The New Neighbours

by Costeloe Diney

  “You didn’t hear her on the phone,” Shirley told him. “She’s obviously at the end of her tether, and if only for the children’s sake I’ve got to go.”

  “Well, if you feel you must, then of course you must,” agreed David, “but I don’t think I can drive you, I’d be over the limit.” He looked across at her speculatively. “Are you fit to drive?”

  “Yes, I think so, I only had a couple of glasses of wine.”

  “Do you want me to come?” he asked.

  “No, I can manage, in fact it may be better if I go on my own. I’ll just put a few things in a bag and be off. I can be there in a couple of hours.”

  “Ring me when you get there,” David said as he saw her into the car. “And if you want me to come up, I will.”

  Shirley kissed him. “I know, but I’ll see how things are. If I need you, I’ll call, don’t worry.”

  “Yes, well take it steady,” he said.

  He watched Shirley drive out of the Circle and drew a deep breath. Of course, he had meant it when he’d said he’d go with her if she liked, but he was more than a little relieved when she said she didn’t need him. He found Melanie very hard to cope with when she was in a state like this. He didn’t know what to say to her, how to react. He wanted to be supportive, but found that he was quickly irritated by what he thought of as her moodiness, and though he realised that anger was the last thing to help Melanie just now, he found it quite difficult to bite his tongue and say nothing. With a sigh, he went back into the house to find himself another cup of tea.

  Shirley drew up outside Melanie’s house soon after seven. The lights were on upstairs in the bathroom and the children’s bedroom, so Melanie must be putting them to bed. That seemed a hopeful sign. Shirley rang the bell, but when there was no reply she used her own key and let herself in.

  “Mel,” she called. “Melanie, I’m here.” She could hear the baby crying and then there was the sound of running footsteps on the landing. Todd appeared at the top of the stairs, peering round the banister, thumb firmly in his mouth.

  “Hallo, Todd,” Shirley said gently. “It’s Granny. Is Mummy upstairs?”

  Todd didn’t reply. But when Shirley began to mount the stairs, he disappeared and she heard him running back along the landing.

  There was no sign of Melanie, and no answer when Shirley called again, so she went into the children’s bedroom and looked in. It was a tip. Todd’s bed was unmade and there were toys and clothes all over the floor. The cot side was down, and there was no sign of the baby. Shirley could still hear Suzie crying so she wasted no further time there, but strode into Melanie and Peter’s room. There the picture was much the same, bed unmade, clothes overflowing from the dirty-clothes basket in the corner of the room. Todd was standing by the bed, thumb firmly plugged in, and on the bed lying face downwards was Melanie, snoring gently. Shirley took it all in with growing horror. She could hear Suzie screaming, but for a moment couldn’t see the child. Crossing quickly to the bedside, she found her, her face red with rage, lying on a pillow wedged between her mother and the bedside table.

  “Melanie! Melanie!” Shirley, registering the empty whisky bottle on the bedside table, reached out and shook her. For a moment, there was no response, but then Melanie stirred, and opening her eyes said slurrily, “Hallo, Mum.”

  Seeing that Melanie was drunk, but otherwise all right, Shirley scooped up the yelling baby and knew at once that she needed changing. “Suzie’s dirty,” she said, “I’ll go and change her. Will you show me where the changing mat is, Todd?”

  Todd led the way towards the bathroom. Shirley paused at the door, “You’d better get up now, Melanie,” she said. “It’s time Todd had his bath.” When she got Suzie on to the changing mat, Shirley found that her nappy was soaking and filthy, it should have been changed hours ago. “Now then, darling, we’ll soon have you clean and comfy, won’t we. Poor old girl, what a horrid nappy!” Talking softly to her, Shirley cleaned the child and taking a clean nappy from the pack, made her comfortable. Gradually the yells subsided, and Shirley rocked her until, exhausted from her crying, Suzie fell asleep.

  Throughout this, Todd stood and watched her, silently, thumb in place.

  “It must be your bath time, Todd,” Shirley said cheerfully. “I’ll just pop Suzie into her cot and then we’ll run the bath, shall we?”

  With Suzie safely in her cot, Shirley went back to the bathroom where Todd waited for her. A glance into the other bedroom told her that Melanie hadn’t moved, so Shirley decided to leave her to sleep it off while she had dealt with the children. Todd made no protest as she undressed him and lifted him into the warm water, he allowed himself to be soaped and rinsed, but made no effort to help himself or to play with the bath toys that Shirley had dumped into the water. There was no splashing and laughter as there usually was when Todd was in the bath, and as soon as he was ready, Shirley scooped him out of the water and wrapping him in a warm towel sat him on her knee and hugged him. Normally it was impossible to dry him properly, as he wriggled and jiggled, slippery as an eel, but this evening he sat still on her knee, his little body curling against her. Gently Shirley rocked him as she had Suzie, and wondered what on earth had been happening since she last saw them all.

  Her thoughts were interrupted by a little voice saying, “Can we have tea now, Granny? I’m hungry.”

  Shirley’s head jerked up. Good God, hadn’t Melanie even fed them? “Of course we can, darling,” she said. “Let’s get you into your pyjamas, shall we, and then we’ll go and see what we can find.” She carried him back to his room and while he was struggling with the pyjamas she went back to Melanie.

  “Melanie, when did you last feed the children?” she asked.

  Melanie was awake now, but still lying on the bed, her eyes open, gazing vacantly at the ceiling. Slowly she turned her head and focused her eyes on her mother. “Lunchtime,” she said. “Todd had fish fingers for lunch.”

  “And Suzie?”

  “Same. Her bottle’s in the fridge.”

  “I’ll find it,” Shirley said, glad for once that Melanie had not wanted to feed Suzie herself, and that she would happily take a bottle.

  An hour later Shirley turned out the light in the children’s room. She paused on the landing. Boiling an egg and making marmite toast for Todd had been easy, and there had been one last filled bottle waiting in the fridge for Suzie. Both children had eaten hungrily and when finally fed and warm, they went into their beds happily enough.

  “I’ll see you in the morning,” she promised Todd as she tucked him in, and he snuggled down with Tedder, his teddy bear.

  Now to deal with Melanie, she thought and turned purposefully towards her daughter. At that moment, the phone rang. Melanie made no move to pick up the receiver in the bedroom, so Shirley answered the hall extension. It was David.

  “You didn’t phone,” he said. “I thought maybe you’d been held up.”

  “No, I’m sorry. I forgot to phone. As soon as I arrived, I had to deal with the children. Melanie had passed out on the bed…”

  “Passed out?” cried David, “What’s the matter? Is she ill? Have you called the doctor?”

  “No, she’s not ill, not in that way anyway,” Shirley reassured him. “She’s drunk. There’s an empty whisky bottle beside her. I don’t know how much she’s had, but she’s pretty dopey. I’ve got the children fed and to bed and I was just going to see how Melanie was when you rang.”

  “Good God!” exclaimed David. “Are you sure you can cope?”

  “No,” Shirley managed a rueful laugh, “but I’ll decide what to do in the morning. Don’t worry, love, I’m fine for now. I’ll ring you in the morning.”

  “Sure you don’t want me to come?” David was anxious.

  “Quite sure, I’ll be fine, really.”

  When they had rung off, Shirley went back upstairs to tackle Melanie. Melanie was lying on her bed, apparently not having moved since her mother had arrived earlier. She open
ed her eyes as Shirley came in, they immediately overflowed with tears.

  “Mummy,” she whispered, “I can’t do this.”

  Shirley sat down on the edge of the bed and took her hand. “Can’t do what, darling?”

  “Can’t be a mother.”

  “Of course you can,” Shirley replied gently. “You were doing it perfectly when you just had Todd. Now with Suzie as well, it’s a bit more difficult, I agree, but you’ll manage. It’s just a question of getting a routine up and running.”

  Melanie said nothing for a moment, then she announced, “I’m drunk. I feel awful. I think I’m going to be sick.”

  Shirley helped her to the bathroom and when she had been sick, wiped her face and helped her back to bed.

  “The best thing for you to do is to sleep it off,” Shirley advised, “and then we can get things sorted out in the morning. Try not to worry. Get a good night’s sleep, and we’ll talk in the morning.”

  Obediently, Melanie closed her eyes, and murmuring, “Thanks for coming, Mum,” drifted off to sleep.

  Once she was sure Melanie was really asleep, Shirley gently withdrew her hand and got to her feet. Quietly she gathered up the dirty laundry from both bedrooms and took it downstairs. She needed to be doing something. Her mind was racing as first, she loaded the washing machine and then made herself some cheese on toast in the kitchen.

  What on earth are we going to do she thought? How can we deal with this? Obviously Melanie can’t cope at the moment. She needs help, professional help of some sort, and in the meantime, the children need to be looked after properly. Who do I consult? The doctor?

  As she was eating her toast, the phone rang again. It was Peter, ringing from Sheffield.

  “Shirley?” He was amazed to hear his mother-in-law answering the phone. “What are you doing there? I didn’t know you were coming.”

  “I wasn’t,” Shirley told him, “but Mel rang, she was…” Shirley tried to choose her words carefully, “not feeling herself, so I came up to help.”

  “What’s the matter with her?” Peter asked. “She was all right when I left this morning.”

  “No, Peter, I don’t think she was,” Shirley said quietly. “I don’t think she’s been all right for some time. She really can’t cope with the children at the moment, and I don’t think it is a case of her having to snap out of it, I don’t think she actually can.”

  “But what do we do?” Peter demanded. “I can’t take time off work just because she’s got the baby blues.”

  “I think it’s more than what you call the baby blues,” Shirley said trying not to sound critical, “I’ve thought so all along, but now it has come to a head, Peter, and with the best will in the world she can’t cope.”

  “But what can we do?” Peter repeated. “If I started taking time off, and being unavailable for trips like this one, I could well lose my job. Then we really would be in trouble.”

  “I don’t really know the best way forward,” Shirley admitted, “but in the morning I shall contact your doctor and take advice. If necessary, she and the children came come to me for a while, while we get things sorted out. How long do you think you’ll be away?”

  “I don’t know for sure,” answered Peter. “About four or five days. I’ll be back at the weekend anyway.”

  “Yes, I see. Well, some action has to be taken before then. When I got here this evening, Melanie had finished whatever was in the whisky bottle and had passed out on the bed. Has she been drinking lately?”

  “Drinking?” Peter sounded incredulous. “You’re telling me Mel was drunk.”

  “Yes, I’m afraid so. It’s all right, the children were fine. She knew I was on my way, so I expect she just thought she’d have a drink to keep her going until I got there, and perhaps on an empty stomach, you know…”

  It was exactly the same excuse Melanie gave herself, the next morning when she finally faced her mother. “I knew you were coming, Mum. I just thought I’d have a whisky, there wasn’t all that much in the bottle, it must have gone straight to my head because I hadn’t really eaten any lunch.”

  Not that much in the bottle. Shirley heard what Mel said with disquiet. Peter had told her he had bought a new bottle of scotch only the week before, that as far as he knew it was unopened in the cupboard. Shirley had had a quick look when they had rung off, and could find no whisky at all. Melanie couldn’t really have consumed a whole bottle last night, so perhaps she’d been drinking steadily, unknown to Peter.

  “I’m very sorry, Mum, really I am,” Melanie was saying, “I was so stressed out by the kids that… well I thought it would calm me down, you know?”

  “Well, luckily there was no harm done,” Shirley said. “But I am concerned about the state you’d got yourself into, Mel. We’ve got to get you sorted out, you know. You can’t go on like this, it’s not fair to the children, or to Peter, or to you for that matter. I’ve rung the doctor and got you an appointment for this morning, so we’ll see what he says.”

  “He’ll just say that I’m depressed and give me Prozac or something,” Melanie said gloomily.

  “Well, maybe Prozac or something is what you need,” Shirley said. “I think you probably are depressed and do need something, and the sooner we sort it out the better.”

  “But, Mum, I don’t want to be on pills all the time,” protested Melanie. “I don’t agree with this idea that drugs solve all your problems.”

  “Nor do I,” agreed Shirley, “but there are times when it may be necessary for a little while. You really can’t get as desperate as you were yesterday again. This is what I think we should do…”

  Shirley explained what she had decided in the night as she had lain awake churning everything in her mind. “Go to the doctor this morning…”

  “He won’t have an appointment,” Melanie interrupted.

  “I’ve already got you one,” Shirley said patiently. “They always keep one for an emergency,”

  “I’m not an emergency,” snapped Melanie.

  “Darling, I think you are.” Shirley spoke gently, but firmly. She was determined not to budge on this; Melanie should see a doctor today. “Then, as I believe these pills take a week or so to take effect, I’ll take you all home with me. You can look after the children, get a routine sorted out, and I’ll be there to help when you need me. It’ll give everybody a break, a change of scene. Dad will enjoy having the children, and we can give you all the support you need. Peter can come at the weekend, and when you’re feeling better we can take it from there.”

  “You’ve got it all worked out,” Melanie said tartly. “Do I get any say in this?”

  “Of course you do, but I’ve had time to think about it all overnight, and this seems to me to be the best solution.”

  “Couldn’t you stay here?” suggested Melanie. “Stay and help me here?”

  “I could,” said Shirley unwillingly, “but to be honest, Mel, I don’t want to. I’d rather have you in my own home, where I can help you and carry on with my other commitments too.” And have David beside me for moral support, she thought, because this could be a long haul, I don’t think we’re going to get this all sorted for quite a while.

  Melanie went, reluctantly, to see the doctor and while she was out of the house, Shirley bathed Suzie and packed up clothes and toys for the children. She also rang David to put him in the picture.

  “I really wish that I could have gone with her,” Shirley said. “I want to be certain that the doctor really understands the depth of the problem, and I don’t really trust Melanie to tell him the whole story.” She sighed, “But of course I couldn’t insist. Anyway, I’m bringing them home with me, I can’t leave Mel to cope on her own, but I don’t want to stay here, I’d rather have them in my own home.”

  “How long for?” David asked.

  “As long as it takes,” Shirley replied. “Peter can come and join us at the weekend, and we’ll have a discussion all together then. But for now we have to give Melanie our supp
ort, and I think this is the best way to do it.”

  “Fine,” David agreed, though his heart was sinking at the thought of the invasion. “Whatever you think is best. What do you want me to do?”

  “Well, can you put the cot up, ready for Suzie? And perhaps go to the supermarket and stock up on some of Todd’s favourite things, you know, sausages, fish fingers, ice cream. Just stick them in the freezer.” She smiled into the receiver, visualising David’s face as he heard these instructions. “Thanks, love. If all goes well at the doctor’s this morning, I hope to be with you about tea time, anything different and I’ll give you a ring.”

  When Melanie got home again, the coffee was waiting on the stove and her mother sat her down to hear what the doctor had said.

  “He said a change of scene would do me good,” Melanie said. “He thought going to stay with you for a few days would help.”

  “And did you ask him for something to relax you a bit so that you can cope with the children more easily?”

  “Not exactly,” answered Melanie, and she wouldn’t meet Shirley’s eyes.

  “Oh Mel,” said her mother exasperated, “That’s what you went to see him for.”

  “It wasn’t,” snapped Melanie. “I don’t want pills, Mum, OK?” She glared at her mother. “He said I needed counselling and that when I get back from staying with you he’d try and get something arranged, someone would come and see me and assess me.”

  Shirley felt the fury boil up inside her. I wish I could have gone with her, she thought. I knew this would happen. Still, she resolved silently, I shall get Dr Fran to have a chat with her and see if she can’t help in some way. She forced herself to speak calmly and said, “Well, I’ve put some things ready in the hall, so when you’ve sorted out what you need and we’ve checked I’ve got everything the children need, I thought we’d have an early lunch and then crack on home.”

  They finally turned into Dartmouth Circle at about five and found David working in the front garden. He greeted them all with a huge smile, swinging Todd up into the air and hugging Melanie. Suzie had fallen asleep in her car seat and he carried her into the house with Todd trotting at his heels. As they were unloading the car, Cirelle Thomas came out of the students’ house next door, a sports bag over her shoulder.