by Paul Kelly
Chapter Twenty
I had been in the office nearly half of the working day but everything seemed so very quiet and Freddie was sitting beside me in a little sofa that he had bought for my office, so that I could have a little rest or read a book if the business got very quiet and I was just about to eat one of my lunch sandwiches when the phone rang. It was Emily and she seemed excited.
“Darling, can you come home earlier than ususal today if possible as Assim has just been on the phone to me and he is in trouble again. Oh sorry Darling. I can’t stop Sylvie dancing... Just a minute till I pick her up.”
I wondered what trouble Assim was in and hoped it wasn’t another woman but within a few seconds Emily was back on the phone again to assure me that a woman was not at all involved and I was pleased “She’s a little madam is this daughter of ours ever since she started to talk when she was eighteen months old and now I can’t stop her dancing. Darling, Assim is concerned that his brother Umar is coming to Scotland on a business trip to be with someone who wants to buy his horses and he has to travel to Eaglesham, but Assim is due to be in the operating theatre in the next hour for a very serious and long operation which will take him about three hours and he is asking, with a sincere apology, if we could entertain his brother for a little while at home with a cup of tea or a chance for him to watch television, but it would not be long before he could come to see us... Oh and his sister Farida is also coming with Umar.”
I thought that was a wonderful idea and as Freddie could hear what I was saying on the phone, he suggested I should go immediately as he could do anything that was necessary in the office while I was away.
I jumped into my old jalopy in the office car park, just after I had phoned Emily to tell her I was going to the hospital to help Assim in any way I could and I would pick her up in the hopes that she was free to come with me and when I got there, I was just in time for Assim to wave us from a distance with a crowd of other nurses around him and tell us that his brother and sister were in the hospital canteen.
I got into the canteen and found there were only two people sitting in there as the canteen was only used for meals and coffees for the nursing staff when they were not on duty and as I approached the visitors, I was stunned when Farida jumped up from her seat and threw her arms around me where Umar looked on in confusion, “You must be Felix, yes?” she called out and danced around the floor telling me that she knew who I was as Assim had told her all about me and that she was delighted to meet me at last. All this was said in broken English with a French accent before she grabbed Emily and kissed her on both cheeks. “I know who you are too, “ she shouted, “and I think your brother Gerard is a dream. I wish he could be attracted to me as I think he is absolutely luvverly...”
With that, Emily smiled at me and said she knew that Farida spoke beautiful English... as she offered her a cuppa but Farida knew exactly what a cuppa was as she started to laugh and said she preferred a glass of ‘THOUTHERN COMFORT’ of All drinks and I knew then for sure that she must have had a boyfriend in Paris who could speak English with a somewhat ‘Scottish accent.’ but she could manage a double whiskey if we didn’t have the ‘comfort’ and very happily Emily was able to oblige as Farida and Sylvie went on dancing.
Umar then told us that he had to go to Eaglesham and he had an address on a diary he produced from his pocket and I offered to drive him there in my old jalopy which pleased him very much as he felt he would never have found the place if he had to look for it on his own.
As I left to go to Eaglesham with Umar, I passed Farida as she danced her way along our hall towards the garden with Sylvie by her side
Assim came from the hospital at ten-thirty-four and apologised again for the appearance of his two relatives, but Emily waved his apologies aside saying that we had enjoyed the company of the two ‘invaders’ and told Assim what a wonderful evening we all had. Sylvie had gone to bed ‘exhausted’ after her dancing lesson and Alfie hadn’t stopped talking about horses until he went off to bed complaining that ‘men always talked about things like that’ and Umar hadn’t had such an enjoyable evening since his birthday party last year.
“Thank you Emily and Felix and I must get these two off to a hotel now before we leave today and go into tomorrow,” was Assim’s comments as he stood aside for the two ‘jokers’ to come with him but I insisted that it was far too late for them to go anywhere and they would be welcome to stay the night with us. We had the spare room and another bed in the conservatory, and if it was too late for Assim to return to the hospital, he too could stay the night and double up with Umar until the morning as we remembered that Assim’s mobile phone had the hospital ‘on-call’ number if he was required.
With that deliberation on my part, everyone sat down in the lounge and more conversation began as Assim told Farida to keep her voice down so as not to wake the children.
Emily asked Assim why his mother hadn’t come with the family as she would have been made very welcome and especially now that she had accepted the relationship of Gerard and Assim, we All thought it would be a very good things for her to do, but Assim hesitated to give any reason why his mother had not come to see them in Scotland and I wondered if she hadn’t actually FORGOTTEN the affair with her son Assim and his friend Gerard, but Assim suddenly coughed as though he had forgotten something before he spoke again.
“Mother is very deaf in one of her ears and she is very embarrassed in company that she cannot hear what they are saying and this causes her to misinterpret anything that has been said to her,” but Emily immediately put up an objection and told Assim that his mother would be perfectly understood if she could come to Scotland as we have learned to love her family and there is no reason why we should not love her and with love there is total tolerance. She should come to Scotland if she wanted to and there would be no reason for her not to be welcome... other than love of course.
It was decided that everyone should stay the night with us at Mansfield Road excepting Assim of course who returned to the hospital and as I slept well myself, I felt that everyone had been comfortable in their beds as nobody complained and everyone looked well rested the following morning when breakfast was served with Emily making every effort to please in what each person wanted and I felt truly proud of her the way she did that, It was after we had all settled down that I asked Umar what he and Farida wanted to do, assuming that they would like to stay for more time in Glasgow, or if the journey to Eaglesham had been all that was necessary as I understood that was the original reason why Umar had decided to come to Scotland and he told me exactly what they had planned and I was delighted to hear his story. He said that the invitation from that farmer in Eaglesham was simply because of Umar’s internet exhibition of his horse trade and that the gentleman from Eaglesham was interested in buying three of Umar’s stock, but Umar was the type of gentleman who wold never buy or sell anything unless he could be sure of the person or people he would be dealing with and especially with such involvement as horses, he had to be sure of the intent of the buyer and that was why he had decided to come to the U.K. but as he had a brother working in Glasgow as a surgeon, it was a wonderful opportunity to kill two birds with the one stone and of course Farida couldn’t be more keen... but it was originally thought that they would only stay a day or two; do the horse business; see Assim and then return home, however due to Farida’s persuasion, I am sure, it was decided that they would stay for a few more days and make a holiday of the time, so they decided to go into town and have lunch there when they would looked around for a hotel for their stay.
It was when Emily heard what they intended to do that she insisted they should stay with us for the time they intended to stay in Glasgow and Alfie clapped his hands gleefully which made them change their minds and stay with us, but they insisted on paying their way.
They stayed with us for three days and how entertaining that was for us. Farida danced
around everywhere with Sylvie in her arms and Umar was on his knees carrying Alfie on his back. I didn’t like to ask Farida how old she was as you never ask a lady anything of that nature, but I knew she was older than Umar who was the youngest of the family, but she kept telling us about the number of young men she had dated and that she thought Gerard was the most handsome of them all, adding that Assim was a lucky bastard... and her language startled Emily, not that the word could have been offensive, but that she said BASTARD in perfect English without the slightest trace of an accent... Her favourite drink was as we already knew, Southern Comfort, but she enjoyed a cheese sandwich with tomato sauce. As for Umar, he too had some difficulties being a Muslim as he was very much in love with a Jewish girl called Sara and he had known her since she had been fourteen when she walked passed him on the way to the synagogue. Yes, Umar thought that Sara was ‘the bee’s knees’ in every way.
Altogether we all shared our past experiences but I kept mine under wraps. The more I saw of these young people, the more ashamed I felt about myself and I wished I had been born in a different time to a different generation.
However, it was on the second day of their visit to us that Umar received a phone call from his mother on his mobile phone and she was anxious to know if his horses went off alright and of course she also wanted to know how they enjoyed their little stay with us.
After a few moments of chatting and I could hear Umar repeating ‘yes’ yes’ yes’ several times, I gathered that everything was Alright and at least there was nothing suggesting that everything wasn’t alright, but when Umar put his phone back in his pocket, he smiled at me and said his mother had invited Emily, me and the children for a nice holiday in Paris and she was very anxious to meet us All. She also suggested that if Assim could get the time off to come with us, she would arrange for Gerard to be at the dinner also and that news gave Emily a thrill.
Farida jumped with joy at the possible prospects and said she would arrange for us to meet some of her boyfriends, but that joy was not one of our interests as she had told us so much about them already that we anticipated a period of rock and roll and I think even Sylvie would be lost if she had to dance to that, however we said we would love to come to Paris as Umar told us that they had plenty of room in their Paris home as they had five bedrooms. Alfie wanted to get into the stables to see the horses and Umar told him that he would be the guest of honour and that every horse would bow to him in utter respect and Alfie thought it was a natural thing for them to do... Of course Emily agreed wholeheartedly with that, as her young son was the boss in everything he said or did as far as his lovely mother was concerned.
It was about two weeks after Assim’s brother and sister had left us to return home to Paris and the best time for Assim to come with us that we set off by plane to France. The flight was fine and the weather was excellent for Sylvie and Alfie to sit perched up against one of the window seats where they could see everything when the clouds allowed them space to see. It seemed only a short time before we arrived at the Paris airport and Umar had arrived in his new car to pick us up. Farida had been too busy to come to meet us, but had assured Umar that she would be at home with her mother as soon as we arrived as one of her boyfriends, whom we thought must be a very special one, had arranged for her to dance at a party he had arranged for the wedding of his sister.
When we went into the house, which was indeed very much larger and more palatial than we could ever have imagined, I compared it to our little poor and humble abode in 97 Mansfield Road, Glasgow, but Assims’s mother was there to greet us and as she kissed Emily and I waited for my turn, she seemed to leave everything and jump with joy at the sight of my two children. In that moment also, I could see Gerard coming down the hall to meet us and considering he had only a short time before, had a serious kidney operation, he looked very well and I supposed it was the good weather of Paris that had attributed to that... and after the fuss had died down a little, Assim’s mother came towards me and smiled.
“I am honoured and privileged to meet you and your lovely family, Sir,” she said in broken English and I could have cried. I never expected any of that and I think she had left me to the last as she had prepared that speech, but whatever her intention was, she came up trumps in my estimation as never ever in my life before had anyone given me so much notice or attention and then she continued “I do not speak English at all well, Sir,” she said very slowly and tried to be careful of the words she used but I could understand. “I was born in France and speak French.” she continued, “My husband was born in Germany so we had a little difficulty when we first got married.”
I thought that for an elderly lady she looked remarkably young and I would have thought she might be around fifty but no older and yet she must have been older. It was when she had finished speaking to me in her best English that she ended by saying something in French which I could not understand, but Umar came up to where I was standing and invited me out to see the garden and as I suspected he wanted to tell me what his mother had said.
“She thinks you are a very humble and admirable man for a Scotsman,” Umar said and I thought that strange as if she must have had dealings before with someone with a Scottish accent and then of course I remembered. She would have done and often... Wasn’t Gerard a Scot.?
Umar beckoned me to follow him into a shed in the garden as he had something to tell me that was for my ears only... so he said.
“Felix, you remember I told you about the Jewish girl that I think... well, I am sure I am in love with... well, will you please say nothing to my mother about that as she would not be pleased. You see she has another girl in mind for me and I don’t care for her much. She is a nice enough girl, but niceness does not constitute love, does it?”
I understood what Umar meant and I had no intentions of discussing such details with his mother, but I found it strange to think that she had another girl in mind for Umar when surely as a young man, he should be allowed to choose the love of his life for himself? Well anyway, we were all having a lovely holiday and the kids were having a ball. Alfie was keen to see Umar’s stables feeling sure that he would be given a present of one horse at least, but the stables were over four miles away from the house so he would have to wait.
Meanwhile, I could see Gerard chatting away to Assim and it was nice to see them together and I thought it strange that as they were both surgeons that they worked in different hospitals but then I remembered that Gerard had studied his medical career at the university in Paris and I supposed that at that time he had never had any friendship with Assim as he would never have known him until that time and they were students together.
It was a sad time when the holiday came to an end and we had to return to Glasgow. Alfie cried all the way home as he didn’t have a horse, but he had been taken to see the stables by Umar and his dream of going into manhood was to own a horse of his own and ride all over the country till he dropped. I listened to his ‘gripe’ where he never once spoke about the time when he would drop with the horse. The dream was ‘alive’ and nothing could possibly go wrong. As for Sylvie, Farida had given her some ballet clothes and she took then to bed with her.
Assim still had a few days left of his holiday from the hospital and he stayed with us. Emily insisted that he should not stay in a hotel as the cost of that could have been extortionate and besides, it would only be for a few days and at any rate, Emily immediately thought of Assim as ‘family’
It was the evening after we arrived home at Mansfield Road, that Assim told me about his meeting with Gerard. It seemed that Gerard did not have the same feelings for surgery as he had previous to his own operation and he had applied for a job as a GP, but his chances of getting that post seemed remote. It was when Assim knew of his friend’s plan that he suggested that Gerard should apply for the GP practice and come back to Glasgow where he would be nearer to his family and Gerard considered that might be
the best thing to do. Assim told him how to apply for such a post and he was waiting to hear the results of his advice.
On the third day of our return to Glasgow, we had a visit from Steven and Celine who had settled in Falkirk after they got married and from the way Steven spoke with such pride and joy in his voice, I thought it would not be long before he would become a father, but sadly Seven told me that the thought of parenthood was very unlikely for him and Celine
They had tried to have children but a doctor at the hospital where they went told them that Steven’s sperm was too low and it would be very unlikely for them to have children... and I remebered that I had heard of that complaint before and it came from his brother Adrian.. Celine said nothing about a possible ‘motherhood’ but I noticed she carried a lot of magazines in their car which was full of baby talk. Steven had a very good position in the courts in Falkirk as an accountants as that was what he was trained to do and he was able to buy a house there with very little effort. He thought the air in Falkirk was more conducive to child bearing than it was in Glasgow, but I don’t know where he got that idea from as my two little ‘urchins’ were thriving with good health and even little Sylvie had completely recovered from the eye trouble that she had at birth. She could see things that other people would miss as she was a very nosey if lovely little ‘miss’. A little like her daddy who was also very nosey but not as pretty.
Assim came to see us the day after he had started his duties again at the hospital, but he had to leave quickly as his first operation was in an hour and he told us that he had received some information regarding Gerard’s move from Paris where he hoped to take up work as a General Practitioner and where he could be involved helping many people with their problems. The news sounded very promising and Assim told us he would come to see us that evening, time permitting and he would fill us in with the relevant information. Emily became very excited as it seemed that Gerard would be able to come back to Glasgow for the work he wanted to do and she felt that as he was born in Scotland, he may better understand the nature of the Scottish people.