Civvy Street

by Fiona Field

  As she was digging out her airing cupboard and piling the spare room bed high with linen she heard the rattle of the letter box. In need of displacement activity, she pottered downstairs to see what the postman had delivered; an envelope addressed to Mike and some bumph from a double glazing company. Ha! Like the army was about to invest in that. She sighed as she put Mike’s letter on the hall table – no doubt yet another rejection. She thought about just chucking it in the bin. The poor man didn’t need yet another kick in the crotch.

  She returned upstairs and carried on sorting and doing until she heard the front door slam. She glanced at her watch – lunchtime.

  ‘Hi,’ she said as she ran downstairs.

  Mike was standing at the bottom, the open letter in his hand. Uh-oh.

  ‘I don’t bloody believe it. I don’t!’

  Susie was about to mutter something sympathetic when she saw the expression on his face.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘I’ve got a job. I’ve only gone and got a bloody job!’

  Chapter 12

  ‘What? What?!’ Susie felt ridiculously excited by this news.

  ‘I’m emergency planning officer for Winterspring District Council.’

  ‘Which means you’ll be doing what?’

  ‘Flood defences, that sort of thing. Setting up temporary mortuaries in the event of an airliner crashing in the area.’

  ‘Oh, Mike. I am so pleased.’

  ‘What? About the chance of an air disaster?’

  ‘No, numpty. I’m so pleased about the job.’ She gazed at him with real fondness.

  ‘You’re pleased?’ Mike grabbed Susie round the waist and planted a fat kiss on her cheek. ‘Maybe things are finally looking up.’

  ‘What’s the salary?’

  Mike sighed. ‘Well... not brilliant to start with; only twenty-eight thousand, but it’ll increase over time.’

  ‘Bit of a drop for you.’

  Mike nodded. ‘But with your pay... And it comes with a company car. I have to do a fair bit of travelling.’

  ‘Hey, that’s a perk and it really doesn’t matter if you’re earning less than you are right now. It’s just wonderful you’ve got a job. A proper job.’ Susie paused. ‘Of course, with both of us working we’ll have to budget for childcare. I don’t think the twins are old enough to be left alone when they come home from school. But, hey, you’ve got a job and that’s just brilliant and we can cross the childcare bridge later. When do you start?’

  ‘In a few weeks. I’ll still be on resettlement leave so I’ll still be getting paid for this job. We’ll be on double money for a bit.’

  ‘Good,’ said Susie, emphatically. ‘Glad to know you can squeeze the last drops out of the army. Though, considering what they have done to us and the kids, they owe us. Big time.’

  Mike laughed – laughed for the first time in an age. ‘You sound like Don Corleone,’ he said.

  ‘If I could get my own back on the army and I thought it would do any good, I’d behave like Don Corleone!’

  After Mike had returned to work Susie popped across the road to share the good news with Maddy who was, predictably, almost as chuffed as her neighbour.

  ‘Oh, Susie, I am so pleased for you. That must be such a relief.’

  ‘It wasn’t just the money – because we’d be really struggling on just what I’m going to be earning,’ Susie admitted. ‘It was the whole macho, not-being-the-man-of-the-house, wearing-the-trousers, being-the-breadwinner thing that was getting Mike down. It didn’t help that I only went for one job and I got it, while I dread to think how many he applied for.’

  ‘But you can’t beat yourself up about you getting lucky first time out.’

  Susie looked Maddy steadily in the eye. ‘We both know my luck had a helping hand.’

  ‘Truly, Susie, if Seb hadn’t reckoned that you can make a proper fist of the job, he wouldn’t have given it to you. You must have impressed him to have been right up there in the running.’

  ‘Maybe.’ Susie looked doubtful. ‘Anyway, at least now we can start to move forward.’

  ‘And talking of moving...?’

  ‘All being well, we exchange contracts next week. The people moving out are going into rented accommodation and we don’t have a place to sell so there’s no chain and this is all very straightforward. The advantage is that we can probably get in and get everything straight before the girls come back from school.’

  ‘Have they seen the house?’

  Susie shook her head. ‘It’s going to be an interesting moment when they do. I mean a quarter is hardly palatial but... well, you’ve seen the place. And the estate.’ Her happy mood evaporated. There was no getting over the fact that the place was a dump and their neighbours... Mike had called the estate ASBO Central. ‘And then it’s going to be even more interesting when I take them to see their new school which I’m going to do as soon as they come home for their summer hols. The comp doesn’t break up till the week after Browndown so I’ve arranged for them to visit it and meet their head of year.’

  ‘Where are you going to send them?’

  ‘Winterspring Comp.’

  ‘What’s it like?’

  ‘Modern, big. Nine tutor groups in each year.’

  ‘Nine?!’

  Susie nodded. ‘I know... don’t.’ It was so far from ideal but they had no choice – not if they couldn’t afford to pay for education. ‘Over a thousand kids go there. Once you get away from the private sector you enter a whole other world. But there’s a bus from the village every morning so that means Mike and I don’t have to juggle a school run along with getting to work on time. And going on the school bus should help them to make new friends. And they’re bright girls so they ought to be in the top set for everything and there’s lots of kids that go from the comp to uni so the move shouldn’t wreck their educational chances.’ Susie wondered if she was trying to convince herself as much as Maddy that she and Mike had made the right choice. And maybe she was exaggerating about the ‘lots of kids that go from the comp to uni’ bit. A few did, for sure, but from what Susie had ascertained it was a pretty small minority. Still, her girls would surely be amongst that minority – given the educational start they’d had. Susie was fully aware, though, that regardless of that start the comp wasn’t going to provide the same social chances. Half the thing about going into private education was to do with the Old Boy or Old Girl network. There’d be precious little chance of a network of any description at Winterspring Comprehensive.

  ‘I remember the school bus,’ said Maddy. ‘I used to get half my homework done on it before I got off. Of course, sometimes it bore a remarkable resemblance to my best friend’s.’

  Susie grinned. ‘And talking about the bus journey home...’ She paused. She needed to ask Maddy a monster favour but was this the right moment?

  Maddy looked puzzled. ‘Is there a problem? Surely there’ll be a bus back for them.’

  ‘Oh, there is. Except there won’t be anyone in when they get back. I won’t get away from the mess till five thirty at the earliest – much later if there’s any sort of function, and Mike’ll be working till gone five as well and the kids finish school at three. I really don’t think they’re old enough just yet to be left for well over two hours on their own.’

  ‘What are you going to do?’

  ‘That’s the thing, Mads.’ Susie looked her friend in the face. ‘You said to me a while back that you couldn’t see that you’d be getting back into the saddle any time soon regarding getting a job, what with being the OC’s wife and with two tiny children...’

  ‘Ye-e-e-s,’ said Maddy, slightly warily.

  ‘Well, there’s a school bus that passes the barracks. If the girls caught that one, could they jump off here and stay with you till either Mike or I can pick them up after work? I’d pay you, of course,’ Susie added hastily. ‘The proper going rate and everything.’

  Maddy considered Susie’s proposition. ‘Susie,’ she began, �
��can I think about it for a day or two? It’s quite tempting, and you know I adore Ella and Katie but it is quite a commitment.’

  ‘Yes, yes of course.’ Susie hadn’t totally expected Maddy to bite her hand off but she’d thought there might be a bit more enthusiasm.

  ‘In fact, it might be worth getting hold of Caro. She’s coming back to the battalion, she’s qualified. You might be better off with her. Not that I wouldn’t step in if you, or she, had an emergency.’

  *

  Dan Armstrong let himself into his flat and found Jenna, as usual, lounging on the sofa, reading a magazine. Eliot was on his playmat, under his activity centre, bashing the brightly coloured beads and bangles that were suspended above him. The flat, as always, was pristinely tidy and Jenna looked a million dollars so why, wondered Dan, did Jenna’s lack of obvious activity annoy him so much? He knew he was being unreasonable; she had tried to get work as a hairdresser before she’d had Eliot, and obviously, now she was a mother, getting work when there were childcare considerations made things more difficult, but he couldn’t help feeling resentment that he earned all the money and she spent it. Anyway, he had news for Jenna that might change all that.

  ‘Hiya, babe,’ said Jenna, looking up from her mag. ‘Good day?’

  Dan chucked his beret on the coffee table.

  ‘Don’t do that,’ said Jenna. ‘There’s a hook in the hall.’

  Dan ignored the comment. ‘I’ve got something for you.’

  Jenna brightened. ‘Ooh, lovely.’

  ‘It’s not a present, it’s this.’ He pulled a thin magazine from his pocket.

  Jenna’s nose wrinkled. ‘The garrison newsletter? What would I want with that?’

  Dan opened it and folded the page then handed it to his partner. ‘I thought you might be interested in this.’

  Jenna scanned the page and handed the magazine back. ‘Yeah, I know about that.’

  ‘Jenna, they’re advertising for a hairdresser for the new community centre. It’s right up your alley. And I’m reliably informed there’ll be a crèche there, right on the doorstep, so Eliot could be properly looked after while you do people’s hair and if he needs you, you are right there. It’s perfect.’

  Jenna shook her head. ‘Like the wives would come to me? With my reputation?’

  Dan sighed, exasperated. ‘No one remembers that now.’

  ‘Wanna bet? I was hardly flavour of the month back at the old place, was I?’

  ‘But that was ages ago.’

  Jenna stared at him. ‘And you think they’ll have forgotten?’ She snorted. ‘I don’t think so.’

  ‘But when Maddy had the business with that mad stalker and the baby coming early and everything, you were the hero of the hour.’

  ‘On the officers’ patch, maybe. I didn’t see any of the soldiers’ wives patting me on the back. I don’t suppose they even knew.’

  ‘Don’t be like that, I bet they did, you know what the rumour mill is like. But you wouldn’t know because you never have anything to do with them. You never go to any functions, you never interact...’

  ‘Don’t meet trouble halfway, that’s my motto. I don’t want to give my old neighbours the chance to spit in my face. And they more than likely would.’

  ‘You don’t know that.’

  ‘Huh.’

  ‘Look, Jenna, I know my pay as a sergeant isn’t bad but we’re hardly flush.’

  ‘We’re all right.’

  ‘If you worked we could afford to go somewhere nice on holiday – take Eliot to Greece or Spain for a proper holiday. You’d like that, wouldn’t you; get a proper tan instead of having to spray one on.’

  ‘You want me to get skin cancer now?’

  Dan rolled his eyes. ‘I wasn’t suggesting that and you know it.’

  ‘Anyway, I don’t want no crèche looking after little Eliot. I’m his mum and looking after him is my job, not some stranger’s.’ Jenna narrowed her eyes. ‘Are you suggesting I don’t make a good enough go of it?’

  ‘No, of course not. I’m just saying that here is a job that would be perfect for you, it comes complete with childcare and I really, really don’t get why you’re turning it down.’

  With exaggerated slowness and enunciation Jenna said, ‘I’ve just explained why.’

  ‘OK,’ said Dan. ‘Then I’m going to explain things to you from my point of view. If you don’t apply for this job, the next time you want a new outfit or to fill your car up with petrol, or get your nails done professionally, don’t come to me for the money. You can have money for the groceries and stuff for Eliot but after that you’re out of luck. This is a partnership and at the moment I’m doing all the heavy-lift.’

  ‘You wouldn’t?’ said Jenna, looking genuinely shocked.

  ‘Try me.’

  ‘What if I apply for the job and don’t get it?’

  Dan knew just how good a hairdresser Jenna had been. ‘You will,’ he said. He handed the magazine back to her. ‘I suggest you ring this number right now.’

  Jenna snatched the magazine off him and picked up her mobile. ‘Satisfied?’ she said a few minutes later after she finished the call to Maddy. She glared at him.

  ‘There, that wasn’t so hard, now, was it?’ he replied, refusing to rise to her belligerent tone.

  ‘I can see it’s going to be a right pain in the arse to get it off the ground. The place is half built and I’ve got to go and see the admin officer to get insurance and terms of trading sorted out. Honestly, Dan, it had better be worth it.’

  ‘Of course it’ll be worth it – it’s a job.’

  ‘Maybe, but once we take out the cost of Eliot’s childcare and tax and national insurance there’ll be precious little left.’

  ‘Whatever it is it’ll still be more than what you are earning right now.’

  Jenna wasn’t convinced and she certainly wasn’t sure it was going to be worth the effort but Dan had made his point of view perfectly plain and she wasn’t going to risk her relationship and her lifestyle by thwarting him. She flashed him a smile.

  ‘You’re right, hon.’

  ‘Good.’ Dan drew her to him and gave her a kiss.

  ‘But I do worry about some of the wives.’

  ‘It’ll be a five-minute wonder – maybe not even that. Once they realise how good you are they’ll forget all about your past.’

  ‘Hey,’ said Jenna, ruffling Dan’s number two buzz cut, ‘how do you know I’m any good?’

  ‘Your mate Maddy rates you – that’s good enough for me.’

  Yeah, thought Jenna, Maddy did – but she was only one out of hundreds of wives.

  Chapter 13

  Susie drove the family estate up to the gravel sweep in front of Browndown School and stared at the beautiful building looking spectacular in the bright summer sunshine. The stands of mature chestnut trees that flanked the main house were a brilliant green, the lawns beneath were immaculate and the distant playing fields gave the impression that the school was set in acres and acres of parkland. It looked more like a stately home than a school – but then that was exactly what it had been once upon a time. Around her, other cars were drawn up – mostly top-of-the-range four-by-fours driven by mothers in designer clothes and carrying ridiculously expensive handbags. Susie glanced at her Marks and Sparks faux-leather bag and her Boden summer dress and tried not to feel envious. Still, they would fit right in where she was going to be living next – they might even be considered posh.

  She opened the car door and stepped onto the crunchy well-raked gravel. She’d been dreading this. Despite what the vile Miss Marcham had said about Katie and Ella, they’d made friends at this place and had been happy here and taking them away from the school – which had pretty much been their home for a year – was going to be hard on them. Maybe they had been naughty but Susie wondered if it hadn’t been more a matter of high-spirits, which would explain their popularity. Not that that dried-up old trout Miss Marcham would understand about popularity. Susie
bet her bottom dollar that Miss Marcham had been Nora No-Mates when she’d been at school and consequently now resented those girls who weren’t. Yes, that probably explained a lot, thought Susie. Still, Miss Marcham’s past wasn’t going to have any bearing on the twins’ present and Susie suspected that it was going to be a very tearful end of year service in the school chapel and an even more traumatic departure. She checked her bag for tissues. Lots... good.

  There was a steady trickle of parents – mostly mothers – heading to the chapel at the rear of the main building. The women, like Susie, were mostly in dresses, some in skirts and smart jackets, and the handful of men were dressed in business suits. Some of the parents were greeting each other like long-lost friends but most were just picking their way across the gravel, the women concentrating on not letting their high heels sink into the soft ground under the path. The herbaceous border that flanked the route was wonderful and the scent of roses and lilies was heavy in the air. Susie wondered casually how much the school spent on gardeners and groundsmen but, given the annual bill for fees, it was probably quite a lot. Not the sort of money that poor old Winterspring Comp could run to. No wonder the campus of the girls’ new school mostly consisted of paving slabs and asphalt. The difference was going to come as such a shock to the girls after five whole years in the private system. No manicured lawns, no swanky sports pavilions, no soundproofed music rooms, no grand piano in the school hall... No, Winterspring Comp was all utilitarian and functional, all hard edges. And the words ‘hard edges’ probably applied to the pupils as much as their surroundings, thought Susie as she pushed her worries as to how her daughters would cope to the deepest recesses of her mind.

  She entered the cool gloom of the chapel and was handed her service sheet by a sixth-former who represented everything that Susie hoped her own daughters would become: self-assured, elegant, poised and, very possibly, given the school’s excellent academic record, intelligent. Susie took her seat in one of the pews reserved for the parents, at the side of the chapel, and bent her head. She wasn’t praying – she wasn’t the least religious – but she knew it was important to observe the social norms in an environment like this. Although, since in about an hour she’d be an outsider to this exclusive group, she spent her time in this position wondering why she bothered. She sat up straight again and began to look at the other parents. She nodded at a few that she recognised and was rather shocked when one woman didn’t return the silent greeting and deliberately looked away. Ah, thought Susie, the ostracism has started. Word has got out that we’re no longer wealthy enough to afford the fees so now I am persona non grata. Still, as she didn’t want to be friends with people that shallow, she didn’t much care.