Buried In The Past (3/7) By Joe Hakim

(1/7), (2/7), (3/7), (4/7), (5/7), (6/7), (7/7).

I smile and order a coffee. I don't actually want a drink, but the coffee is like a secret badge of approval; it turns me into a paying customer. I hold the cup in my hand, feeling its warmth, before working up the guts to go over to the counter again and say, "Sorry to bother you, but do you have a phonebook I could borrow?" There's a bit of a pause, and then she asks, "White or yellow?" "White, please." It's ridiculous really - it's just a phonebook, but she makes me feel like I'm asking for the earth.

I return to my table, the lady behind the counter watching my every move. I flick through the pages, looking for a name. I find seven contenders, but there's no guarantee it will be person I'm looking for; he could've left Hull years ago for all I know. After making a list of the addresses, I return the book to the woman and leave the cafe. I am vengeance. I need a conclusion. I could ring the numbers and check to see if one of them is the right one, but I don't, and there are a couple of reasons for this; the first being that I don't want to alert anyone to my presence, because my voice has picked up a harsh rasp, and it might be enough to set alarm bells ringing. Secondly, it's because part of the thrill comes from the actual hunt.

I work through the list, visiting each house after the sun goes down. I belong to the night, and in exchange it lets me hide within it - lets me manipulate each shadow as though it was an extension of my body. I find bushes and bus-stops to hide in, and I stay motionless for hours, watching and waiting. By the second week, I'm five houses down the list and the thought occurs to me that I might just be wasting my time. But I have to go on. The hunger has made me half-mad, and I'm convinced this is the only way to go. If I can do this one thing, I might able to move on and become something else, so I decide to carry on. The disappointment just makes me more determined.

There are two addresses left on the list. The sixth one is just off Holderness Road. I walk around until I find the house, and then I scout for places to hide. After waiting around for a while, someone comes out of the house with his wife and two kids. It's him. I think about the time he sat astride me, pinning my shoulders down with his knees so he could force mud and dog shit into my mouth. He's changed a lot over the years; he's a lot bigger now and his hair has started to recede, but it's definitely him, I just know it.

His features were burned into my memory by years of agony. The rush of discovery sends me reeling, and it's all I can do to stop myself attacking him right there and then. But my quarrel isn't with his wife and children, they don't need to see what I'm going to do to him, so I restrain myself and watch them as they get into their car. I begin a routine of watching their house, making a note of their patterns: who goes out and when, and how long for. I'm looking for a period of time when he is alone for a couple of hours, and after a couple of weeks of spying I find the opportunity I've been waiting for.

Continued...Next Page (4/7)

Articles - Canine Partners Opens Station in Hull

	Canine Partners is a national charity with the slogan, Opening doors to Independence, and the basic objective is to train assistance dogs to transform the lives of people with disabilities. The charity is continually expanding. They have many satellite stations down the southern end of England and are currently expanding up the Northern end. One station recently created is Read more...

Articles - Identity Cards by B.Brother

	You may have heard that legislation creating compulsory ID Cards passed a crucial stage in the House of Commons. You may feel that ID cards are not something to worry about, since we already have photo ID for our passport and driving license and an ID card will be no different to that. What you have not been told is the full scope of this proposed ID card, and what it Read more...

Articles - The Restoration of Wellington Street Swing Bridge Part 1 By Tony Waddington Photographs By Tony and Mo

	Over the past 4 weeks work has been underway, dismantling this ancient bridge and after many years out of commission, and derelict, much work is needed to get it back in running order. The first bridge over the entrance to Humber Dock was installed around 1824 but replaced in the 1840's. Due to damage, worn or rotten structures, expenditure on the swing bridge Read more...

Articles - Memories of Hull By Frank Storey

I was most interested to read the article by John Firth regarding the fish shop owned by his grandmother in Redbourne Street. I worked at Gordon Street Police Station in the ranks of Constable, Sergeant and Inspector during the period 1947 to 1966, I well remember the Beatles visit - they used my office to get changed! I had a great leg pull with a young girl who was an avid Beatles fan, - we gave her a cigarette end Read more...

Articles - The Thames Whale By Michelle Dee

Sometime on Friday 20th January a bottle nosed whale was spotted in the Thames River. This unusual event caused quite a stir in the capital later that day the 18ft whale tried to beach itself in the shallow waters by Westminster Bridge. Volunteers and specialists alike tried to encourage the whale back the way it came into the deeper parts of the river. On the Saturday it was thought to have gone back towards the mouth Read more...

Articles - Partners In Parallel At Law Firm By Julian Woodford

	The truth really is stranger than fiction. Who'd have believed that the lives and careers of two young women lawyers could have followed such remarkably similar and parallel paths - and without them knowing it. Claire Ramsden and Jane Longhorn, who have just been made new partners at the Hull firm, Williamsons Solicitors, both started their education at the same Read more...

Articles - More Famous Than Christmas By Jim Higo

	You can guarantee that some things never change. Sickening over-indulgence, excessive eating and drunken abuse of your work colleagues, followed by obnoxious obscenities, mindless violence and the inability to string together a coherent sentence. Yes, that's John Prescott for you. This Christmas I have managed to stay as close as possible to the true and original meaning of Read more...

Articles - Consolation Prize By Lydia Rivlin

I came to Hull at the beginning of the year, to run as the Conservative Candidate for Hull North. I am a Leeds girl and would have loved to have got back to Yorkshire (yeah, I know Hull is supposed to be a separate entity, but as I said, I'm a Leeds girl). Well, I didn't make it. Labour got the seat and what I got was the consolation prize. Although we are all familiar with the expression Read more...

Articles - I'm Dreaming Of A Weird Christmas By Maurice Fairfield

I spent roughly half my life in Hull and the North of England and I could count the number of White Christmases on one hand. Cold, yes. Wet, yes. Bitterly cold, yes, but rarely white. Yet most of the cards featured gabled houses with icicles dangling from the eaves. Horses pulling sleighs, and always masses of that frigid white stuff. Most of the yuletide snow I have seen is artificial Read more...

Articles - Made In Hull: Stories 1969 - 2005 Part 4 By Rich Mills

	Through the large glass double doors I could see a number of other residents. All were transfixed by the pretty flashing lights emanating from the box in the corner, but I knew they were all fully aware of Laura and I approaching. We stood for a moment watching the specimens through the glass, briefly examining their static behaviour as they gave nothing away except a sense of loss. Read more...

Articles - Made In Hull: Stories 1969 - 2005 Part 3 By Rich Mills

	Waiting in A&E. Too much time spent sitting, waiting, hour upon hour. I wanted to get up and leave so many times, but I knew that I had to stay and keep waiting. For all our sakes! The intensity of the situation made my head ache, but I breathed through it and sunk my head into my hands, still waiting. Among the drawn-out periods of waiting there were breaks, Read more...

Articles - Ten Foot Titans By Rich Mills

	Long summer Sundays when I was a kid were spent running around, plastic machine gun gripped tightly in my hands, throwing myself onto the hot concrete as imagined bullets flew overhead. Rat-a-tat, rat-a-tat. Andy came running full pelt down the ten-foot, Uzi tucked close to his side, spraying invisible hot lead along the side of Brown Owl's fence. Jamie bursts out of his back Read more...

Articles - Charities - And Albert Foundation - Trading Roots at The Zoo Café

	The Zoo Café on Newland Avenue in Hull is currently selling goods produced by the And Albert Foundation ... The founder of the And Albert Foundation, David Murden has been working for almost 15 years to realise his vision of creating long-term ethical trade with villages in the developing world. Fifteen years retail experience has Read more...

Articles - Made In Hull: Stories 1969 - 2005 Part 2 By Rich Mills

	Much of the lower half of his face was carpeted with a dense mat of short-cropped wire. Stroking his hand across his chin, he evoked a long distant memory of adolescent profundity. Another's name floated into his mind, Pat, he'd always thought that was a girl's name, short for Patricia. However Pat was also the name of his former college lecturer, from when Read more...

Articles - For Those About to Rock...We Salute You...Again! by Joolz

	For those of a certain age and musical leaning, the name Trog Bar will hold great memories. For a goodly number of years, Trog Bar was the place to go on a night out if you liked your music Loud and Rockin'. The place itself seemed to act as a gravitational force to all with long hair, tattoos, denim jackets and a preference for patchouli. It wasn't the sort of venue Read more...