As the postman approached number 24, Magnolia Close, that morning, he could hear raised voices. All female, an adult and, he presumed, two children. He didn’t need to get that near to hear them either. He certainly knew better than to hang around. He dropped two items of mail and beat a prudent, hasty retreat.
"I am not going to that school again!" Brooke was shouting at her mother, Martha.
"Me neither," Celine added.
"How are you going to pass your re-sits if you don’t go to school? And now look what you’ve done? You’ve upset Celine!"
"I’ve upset Celine? What about me? Doesn’t it matter if I’m upset? Never mind that little twit."
"Brooke!" Martha was really mad now, and she meant it. "You are not to call your sister things like that. I’ve warned you once. I will not put up with it and you are going to be in serious trouble."
The doorbell rang. Martha could not say what serious trouble Brooke would be in. Embarrassed, she gave a side-long nod to her two daughters. "The pair of you – get in the kitchen." Martha straightened herself and attempted to hide the anger from her face before opening the door.
"Mrs Ames? I’m Robert Farrah. I was wondering whether I could have a word with you."
Jade shuffled into the kitchen still in her dressing gown to find Tricia already there sipping a cup of coffee.
"Gosh – you’re up with the lark."
"I know. I woke early and couldn’t get back to sleep."
"But it’s Saturday – our day off. No sick people bothering us at the health centre. It was a good night, wasn’t it?"
"Not bad, I suppose. I got some guy asking me for my phone number."
"Never! Really? Lucky old you. What was he like?"
"OK, I suppose."
"Think he’ll call?"
"Do they ever?" Tricia sipped at her coffee. "Well sometimes they do. Sometimes, when you see them a second time you wish they hadn’t bothered!"
They both laughed. "Tell me about it," said Jade.
"Did you get any chat-up lines?"
"No. I struck out. It must have been your lucky night."
Tricia paused. "Listen, Jade." She hesitated. "Don’t take this the wrong way, but we might both have done better if we’d split up a little – given the guys more of a chance."
"Was I crowding you? Oh, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to."
"No, not at all. But perhaps if we had some secret signal we could give each other – you know – if one of us is getting a bite – then the other would realise to, sort of, leave some space."
"Of course," said Jade. "Whatever you like."
"And the same would go for me if you had someone showing interest – then I would know to back off."
"Gotcha. Absolutely."
"And if some guy called Jonathan phones, hand him over to me!" Tricia forced a laugh.
"Yeah. Right."
"I am sorry about what happened to your husband," said Robert Farrah. "There’s nothing I could do."
"Couldn’t you just drop the charges?" said Martha Ames.
"I wish. The headmistress, Mrs Groves, is insisting on a prosecution, I’m afraid. It’s all part of a policy of zero tolerance of violence towards teachers. A sign of our times, I’m afraid."
"I understand," said Martha. "The thing I’m really worried about is if this gets back to his employers. He could lose his job."
"Has he ever been in trouble with the law before."
"No," she was shocked. "I don’t know what has come over him."
"You’ve no idea?"
"None. Celine’s been difficult, but what do you expect with a new school? Dennis had a word with Brooke to keep an eye on her because she’s back at Hope Academy doing re-sits. I don’t know whether it was something she said that made Dennis so angry but whatever it was, it’s no excuse."
"Hmm." Robert reflected. "I was wondering – would it be possible for me to have a word with Brooke? In private?"
"In private?" Martha hesitated. "I’m not sure that would be a good idea."
"I quite understand. It’s just that, sometimes, school children have things that they won’t open up about in front of their parents. You know the sort of thing – not handing homework, struggling with some topic."
"Where were you thinking?" Martha still wasn’t sure.
"If we could just go for a walk – out in public. I wouldn’t want to whisk her away where no-one could see us, if that’s what you’re thinking."
"Very well," she said. "I’ll go and ask her. She may say no."
"Of course."
Robert Farrah and Brooke Ames had walked in a tense silence to the gardens at the end of Magnolia Close.
"Brooke, what’s wrong?"
She didn’t answer.
"Have we ever met before? Have I ever done anything to you in a past life that I’ve forgotten about that makes you want to spread stories about me?"
"No."
"Then what is it? Whatever you told your father has landed him in trouble with the police, and your mother says that it may even affect his job. If you are going to go to university you are going to need all the financial help they can give. Why are you telling tales about me?
"They’re not tales! My best friend told me about what you got up to at your last school before you came here!"
"And you believed her, just like that?"
"Why not?"
"Because they are just tales. Something somebody made up. If you check you will find I left that school without a blot on my character. Coming to Hope Academy was for a better job, that’s all. Now I’d like you to stop spreading rumours before they cause any more harm. Can you do that?"
"Perhaps," she sulked. "What’s in it for me?"
"I see, It’s like that, is it?"
"Why not?"
"You’ve got re-sits coming up, haven’t you. Maybe I could help."
"Get me through?"
"Yes. Sort something. Deal?"
She hesitated. "Deal."
End Of Episode 17.
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