The Pilates Class

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 2

“BRIAN, I ASKED you to look after Elliott! Where is he?” Judy Barr put down the groceries on the kitchen table and took off her coat.

“He said he was going to the park with his mates. When’s dinner?”

“You know what goes on at the park. When I’m late home from work you have to keep an eye on him.”

“Mum, be serious. Who’s going to nick him? He weighs fourteen stones for God’s sake!” Brian looked in the grocery bags. “Did you buy any crisps?”

“No, money’s a bit tight this month. It’s not about him being abducted; I worry about the drinking and the drug taking down there. I worry that he’ll get in with the wrong crowd.”

“All Elliott and his mates do is sit on the swings and eat takeaway pizzas and chips. Nick’s down there snogging in the bushes with his bird. He’ll see what he’s up to.”

Judy sighed and began preparing the evening meal. Life had dealt her a rough hand: Alan was living it up in Bromley with Cara, discarding his responsibilities like a snake shedding its outer skin, and thinking all he had to do was to pay the least amount of money into her bank account from afar that he could get away with. How was she supposed to earn a living and look after the welfare of four teenage boys at the same time?

“Is dinner ready yet, Mum?” Marlon had appeared from the fug of his bedroom.

“Not yet. Have you done your homework?”

“We weren’t set any.”

“You said that yesterday.”

“We weren’t set any yesterday either. What’s for dinner?”

“Spaghetti Bolognese.”

“I hate spaghetti Bolognese.”

“Then cook me something lovely then. I could do with a night off.”

“No, it’s ok. I’ll eat it. It just tastes like shit.”

“Please watch your language Marlon.”

“I can’t think of any other word to describe it.”

As if by magic all four boys appeared in the kitchen just as Judy was draining the spaghetti. Their appetites were insatiable; her weekly food bill was rising faster than the national debt. She decided after dinner to ask Alan for more money.

“Cara wants a new kitchen. We’ll have to be a bit careful with the pennies, Jude.”

You have four ravenous sons here. You are bloody well going to pay for their upkeep.

“All I’m asking for is another fifty pounds a month to help with the food bill.”

“What’s Brian doing these days?”

If you were any sort of decent father you would know.

“He’s in the first year of his engineering apprenticeship. He’s doing ok but he’s earning the usual peanuts.”

“Make it thirty five quid and it’s a deal.”

“Forty five. Elliot’s comfort eating; he misses his Dad. It’s like trying to feed a plague of locusts.”

“Forty.” Alan appeared totally insensitive to his youngest son’s plight.

“Ok. Forty.” Judy thought it was best not to press for more; she was lucky he had even agreed to forty pounds.

“How much did the bastard give you?” Nicholas picked up a tea towel and laconically dried a few plates.

“Thank you for helping me wash up, Nick. Your father’s given another forty pounds a month.”

“Well, that should keep Elliott in pizzas anyway.”

“I’m going to have to give him less pocket money and put him on a diet. He’s not going to like it, but I’ve been a bit lax with him lately. He misses his Dad. He’s suffered a bit more than the rest of you.”

“I’ll take him down the pub with me and give him a few games of snooker.”

“That’s really kind of you!” Judy turned towards her son; “Is that aftershave I can smell? It’s a nice pong. What’s her name?”

“Er……..Tracey. She lives in Detmar Road.”

“She’s definitely bringing out the best in you!” Judy smiled and rinsed out the washing up bowl.

As she settled down in bed, she could hear Marlon’s music vibrating through the whole house. The ‘singer’ (if that’s what they called singing these days) sounded angry; the torrent of expletives being shouted through the thin walls was enough to make a sailor blush. Sighing, she climbed out from under the warm duvet, only to find that Brian was out on the landing already.

“Turn it down, you wanker!”

Peace suddenly reigned. Brian’s booming bass tones seemed to have done the job for her. As she got back under the covers she decided that she really wanted to attend some sort of relaxation class. Perhaps it would make her less prone to worrying all the time? She would check at the leisure centre after work tomorrow and find out what they had on offer.