Fireworks to Thailand Page 4

  He changed the subject to something far more interesting, “I saw Norman the other day and he asked after you,” he aimed that pointed remark at Jan. Geoff’s ears pricked up. Norman was John’s schoolboy friend; they had known each other since junior school and he lived nearby.

  “And did you tell him I was spoken for now?” Jan laughed.

  “Of course, and he was devastated!” John joined in the joke, but Geoff didn’t think it at all funny. Jan had had a minor crush on Norman since John first brought him home for tea when they first went to junior school together. Jan had known Norman for years, but only as a friend and she was about 12 when she first started noticing boys in a different way. John just loved to tease Jan whenever he could. In fact, he teased her so much when she was little that his parents sent him away to boarding school, just to give her a bit of peace.

  “Who is Norman when he’s at home?” Geoff interjected, rather annoyed.

  “Oh, he’s just a family friend. I expect you’ll get to meet him in due course,” Audrey thought she would take the heat out of the situation thinking that was rather an overreaction from Geoff. “He’s such a nice lad, we all love him to bits.”

  Geoff didn’t say any more to anyone and John decided not to wind him up by mentioning Dave. Dave was John’s best friend who had fancied Jan ever since he met her, about five years before. He would probably ask Dave to be his best man as he was always good company and fun to be with. He would give a good best man’s speech, not too embarrassing hopefully.

  The conversation with the family continued in this vein, lighthearted and pleasant. Jan enjoyed being back with her family even though her parents were still a bit scathing as to her predicament. But they loved their first grandchild, there was no doubt about that. Geoff was rather put out and was very quiet, but he kept his thoughts to himself – at least for the time being.

  “I don’t know what it is, but I always feel so awkward around Mum and Dad these days,” Jan told Geoff on the way home, still trying to keep the air light and to divert away from Norman. “And now with John getting married, I feel I’m even further down the pecking order. Vera sounds lovely, I can’t wait to meet her. John is so lucky.”

  “If you’re so ashamed of me and Louise then we should move,” Geoff bristled. “We could afford a good house in Devon where they are cheaper than in Bristol, and no one would know us – or we could stay with my mum for a while.” Jan wondered where that came from! What had she said to upset him so much for him to say she was ashamed of him. She certainly wasn’t, and definitely not of Louise. Her darling daughter was actually the best thing that had ever happened to her – but it had certainly made Jan grow up very quickly.

  “But that means moving away from my family! John is coming back after uni and now it looks like he’ll definitely want to live in Bristol when he gets married. And when Clare gets back from her travels, I guess she’ll live here too. I don’t care where Mum and Dad are, they haven’t exactly been very supportive. I certainly don’t want to live with your mother, thank you very much!” Jan was almost in tears with the uncertainty of it all.

  Geoff only had another few months of night school before he finished his mechanic’s qualification and then he would look for a proper job. Jan hoped he would find work in Bristol so she wouldn’t have to move to Devon to live. It was true that properties were going much cheaper in Devon and her £2,000 inheritance would pay for about half the price of a house there – so that was a plus. Houses in Bristol were very expensive and definitely out of their reach. Geoff probably wouldn’t be able to raise a mortgage on his meagre earnings as an apprentice mechanic, at least for another couple of years.

  Jan’s 21st birthday was discussed with Paula who tried to help as much as she could. But when she came over to help organise it, she couldn’t stop herself telling Jan all about her and Stuart’s honeymoon.

  “It was a surprise,” Paula enthused. “We went to a beautiful resort in Southern Spain. Very exclusive. Stuart’s parents gave it to us as part of our wedding present. I don’t know why but I’ve not got much of a tan. What d’you think?”

  “Is that because you spent the whole time in bed?” Jan couldn’t help herself but state the obvious. They both roared with laughter.

  Geoff told Jan that they couldn’t afford a party anywhere else but at their small flat. Jan insisted that her best friends had to be there so she invited Marian and Paula with her new husband, Stuart. She was also hoping that John would be able to ask Vera so she could meet her for the first time. But the party was just after he was going back to university for his final year and so he had to decline. Jan invited Elspeth with Brian who were both able to come, but they would soon be off to Australia to live so had thoughts in other directions.

  The day of the 21st birthday party arrived. Not really a proper party, but there wasn’t room for many people in the flat. They arrived with bottles and Jan provided the food. Baby Louise went to sleep so the party went ahead with a little low music.

  ‘Hardly a rave…’ thought Jan disappointingly, seeing her young life as a bit of a drudge now, aged 21 with baby in tow, getting old before her time.

  “I’m hoping to go out to see Kai next week,” Marian was telling the party. “Then if all goes according to plan we will probably go and get married and live in Thailand. He will join one of the family businesses, probably in banking or commerce or will run one of their hotels.” Jan had heard this before, but somehow it seemed more real now. “You must all come out and see us once we are settled. Kai’s parents and brothers, of which there are many, all live together. Well, not together in one house! I mean they have a whole block to themselves in the middle of Bangkok with guards on the gate, so at least it would be quite safe there. I know there has been fighting at the Thai borders lately, but that shouldn’t affect us too much. His parents have told him which house we can have. I’ve only met them once but couldn’t communicate very well because they don’t speak English. Kai has to translate everything that I say to them. When I’m there permanently, I shall have to take lessons in the language – but it’s awfully difficult to learn.”

  Everyone was very sympathetic but enormously envious of how Marian’s lifestyle was going to pan out. It would be like nothing that any of them envisaged for themselves.

  “You must come to my wedding, all of you, you are all invited! OK?” Marian was hopeful that one or two may come, but she was realistic that no one may be able to attend.

  “Count me in!” said Paula. “Just let me know when and I’ll be there!”

  Paula and Elspeth tried to get the party started with games but no one was really interested. Geoff was being difficult, not really wanting to have the party in the first place because he didn’t really know anyone. It wasn’t that he was shy, he was just unsociable.

  “You won’t get to know people if you don’t try,” Jan told him quietly without the others hearing. “For heaven’s sake cheer up, you’re making it fall flat before it’s even started.”

  Jan tried to cheer herself up by opening her presents. “Thank you all so much for the lovely presents.” She really meant it, and Geoff’s present to her made up for his mood. It was a beautiful pair of earrings – ones that he had noticed she liked the look of when they had been shopping one day a couple of weeks before.

  Days, weeks and months went by as Jan did her level best to look after her little girl. It gradually got easier and what a lovely, good baby she was. She slept well at night and wasn’t at all fussy with her food. She was very contented when left to play in her playpen and she hardly cried at all. Jan couldn’t believe her luck that she should have such a beautiful baby. And so well behaved.

  Money was tight so Jan took it upon herself to try and find some work to get in a little extra money. She didn’t want to tell Geoff as he might feel demeaned if he felt he couldn’t provide for his family. But there were several things she wanted to buy
for herself and for Louise so she wanted to provide them herself. She had several hours a day in the week that she was with Louise so it would have to be something nearby.

  She found an ad in the local shop window for a cleaner for a couple of hours a day – at a flat on the same road. She rang the number and was told to come along for an interview. It was quite a small flat at the top of a large old house which had been converted into flats. She got the job and was told to start next day.

  The people worked so they left the key for Jan and she let herself in and did the washing up first. They always left the washing up because, she assumed, they were too busy before they went off to work. Then she tidied the kitchen, washed the floor, cleaned the bathroom, dusted and hoovered all over the flat. She had to sweep the stairs up to the flat with a dustpan and brush because the Hoover didn’t reach. She took Louise along with plenty of toys to keep her occupied and she was very good; she wasn’t too inquisitive so it was no problem. Jan found the work incredibly tedious, but at least there was a little bit of pin money at the end of it which was useful for some of the little extras she needed.

  The job lasted for six months after which time Jan had had enough. And Louise had accidentally broken an ornament at the flat when she was starting to get bored. As Louise was beginning to talk more Jan was worried she would blurt out to Daddy that Mummy was cleaning in a place nearby.

  Jan suggested to Geoff that it might be an idea for Louise to go to playschool and start leaving her so she could get used to playing with other children. She was growing out of just being with her mummy all day; she needed more stimulation with children her own age.

  “I don’t think so!” retorted Geoff. “She should be at home with her mother, and anyway we can’t afford it.”

  “Then maybe I could go to work to help pay for it,” Jan tried. “I do think she would be better off with kids her own age, and I would enjoy doing something else too.” She didn’t want to tell him how fed up she was feeling with not having much money in case he went into a sulk. “All our money seems to just go on bills and rent, there’s nothing left even for a small treat.”

  “Well, I’ve been thinking about that,” Geoff said. “I’ve asked my mum if we can stay with her, just as a stop-gap while we look for somewhere we can buy and then all this rent won’t be dead money – your idea, not mine! We can’t really afford to buy here and Devon is so much cheaper. It would be a lot nicer for Louise to grow up in a semi-rural area rather than a city. And I know a chap who would give me a job so it’s a win-win situation! Nothing more to say really.”

  “But I can’t leave my family!” Jan cried.

  “I thought you couldn’t stand your parents!”

  “I know, but…” she had no answer.

  Chapter 4

  Devon beckoned and Jan had succumbed to Geoff’s reasoning that at least they would be able to afford to buy somewhere to live, especially using Jan’s money as a fat deposit. And of course the promises from Geoff that they would indeed go back to visit her family or friends in Bristol as often as Jan liked. She did, however, wonder if he meant what he said. Would he really be prepared to travel back to Bristol whenever she liked, she wondered? Time would tell.

  They packed up their belongings which were quite meagre as the flat was rented already furnished. They had no large items, just the pushchair/pram, three suitcases with their clothes plus Louise’s toys and teddy bears which were packed into carrier bags and into the car. It was a squeeze but they managed to get everything in.

  “Bye, Mum,” Jan said to Audrey as she had come to see them off. Even then Jan was having second thoughts about leaving everything she had ever known, good or bad. She was 22 and about to embark on a new life in a place she knew only a little about. “We will come back and see you. Hope we can stay with you.”

  “Of course you can,” Audrey was almost in tears. “Dad is now talking about selling the house, it’s too big for just the two of us, but wherever we are there will always be space for you. We might even develop the little piece of land that I inherited from a great uncle a few years ago. It’s just sitting there, not earning much as a row of garages. That could be a good project for your father to get his teeth into if we build a house on it. We’ll see.”

  “We’d better get off now before the traffic gets bad.” Geoff was itching to get away from Bristol and back to where he felt more comfortable.

  “Cup of tea? How was your journey?” As soon as they arrived, Geoff’s mother was very welcoming and tried to put Jan at ease by helping Louise out of her baby car seat. “Your old room is too small, Geoffrey. I’ve made up the bed in the guest bedroom and put Louise’s cot in there too. So if she wakes in the night you don’t have to go too far.”

  Betty helped with the unpacking, putting things away in drawers and making sure everything was in the right place. She was very house-proud and liked tidiness. So there was never anything out of place and she always dusted through the house every day.

  It was a difficult period for all of them, being thrown together when Betty and Jan didn’t really know each other very well. Jan thought she interfered too much with how she brought up her child. All she was working towards was getting out of there as fast as possible… Their relationship was strained, all in the little cottage together, all trying to get on but not really succeeding very well.

  As Geoff was an only child he felt an obligation to look after his mother who was only 54 when she was widowed. Her husband had been some 12 years older than her. He had been a painter and decorator but he had no pension. So when he passed away Betty only had a widow’s pension to live on. She had no savings whatsoever and their house was rented from a distant relative.

  Betty complained to Geoff about Jan behind her back.

  “She’s not bringing up Louise right. It’s not the way I would do things.”

  “I think she just wants to do things her own way. Why don’t you take it up with her instead of bothering me?” Geoff retorted to his mother.

  “I will, don’t you worry about that!” said Betty, in no uncertain terms. She had her own ideas of bringing up a baby but didn’t hold with modern ideas. She went off in search of Jan and found her playing with Louise.

  “You’re being too strict with her. Just let her do what she wants.”

  “Then she won’t know right from wrong. I want her to behave well so that she knows what she’s doing, right from the start. Then when she goes to playschool and then school she will be well behaved and then people will like her. Discipline never hurt me.”

  “Well, I think you’re wrong. She’s too young to learn right from wrong.”

  This argument about how to bring up children went on for about half an hour. In the end, they agreed to disagree, but not amicably. Jan was furious that Betty should interfere in this way. Louise was her child after all. ‘How dare she try and take over. Just because we are staying here. I can’t wait to get a house of our own,’ Jan thought.

  One day Jan was doing her nails in the bathroom when Betty barged in.

  “What are you doing? You can’t cut your nails in here!” Betty confronted Jan.

  “Oh, sorry,” she started. “Where can I do them?”

  “I’ve always cut them in the garden. They aren’t worth bothering with anyway, they’re such ugly nails.”

  Jan didn’t have an answer.

  She thought her nails looked OK. Not ugly, surely. ‘I wonder if she’s jealous of me? I’ll just put it down to that. I’ll ignore it for now but that was a bit nasty.’

  Jan complained to Geoff by telling him what his mother had said to her.

  Geoff didn’t have an answer.

  At weekends, Betty looked after Louise while Geoff and Jan went house hunting. They soon found a suitable house. Jan thought it suitable in that it was quite some distance away from his mother. It was about twenty miles away in Torquay. It was a t
hree bedroom semi-detached house in a quiet cul-de-sac road. They put in an offer straight away which was accepted.

  Jan loved writing and receiving letters from her old school friends. Paula would write with news of Bristol and about her life with Stuart. She told Jan that they were hoping to start a family very soon. Life was good for her. Jan was very pleased for her friend but was a little envious that her own life wasn’t as exciting. She tried to make her own letters sound good by ‘putting on a brave face’. At least she was able tell her friend that they were nearly settled at last in Devon and not having to stay with her mother-in-law for too much longer.

  ‘This must be the way forward,’ thought Jan hopefully.

  Jan eventually heard from another friend from school, Elspeth. She and her forest ranger, Brian, went to live in Australia. Tasmania to be exact. This was where the work was for a forest ranger. Tasmania is full of forests and Brian was in his element. They got married there within two years of arriving. They came back to England every year to visit her parents but they only went as far as Bristol. Jan hoped they would come to Devon to visit her and Geoff but Elspeth thought it unlikely as their time was limited. They did, however, leave an open invitation for Jan and Geoff to visit them in Tasmania. Jan knew it just wasn’t going to happen as it was too far, realistically, with a small child. Jan never forgot the thought that one day she would get to Tasmania to visit her friend. A place that Jan could only hope to dream about visiting – one day, maybe.

  She also wrote to and received many letters from her best friend from school, Marian. They had been in touch by letter ever since Marian had left Bristol for the USA. Then out of the blue a letter arrived from Thailand saying that she and Kai had moved there after being in America for two years. It was actually more than a just a letter this time. Jan read with interest and couldn’t wait to tell Geoff.