Free Driving Big Davie (Dan Starkey) by Colin Bateman Page B

my lip.
    'Gotcha.'
    He had fucking got me. The bastard. I'd get him. I'd get him back, with bells on. I fucking would.
    'Dan?'
    'What?' 'A word of advice.'
    'Fuck off.'
    'Okay.'
    Another mile.
    'What then?'
    'I think we missed our turn.'
     
    We'd managed to make our way onto the 75, but it was a blessing in disguise really because we were able to follow its loop back round to the 275 and cross onto Long Key and St Pete's Beach via the Sunshine Skyway, a huge finger of a toll-bridge which straddled Tampa Bay and gave us epic views of the sea and ships and beaches beyond. It served to settle us both down, for it was our first real glimpse of majestic America.
    'Fan-tastic,' Davie whispered.
    'Brilliant,' I added.
    'Epic,' he said.
    'Just like a movie.'
    To mark the occasion Davie produced a large bag of crunchy M&Ms and shook it at me. I hesitated for a moment. My name is Dan Starkey, and I am a chocoholic. He opened the bag, I put my hand out and he poured. I squeezed about fifty of them into my mouth at once. He set the bag on the dash. We crunched for a while, then washed them down with warm Diet Pepsi. Life doesn't get much better. But still, I had to know.
    'Did you . . . you know? Ever?'
    'With Karen Malloy?' I nodded. 'Of course not. She wouldn't touch me with a barge-pole. Or you, for that matter.' 'I saw her the day she died.'
    'Did you?'
    'More or less saw it happen. That's why I'm so touchy about it.'
    'Oh. Christ. Sorry. Didn't know. I was only raking.'
    'Yeah. Well. Forget about it.'
    'She was gorgeous though.'
    'She was. Even more gorgeous all grown-up.'
    'I know. She got better. She was going out with some bank manager, lucky bastard.'
    'Dead right there. Lucky bastard. So who was she then?'
    'Who was who?'
    'Your fiancée.'
    Davie shrugged.' Not a patch on Karen Malloy, that's for sure.'
    'So why'd she run off?'
    'Who said she ran off?'
    'Your mum, for one.'
    'Yeah, well.' He turned a little in his seat and his eyes flitted out over the water.
    'You don't want to talk about it?'
    He nodded. Which was confusing.
    'You do want to talk about it, or you don't?'
    'Don't,' he said quietly. 'Not now.'
    'Fair enough.'
    He was a pain in the neck, but I had to feel a bit sorry for him. I'd been through the mill a few times, but at least I'd found true love at a relatively early age. I'd lost it, found it, lost it over the years, but it had always been there, if not exactly within my grasp then certainly not much beyond it. But as far as I could determine, it had always eluded Davie. Now as he sat staring out over the water, a faraway look in his eyes, I knew that he had been hurt, hurt badly. Here was a man who'd been given his first taste of reciprocal love at the age of forty; who'd been brave enough to grab it with both hands, and then been burned for his trouble. He deserved a few moments of quiet contemplation.
    'So, was she any good in bed?' I asked. 'Was she a ride?'
     
    There were four or five different resort communities on Long Key, but Davie was quite specific about our destination: the Hotel del Mar on St Pete's Beach. We came off the 275 and crossed the Pinellas Bayway toll-bridge then turned right onto the town's main drag. Initial impressions were good, although ultimately deceptive. The first hotel we came to off the bridge was a huge Spanish-themed castle which flourished under the nickname of 'The Pink Palace'. It was actually called the Don CeSar, and it dominated the skyline. We weren't even within spitting distance of it, yet we could smell the money. Cars were queuing up to avail themselves of its valet parking, international flags, fluttered in the sea breeze, and our car groaned with embarrassment.
    'You sure know how to treat a guy,' I said.
    'Yeah, dream on,' said Davie and directed me on down the strip. It appeared that the Don CeSar was the only building of significance or distinction in the whole area. It went: hotel, hotel, burger joint, hotel, ice-cream parlour, hotel, McDonald's, hotel,