Ordinary People

Thus it was that on the late afternoon of the 23rd of December the two young men boarded the train at Waterloo Station on their way home, laden with plastic carrier - bags but less so with Christmas spirit, and took two seats opposite a young lady who was already engrossed in a magazine. ‘I’m knackered.’ said Johnny ‘Thank Christ it’s only once a year, if you will forgive the irony of that statement.’ ‘Agreed.’ said Will ‘All this present – buying is a nonsense anyway, I think the receiving of gifts should be made illegal over the age of ten.’ ‘It’s only women and the criminally insane who keep it going anyway, and that’s only because they enjoy the shopping.’ ‘I don’t know’ said Will ‘Em’s not normally a shopper but she’s mad for it. She just seems to want to give stuff to people; it’s a girl thing, definitely. It’s the same with birthdays; she must know about fifty peoples’ birthdays, I know about two and one of those is mine. I mean I don’t mind buying stuff for Em, you know, but does Auntie Millie really need an egg – timer?’ ‘You bought somebody an egg – timer? Why…?’ ‘So she can time eggs. Anyway what the hell else do you buy somebody that you don’t see from one year to the next, and then only if you have to?’ ‘I would have to know the person in question before I could answer that; does she like eggs? ‘Yeah, I guess; I never asked her.’ ‘Well anyway I’m with you, bro; we should stand up for our right not to shop.’ ‘It puts iron in the soul, brother. Next to the H bomb the supermarket trolley is definitely mankind’s most depressing invention.’ ‘Push one of those around for half an hour and you can feel your manhood being sucked out of you.’ The young lady was smiling inwardly and taking little notice of the article that she was reading. This was much more entertaining. ‘Anyway I’m in for a few bevies this eve; it might help recover from the trauma of the whole thing.’ said Johnny. ‘It’ll have to be the Dog and Bottle’ said Will ‘I’ve got no wheels tonight.’ Will had recently passed his driving test and was using his parents’ car, but only when it was available. The young lady’s ears pricked up further at the name of the public house. There could only be one Dog and Bottle, the young gentlemen sitting opposite must be from or going to Middlewapping, the exact same place that she was headed. Rose had decided to skip London and spend a quiet few days over Christmas at her country residence, as she was now calling it. She had had a hard time getting the idea past her boss; she was his most popular and profitable asset, and Christmas was a busy time. Still, the tips were good over the Yuletide period and plenty of the girls wanted to work, and Rose had in any case feigned female issues; something with which he could scarce argue. ‘So how’re things in ye village anyway?’ asked Johnny ‘What happened about the gangster who blew his head off?’ ‘He died.’ replied Will ‘Yeah I know he died, it wasn’t like ‘Oh look I’ve just blown half my brains out and I’m still alive; that’s lucky’, I mean what happened to the house?’ ‘Nothing much, some babe turned up to look the place over, but hasn’t been back since. Percival’s not giving anything away, it all seems terribly hush – hush for some reason.’ ‘You get a look at her?’ said Johnny. ‘Jesus man you need to get yourself a girlfriend. No I didn’t, but apparently she’s bloody gorgeous, about twenty or something.’ ‘That so…?’ ‘Forget it.’ said Will ‘She’s probably only interested in men with a few more years under their belt, oh yeah, and a job might help.’ ‘You mean my youthful good – looks and natural animal attractiveness wouldn’t swing it?’ Having recovered from the references to her father, Rose was now finding it increasingly hard to keep the smile from her face, and was now only turning the pages of her magazine in the pretence of reading anything. ‘You could try I guess, if she ever comes back. I don’t know, maybe she was his daughter or something. He was a hard bastard by all accounts, though nobody ever saw him leave the house, not alive anyway. Once he was dead he became a bloody celebrity; big mystery - man.’ They were silent for a few moments. ‘Knowing my luck she’s probably a bloody nun, anyway; Sister Mary the Chaste.’ Rose couldn’t help herself; she had to laugh at that one, and pretended to be laughing at something in her magazine, which drew only a passing glance from the young men opposite. It occurred to her that in all likelihood she would be in the Dog and Bottle herself that evening, and wondered whether she should introduce herself to save the boys more potential embarrassment, but on reflection she had been sitting there first and it would in any case be improper to intrude on a private conversation. Anyway she was enjoying herself far too much. The boys paid little heed to the young lady; after all, they would never see her again. ‘Who..?’ asked Will. ‘The gangster’s daughter’ ‘God you’re not still on that, are you? Anyway I would hardly think so with an old man like that.’ ‘True.’ said Johnny ‘Never know though, she might have done a kind of reverse rebellion, kicked against a lifestyle of death, violence and debauchery and chosen the way of purity.’ The article just became even funnier. ‘Now you’re fantasizing. Forget it; cast your net on the other side, you perhaps need look no further than two doors away.’ ‘What the vixen? She only has eyes for you, and I daresay everything else would follow.’ ‘She’s probably over that. I think she’s up for it, and is, after all something of a sex goddess, at least on paper.’ ‘I don’t know how you held back.’ ‘Will - power, dear boy; either that or fear, I’m not sure which.’ ‘And then there’s the fact that you would never in the darkest recesses of your wildest imagination ever be unfaithful to Emily, right?’ ‘Yeah then there’s that.’