Read It's Only Temporary Online
Authors: Jamie Pearson
‘Oh.’ I felt a little let down that she was not offering me a lift as an act of kindness but merely protecting an asset, how could I ring in? I didn’t have a phone.
‘I’m joking! C’mon lets go.’
For some reason I found myself attempting a joke in response ‘Well that’s good as I couldn’t ring in tomorrow anyway, as I don’t have a phone!’
She looked at me for a second and I began to think she had not grasped my feeble attempt at humour and then she smiled saying, ‘Hmmm, hang on,’ and disappeared into a cupboard. A few moments later she reappeared brandishing a mobile phone.
‘It’s pay as you go and has….three quid left on it,’ she said peering down at the phone. She handed me the phone and the charger.
‘The centre number, plus Yu’s and my mobiles are all stored on it. My home number is on there too, if you need it.’
‘Thank you, that’s very kind but I can’t afford to top it up. ‘
‘It’s only a fiver a go.’
I shrugged and shook my head.
‘Really? That bad?’ she asked.
‘I’m afraid so,’ I could not stop myself from blurting out ‘I won’t be able to eat until Yu cooks breakfast tomorrow.’ My sense of desperation was suddenly putting in a re-appearance. Stacy just looked at me for a moment then said quietly, ‘You should’ve said. Listen
, grab something from the freezer and heat it up when you are at home.’
‘It’s ok; I don’t have anything to cook with either…’ I felt pathetic telling her this just a short while after my emotional high following the teaching session.
‘So what you gonna to do?’
‘Ask Yu for double in the morning I assume.’
‘Oh Marcus, I had no idea. Well I’m sure petty cash can stand you for enough to get fish n chips?’
A wave of emotions washed over me, relief, gratitude, guilt and hope. The mix was almost too much to cope with, I managed to choke back any overt emotional reacti
on and simply said ‘Thank you, then added ‘I’ll pay it back on Thursday.’
‘Don’t be soft!’ she said handing me a ten pound note. ‘That’ll keep you going for a bit, just get me a receipt!’
I could have kissed her.
We made our way through the rain to her camper and climbed inside.
‘Ok, let’s Rock and Roll!’ she called out.
We set off into the wet
London traffic and managed about thirty yards before we stopped. I’m gonna just have to drop you off, I’ve gotta pick Max up at five thirty,’ she said.
‘Ok, no problem, am I taking you out of your way?’
‘Nah, not really. He is about ten minutes from you.’
‘Oh right,’ then struggling to make small talk I asked, ‘What does he do?’
The traffic lights changed and Stacy put “Dolly” into gear, as we lurched forward she distractedly said ‘Kid’s day care.’
So her partner was a caring person too, an unusual career for a male but I could see how someone who was of such a disposition to work in that field would be a good fit for Stacy.
‘This is it,’ I said as we pulled up outside. She eyed the building warily, ‘Number three,’ I added simply to have something to say. I thanked her for the lift and assured her that the chip shop was not too far away and yes I would put on my coat to go there. She pulled away and I made my way inside.
Having shaken off the worst of the rain I sat on my mattress with a cup of tea and contemplated the day. At the forefront of my mind was the frustration at having missed Hank’s response but I reassured myself that it would be there tomorrow morning. At least I had completed one day relatively unscathed, well more than unscathed it seemed. In fact it was potentially a success, now that was a surprise.
The group’s interest in Nefertiti’s story was an even bigger surprise but was mainly down to the film they had mentioned “The Mummy”. Maybe I could find some way of using this to keep things moving forward, perhaps if I somehow traded a story for some work? However I was unsure about how to do this.
My stomach started to grumble, I looked out at the rain and decided that I would brave the trip to the chip shop my thoughts on how to develop my teaching coming to an abrupt end, it was possible Stacy would have an idea tomorrow anyway.
Chapter 10.
For economic reasons I elected to have sausage and chips. Leaving the steamy warmth of the chip shop and entering the rain was shock but not as much as being shouted at from behind.
‘Oi Marcus!’
I turned to see Alfie walking towards me with a golf sized umbrella.
‘Wanna share me brolley mate?’
‘Oh, yeah. That’s very kind, thank you.’
As we walked I tucked the chips inside my jacket, it burned a little a first but soon became a pleasant source of warmth.
‘So, what you been up to?’ he asked.
‘I, er, I have been at my “Placement” I think it’s called.’
‘What’s that then?’
‘It’s where I go to teach on a voluntary basis in order to get my benefits. Don’t you have one?’
‘Me? Nah, I can’t be faffed with all that malarkey. So you’re a teacher then?’
‘Profe… yeah I am.’
‘So what happened?’
‘My department was
closed; I’m waiting on a new position.’
‘Yeah? Good. You’re like me, a mover and a shaker as they say.’
Hardly, I thought. How on earth did he do it? Money to spend in the pub and no work placement, I assumed he was simply adept at playing the system.
‘So what you teaching now?’
‘Well, I’m trying to help a group of young people get an employability qualification.’
‘That’s good, nice one. What are they learning?’
Grateful for the shelter from the rain and with a growing feeling of warmth, mainly due to the chips but also in part towards Alfie, I found myself recounting the day’s events including my dilemma about how to proceed.
‘Why don’t ya show em the film? Y,know? Do a bit of graft and get to watch the film?’
What an excellent idea! An endeavour and reward system, creating a work ethic would surely tie in with an employability course. Alfie had yet again surprised me.
‘That’s a great idea!’ I said but as the words left my mouth I realised there was a fatal flaw in the plan. ‘Alas Alfie I don’t have a copy of the film or anything to show it on even if I did.’
‘Well that sucks,’
‘Indeed it does.’
We had reached the front door and Alfie sheltered me as I opened it to let us both in. At my door I said ‘Well thanks for that, sorry I can’t use your idea though.’
‘Where do you teach mate?’
‘The Silverdale centre, you know it?’
‘Yeah, I have heard of it. Anyway catch you later,’ and with that he disappeared upstairs.
Once I had eaten I realised I had enough change to eat from the chip shop for another two nights which would take me up to pay day. Buoyed at this I spent the rest of the evening watching the rain and thinking about the future, surprisingly this was not just about America but also how to implement Alfie’s idea. Why was I so concerned about it, after all I was not planning on sticking around?
The next morning the rain was still pouring down
in traditional British summer time tradition, as I was about to leave there was a knock at the door. I assumed it was Alfie and said ‘Hello mate,’ as I opened the door.
‘Hello mate?’ Stacy said. ‘Since when do you talk like a local?’
‘Oh, sorry I thought you were someone else.’
‘So it seems. Can I come in?’
‘Err sure,’ I said stepping back to allow her in. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘It’s raining if you hadn’t noticed. I’ve just dropped Max off and thought I’d give you a lift in, save you getting wet.’
‘Oh, well thanks that’s really kind.’
She was looking around the room at my inflatable
mattress and sleeping bag, ‘What’s this, camping?’
It took a moment for me to comprehend what she meant, I had not realised how quickly I had come to accept my new living conditions.
‘My old place was furnished you see and well this one……isn’t.’
‘Apart from the TV on the landing,’ she said inclining her head towards the door.
The what? Outside my door was a small TV with a built in DVD player, cello taped to the top was an envelope with some writing on it.
Marcus, we can’t have these kids missing out can we?
Consider this a donation to the cause.
Alfie.
Inside the envelope were three
DVD’s all of which were “The Mummy” movies.
‘Well……blimey!’ I said.
‘What’s this?’ Stacy asked.
‘A donation to the cause,’ I replied with a smile. ‘Good job you came, I wouldn’t want to have had to carry this all the way to the centre.’
‘Even if you had managed it you would have blown yourself up!’
‘What?’
‘It would be soaking by the time you got it there. Duh! Water and electricity don’t mix… Y’know you can be very thick for a really smart person sometimes!’
‘Right, yeah. Anyway how did you get in?’ I said changing the subject.
‘Oh, a guy was leaving and I told him I was here to see you. He let me in but the cheeky git asked me for my number and if I wanted to be a model!’
‘That will be Alfie.’
‘Our TV donator?’
The very same.’
We took our new addition with us, Stacy parked Dolly illegally outside the front door to the center in order to prevent the TV from getting wet. Once she had opened up and turned off the alarm I rushed in with it and set it up in my room while she legally parked Dolly.
‘Ok guys, here’s the plan,’ I said once the group had arrived. ‘You get to
watch a short bit of the film and then you write me a little bit about what you have just seen. Later you get to watch a bit more while I go through what you have written. Tomorrow we will do the same again but you will need to improve on any of the things that I find wrong in your writing. Everyone understand?’
‘What, we’re gonna watch the same film again? That’s rubbish!’ Tommo declared.
‘No Tommo, I have three different films but you all have got to apply yourselves and do the best you can, ok?’
‘Yeah what e
ver can you turn it on now?’ Zeke asked.
We watched the first half an hour of the film and there were groans of complaint when I turned it off.
‘Ok, everyone and I mean everyone, has to write at least five sentences telling me the story so far.’
‘Five!’ That’s loads Jade declared.
‘Try it and see,’ I challenged.
After some more grumbling they settled down to work, all except Sam who again just sat staring ahead.
‘Sam you going to give this a try?’ I asked.
‘Nope, told you not doing nothing.’
‘Moron,’ Jade said without looking up.
After a short while those that had tried to do the work had declared they had finished and I allowed them to go for a break.
‘Prof, can we watch the rest when we come back in yeah?’ Tommo asked.
‘Well Tommo, I did ask for everyone to have tried the writing exercise and not everyone did.’
‘So? Does that mean we can’t watch it then?’
This was a watershed moment I realised; I had to get this right. If I said yes they would assume the rules did not apply and I risked anarchy. If I said no then I was in danger of being too inflexible, causing resentment and rebellion which again would lead to anarchy. I needed to find a way to keep things going without losing their cooperation.
‘I don’t know. You tell me?’ That was clever of me I thought. Put it back on them and see if they can come up with a solution.
‘That ain’t fair!’ Yelled Zeke
. ‘Just cos he can’t be bothered we all miss out, it ain’t right!’
There was chorus of dissent all around; perhaps I was not so clever after all.
‘Sam, man. Why you not doing this?’ Kurt asked.
‘I just ain’t alright.’
I watched fascinated as Kurt and Jade gave each other a knowing look before Jade said, ‘Alright you two go for a break. Sam you sit down.’
‘No.’ said Sam
‘Yes,’ Kurt responded.
Sam plonked himself down but looked far from happy.
‘We’ve got this Prof,’ Jade advised me.
I left the three of them in the classroom and elected to get a cup of tea, as I walked I suddenly realised I had not checked my emails, I had forgotten, how could that be? The most important thing in my life right now and I forget?
Angry at myself I spotted that Stacy was undertaking the ”Tea and Biccies” round so I let myself into her office and logged on. I had one new email, it was from Hank.