by J. R. Bonham
“No thanks, just the usual, then take Hamish for a walk, give him his breakfast and then I’ll be off. Can I have a driving lesson later, when I get back from work?”
“Of course you can. I’ll take you out, see how you get on.”
“Why won’t Dad take me?”
“Won’t I do?” Jan felt a little miffed he would prefer his father to take him, even though Geoff had always said he didn’t want to teach either of his offspring at any time.
“Of course, Mum, I just thought it’s the sort of thing that Dads do rather than Mums.”
“Yes, well. I suppose it is, normally. I don’t know why he won’t. But he just won’t. That’s all there is to it.”
Jan took him out several times over the coming weeks, and then she thought he was ready to have some professional lessons and she booked them.
“I can’t wait to drive on my own. Then I could go all over the place with complete freedom.”
“It’ll all come in good time,” Jan reassured him. “You’re doing well.”
“Good, then I can take Sheryl out on a proper date with me picking her up at her house instead of meeting her wherever we’re going.”
“This all sounds quite serious.”
“Yes, it is. I think she’s great. I want you to meet her, soon.”
“Oh, OK,” Jan was surprised, but pleased.
Louise and Olly had their holiday in Majorca, and carried on their long distance relationship for some months. But Jan could see it was waning.
“How are you getting along with Olly these days?” she asked Louise.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Louise answered her mum. “I think he might have met someone else at uni, but he hasn’t said as much.”
When Olly came home for his next holidays, he dropped the bombshell to Louise that he was in fact seeing someone else.
“It was what I suspected,” Louise said nonchalantly.
“Oh, that’s a shame,” Jan said.
“Yes, I know! You really liked him and thought he was the one! Well, he obviously wasn’t, was he?” Louise announced.
“No, obviously not,” Jan admitted.
“Well, I’ve actually got a date with someone else on Saturday. I met him when I was out with my friends last week.”
“Oh good.” Jan was pleased that Louise wasn’t too upset about Olly after all. “And what is he called?”
“His name is Dean,” she confided.
“I’ve passed!” shouted Steven throwing his L plates into the bin. “Yippee! No more lessons. I can’t wait to tell Sheryl. Mum?”
“Yes?” Jan said, knowing exactly what was coming next.
“Can I borrow your car to go and see Sheryl?”
“Oh, alright, I suppose so. But don’t think you can just borrow it all the time.”
“Thanks Mum,” and he was off. He was a very confident driver and Jan was happy that she had taught him well and to be safe and careful, so she trusted him with her car.
“It’s my 40th birthday coming up,” Jan told Geoff one day. “I think I’d like a party. Will you arrange it for me?”
“No! You don’t want a party, do you?” he exclaimed.
“I just said I did. I’m not 40 every year.”
“Well, I didn’t have a party for mine.”
“You never said you wanted one! I would have done a party for you if you had wanted one. Who would you have invited if you did have one?” Jan knew very well that Geoff didn’t have many friends, so he would have been hard pushed knowing who to invite.
“I don’t know. And that’s getting off the subject of your party.”
“Oh, you agree I can have one then?” she asked. ‘Got him!’ she thought.
“I suppose so, if you must! How many people will you want, presuming it will be at home?” ‘Hopefully you won’t want to go to the expense of hiring a hall for all your friends,’ he thought.
“Oh, hundreds!” Jan joked. Geoff didn’t get the joke, so didn’t even crack a smile.
“You don’t know that many people.”
“No, you’re right,” she said. ‘That’s probably because you were always so jealous of my friends so I was afraid of having too many. Let’s see, there’s the people at work, no maybe not, only Sheila and her new man. Margaret and Fred and maybe Val and Max, we never invited them back after their disastrous party. No, maybe not, it won’t be wild enough for them. Some of the women from the tennis club with their husbands and a couple from badminton.’ “Probably in the region of about 10 or 12. I expect we’ll just have a small gathering here at home, nothing too pretentious.”
“I suppose I can cope with that if I have to,” Geoff agreed. “What about food?”
“Well, I can do the food, unless you want to?”
“Not likely! Do we have enough glasses?”
“I expect so. If not I can hire some, or ask Sheila from work if she’s got any spare.”
So it was all arranged. Jan asked her friends and they nearly all accepted. She told them not to bring any gifts, but of course they took no notice.
“Thank you all for coming,” she said at the end of the evening. “And thank you so much for the presents.”
‘What a frightfully dull evening that was!’ she thought. ‘I couldn’t wait for it to end. He didn’t want to put any music on and we all stood around looking at each other. Hardly anyone knew anyone else, what an absolute disaster. I shan’t be doing that again in a hurry.’
Louise and Steven both came in from being out with their respective boyfriend and girlfriend.
“How did it go, Mum?” Louise asked her Mum as Steven just went upstairs without saying anything to anyone.
“Oh, it was OK,” Jan lied without much enthusiasm, but not wanting to admit the truth.
‘I’m just glad I didn’t invite John and Vera, they would have been totally bored. Really disappointed, just like I am. I shall just go to bed and forget about it.’
Jan hoped for a better one next time, if at all.
‘Heavens that would mean when I’m 50!’ she thought to herself sadly, not wanting to wish her time away.
How completely different that was going to be, but she wasn’t to know it at the time.
Chapter 24
The next day an invitation arrived.
“Look, we’ve been invited to Mum and Dad’s golden wedding party in Bristol.”
“Oh no!” Geoff exclaimed. “Not another party, I can’t bear it! Why do they want a party at their age?”
“Obviously to celebrate being together for fifty years! That’s what a golden anniversary means!” Jan said sarcastically. “It’s a miracle you know, knowing what they’ve been like over the years, always rowing. I’m really surprised they’ve come through it. It’s what the older generation used to do I suppose, just get on with it. Not like these days when so many people are getting divorced, not working through their problems.”
Jan mused, ‘I wonder how much longer we can survive? We’ve only got the kids in common. What happens when they get married and leave home?’
“Well, I don’t want to go,” Geoff stated. “You go if you want to.”
“Thanks for all your support!” she said sarcastically, feeling rather annoyed with him. “I’ll write back and say we are away or something. Lie through my teeth in other words.”
“Yes, you do that! I said you can go if you want to.”
“Oh, thanks! On my own! I don’t think so. Anyway, I’m not that fussed. I’ll send them some flowers nearer the time.”
No more was said about it.
“What are we going to give Steven for his 18th?” Jan asked Geoff as the day was getting ever nearer. “We did a party for Louise and got her a car.”
“That was a bit extravagant, wasn’t it?” Geoff complained, even though he already knew what
they had given to their daughter on her 18th.
“I guess so, but they’re only 18 once. I suppose they might be leaving home at some stage and so we can’t spoil them then. I know he’s dying for his own wheels.”
“Oh no, not again! Our drive will be full of cars! It’ll be like that programme on the TV from years ago – ‘Butterflies’ – Where they all have cars and when the one at the back needs theirs, everyone rushes out and moves theirs.”
“Yes, it will, I suppose,” Jan mused as she remembered the programme to which Geoff referred. It was one of her favourites at the time.
“And then everyone will expect me to maintain them all!” he complained.
“Well, I reckon they should both go to car maintenance classes to learn how to at least change the oil and tyres etc, and generally know how to look after them,” Jan suggested.
“That’s a very good idea! I don’t see why I should have to do it. I do yours and mine, but they’ll have to do their own.”
“Yes, I know. Do you think you can get a good one like you did for Louise?”
“I really don’t know. I’ll ask around. It might be possible.” He didn’t really feel like bothering but knew Jan would be on his case until he came up with the goods.
“I’ll ask him if he wants a party like Louise had,” Jan said, but Geoff made a face. “He might not and then that’ll be one less thing to think about. That sounds like him now, I’ll go and ask him.”
“What would you like to do special for your 18th? Do you want…?”
“I definitely don’t want a party, thank you,” Steven cut her short.
“Oh! That’s the end of that conversation then.” Secretly Jan was pleased, as she knew Geoff would be too.
“What then?” she asked him.
“What are the suggestions, apart from a party?”
“Well, we can take you out for a nice meal. Somewhere of your choosing. And you can invite Sheryl too if you’d like,” Jan suggested.
“Yes, that sounds fine,” he said. Then he thought to himself. ‘I wonder if they’re going to buy me a car. That’s what I really, really want, nothing else. How do I ask for something as big as that. Take the bull by horns, Steven, and ask. They can only say no.’ He thought about it for a while and decided against asking. He would just hope instead.
Jan was saying nothing to Steven about a car either, in case they couldn’t find one suitable. Also she wanted it to be a surprise.
“OK then, a meal out with Sheryl. Let me know where you want to go,” she said and then disappeared into the kitchen. She didn’t want him to ask what he was getting as a present. ‘He’s probably guessed that we might do the same for him as his sister, but I’ll let him sweat on it.’
Nothing else was said on the subject. Jan thought she would look around herself although she would need Geoff’s expertise in getting the right deal. He would know what to look for because old cars were prone to faults like rusting or generally breaking down.
“I’ve found just the thing for Steven,” Jan said to Geoff one day. “It’s a Vauxhall Viva, just like the one we went to Cornwall in for our honeymoon. It’s quite low mileage for its year. It’s nearly 12 years old from memory. White. It’s from that little garage down the road. They don’t have many cars but what they do have seem to be gems. I know some of my friends have bought them from there.”
“It’ll be a rust bucket I expect!”
“Why do you have to be so negative? Can you please come with me to give it a once-over? I don’t really know what to look for, and you do,” Jan pleaded.
“OK. OK.” He sounded really fed up and Jan felt bad for asking.
She took him straight down to the garage. ‘Strike while the iron’s hot,’ she thought.
Geoff looked all around the car and gave it a test drive. He was surprised at how well it ran. He vaguely knew the man through his work and so he was confident of asking for a discount.
“I’ll take it off your hands,” said Geoff. “It’s not worth more than 300 quid.”
Jan was surprised at Geoff’s negotiating skills. The car had a sticker on its windscreen that said £400.
“You’re robbing me blind,” the man from the garage complained. “How about £350?”
“I’ll give you £325 and not a penny more.”
“Oh, OK. As it’s you.” They shook on the deal and Jan sorted out the finances.
“Well done,” said Jan to Geoff on the way home. “You did well.”
“Thanks. Now will you leave me alone? I just need some peace.”
“That sounds ideal. We’ll keep it a secret from both of them so don’t say anything, even if he asks. Just be a bit vague,” she suggested
Steven had chosen to go for a Chinese meal locally, the evening before his birthday. He fetched Sheryl in Jan’s car and Louise went with her mum and dad. Louise had wanted to invite her boyfriend, Dean, but he declined, thinking it was supposed to be a family occasion, special for Steven’s 18th.
Geoff had asked a work colleague to fetch the Viva and he parked it in the road while the family were out celebrating. The next morning before Steven awoke, Geoff brought it into the drive and Jan placed a blue ribbon on its bonnet. They both went in to Steven’s bedroom with car keys dangling.
Steven opened one eye. Then the other. Then focused on the keys dangling before them. He was suddenly wide awake. He shot out of bed and over to the window. The curtains were flung back and there in all its glory he saw the white Vauxhall Viva with a little blue ribbon on its bonnet.
“Wow! Wow! Wow! Is that for me!” he cried as he took hold of the keys.
“Happy birthday, son,” Jan and Geoff said in chorus.
Steven grabbed his trousers and ran downstairs while trying to put them on. He very nearly fell all the way down. He rushed out of the front door while Hamish looked at him as if he was quite mad. He started to bark. He didn’t understand why his master had taken leave of his senses.
“Careful, Steven. You’ll do yourself a mischief,” Jan smiled. It was nice to see him so excited.
“Where’s the fire?” Louise was coming out of her bedroom to use the bathroom when she heard the commotion. When she saw the keys in Steven’s hand and remembered that it was his special birthday she understood. She went back into her bedroom to get her own present for him plus a card.
“Is it alright? Is it what you wanted?” Jan asked him when she caught up with him outside, next to the new car. His car. He was still in only his trousers with his chest bare. He was looking all over the car and then opening the doors and inspecting the inside.
“Oh! It’s fab. I love it and it’s all mine. I can go where I like. It’s what I’ve always wanted, my own wheels. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“I have another present for you inside. D’you want to come in now and get dressed?”
“No, I haven’t got time for that!” he said. But he eventually had to drag himself away from his new car, into the house. “What is it? The other present?”
“Here it is.” Jan gave him an envelope.
“But that’s just a card.”
“It’s just as important. Open it and you’ll see.”
Steven opened his special 18th birthday card and out dropped a sheet of paper.
“What’s this?” he said, turning it over to look at it and read what it said, hoping it might be a cheque. “Car maintenance lessons!”
“Yep. You’re going to learn how to look after your own car,” Geoff said emphatically. “There’s one for you too, madam,” he said to Louise. “I’m not going to work on your cars because you’re going to learn how to do it for yourselves. I should have given you yours earlier but it slipped my mind,” he said to Louise.
“Thanks Dad,” they both said in unison.
“I think it’s worth looking at a holiday, don’t you?�
� Jan said to Geoff on one miserable winter’s day. “For next summer I mean. It would be something to look forward to.”
“I suppose so, if you really want to. Where d’you want to go this time? Will the kids want to come too?” He was hoping they wouldn’t, as it would make it so expensive although they could probably pay for themselves now they were both earning.
“You said the last one was the final family holiday because you felt the kids would want to go on their own or with their partners. I don’t suppose they’d want to go with old fuddy duddies like us any more anyway.”
“No, perhaps not. Where d’you want to go this time? I don’t care. If you really want to go somewhere, you can book it.”
Jan was disappointed as usual with Geoff’s complete apathy and lack of interest. She went ahead and got some brochures from the travel agent anyway. She pored over them and came up with a lovely tour of USA.
“Look at this one, it’s called ‘Mountains and Canyons of the Wild West’. See what you think,” she told him. “I think it looks a great tour. It goes from Denver all around and back to Denver taking in the mountain area where they filmed ‘The Shining,’ Monument Valley, Bryce Canyon and of course the Grand Canyon – I’ve always wanted to see the Grand Canyon. Plus much more of course. Go on, have a look,” she urged him. He put down the newspaper he was reading intently and gave a huff.
“Oh all right, stop nagging.”
“I’m not nagging! I just wanted to get you interested in something. Like a holiday. It’s as if you don’t really want to do anything anymore. What’s the matter with you?”
“I just feel a bit depressed.”
“Nothing new there then!” she said, but then felt mean as soon as the words left her mouth. “A holiday will do you good, cheer you up. It’s no good feeling down all the time, it’s bringing me down too.”
“Oh, I’m SO sorry for that! That’ll never do,” he said sarcastically. “OK, let me have a look. I’ve always been interested in Monument Valley. I remember it’s where they film a lot of Westerns.”