Civvy Street (2 page)

‘So,’ said Mike, ‘I suppose I need to start looking for jobs and you’d better get out there and start house-hunting. Where do you fancy living?’

‘Here,’ said Susie, without hesitation. ‘Our friends are here. It’ll be bad enough having to start over without losing all our friends too.’

‘Fair point,’ said Mike. ‘I’d better find out how quickly we need to get our act together and how much I’m going to get. One thing’s for sure, unless I get a staggeringly well-paid job, we won’t be able to afford the fees for Browndown.’

‘We’ll have to take the twins out of boarding school? But they’re so happy there.’

‘I suppose we could ask if there are any grants or bursaries going...’

Susie got to her feet. ‘I suppose we could.’ She didn’t like the idea of asking for charity. It was all a bit demeaning.

‘Your parents couldn’t tide us over...’ Mike’s voice faded into silence before he finished the sentence properly. He pretty much knew the answer.

Susie shook her head. ‘You know how tight things are for them with interest rates being so low; their savings are hardly bringing them in any income at all. And Mum is still thinking about moving back to the UK and if they do it’ll take every last penny they have. I always thought going to live in Spain was a mistake.’ She sighed heavily. It certainly had been a mistake in her view, but not as bad as the one Mike’s parents had made, investing in a dodgy equity release scheme, which had meant that they’d died with hardly a penny to their name, not even the value of their house. But now wasn’t the moment to rake all that up again. She dropped the subject. ‘I’m going to make us a cuppa. Things always look better over a nice cup of tea. Well,’ she smiled ruefully, ‘less ghastly, maybe.’

Mike looked at her. ‘I tell you, this is an occasion when I really regret being on the wagon. The temptation to hit the gin...’

‘I know,’ said Susie. ‘But it won’t help or change things.’ Besides, there wasn’t anything to drink in the house anyway – nothing alcoholic, at any rate. They hadn’t had a drop of the hard stuff in the house for a couple of years now – not since that episode when she and Mike had been so pissed the girls, left very much to their own devices, had found one of Mike’s more dubious ‘adult’ DVDs they’d failed to hide properly. The twins had then copied it and flogged the copies to their friends at prep school. The fallout from that affair had been what had finally convinced Susie and Mike to sign the pledge, once and for all.

She went into the kitchen and plugged in the kettle. Christ, it wasn’t just Mike who wanted a drink, she did too. Good job they had none in the house. It was all very well staying strong on the outside but on the inside her willpower was crumbling to bits.

Mike had followed her and was leaning against the doorjamb. ‘Why me, Susie, why me?’

He stared at her as if by doing so the answer would magically materialise but Susie couldn’t think of a reason – or not one she wanted to admit to him... or herself. Maybe those years when her drinking had been pretty much out of control had put a black mark against Mike’s name. Nothing had been said officially, that much she was sure of, but the army’s rumour machine was second to none. Maybe the word had got about, reached the ears of people in high places...

‘Tea or coffee?’

‘I don’t want fucking tea, I want a drink.’

Susie shook her head. ‘We mustn’t...’ Although, God knew, she was gagging for one too.

Mike rubbed his face with his hand. ‘No... no, you’re right, tea’s fine. Sorry.’ He paused and gave her a tight-lipped smile. ‘Just a bit overwrought here. This doesn’t rank as one of my better days.’

‘So, who else is for the chop?’

Mike pulled out a chair from under the kitchen table and plonked down onto it. ‘Didn’t ask that either, but when I came out of Rayner’s office there wasn’t a queue of other officers waiting for their turn to hear the glad tidings, so it might just be me.’

‘It can’t be, that would be
so
unfair. God knows but there are some officers in this battalion who are a complete waste of space.’ Mike nodded in agreement – his own second in command was a case in point, and everyone knew it. She got a couple of mugs out of the cupboard above the counter. ‘Can you appeal?’

‘I don’t know but I’ll have a go, though. It isn’t as if I’ve got anything to lose. What’s the worst they can do? Sack me?’ Mike laughed without mirth. ‘I know one thing, though, I’ve had it with Rayner. If he wants me to do anything,
anything at all
, he can shove it.’

Susie wondered if that was altogether wise; after all, the CO would still be the man to write Mike’s final confidential report and give him references. However satisfying it would be to piss off Jack Rayner, it mightn’t be the best course of action. But given the mood Mike was in, Susie decided it would be a waste of time to point this out. Maybe later, when he’d calmed down a little.

*

Maddy Fanshaw was bathing the children when her husband, Seb, got home from work. She heard the front door slam followed by him bounding up the stairs as she lifted her youngest, Rose, out of the tub and wrapped her in a towel.

‘You’ll never guess,’ said Seb as he stood by the bathroom door.

‘Never guess what?’ said Maddy as she levered herself to her feet and then sat on the edge of the bath to dry Rose.

‘Mike Collins.’

‘What about him?’

Seb drew a hand across his throat theatrically as he said, ‘He’s got the chop.’

‘Don’t be silly,’ said Maddy, rubbing Rose’s fine blonde curls. Rose giggled and squealed with pleasure and was rewarded with a kiss from her mother on the top of her fluffy head.

‘God’s honest. He went to see the CO just after lunch, came back to the office to pick up his briefcase, snarled at everyone and then stormed off home. I had to go and see Andy Bailey later about a cock-up on the duty officer rota and he told me what was behind it all.’

Maddy stopped drying Rose and stared at her husband. ‘Hell’s teeth,’ she whispered.

‘That was pretty much my reaction.’

‘But why?’

Seb shrugged. ‘Well...’ He made a drinking gesture with his hand.

Maddy shook her head. ‘Surely not. They’ve been on the wagon for yonks now.’

Seb shook his head. ‘But if it’s on his record...’

Maddy put Rose on the changing mat on top of the bathroom cupboard and deftly fitted her with a clean nappy. Then she grabbed a babygro and started threading Rose’s arms and legs into the right holes. ‘Scary to think something like that can come back to bite you on the bum though, isn’t it.’ Behind her, their son Nathan splashed noisily in the water. Maddy handed the baby to Seb and lifted out Rose’s big brother and pulled the plug. The bathwater slurped noisily down the drain. ‘Come on, young man. Time to get you in your jim-jams.’ She wrapped him in a towel and cuddled him.

‘It was hardly a momentary aberration, though, was it? I mean, they were knocking back the sauce like there was no tomorrow for years.’

‘I wouldn’t know – you’ve known them much longer than me.’

‘Take it from me, they were.’

‘Even so, you’ve always said you’ve got a lot of time for Mike.’

‘He was never drunk at work – or at least, I’m pretty certain he wasn’t. He was...
is
... a bl—’ Maddy shot him a warning glance. Nathan had got to the stage when he hoovered up new words into his vocabulary like a Dyson on steroids. ‘A
blooming
good officer.’

Still holding Nate, wrapped in his towel, Maddy got to her feet. ‘You get Nathan ready for bed and read him a story. I’ll put Rose down. We can talk some more over supper.’

Twenty minutes later Maddy was in the kitchen stirring Bolognese sauce to go with the pasta, two glasses of gin and tonic on the table and the radio playing some music quietly when Seb came in and looked at the drinks.

‘Makes you wonder if we oughtn’t to cut back a bit,’ he said.

‘I don’t think we’re in the Collinses’ league. Not yet, anyway.’

‘Maybe not. Cheers.’ Seb picked up a glass with a grin and took a swig.

‘So who do you think will take over from Mike as company commander?’

‘I don’t really care, just as long as they don’t promote Craig to fill his shoes.’

Maddy took her drink and stared at Seb. ‘Craig? No way.’ Craig was the B Company 2IC and was, by common consent, an old woman and a waste of space. He was always flapping about health and safety, about Queen’s Regulations, about doing things by the book and, above everything else, had no sense of humour whatsoever.

‘He
is
the second in command.’

Maddy raised her eyebrows. ‘I suppose. But even so...’

‘No, it’s unlikely. But I wonder who they’ll pick to take his place?’

‘We’d better just hope it’s someone we like,’ said Maddy, sipping her drink thoughtfully.

‘We needn’t worry about that though, just yet. It’ll be months before Mike and Susie have to leave.’

‘I’m not sure if that doesn’t make things worse. It’ll be like having some terrible dark cloud hanging over us – like some sort of terminal prognosis.’ Maddy sighed. ‘And what’ll I say when I next see her? Poor Susie. She must be gutted.’

*

By the following evening, as Mike had pretty much predicted, the regimental grapevine had disseminated the news of the redundancies throughout the battalion. The living-in officers were gathered around the bar mulling over the casualties on the list. Naturally, Mike Collins was the main candidate for the ‘why him?’ speculation but there were others whose numbers were up: a sergeant major from C Company, the RQMS, Sergeant McManners who was the officers’ mess manager, some corporals and half a dozen privates who had outstayed their welcome and who had failed to get promoted – or who
had
been promoted and had been busted once or twice too often. The atmosphere was subdued as everyone came to terms with the fact that while they had planned on a career for life in uniform, the army wasn’t necessarily in agreement.

‘So,’ said Samantha Lewis, the REME officer in charge of the battalion’s workshop, ‘I suppose all of you lot,’ she gestured to her mess mates who were all junior officers serving in the 1st Battalion of the Hertfordshire Regiment, ‘are waiting to see who gets promoted into Mike’s place. I mean,’ she said, taking a sip of white wine, ‘isn’t this a case of an ill wind...?’

A couple of the men shuffled uneasily and it seemed to Sam that was exactly what they thought.

‘Not really,’ said James Rosser, who was one of Sam’s best friends and had been since she’d arrived in the battalion some eighteen months previously. ‘Anyway, knowing the army, they’ll probably parachute an officer in from our sister battalion. You know what the postings branch is like – it seems to be their
raison d’être
to piss off the maximum number of officers as often as possible.’

Sam laughed. ‘Cynical but true. Anyway, it’s nothing to do with me since my little empire is almost autonomous, but I just hope for everyone else that whoever they choose is popular with the troops.’

Horrified by the bombshell their parents had just dropped, Ella and Katie Collins, home from boarding school for the weekend, stared at each other and then at their mum and dad.

‘It’s only a possibility,’ said Susie, placatingly. ‘If Daddy gets a really cracking job then we’ll be able to keep you at Browndown. But, darlings, the fees are ridiculous and without the army’s help...’

Ella narrowed her eyes. Both she and her twin sister, for eleven, were remarkably astute. ‘So where
would
we go to school?’

‘Sweetie, it depends on where we buy a house.’

‘You know what I mean,’ she snapped.

‘It’d have to be the local school,’ said their father.

‘You mean a comp,’ said Katie with a sneer.

‘There are some very nice comps. Honestly,’ said Susie.

‘Really?’ said the twins in unison and in disbelief. Then they looked at each other again and left the room, slamming the door behind them.

‘That went well,’ said Susie, quietly.

Mike sighed. ‘We knew they wouldn’t like the news. Maybe we shouldn’t have told them. Or not just yet anyway.’

‘Like they wouldn’t have heard about your redundancy from other kids on the patch? And then they’d have done the sum and worked out for themselves that their chances of staying at boarding school were minimal. Besides, if they’re not being moved from pillar to post, why would they even
need
to board? I suppose there’s just a possibility we might be able to afford to get them into a half-decent private day school.’

‘The fees are still crippling for anything that’s worth its salt. Anyway, it’s better they are faced with the worst-case scenario so if things aren’t quite as bleak they’ll be pleased rather than horribly disappointed. But it might not come to that. It isn’t a completely impossible idea that they’ll be able to stay put.’ Mike tried to look hopeful.

Susie sighed. ‘Come off it, Mike. Without the army’s support we’ll have to find over fifty thousand a year of taxed income. I know you’re a clever and resourceful man, darling, but will you really be able to land a job that’ll earn that sort of dosh? And of
course
I’m going to get back into harness but a year at a finishing school, learning to cook and how to get in and out of a sports car gracefully, isn’t the best qualification in the world. We have to be realistic and accept that our lifestyle might be very different in the not too distant future.’

Mike smiled reassuringly. ‘We’ll muddle through.’

‘But that’s just it, Mike. I don’t
want
to muddle through. I want order and security and...’ Susie felt a pricking at the back of her nose and tears start to form in her eyes. She stopped and breathed deeply to regain her self-control. Now was
not
the moment to feel sorry for herself or go blaming Mike, or the system, or her parents for squandering her inheritance with a hare-brained scheme to up sticks and bugger off to Spain, or his for getting duped by a smarmy so-called financial adviser. It wouldn’t do anyone any good and would just be a pointless exercise. They were where they were. And furthermore, the last thing she should do right now was make Mike feel worse; as if he didn’t have enough on his plate he certainly didn’t need a dollop of guilt, ladled on by her, to add to everything else. Susie might have her faults but she was loyal and supportive and she loved her husband deeply.