Fireworks to Thailand

by J. R. Bonham

  “I’ll show you what to do and you can carry on and iron your own shirts. You will have to learn at some stage anyway. Maybe you’d like to iron your sister’s blouses too?”

  “Oh Mum! Why can’t she do it herself?”

  “Only kidding, of course she can.”

  Jan had a call from Clare to say that she was expecting again.

  “I wondered if you were going to have any more! There’s going to be about five years between your two.”

  “You worked that out quickly! I’ve been desperate to have another one for the last couple of years, but as you get older it gets more difficult. I was hoping to have another one before I hit 40, and I’m glad I shall do it, just!”

  “Well, well done! When is it due?”

  “I’ve just had a scan to see that everything is OK. I didn’t want to tell anyone before it was certain. I have another four months to go.”

  “Fantastic! How’s Jamie and Kara?”

  “Oh. They’re fine. Kara’s growing up so fast now she’s at school.”

  “Hopefully we can get together at some stage. I do miss you all.”

  Four months later, almost to the day, Clare gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. They called him Joshua. Josh for short. Or even Joss which they liked even more.

  It was Steven’s turn to take the 11-Plus to go to Grammar School. He failed it. Twice.

  Later that year he started at the new Comprehensive School which was about half a mile away. There was no bus for him to catch, so he would have to walk although Jan took him on his first day. He was rather apprehensive and didn’t want to go. But Jan persuaded him and told him she’d be there to fetch him afterwards.

  She hoped he would make friends with other boys and girls locally and they could all walk together and then she wouldn’t have to ferry him to and fro.

  He did make friends with some boys in his class and he brought them home once for tea. Jan welcomed them but was rather shocked at their appearance and demeanour. They were surly and rude even though she tried to put them at ease. Steven told her later that they lived in the council houses nearby.

  “That doesn’t excuse them being so rude,” Jan told Steven.

  She wouldn’t always judge a book by its cover. She was determined if they were going to be friends with her son, then at least they should know how to behave. She didn’t want to tell her son who to have as friends and who not to befriend, that should be up to him.

  One day she received a letter from the school. It told her that Steven and two of his friends had played truant on one day. She wasn’t quite sure how to handle this, but she couldn’t let it go without asking him what it was all about. She showed him the letter.

  “What’s all this then?” She waited for him to read the letter and watched him as he looked a bit sheepish and guilty. Then she knew it was the truth. “What did you do that day?”

  “I was with Darren and Ben.” Steven didn’t want to give too much away.

  “Yes. And?” Jan was digging for more information.

  “We went down the amusement arcades on the seafront and mooched about a bit,” Steven said shamefacedly.

  “And did you enjoy your day?” Jan asked him.

  “Not really. It was pretty boring really. It wasn’t my idea. I’m sorry, Mum. I won’t do it again. I can’t say the same for the others though. They can do that if they want to, but I’ll stay at school all the time and get on with my work, I promise.” Jan believed he was sorry. She didn’t know whether to tell Geoff and decided it was best kept under wraps unless it happened again.

  Jan noticed that Steven was behaving rather oddly one day and Louise noticed it too.

  “What’s up with Steven?” Louise asked her mother.

  “I’m not sure. I’ll keep an eye on him. Let me know if he opens up to you and tells you what’s wrong, if anything.”

  A few weeks later she discovered in his bedroom some empty cans of glue. She wondered what he would be doing with glue. He didn’t make model cars or aeroplanes or anything, so what could he possibly be doing with glue? Then it dawned on her. Glue sniffing was the substance of choice with the young set those days… ‘OH NO!’ Next he will be experimenting with drugs if she doesn’t nip it in the bud right now.

  She removed all the cans from his bedroom and lined them up on the kitchen table.

  He came home from school before Louise. It was just him and Jan in the house. She sent him in to the kitchen and followed him just to watch his reaction. As soon as he saw the cans he realised he’d been caught.

  “What have you got to say about these?” Jan started, wondering if he was going to lie.

  “I found them,” he lied.

  “Oh, you just found them lying around somewhere and thought you’d clutter up your room with them, did you? I wasn’t born yesterday. Try again.”

  “Darren and Ben gave them to me.”

  “And were they empty when they gave them to you?”

  “Not quite.”

  “Well, they’re empty now, aren’t they?! How long have you been sniffing glue?”

  “Not long.”

  “You know I’m going have to tell your father, don’t you? I kept the truancy letter to myself because you promised not to do it again. Have you kept your word on that?”

  “Yes. And I won’t take any more of this stuff either. I didn’t like it anyway, it made me feel funny afterwards. Please don’t tell Dad, he’ll go ape!” Steven sounded genuine to Jan, and so she decided to give him another chance without telling Geoff. She thought that once he knew, Steven’s life wouldn’t be worth living, he would never let him forget it.

  “OK. But this is your last warning. Don’t do anything so stupid again or your father will definitely know about it.” Jan thought that this threat would be enough.

  Obviously not.

  Chapter 13

  Ken and Audrey decided to throw a party for their ruby wedding anniversary, jointly with a house-warming party. They wanted all their family there with them plus the few close friends they had left since Audrey’s illness.

  “You send out the invitations,” Ken said to Audrey. “We have a few months to organise this. It’s nice that Clare is home now, so the whole family will be together. We will put up Jan and Geoff here with the kids and everyone else is local anyway. It’ll be fun.”

  Jan showed Geoff the invitation and wondered what his reaction was going to be, worried he’d say no – again.

  “Well, I don’t want to go! You go if you want,” Geoff said. “I shan’t know anyone.”

  “Oh, that’s not fair!” Jan complained. “You said you’d go back to Bristol whenever I wanted. I want to go and we ought to go, as a family. After all, it’s a real milestone: forty years married. I don’t quite know how Dad has managed it with Mum the way she is sometimes. And I want to see the new house. It’s a double celebration for their anniversary and the housewarming and Dad says that we can stay with them. Of course you’ll know people, you know John and Vera and Clare. It’ll give you a chance to meet other people too.”

  “Oh, what fun!” said Geoff sarcastically.

  “Yes, well, you’ll just have to join in with the rest of us. The kids will enjoy being with their cousins, they see precious little of them as it is.”

  Jan thought back to when she was young. Her parents would take her, Clare and John to Ken’s parents’ house once a year, at Christmas. They only lived a mile away but Jan only saw her grandparents on her father’s side once a year. All her aunts, uncles and cousins would be there too but year on year Jan was always puzzled as to which cousin was which as they changed as they got older. She could never remember who was who.

  She didn’t want this to happen to her own children with their cousins. She felt bad enough taking them away from her family in Bristol with whom they should be growing up.

&n
bsp; Geoff decided maybe he ought to show willing, just this once.

  When the time came, they set off early and arrived at Ken and Audrey’s in time for lunch on the day of the party.

  “I’m glad you’ve come early,” Audrey said excitedly as they arrived. “There’s lots to do before the caterers arrive at 4 o’clock”.

  Audrey buzzed around like a mother hen, although it appeared to Jan that actually there wasn’t that much to do. She showed them all where they were sleeping. Louise and Steven would have to sleep in the same bedroom; she hoped they didn’t mind.

  The caterers arrived and set up everything in no time at all. They had waitresses to serve the food and also the drink. It was only a finger buffet, Audrey couldn’t cope with a proper sit-down meal, as they didn’t really have space; in their old house, they would have had plenty of room. Here they were going to use the dining room and sitting room, with extra chairs placed around the large hallway with strategically placed occasional tables. The caterers provided all the extra chairs and tables.

  Jan went to change, as did Geoff and the children. Jan came down and looked at all the chairs in the hall. “Crikey, Mum, how many are coming?” she asked.

  “Well, there’s 14 of us, just the family. Then there are some of our oldest friends. Firstly, Tom and Pam. They had a daughter with learning disabilities who you used to play with when you were little, as you were about the same age. Do you remember them?

  “Of course I do.”

  “Then there’s Susan and Harry, you may not remember them. Oh, I know you’ll remember Harold and Peggy. Their son is a high-flyer in London. Apparently these days you’re nothing unless you end up in London, it’s THE place to be!” Audrey started gushing again.

  “Rather than a backwards move to Devon, d’you mean?” Jan asked, tongue in cheek.

  “No, I didn’t mean that!” Audrey said almost apologetically. She carried on. “Oh yes, we’ve invited Bob from next door. We thought we’d better keep him sweet in case we make too much noise, it’s always best to invite the neighbours. I feel a bit sorry for him too because his wife’s just left him. That’s about 21 in my reckoning,” Audrey said as she counted on her fingers. “I’m not sure if your Uncle Cyril and Auntie Sandra are coming, they never bothered to answer the invite! Oh, yes I almost forgot. Plus we’ve also invited a couple who have just moved into the road, I think they’re called Veronica and Clifford. It would be nice for them to meet our family. They seem a nice couple. I think we’ve got enough room for everyone. The kids will probably not want to be with the adults anyway. Maybe Louise could play with the younger ones and keep them from making too much noise.”

  John and Vera arrived first with Danny and Natalie. John sought out Jan to say hello while Vera was getting the kids out of the car.

  “You got here then? Long time no see,” John said to Jan, just as Geoff came downstairs.

  “Hi John, nice to see you again,” Geoff shook John’s hand. He decided to be pleasant to everyone he met. ‘That will surprise Jan,’ he thought.

  “Hello, hello, hello,” Jan said to Vera, Danny and Natalie in turn. “Louise and Steven are upstairs if you want to go up and say hello to them.” They trotted off in search of the cousins they hardly ever saw. Jan wondered if they would recognise each other.

  “I wonder when Clare and Jamie will arrive, I can’t wait to see them,” Jan asked no one in particular.

  John answered straight away, “Oh they’ll be late, as usual! They’re typical hippies, or they might rather be called travellers. Except, of course, they aren’t gipsies, never were. They just like to think they are. At least they seem to live like them!”

  “John!” Vera scolded her husband.

  “Well, they are! There’s no getting away from it. I’ll bet you anything they won’t come until the party has begun and everyone else is already here. I’ll ask Dad if the kids can go down to his den and play on the fruit machine. I’m sure they’ll enjoy each other’s company away from the adults.”

  “I haven’t even seen the den yet!” Jan said. “I’ll go down with them, I want to see it too, I’ve heard so much about it.”

  The kids trotted downstairs. John told them he had asked Grandpa if they could play on the one-arm bandit and they were delighted. Danny and Natalie had used it many times before so they showed the way. Jan followed along behind.

  She left them once she was happy to see them all getting along, chatting happily whilst playing on the machine. The old sixpences were to be strictly not taken outside the den. There were other games they could play with too. She left Louise in charge with instructions; she was to get Jan if there were any problems. Also behind the bar was out of bounds, and Jan put a chair in the way to remind them not go there.

  Jan went back upstairs to the hall where she was greeted by her Auntie Sandra and Uncle Cyril.

  “Well, hello. We haven’t seen you since John’s wedding. How are you doing? I know you moved to Devon soon after your own wedding, are you any more settled now?” Auntie Sandra started the conversation.

  “Well, no actually. But that’s another story altogether, not to go into now. Today is Mum and Dad’s special day.”

  Other guests started arriving, so Jan took her leave and went to find Geoff to make sure he wasn’t upsetting anyone.

  She found him with John at the makeshift bar in the dining room, sinking a pint or two, getting on like a house on fire.

  “We’re supposed to be meeting and greeting people as they come in! Now I suppose you’ve been drinking too much, you don’t care?”

  “Something like that!” John laughed. “Come on,” he said to Geoff. “Let’s mingle.”

  “How are the kids?” Geoff asked Jan.

  “Oh, they’re having a great time catching up with their cousins in the den. They can’t wait to see Kara and Joss too. That goes for me too actually. I can’t believe Joss is nearly two and I still haven’t met him.”

  More people started arriving and Geoff really felt out of his comfort zone. He had nothing to say to these people he didn’t know. He retreated to where the kids were, downstairs. He thought it was pretty cool to have your own den, complete with bar and optics and a one-arm bandit like he used to play with when he was younger and had first started going into pubs.

  “Dad, Dad, come and play, it’s fun,” said Steven when Geoff entered the room. “I’ve never seen one of these machines before!” he was talking about the one-arm bandit. “You put in a coin and pull the trigger! Then it pays out money if the plums line up!”

  “Yes, son, I know. I used to play a long time ago.”

  He stayed with them for some time. Nobody bothered him. They were all upstairs, busy entertaining the guests. He was quite happy with that.

  Meanwhile everyone had arrived except Clare and Jamie with Kara and Joss. Eventually they turned up half an hour late, just as John had predicted.

  “Hello everyone,” Clare made an entrance and everyone came over to greet her and her family, including Jan.

  “Trust her!” John said under his breath. “The favourite is here at last!” Luckily no one heard. He was, of course, referring to something the whole family knew, that Clare was their father’s favourite child, being first-born.

  Jan went over to meet Clare and Jamie and took all of their coats.

  “Shall we go downstairs and see your cousins?” Jan asked Kara, being the elder.

  Kara promptly took hold of Joss’s hand and followed Jan downstairs.

  “There you are!” she said to Geoff.

  “Here I am, yes. I’m doing some entertaining of my own. Oh, hello, two more.”

  “Kara, this is your Uncle Geoff,” Jan said to Kara who immediately poked her tongue out. “Oh, that’s not very nice, just say hello and we’ll forget about that.” Then Joss copied his sister and poked his tongue out too.

  “Oh,
just ignore it,” Jan said to Geoff. “They’ll grow out of it, it’s just a phase, I expect. Play nicely with your Uncle Geoff. You have about half an hour before food,” she said to all the kids. Then to Geoff. “Will you bring them up with you then?”

  “Probably, when we’re ready.”

  Jan went back upstairs and into the kitchen. The catering staff were busying themselves getting everything ready.

  “All OK for about half an hour?” she asked them. They nodded. Some of them didn’t speak much English, but they understood her.

  Then she went to the bar and poured herself a good sized gin and tonic and went off in search of her sister. She found her talking to Auntie Sandra.

  “I was just saying to Clare that we last met at John’s wedding,” she said to Jan. “Shame you missed it, it was beautiful.” To Clare this time.

  “Well, I was out in Oz meeting my future beau,” Clare explained. “How are our cousins, Carol and Edward? What are they doing with themselves these days?” She changed the subject nicely.

  Sandra proceeded to tell the sisters all about how well her children did at school and then at work. Jan and Clare eventually glazed over after about twenty minutes. They couldn’t wait to get away but they were too polite. Jan excused herself, saying she was needed in the kitchen as the food was hopefully nearly ready. Clare also excused herself saying that she needed to see where her children were.

  John and Jamie stood in a corner in deep conversation while other couples around the sitting room were politely talking to other couples, whether they knew them or not. Ken was comforting Bob, their next door neighbour, trying to placate him.

  “Well, I expect she’ll come back as soon as she knows where the grass is greener,” Ken was trying very hard, but not really succeeding. Bob was very upset and probably should never have come.