible but there is nothing we can do so please just go home and I will call you in a day or two alright ?’ Derek says trying to reassure Frankie ‘yes boss I’ll finish my drink and go home, bye’. Frankie says still crying but calmer. The call ends.

Derek’s head is spinning and he still has the bandages on, the morning couldn’t come fast enough and he could go home. He turned on the TV. With the remote control pressing buttons until he got the channel with the news and there it was with the newsreader saying‘ a blazing inferno has taken the lives of a brother and sister tonight as they tried to save the lives of the woman’s children at an apartment block. The fire which appears to have been caused by an electrical fault spread very fast and left little time for the family to escape neighbours have said. One neighbour who was there catching the children as the man lowered them down said that one minute it looked like everyone would get out and suddenly there was a huge fireball and the woman and man were gone,

The fire brigade said the fire was so intense that the children were very lucky to get out.

More news on this tragedy later. And now for the sports news…’ Derek turns off the TV he cannot believe what has just happened, he realises he is guilty of the orchestration of this terrible tragedy, he never wanted anyone hurt he just wanted them to leave.

The next day, Derek’s bandages are due to come off and he can go home, there is little doubt the surgery was a success. As Derek waits as patiently as he possibly can under the circumstances he prays that all of last night was just a bad dream and his life would continue as normal but he knew his life would never be the same again, he had inadvertently killed two people and that was something he would never come to terms with.

There is a knock on the door, Doctor Mark Fennell comes into the room with a nurse. ‘good morning Mr Delaney how are you today’ he says ‘good, good, looking forward to going home’ replies Derek’ Yes I’m sure you are, two weeks is long enough in hospital, ok so I am going to take these bandages off and have a look at your eyes’ continues the doctor. He removes Derek’s bandages and after a few minutes of his eyes adjusting he can see blurry images of the doctor and nurse. ‘There will be a slight fuzziness for a day or two but that will clear’ says the doctor. ‘ah I thought Phil would be here for this, he must be running late’ Derek mutters to himself, The doctor and nurse look at each other and the nurse says ‘Mr Delaney, I am so sorry to have to tell you, there is some tragic news’ ’tragic news’ says Derek ‘There was a dreadful fire last night at Phil’s sister’s apartment, they were able to get the children out but Phil and his sister didn’t make it,’ the nurse is now crying wiping her eyes continually with her tissue ’they both died’ she continues. ‘what, what are you saying you must have it wrong, those apartments have blacks living there, why would Phil’s sister live there ?’ Derek says in shock. ‘ I’m not sure of the full story Mr Delaney , all we have heard is he had helped her come to this country when he found out about her last year, he didn‘t know about her before that.. I believe there are more details in the newspaper’ says the nurse trying to catch her breath through the tears ‘but to answer your question Mr Delaney, Phil and his sister were black’.

As Derek’s wife Ann arrived, Derek stood up ‘ I have to go’ he says ‘I have to get out of here’ The doctor turns to him ‘remember Mr Delaney it will be a day or two before you can see clearly’ Derek looks straight past everyone ‘ believe me doc, for the first time in my life, I can finally see’.