‘Here’s one for you,’ Pearl said on Monday morning as she handed Lucy a letter.
The envelope was brown and looked official. Lucy tore it open to read the contents and squealed with excitement. ‘Pearl, it’s from the housing association. They’ve offered me a flat in Bullen Street!’
‘That’s nice,’ Pearl said, though there wasn’t a trace of enthusiasm in her voice.
Lucy could guess why and worried about losing her job, she said hurriedly, ‘It’s only a hop and a skip away so it won’t make a lot of difference. Once I’ve taken Clive to school I can come here.’
‘Yes, of course you can and when Nora gets used to the new arrangements, I’m sure she’ll be fine.’
Relieved, Lucy said, ‘I’d best get Clive to school now. When I come back, do you mind if I ring the housing association to arrange a viewing?’
‘You don’t have to ask permission to use the telephone.’
‘I don’t want you to think I’m taking liberties.’
Pearl smiled. ‘I know you’d never do that. In fact, in the short time you’ve been living with us you’ve become like a part of the family.’
Lucy was touched. Like Pearl, she was an only child and it was like having a big sister. She liked Derek, John too, but though it hadn’t been bad staying with them, she couldn’t wait to have her own home again.
‘Thanks, Pearl,’ she said, then going to the door she called, ‘Clive, Nora, come on, we’ve got to go.’
With lightness in her step, Lucy set off to take Clive to school, Nora on one side as she walked along and her son on the other. As she passed Eddie White’s stall, he stepped forward, a friendly grin on his face.
‘Hello, sunshine. It must be seeing me that’s brought that smile to your face!’
‘Don’t kid yourself,’ Lucy quipped.
‘Gawd, you know how to crush a man, but I’d still like to take you out.’
Lucy was unable to wipe the smile from her face. It was a lovely morning, the sun was shining, and she’d just had the smashing news that she was getting a flat. ‘I’ll think about it,’ she said, but then her face flamed. It was as though the words had left her mouth of their own volition.
‘Really? That’s great.’
‘I’ve got to go,’ she spluttered. ‘Come on, you two, get a move on.’
‘Don’t think about it for too long,’ Eddie called after her. ‘After all, you don’t want someone else to come along and snap me up, do you?’
Nora giggled. ‘He funny … nice.’
Lucy just shook her head and as they hurried away she wondered what had made her blurt that out to Eddie. As they passed Derek’s china stall he waved at them and she waved back, but her mind was still on Eddie. Had she unconsciously been considering going out with him? No, that was silly, of course she hadn’t. Or had she?
The question remained unanswered as Lucy watched Clive run into the school playground, and on her way back she ignored Eddie as she hurried past on the other side of the road, the telephone call she had to make to the housing association now uppermost in her mind.
Dolly was anxious to speak to Kevin – and of course to give Rupert a piece of her mind – but though she had tried several times to ring them when Bernie was out of the way, she hadn’t been able to get through.
She’d try again later, but for now Dolly was glad that she could set the clock by Bernie’s morning routine. At the moment he was upstairs having a shave and in just a few more minutes he’d be down for his breakfast.
She poured herself a cup of tea and then upped Bernie’s dose by tipping a whole crushed pill into the pot. She stirred the tea vigorously and popped the cosy back on, knowing from previous occasions that the taste would be smothered by the amount of sugar Bernie spooned in, two teaspoons at least, sometimes three.
When Dolly heard his footsteps on the stairs she composed her face to one of calm, yet inside she was still seething. Yesterday Bernie had threatened her with the doctor, forced her to take pills, but she’d pushed them into her cheek with her tongue until able to dispose of them. She pretended they had calmed her, and as usual it had fooled Bernie; though it had been hard to sit still when all she had wanted to do was lay into him with her fists over and over again.
Never again, Dolly thought. She wasn’t going to let the little runt rule her ever again. It was time to act, and as Bernie walked into the room she asked quietly, ‘What do you want for your breakfast?’
‘I’m not hungry. I’ll just have a cup of tea, but I’ll get your pills first.’
As always now, Dolly didn’t swallow them and as Bernie looked a bit distracted it was easy enough to surreptitiously spit them out while he poured himself a cup of tea.
She smiled inwardly. From now on she wouldn’t have any trouble from Bernie. He’d be as docile as she had been for far too many years.
In Ealing, Kevin found that he was so uptight that he wasn’t able to eat his breakfast. Rupert hadn’t mentioned the club since he’d told him to forget about buying it yesterday, and though he’d had the chance to sleep on it, so far Rupert hadn’t raised the subject this morning either.
Kevin’s stomach knotted with anxiety. He’d promised Adrianna that it wouldn’t be too long before he’d be able to leave the chalk sign and he could just imagine her looking for it every night when she went to perform at Vince’s club.
‘You’re rather quiet this morning, Kevin. Are you feeling all right?’ Rupert asked.
Kevin decided that he’d have to risk bringing up the subject and said despondently, ‘I must admit I’m gutted about the club, especially as he was willing to knock ten grand off the price. I’ll have to go out this morning to check a few more areas, a few more commercial agents, but I’ll only give it another month. If nothing turns up I think paying me to carry on searching is just wasting your money and I’ll refuse to take it any more. There must be a job out there for me, something I can do, though it won’t be the same as working for you.’
‘Hold on, Kevin. I know you said we should forget about buying the club, but I’m not sure I agree with you.’
‘Rupert, I told you, he wants cash and he wants to fiddle the books. Surely that could cause a problem with the Inland Revenue?’
‘I suppose there’s a slight possibility, but it’s hardly the crime of the century. There are lots of people who are less than honest, especially when it comes to taxes – for instance those who salt their money away in offshore accounts.’
Kevin had never heard of offshore accounts, but he didn’t want to show his ignorance. ‘So are you telling me that you’re willing to go along with it?’
‘Yes, I am, so now all you have to do is finalise the deal.’
Kevin hid his delight, only feigning concern as he said, ‘Rupert, are you sure? I still think it’s a bit dodgy and I’d hate you to come a cropper with the Inland Revenue.’
‘It’s lovely to hear that you’re worried about me, but I’m sure there’s no need.’
‘All right, then, I’ll ring him now to arrange another meeting,’ Kevin said, and on the off chance that Rupert would hear, he’d pretend to do just that, though of course Rupert still had no idea that the phone was out of action. Luckily Rupert hardly used the telephone, and if by any chance he did, he’d think it was out of order and suggest getting in an engineer to fix it.
Once out of sight, Kevin allowed himself a huge smile. He’d done it, covered every base, and very shortly he’d have a cheque made out to cash in his hands.
Bernie felt ill, muzzy-headed, and had spent most of the morning and early afternoon sitting in a chair before his mind began to clear. He’d had bouts of this before, but never as bad as this. At last, he stood up, drinking a glass of water before going out to the garden for a bit of fresh air. Dolly was outside too, sitting on the garden bench, but she rose to her feet when she saw him.
‘It’s about time you bucked yourself up. I’ve been sitting here thinking, and I can’t believe you listened to anything that Rupert had to say. For one thing, if you remember, Kevin refused to take money from you and at the same time he even protested about changing our wills. The only money he accepted went into the fund for the refuge.’
‘There is no refuge,’ Bernie said tiredly, but he couldn’t find the energy to argue.
‘Don’t talk rubbish,’ she snapped, and with that final parting shot she went inside.
Dolly had sounded a bit sharp and Bernie wondered if he’d forgotten her medication again. He was still woolly-minded, however, and the thought didn’t remain in his head for long as he flopped onto the vacant bench.
It was four o’clock before Bernie felt fully alert again. He didn’t know how long he’d been sitting, but his bottom felt numb and his back was aching as he stood up to stretch. He knew he was going senile, but it seemed odd that after feeling like a zombie for most of the day, he now felt that his mind was clear. If anything, his pattern of behaviour was more like Dolly’s than his father’s: her pills kept her quiet for long periods until they wore off and she had to have another dose.
An awful thought crossed Bernie’s mind and, sickened, he flopped down again. He already knew that Dolly hadn’t been taking her pills, but now he suspected that she’d been giving them to him instead.
‘Bernie, you’ve been out there long enough,’ Dolly called. ‘Come inside. I’ve made a pot of tea.’
Tea … yes, he’d started to feel muzzy-headed after drinking a couple of cups that morning. Despite this, Bernie didn’t want to believe that Dolly was giving him her drugs, but there was only one sure way to find out.
‘All right, I’m on my way,’ he called in reply, and soon after drinking the brew Bernie’s anxieties disappeared as his mind floated, cushioned, as though resting on a cloud of cotton wool.