The Woman Who Kept Everything

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It was such a shame it all had to be like this, tiptoeing around everybody’s personalities, for fear of reprisals, she thought. Why was family life so darned complicated sometimes?

If Adam and Jessie had been home instead of on their extended holiday with their respective friends, everything would’ve been so much better. In fact, staying with her son would’ve been far more bearable if her grandchildren had been home, despite the recent bad news from Jocelyn. Gloria also despised the fact that Clegg and Val seemed to be walking on eggshells around her and always whispering. Too much whispering was going on.

She rang her friend’s number and Tilsbury answered immediately. ‘All right, my love?’

‘Not really, Tils. I’d like to see ya, if you’re free today. Just need an ear to bend really. Someone to talk to about all this. Can’t take it all in, ducks. It’s such a shock. But if you’re coming round you’ll need to be quick. What? Why yes, my love. Why, that would be absolutely lovely, Tilsbury! Yes, okay. I’d love to do that. But we’d have to be back before they get home. They’ve been getting back around six this week. Yes, six. Right, so I’ll expect you in about half an hour then and do NOT be late!’

Oh, but what a wonderful idea! Tilsbury said he wanted to take her out for afternoon tea. Yes! It might be just the thing she needed right now: a little treat, in amongst all their problems. They hadn’t done anything like that in years – in fact, since Arthur was alive. Tilsbury said he knew she was upset by everything that’d happened and by what Jocelyn’d told her yesterday and he simply wanted to cheer her up.

Gloria had tossed and turned, restlessly, the night before, worrying about what Clegg was planning to do next, regarding her living arrangements. She was still mystified as to why he’d never mentioned selling her house to her. Or maybe she hadn’t been listening when he’d come to fetch her that day; there’d been a lot going on. But why did he suddenly want to sell her house now?

Maybe he’d found other problems with the building. Maybe something was wrong with the drains or there was structural damage? Or maybe they’d discovered it was in one of those sink hole areas? She’d heard about that sort of thing once.

As she stood in the hall, anxiously waiting for Tilsbury to come and pick her up she was relieved that, at least, the nursing home people had been lovely and understanding about her problems. During their heart-to-hearts the social worker, Kate, had helped her ‘come to terms’ with the deaths of Arthur and her parents – her real parents and Alice.

‘That’s what we think your hoarding was about, my lovely. Just a reaction to your grief. And keeping things of sentimental value is understandable, Gloria. But we think it overwhelmed you. Can you see that trying to find an electrical fault amongst all that stuff could have been the death of you? Or what if you’d fallen and couldn’t get back up? So we do hope you’re not going to try to bring lots of unnecessary things back into your life, again. We’re going to try and help you with that, over the coming weeks, and your family have said they’ll be there for you, helping you with that, too.’

It had all sounded so nice and comforting. She’d chatted to the people at Green’s Nursing Home about lots of things she couldn’t talk about with anyone else. It was reassuring. And it now seemed she wasn’t as mad as some people – ahem, Clegg – had made out. She’d been starting to feel more positive about life, until yesterday, when Jocelyn crumpled her world.

Anyway, she knew she had to try and focus and forget about her woes for one day, if she was to have a lovely afternoon out with Tilsbury, unbeknown to Clegg. She would definitely need to talk to her son about these things, at some point, but she didn’t feel strong enough to cope with it all now.

She’d struggled to get into the coat Green’s Nursing Home had supplied her, along with a pair of fuddy shoes, and another ill-fitting Crimplene dress.

And that was another thing! Her daughter-in-law had promised they’d go shopping for new clothes when they got back from the nursing home. Unfortunately, all Val’s good intentions hadn’t materialised yet. And the only conversations she’d had with her was when Val insisted that Gloria should relax in the conservatory or watch the television, when they were out.

‘You’ll need to be patient with us, for a while, Gloria, because we’re a very busy family at the moment,’ Val explained, when Gloria first arrived.

Well, Gloria had sat obediently waiting for some attention from them, for weeks. But the days had crept by, which was okay at first because she could watch all the TV programmes she liked and there was food aplenty. But – apart from one afternoon’s drive to a lovely public garden somewhere – Gloria hadn’t left the house at all. Nor had she had a proper conversation with them about anything. The whole ‘process’ of being with them had simply felt awkward and contrived.

Anyway, not wanting to give her son any further reason for alarm or arguments, she wrote a short note, telling them she was going out for tea ‘with a friend’ so they wouldn’t worry.

Ratta-tat went a knock on the door. Gloria pulled it open.

‘Oh my God, Tilsbury! We’re not going on that are we?’

Gloria, in her tight-fitting coat, slightly oversized shoes and pale pink polka dot dress that, ordinarily, she wouldn’t be caught dead in, stared in astonishment at the scabby, clapped-out scooter she knew belonged to Jocelyn.

‘It’s okay, Glor. It goes at least. It’ll get us into town, anyways. I got her helmet for you. The cops won’t pull us over with helmets on!’

‘But I’m wearing a ruddy DRESS, Tils, and I’m seventy-nine!’

Tilsbury tried to not laugh at the vision forming in his mind.

‘Aw, c’mon, Glor! It don’t matter what you got on. Live a little. You’ve been stuck in that ruddy overcrowded house since forever! C’mon, my love. This’ll just be a one-off trip down memory lane. Like old times? Anyways, Jocelyn gave us a fiver to get tea in the park gardens.’

Gloria laughed heartily. ‘Bloody nicked it you mean! Christ, Tils, you’re the man! Okay, okay. Well, how to do this then? Least it’s not far I suppose, is it?’

‘No, Glor, and I’ll go the back lanes. And I’ll getcha back in time for your bloody rotten son!’

Gloria shook her head. It seemed like a crazy idea.

Ordinarily she wouldn’t entertain such madness. A thought popped into her head – why didn’t Jocelyn ever call the police over Tilsbury’s nicking sprees? He had clearly nicked that fiver! She wondered if Jocelyn still had a soft spot for the irascible man, like everyone did. Apart from Clegg. Perhaps that was it. Perhaps that’s why she lent him the scooter. Or did he steal that too?

Gloria sighed. What to do?

However, whilst studying her dress and handbag and knowing none of it was ideal to be riding a scooter in, she came to a snap decision. At least it was a warm sunny summer’s day, with a slight mischievous breeze, ripe for fun.

Oh what the hell!

‘Okay, Tilsbury. Shift forward and let me on. And hold it steady – and I mean steady. And if you start larkin’ about on it, I’m gettin’ off. Plus you’ll have to help me get me leg over.’

Tilsbury couldn’t stop himself chuckling at that.

‘Oi! I meant over the seat, you bad man! Here! You got enough fuel in it? I don’t want us breakin’ down en route.’

Chapter 10 (#ulink_c999494a-4f88-5d99-a458-d92942bb6382)

It had been a bumpy, ungainly ride to the tea rooms, that afternoon.

Tilsbury chuckled to himself every time Gloria let out a yelp when they went over a pothole or swerved to avoid something unsavoury in the road. She was sure he was driving scarily on purpose but clung on tight when he went round bends. She hoped they wouldn’t see anyone they knew and was just starting to relax into his particular way of riding when they arrived.

Tilsbury stopped the engine and held the scooter steady whilst Gloria slipped forward and struggled to get off, straightening her dress and hooking her bag back over her arm. She muttered a little but otherwise acknowledged she had actually arrived safely.

The young girl at the counter in the Park Gardens Tea Room frowned when Tilsbury told her he didn’t have enough to pay for two cream teas consisting of scrummy-looking fruit scones, jam, cream and tea for two.

The bill came to £5.90 but Tilsbury didn’t have any more than the fiver Jocelyn had given him. And there was NO way he’d ask Gloria for the extra. This was supposed to be his treat to her. He hadn’t taken her out in ages and it felt good doing something for her after all this time.

‘Couldn’t we do a deal here, love? Me an’ the missus – well, we’re quite poor, you see. Don’t have much at our age apart from our meagre pensions. Don’t even go out much, either, you know?’

The youngster was on her own whilst the other waitress was outside taking orders and clearing tables. Tilsbury had clocked that there didn’t seem to be anyone else in charge, on the premises.

‘Um well, okay. But what I could do is cut the scone in half, with the two teas and then – I’m not supposed to – but I could give you two biscuits as well. And then I can charge you for one tea and one cream tea for £4.05. Let’s say £4.00. And you’ll get the biscuits for free. Would that be all right?’

Tilsbury chuckled to himself. Clever girl. He’d still got a deal and some change to boot.

He nodded with a big grin. ‘That’d be just fine, my love!’

He carried the laden tray over to Gloria sitting by the window. She’d deemed it a little too blowy to be sitting outside. But her eyes lit up as Tilsbury set the table with their cream tea.

‘Cor, Tils. I haven’t had a ruddy cream tea in absolutely years!’

‘I know, my love. So get stuck into that one then. Bet you’re glad you came out with me now, aren’t you!’

Gloria nodded vigorously, chomping down on her half of the scone, caked with cream and strawberry jam.

‘S’lovely!’ Gloria murmured, as a few crumbs spilled onto her lap.

* * *

A cream tea amongst the colourful herbaceous perennials of the Park Garden Tea Rooms was completely delightful and both Gloria and Tilsbury sat patting their tums, afterwards, in appreciation.

Gloria reached out and got hold of Tilsbury’s hand.

‘That was crackin’, Tils. And I do thank you from the bottom of me heart. You’ve always been a good ’un to me, ducks!’

‘I’ve always had a soft spot for you, you know.’

Gloria wrinkled her nose. ‘Oh, I know that, ducks, and I love ya to bits, too!’

‘Right, well, Glor, we’ve still got some time before I takes ya back to yer miserable son. So, I’m thinking … How about – now wait for it! I remember you saying this to me, last year. How about a trip to the seaside? You said you hadn’t been to the seaside since you were a girl!’

‘What? We can’t go there! We’re miles away from the sea and I don’t think that contraption outside will get me any further than back home, Tils.’

‘Course it will, Glor. It got us here didn’t it?’

‘Yeah but that was only a couple of miles.’

‘Now look, my love. When will we ever get to do summat like this again? This is a gas! I’m lovin’ it and I don’t want today to end. Do you? Besides the sea ain’t that far away. An hour tops!’

Gloria looked out the window. Young families walked with children. A dog chased a frisbee. It was a pretty nice park as parks went.

Tilsbury sighed, despondently.

‘But look, Gloria, what if Cleggy decides to put you in a nursing home, miles away from anywhere? We’d never get to see each other again. We’d never get to go to the sea or anywhere else. We’d never get to have any kind of fun ever again, Glor, would we? Remember those tea dances we all used to go to? That’s all finished, now, my love. We – we’re kinda near the end of those times now, aren’t we, Glor?’

He reached out and stroked Gloria’s scarred hands.

‘Can’t we – look! Can’t we just have this one last wonderful day to remember for the rest of our lives? We’re not gonna get another chance like this to create a new mem’ry now we’re nearly in our eighties, are we, Glor?’

Gloria shrugged, thinking he was probably right. Life was over when you hit a certain age, she knew that much.

‘And, you’re right, me scooter probably won’t last much longer but I truly believe it will get us to the beach … Just for that one last time, eh, Glor?’

Tilsbury noticed that tears were starting to form in Gloria’s eyes.

‘Oh Tils!’ Gloria said, dabbing at her eyes with a serviette. ‘You’ve got me thinkin’ about things again, ducks. And, yes, we did have some crackin’ times, didn’t we? All of us together: you, me, Arthur and Jocelyn once upon. They were good times. You’re right. But we’re a couple of old fogies now. I ain’t got the energy to be tearin’ around all over the place. Look we’d best be off, now, Tils. I’ve truly had a lovely time, today, though. And it’ll still be a wonderful mem’ry to look back on.’

Gloria slowly rose from her seat and struggled into her coat again with Tilsbury’s help.

He looked so downbeat Gloria couldn’t meet his gaze. But she was reliving the past, now he’d mentioned it. She was thinking about how their lives were, indeed, fluttering towards the bottom of the hill they’d once climbed so eagerly in their youth. She let out a sigh as they ambled down the steps of the café, arm in arm to steady themselves and across the freshly cut lawn to where Tilsbury had parked the scooter.

Gloria studied the etched, weather-beaten lines across Tilsbury’s sunburnt face. She knew her seventy-nine-year-old face had its own share of lines both from worry, when Clegg was a boy getting into scrapes, and those joyous times when Clegg and Val had angelic babies of their own. She’d known some very happy as well as some very sad times.

But Tilsbury was right.

There really wasn’t much else to look forward to, now, at their time of life. Gloria also realised that Clegg wouldn’t want her to live with them for the rest of her life, either, whatever her hopes might once have been for that. And from what she’d learned recently, she was certain he’d make darned sure that an old people’s home, somewhere, would soon start calling her name …

So she came to her second big decision of the day.

‘Oh stuff it! Crumblies be gone! C’mon then, Tils. Start the motor. Let’s see where this old heap’ll take us one last time …’

Chapter 11 (#ulink_68a0db81-1b96-5356-a8e4-28b46e152442)

‘Wheeeeeeeee –’ Gloria shrieked as the little scooter sped along at an eye-watering forty miles per hour towards the azure sea, the wind batting her new hairstyle, that warm July morning. She’d misplaced Jocelyn’s helmet at the gas station, when Tilsbury had filled up for the rest of their journey, so her eyes were, indeed, watering with all the wind and grit. But they’d grabbed some sandwiches, a couple of cans of fizzy pop and two cheap beach towels and she’d paid for the lot with the credit card – the one Cleggy had got for her, which she’d never actually used before.

‘And this’s on you, Miserable Son! Well, you give it to me for essentials and emergencies, so I vow that I will spend it on all the essentials we need – things for the beach – and any emergencies that might befall us, like making sure this crappy moped thingy gets us from A to Z. In other words, my dear Tils, we’re gonna enjoy today!’

In fact, Gloria had happily decided to shut down her worries for today. Trepidation of all things unknown was no longer her concern and nor was getting back to Cleggy and Val before they got home. Whatever the rest of the day brought, so be it. There was no way Gloria was going to be dictated to by her son. She was the mother, after all, and so she’ddo as she darn well pleased.

Oh yes! Gloria Frensham was enjoying this. She was actually having fun. Gloria Frensham couldn’t remember the last time she’d had any fun. When you hit that mysterious age that some youngsters deem ‘old’ – and which could be any age over thirty (or even less) – you weren’t supposed to be having fun, were you? You were supposed to be sitting down in a comfortable armchair, somewhere, sipping tea, watching TV reruns, and being perfectly respectable, calm and fuddy.

That, she could now see, was what Clegg and Val had been trying to make her do – conform to that ideal. ‘Keeps ’em quiet!’ she’d actually heard a youngster in Green’s Nursing Home say.