by Mike Gayle
Ashleigh’s hand went up to her mouth.
“So, he actually came? I hoped he might, but the way he was talking I was convinced he wouldn’t.”
“Well, he did. So, thank you. Although me been racking my brains trying to work out how you did it.”
“It was all Tony’s doing,” said Ashleigh. “The only information I had was Gus’s name and the area he lived in, but then Tony worked his magic with the electoral register and Bob’s your uncle, I had an address.”
“And you went all the way to Brixton, and sat in that mess of a flat just for me?”
“It wasn’t that terrible. But he’s obviously in a bad way, poor thing. I’ve been trying to think how best to help him, but I reckon the last thing he’d want was social services getting involved.”
“Well, he’s with me now and he’ll be staying in David’s old room for the time being. He needs to get him strength up, time to get back on his feet. And then we’ll see what happens next.”
“Well done, Hubert. That sounds like the perfect solution… So, where does that leave you? Are you okay?” She took a step back and scrutinized him, shaking her head as she did so. “You’ve lost weight. Have you been eating properly? I’ve been so worried about you these past weeks. Every time I’ve walked past yours I’ve wanted to knock on your door, see how you were doing… but at the same time I wanted to respect your feelings too.”
“Me know. And me didn’t exactly make it easy for you, and for that me sorry. You of all people didn’t deserve to be shut out like that.”
“Don’t you worry about me, Hubert Bird. I’m tougher than I look.” She smiled and hugged him again. “So does this mean… you’ll be coming tomorrow? That you’ll still be giving your speech? I’ve got so much to tell you about the campaign and the launch and everything that’s been planned. Councilor Pemberton and his team have been absolutely amazing. I can’t fault them, they’ve taken our little idea and turned it into something really—”
Hubert held up his hand.
“Ashleigh, hang on. Me pleased to hear that everything is going well, and that’s all credit to you and the rest of the committee, but hand on heart me can’t say that me up to doing anything tomorrow. Now, me sorry if that’s not what you want to hear but it has to be this way. Me just not ready.”
“Of course, I don’t like it but I understand. The important thing is that you’re on the mend. But I can’t lie, it won’t be the same without you. Now, how about coming in for a cup of tea and a slice of toast with the toddlers? You might have to sing a few verses of ‘Wind the Bobbin Up,’ mind you, but I think you’ll like it.”
“Sounds lovely, but me have one more person to see.”
“You mean Jan?”
“How she been?”
“She’s okay. Like me, she’s been worried about you. To be honest, I think she thinks it’s all her fault… like she’s done something wrong. She told me about… you know, you and her… and I tried to reassure her, but it was tricky because I didn’t want to break your confidence by telling her everything you told me. So, I just explained that you were going through a bit of a rough patch and that it had nothing to do with her. Not sure she believed me, though.”
“You did the right thing, darling. And now it’s time for me to make things right with her.” They hugged again. “Me hope everything goes well tomorrow, me sure it will. And maybe when it’s all over, if you have the time, you can pop by for a cuppa with Layla and tell me all about it.”
“It’s a date,” said Ashleigh.
After telling Hubert that there would be a good chance of finding Jan in the community room at the library with the rest of the committee, putting together the last of the information packs for distribution tomorrow, Ashleigh kissed Hubert’s cheek and went back inside the church.
He felt bad for not agreeing to attend the launch day, but right now it was more than he could face. He wasn’t even sure he could cope with seeing the committee together in one room, with all the questions they’d have. He thought briefly about putting off seeing Jan until later, when she was back at home. But Jan deserved an explanation for everything that had happened; he’d never wanted her to feel that any of this was her fault. And so, taking a deep breath, Hubert turned on his heel and headed in the direction of the library.
47
NOW
The door to the community room was closed and Hubert reached out and grasped the handle. He could just about make out voices on the other side but had no idea who they belonged to. Steeling himself, he pushed the door open and, just as he’d feared, everyone stopped what they were doing, turned, and stared at him.
Jan, Tony, Maude, Fiona, and Randip were all wearing bright yellow T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan #knowyourneighbor and sitting around a collection of tables strewn with leaflets, tote bags, and pens.
“Hubert,” said Tony, unable to hide his surprise. “What are you doing here?”
There was an awkward silence and then Fiona said, “What Tony means to say, Hubert, is how glad we are to see you.”
“Yeah,” said Tony. “What she said.”
“I told them you weren’t dead,” said Maude. “But they’ve all been going around with faces like you were.”
“No, we haven’t,” said Randip. “We were just missing him, that’s all.”
Hubert shifted his gaze from Randip to Jan, who he hadn’t even dared look directly at until now. She was covering her mouth with her hands, eyes wet with tears.
“Me sorry about… well, about everything,” said Hubert, quietly addressing the room. “Me know that you all must feel like me let you down and me sure you have a lot of questions. But for now, would you mind if me just had a quiet word with Jan?”
“Of course,” said Fiona, standing up and taking her jacket from the back of a chair. “We were all just going for a break anyway, weren’t we?”
“Yes, we were,” said Randip, following Fiona’s lead.
Maude, her face screwed up in confusion, opened her mouth to protest but was prevented by Tony, who put his arm out for her and said, “How do you fancy a nice hot chocolate, Maude, on me?”
She eyed him suspiciously.
“With the cream and the little marshmallows?”
“With whatever you like.”
She gave him a wink so theatrical that it looked like she was having some sort of seizure.
“In that case, I am going for a break after all.”
One by one, they all left the room until finally Hubert and Jan were alone.
“So, you’re better now?” asked Jan as Hubert sat down on one of the plastic chairs next to her. Now that she had recovered herself, there was an unmistakable frostiness in her tone.
“Jan,” began Hubert, “you have every right to be upset. You’ve been nothing but a friend to me and me have behave… well, it can’t have been nice for you.”
“You mean worrying about you day and night?” said Jan. “You mean going over and over everything I’d said and done? You mean knocking on your door, calling you, even writing letters only to be completely ignored? No, it wasn’t nice. It wasn’t nice at all.”
“There is a reason, Jan, but that’s no good excuse for the way me treated you.”
“Go on, then,” said Jan. “Let’s hear it.”
“My daughter, Rose, died,” said Hubert quietly. “She died five years ago and me was such an old fool that me pretended to meself and the whole world that she hadn’t.”
There was a moment of silence as Jan struggled to comprehend what she had just heard, and then without speaking, she reached across and took his hand in hers. As they sat together, her anger having melted away, Hubert told her everything about losing Rose, how he withdrew from life, about the phone calls.
“The funny thing was,” said Hubert, “even though the calls weren’t real, she would say exactly the sort of things my Rose would say. Bothering me about what me was eating, asking me whether me was getting enough exercise, and even trying t
o sort out my social life. That’s how Dotty, Dennis, and Harvey came about.”
Jan raised an eyebrow, and Hubert sighed.
“Sometimes me forget who me tell what to,” he said, and then, taking a deep breath, he told her all about his fictional friends and the lengths he had gone to in order to be able to produce friends that he could present to Rose.
“So, you were trying to find a real-life Dotty, Dennis, and Harvey?”
Hubert shrugged. “It sounds ridiculous, now me said it out loud. But yes, that was the plan. Make friends with three pensioners, in the hope that she wouldn’t be too angry with me when she found out that I’d been lying to her. But until you came along, the only friends I made were Ashleigh, Layla, and Emils!”
“Only? What do you mean only? Have you any idea how much you mean to that girl? She thinks the absolute world of you, she does, and I’m not exaggerating. She’s been so worried about you, I’ve lost count of the times I’ve had to comfort her.”
“Me sorry to hear that,” said Hubert, “and yes, me do know how much she cares for me. She’s the reason me here right now. She dug up my old friend Gus, talked him out of his hovel of a flat to come and see me. He gave me a good talking-to and now he’s living in my spare room while he sorts himself out. Me went to see Ashleigh before me came here to thank her and apologize, and we’re all good now. And me hope… well, it’s my wish… that it might be the same with you too. Do you think that’s possible?”
Jan sighed. “Oh, Hubert. Of course it’s possible. I don’t think I could ever be angry with you for any length of time. But I can’t just pretend that things are all right when they’re not. I can’t help thinking that part of you leaving like that was because of… well, you know… that day at the bus stop… what happened between you and me. It wasn’t, was it?”
“No, of course it wasn’t. But it is complicated. You see, Jan, Joyce and me were together for almost fifty years, fifty years with a whole heap of ups and downs. Me wasn’t always the perfect husband, but with my hand on my heart me can say that my Joyce was the love of my life, and for me there will never be anyone like her.”
Jan nodded sadly.
“Oh, I see.”
“No, you don’t,” said Hubert. “Until me met you, me hadn’t even given romance a second thought. Why would me do that, when lightning never strikes in the same place twice? But then me got to know you, and me spent time in your company, and, well… all me can say is that you, Jan, you is a mighty fine woman, and me wish with me whole heart that me could be saying that me want us to be together. But right now, me not in the right frame of mind to think about such things. Me would ask you to give me time to sort meself out, but me would completely understand if you say no, if you say that’s not for you.”
“Oh, Hubert, the important thing is that you don’t have to go through anything alone anymore. You’ve got Ashleigh and Layla, you’ve got your friend Gus back on the scene, you’ve got all the committee, and last but not least, you’ve got a friend in me for life, if nothing else.”
They talked for a while longer, mostly about the campaign and how plans had changed. The venue for the launch day was no longer going to be Bromley Park but rather, due to a number of practical issues, the more expansive Queensmead Recreation Ground. “It’s going to be a lot bigger than we thought,” explained Jan. “The local radio is going to be there, and there’s going to be tables and tents for community groups and stalls too. Me and Fiona are going to help Emils with a cake stall and all the proceeds are going to be donated to the refugee center.”
Hubert was taken aback by the scale of operations Jan was describing. “That all sounds wonderful. Certainly a step up from a simple coffee morning!”
“It’s going to be amazing,” said Jan. She paused. “Are we going to see you there?”
Hubert shook his head. “No, but me will be with you in spirit.”
He could see that Jan wanted to talk him around, but then thankfully Maude barged into the room holding her hot chocolate gleefully aloft, followed by Tony and Fiona, whose clutches she had clearly escaped.
Tony shot an apologetic look in Hubert’s direction. “Come on, Maude. I told you they weren’t finished yet.”
“You’re fine, Maude,” said Hubert. He patted her gently on the arm. “Me got to push off now anyway.”
After kissing Jan goodbye, Hubert offered a wave to the rest of the committee and then headed home.
That evening, Hubert and Gus ate a meal on their laps in front of the television, commenting on the action unfolding on the screen between mouthfuls of food. Hubert couldn’t help but note how good it was to have company at mealtimes again, someone to chat with apart from the cat.
That night, lying in bed, Hubert replayed the day’s events in his mind, paying particular attention to his encounters with Ashleigh and Jan. He felt bad that he wasn’t going to the launch, but it was all probably for the best. It certainly appeared as though the committee, with Councilor Pemberton’s help, had everything in hand, and the last thing they needed was a doddery old man getting in their way.
When he finally drifted off, his sleep was restless and filled with strange and vivid dreams. Cora and David paddling in the stream at the edge of his mother’s farm. Joyce picking flowers in a garden with Ashleigh and Layla. None of it seemed to make any sense, but all of it left him feeling unsettled long after he woke the next morning. That sense of disquiet followed him as he ate breakfast with Gus, dressed for the day ahead, and even as he mowed the lawn. Finally, unable to stand it any longer, Hubert unplugged the mower with half the lawn still uncut and sat down next to Gus at the garden table.
“What’s the matter, Smiler? You been up and down like that cat of yours all morning.”
“Me don’t know. Me just can’t seem to settle.”
“Maybe you sick. You have fever?”
“It’s not that kind of feeling. It’s… it’s… me can’t think what the word is.”
“You think it might be something to do with that thing happening in the park today?”
Hubert shook his head, perhaps a little too vehemently.
“It’s not that.”
“Well, in that case, I’m all out of ideas.”
Kissing his teeth in frustration, Hubert got up from the chair, plugged the mower back in, and was about to start it up when he stopped and reconsidered Gus’s comment. Could it be that his friend was right? Could his strange mood be connected to the launch party going on without him? He checked his watch. It was half past twelve and the day’s events were supposed to start at one o’clock. It wouldn’t do any harm if he took a little look, would it? He could just slip in unnoticed, see what was going on, and leave before anyone spotted him. That way he could feel like he was supporting them somehow, rather than using up a whole lot of energy he didn’t have, pretending that this was a day like any other.
He made up his mind. He would go. And abandoning the lawnmower, he rushed past Gus into the house, muttering something about needing to pop out, and still in his gardening clothes and without a single glance in the mirror, he headed straight out of the front door.
48
NOW
Hubert couldn’t quite believe how many people there were at the recreation ground. He’d never seen it so full. The place had been transformed into a temporary festival site, with a huge stage with a mammoth screen above it at one end, pop music blaring out from speakers on either side. Around the edges, various charity and community groups had set up their stalls under gaily decorated gazebos, men and women in hi-viz vests were strolling around, handing out the bright yellow tote bags Hubert had seen the committee filling at the library the day before, and right in the middle of it all was, it seemed to Hubert, something like the entire population of Bromley.
Positioning himself toward the back of the crowd, Hubert regarded the stage and saw on the screen the camera pan toward a gaggle of people in matching bright yellow T-shirts, who he recognized as the committee. Resisting
the urge to wave at them, he watched as a young man, also wearing one of the yellow T-shirts, came onstage to enthusiastic applause. Hubert didn’t recognize him, but then he overheard the family next to him remark that he was a local comedian who was acting as emcee. The young man told a few jokes that Hubert didn’t think were funny but the crowd seemed to find hilarious.
“And now,” boomed the comedian over the sound system, “please put your hands together and give a great big Bromley welcome to Councilor Martin Pemberton!”
Councilor Pemberton’s arrival onstage was met with mild applause, some booing, and a solitary cry of, “Bring back the weekly bin collection!” Ever the professional, Councilor Pemberton remained unfazed and began talking about the first time he heard about the campaign while speed-eating a microwave meal for one in front of the TV before heading out to a fundraising event for a local hospice. He described how the news item about the campaign had stopped him in his tracks.
“I felt these two people had really captured the spirit of Bromley, what this borough is about, what we locals are made of, and I knew there and then that I wanted to be part of it, and the rest of the council were in total agreement. What this group has achieved in such a short space of time is truly remarkable and it should inspire us all to become more involved in this wonderful community of ours. So, without more ado, please let me introduce you to local resident and vice president of the Campaign to End Loneliness in Bromley, Ashleigh Jones!”
This time around, the welcome from the crowd was noticeably warmer, and among the clapping and cheers there were even one or two good-natured whoops of support as a clearly nervous Ashleigh walked to the microphone in the center of the stage. A hush descended over the audience.
“As you can probably tell,” she began, glancing at a piece of paper in her hand, “I’m not from round here… I’m actually from north London…” A ripple of laughter ran through the crowd. “But seriously, I’m from a tiny village in South Wales, and when I moved down here three years ago I didn’t know anyone apart from my boyfriend at the time. It was really difficult at first, and I missed home loads, but then the relationship broke down and I can honestly say I’ve never felt more alone in my life.”
