Part Three Chapter IX

IXKay Bawden neer wanted to set unlesst in Miles and Samanthas ho sp can again. She could non forgive them for witnessing Gavins parade of indifference, nor could she forget Miles condesc hold backing laughter, his attitude to Bellchapel, or the sneery fashion that he and Samantha had rn about Krystal inducedon.In spite of Gavins apology and his tepid assurances of affection, Kay could not stop picturing him draw close to nose with Mary on the sofa jumping up to tending her with the plates walking her home in the dark. When Gavin t gray-headed her, a few days later, that he had had dinner at Marys house, she had to fight carry out an angry response, because he had never eaten more than toast at her house in Hope Street.She aptitude not be on the wholeowed to say anything bad about The Widow, about whom Gavin spoke as though she were the Holy Mother, scarce the Mollisons were different.I cant say I comparable Miles in truth much.Hes not exactly my best mate.If you ask m e, itll be a catastrophe for the addiction clinic if he gets elected.I doubt itll read any difference.Gavins apathy, his indifference to other peoples pain, ceaselessly infuriated Kay.Isnt thither anyone wholl reefer up for Bellchapel?Colin Wall, I suppose, tell Gavin.So, at eight oclock on Monday evening, Kay walked up the Walls drive and rang their doorbell. From the summit step, she could make out Samantha Mollisons red Ford Fiesta, set in the drive three houses along. The sight added a illumetle especial(a) zest to her desire for a fight.The Walls door was opened by a short plain dumpy fair sex in a tie-dyed skirt.Hello, give tongue to Kay. My names Kay Bawden, and I was wondering whether I could speak to Colin Wall?For a col ropese second, Tessa simply stared at the attractive young muliebrity on the door whom she had never seen ahead. The strangest idea flashed across her mind that Colin was having an affair and that his lover had engender to tell her so.Oh yes come in. Im Tessa.Kay wiped her feet conscientiously on the doormat and followed Tessa into a sitting room that was smaller, shabbier but cosier than the Mollisons. A tall, balding man with a high-pitched forehead was sitting in an armchair with a notebook in his lap and a pen in his hand.Colin, this is Kay Bawden, verbalise Tessa. Shed desire to speak to you.Tessa saying Colins startled and wary expression, and knew at once that the woman was a oddish to him. Really, she thought, a little ashamed, what were you have in minding?Im sorry to barge in on you standardized this, unannounced, verbalize Kay, as Colin stood up to push her hand. I would hold telephoned, but youre Were ex-directory, yes, utter Colin. He towered over Kay, his eyes tiny puke the lenses of his glasses. Please, sit down.Thank you. Its about the election, express Kay. This Parish Council election. Youre standing, arent you, against Miles Mollison?Thats right, said Colin nervously. He knew who she mustiness be the reporter who had wanted to talk to Krystal. They had tracked him down Tessa ought not to have let her in.I was wondering whether I could help in any way, said Kay. Im a social actor, mostly working in the Fields. There are whatever facts and figures I could give you about the Bellchapel habituation Clinic, which Mollison seems kind of keen on closing. Ive been told that youre for the clinic? That youd like to keep it open?The oncoming of relief and pleasure made him near giddy.Oh, yes, said Colin, yes, I would. Yes, that was my predecessors thats to say, the old holder of the seat Barry Fairbrother was certainly opposed to closing the clinic. And I am, too.Well, Ive had a conversition with Miles Mollison, and he made it quite clear that he doesnt think the clinics worth keeping open. Frankly, I think hes rather ignorant and unreserved about the causes and treatment of addiction, and about the very real difference Bellchapel is making. If the Parish refus es to reform the lease on the building, and the District cuts funding, because theres a danger that some very vulnerable people will be left without support.Yes, yes, I see, said Colin. Oh, yes, I agree.He was astonished and flattered that this attractive young woman would have walked through the evening to find him and take awayer herself as an ally.Would you like a cup of afternoon tea or coffee, Kay? asked Tessa.Oh, thanks very much, said Kay. Tea, please, Tessa. No sugar.Fats was in the kitchen, helping himself from the fridge. He ate copiously and continually, but remained scrawny, never putting on an ounce of weight. In spite of his openly declared disgust for them, he seemed unaffected by Tessas pack of ready-filled syringes, which sat in a clinical white box next to the cheese.Tessa locomote to the kettle, and her thoughts re off-key to the subject that had consumed her ever since Sukhvinder had suggested it earlier that Fats and Krystal were seeing each other. She had n ot questioned Fats, and she had not told Colin.The more that Tessa thought about it, the more certain she was that it could not be true. She was sure that Fats held himself in such high regard that no misfire would be good enough, especially a girl like Krystal. sure enough he would not Demean himself? Is that it? Is that what you think?Whos here? Fats asked Tessa, through a mouthful of cold chicken, as she put on the kettle.A woman who wants to help Dad get elected to the council, replied Tessa, foraging in the wardrobe for biscuits.Why? Does she fancy him?Grow up, Stu, said Tessa crossly.He plucked several(prenominal) slices of thin ham out of an open pack and poked them, bit by bit, into his crammed mouth, like a magician inserting silk handkerchiefs into his fist. Fats sometimes stood for ten minutes at a time at the open fridge, ripping open cling film and packets and putting chunks of food directly into his mouth. It was a habit Colin deprecated, along with almost every ot her aspect of Fats behaviour.Whys she want to help him, seriously? he asked, having swallowed his mouthful of meat.She wants the Bellchapel Addiction Clinic to stay open.What, a junkie, is she?No, she isnt a junkie, said Tessa, noting with chafe that Fats had finished the last three chocolate biscuits and left the empty wrappings on the shelf. Shes a social proletarian, and she thinks the clinic is doing a good job. Dad wants to keep it open, but Miles Mollison doesnt think its very effective.It cant be doing that well. The Fields are full of glue-sniffers and smackheads.Tessa knew that if she had said that Colin wanted to close the clinic, Fats would have instantly produced an argument for its continuation.You ought to be a barrister, Stu, she said as the kettle lid started to rattle.When Tessa returned to the sitting room with her tray, she raise Kay talking Colin through a sheaf of printed material she had brought out of her grownup tote bag. two drugs workers part-funded by the council, and partly by Action on Addiction, which is a really good charity. Then theres a social worker attached to the clinic, Nina, shes the one who gave me all this oh, thanks very much, said Kay, radiant up at Tessa, who had set down a mug of tea on the table beside her. Kay had taken to the Walls, in just a few minutes, as she had not taken to anybody else in Pagford. There had been no sweeping up-and-down glance from Tessa as she walked in, no gimlet-eyed assessment of her physical imperfections and dress sense. Her husband, though nervous, seemed decent and earnest in his determination to obstruct the abandonment of the Fields.Is that a London accent, Kay? asked Tessa, dunking a plain biscuit in her tea. Kay nodded.What brings you to Pagford?A relationship, said Kay. She took no pleasure saying it, even though she and Gavin were officially reconciled. She turned back to Colin.I dont quite understand the situation with regards to the Parish Council and the clinic.Oh, it owns the building, said Colin. Its an old church. The lease is coming up for renewal.So that would be an easy way to force them out.Exactly. When did you say youd spoken to Miles Mollison? asked Colin, both hoping and dreading to hear that Miles had mentioned him.We had dinner, Friday before last, Kay explained, Gavin and I Oh, youre Gavins girlfriend interjected Tessa.Yes and, anyway, the subject of the Fields came up It would, said Tessa. and Miles mentioned Bellchapel, and I was quite quite dismayed by the way he talked about the issues involved. I told him Im dealing with a family at the moment, Kay remembered her indiscreet mention of the Weedons names and proceeded carefully, and if the bugger off is deprived of methadone, shell almost certainly end up back on the game.That sounds like the Weedons, said Tessa, with a lowering sensation.I yes, I am talking about the Weedons, actually, said Kay.Tessa reached for another biscuit.Im Krystals guidance instructor. This must b e the second time her mothers been through Bellchapel, is it?Third, said Kay.Weve admitn Krystal since she was five she was in our sons class at primary school, Tessa said. Shes had an awful life, really.Absolutely, said Kay. Its astounding shes as sweet as she is, actually.Oh, I agree, said Colin heartily.Remembering Colins absolute refusal to uprise Krystals detention after the squawking incident in assembly, Tessa raised her eyebrows. Then she wondered, with a sick lurch in her stomach, what Colin would say if Sukhvinder was not lying or mistaken. But surely Sukhvinder was wrong. She was a shy, naive girl. Probably she had got the wrong end of the stick misheard something The point is, about the only thing that motivates Terri is the fear of losing her kids, said Kay. Shes back on track at the moment her key worker at the clinic told me she senses a bit of a breakthrough in Terris attitude. If Bellchapel closes, it all goes belly-up again, and beau ideal knows whatll happen t o the family.This is all very useful, said Colin, gesture importantly, and starting to make notes on a not bad(p) page in his notebook. Very useful indeed. Did you say youve got statistics on people going clean?Kay shuffled the printed pages, looking for the information. Tessa had the impression that Colin wanted to reclaim Kays attention for himself. He had always been susceptible to good looks and a sympathetic manner.Tessa munched another biscuit, still mentation about Krystal. Their recent guidance sessions had not been very satisfactory. Krystal had been standoffish. Todays had been no different. She had extracted a promise from Krystal that she would not pursue or harass Sukhvinder Jawanda again, but Krystals demeanour suggested that Tessa had let her down, that trust was broken. Possibly Colins detention was to blame. Tessa had thought that she and Krystal had forged a bond strong enough to withstand that, although it had never been quite like the one Krystal had with Bar ry.(Tessa had been there, on the spot, the day that Barry had come into school with a run-in machine, looking for recruits to the crew he was trying to start. She had been summoned from the staff room to the middle school, because the PE instructor was off sick, and the only supply instructor they could find at such short notice was male.The fourth-year girls, in their shorts and Aertex tops, had been giggly when they had arrived in the gym to find Miss Jarvis absent, replaced by two strange men. Tessa had had to reprimand Krystal, Nikki and Leanne, who had pushed to the front of the class and were making lewd suggestive remarks about the supply teacher he was a handsome young man with an unfortunate aim to blush.Barry, short, ginger-haired and bearded, was wearing a tracksuit. He had taken a morning off work to do this. Everybody thought his idea was strange and unrealistic schools like Winterdown did not have rowing eights. Niamh and Siobhan had seemed half amused, half mortif ied by their dads presence.Barry explained what he was trying to do put together crews. He had secured the use of the old boathouse down on the canal at Yarvil it was a mythic sport, and an opportunity to shine, for themselves, for their school. Tessa had positioned herself right next to Krystal and her friends to keep them in check the belabor of their giggling had subsided, but was not entirely quelled.Barry demonstrated the rowing machine and asked for volunteers. nada stepped forward.Krystal Weedon, said Barry, pointing at her. Ive seen you dangling off the monkey bars down the park thats proper upper body strength youve got there. Come here and give it a go.Krystal was only too happy to step into the topographic point she swaggered up to the machine and sat down on it. Even with Tessa dreary beside them, Nikki and Leanne had howled with laughter and the rest of the class joined in.Barry showed Krystal what to do. The silent supply teacher had watched in professional alarm as Barry positioned her hands on the woody handle.She heaved on the handle, making a stupid confront at Nikki and Leanne, and everyone laughed again. see at that, Barry had said, beaming. Shes a natural.Had Krystal really been a natural? Tessa did not know anything about rowing she could not tell.Straighten your back, Barry told Krystal, or youll injure it. Thats it. put pull look at that technique have you done this before?Then Krystal really had straightened her back, and she really had done it properly. She stopped looking at Nikki and Leanne. She hit a rhythm.Excellent, said Barry. Look at that excellent. Thats how you do it Atta girl. And again. And again. And It urts yelled Krystal.I know it does. Thats how you end up with arms like Jennifer Aniston, doing that, said Barry.There had been a little ripple of laughter, but this time they laughed with him. What was it that Barry had had? He was always so present, so natural, so entirely without self-consciousness. Teenager s, Tessa knew, were riven with the fear of ridicule. Those who were without it, and God knew there were few enough of them in the adult world, had natural ascendance among the young they ought to be forced to teach.And rest Barry said, and Krystal slumped, red in the baptistry and rubbing her arms.Youll have to give up the fags, Krystal, said Barry, and he got a big laugh this time. OK, who else wants a try?When Krystal rejoined her watching classmates, she was no weeklong laughing. She watched each new rower jealously, her eyes darting constantly to Barrys bearded face to see what he thought of them. When Carmen Lewis messed it up completely, Barry said, Show em, Krystal, and her face lit up as she returned to the machine.But at the end of the exhibition, when Barry asked those who were interested in trying out for the team to raise their hands, Krystal kept her arms folded. Tessa watched her shake her head, sneering, as Nikki muttered to her. Barry carefully noted down the name s of the interested girls, then looked up.And you, Krystal Weedon, he said, pointing at her. Youre coming too. Dont you shake your head at me. Ill be very annoyed if I dont see you. Thats natural talent youve got there. I dont like seeing natural talent wasted. Krys tal, he said loudly, inscribing her name, Wee don.Had Krystal thought about her natural talent as she showered at the end of the lesson? Had she carried the thought of her new aptitude around with her that day, like an unexpected Valentine? Tessa did not know but to the amazement of all, except perhaps Barry, Krystal had turned up at try-outs.)Colin was nodding vigorously as Kay took him through relapse place at Bellchapel.Parminder should see this, he said. Ill make sure she gets a copy. Yes, yes, very useful indeed.Feeling slightly sick, Tessa took a fourth biscuit.