Chapter Five
The return trip had gone well. Rose announced soon after their discussion that her Dad would be judging the doors in the morning so, once everyone was back, they had all got to work. James popped to see Aggie with his petty offerings but she just growled at him and told him he was wasting his time and money. With that, he had decided to go home and have a shower rather than stay and do Aggie’s door as she was clearly not interested, although he did have a sneaky feeling that she was up to something. When he had come in she had been walking up and down her lounge. When he had asked what she was doing she just told him to mind his own business and then snapped, ‘What does it look like I’m bloody doing?’
The next morning, James made his way through Ipswich to Buttons Court, thinking about the door competition. It was odd because he didn’t know what to expect today. It should be obvious. Rose’s father would go round examining the doors before deciding which one was the best. Then he would announce to the whole court who had won. But for some reason James had a feeling that today was not going to go as planned.
Buttons Court came into view and he turned into the car park. As he stepped out of the car, three cars pulled in one after the other. Out came Paul, Rose and her father Ted.
‘Morning,’ James greeted them.
Ted walked over and shook James’ hand.
‘James, this is my Dad, Ted,’ Rose introduced.
‘Pleased to meet you,’ James replied, noticing the firmness of the man’s grip despite being in his late seventies. Although James had seen the man before they had never been introduced.
‘Hi Ted,’ Paul called over as he made his way towards the small crowd. ‘Looking forward to seeing the tenants’ efforts, they’ve really been quite competitive this year.’
‘It’s always fun,’ Ted said, smiling.
Greetings and introductions over, they made their way into the court. They were all hit with the familiar scent of urine and furniture polish as they walked through the main entrance and up the stairs. This route meant that they did not see any of the flats. None of them went to the staff room; instead they all went straight to the dining room where the three Buttons Court colleagues left Ted to make his way round to inspect the doors, while they quickly set the room up for when the tenants would all be told who the winner was. Paul made them all a cup of tea as they waited for Ted to return… but he returned much quicker than they had expected.
‘Blimey, you were quick,’ Rose exclaimed.
‘Well, I’ve seen it all and, well, it wasn’t very hard to pick a winner, all a bit disappointing really.’
James suddenly felt uneasy. What did he mean by ‘disappointing’? If anything this year was the best year. Nearly every resident had made an effort and lots of money had been spent. Was he joking to build suspense because if he was it was working? Looking round, James noticed that Paul and the manager were also looking a little uneasy but they both seemed to shake it off. Ten o’clock was only twenty minutes away so they made Ted a cup of tea and chatted but the old boy refused to discuss any of the doors or his decision on who had won.
At quarter past ten, everyone was making their way into the dining room and taking their seats. Bessie came in with two walking sticks. James went over to Clare and asked what had happened. What he found out was after her leap from the bus yesterday, Bessie had woken early this morning only to find she could not move without pain screaming from her hip. The staff had called for a doctor who had come out, to their surprise, promptly and said she may have slightly fractured her hip but with the aid of painkillers and gel she should be fine.
As more and more sat themselves down James noted a few random comments like, ‘Gave up did you?’
‘Looking a bit bare, aren’t we?’
And then arguments burst out, ‘What have you done with my stuff!’ someone exclaimed, ‘I know it was you.’
James could not make out who had said what because similar shouts were being bellowed from all round the room.
‘QUIET!’ Ted shouted, “Will you all please settle down? I am going to announce the winner. I must say I am surprised that there are so many of you considering only one person took part.’
James’ heart, for the second time in two days, sank. He looked at Paul and Julie who also were looking stunned and frankly dazed. What was going on?
There was a sudden uproar from the tenants’ but, because everyone was shouting and hollering, no one could make out a word.
‘OK, OK I will announce the winner,’ Ted began. ‘Like I said, I was a little disappointed with the low turn-out and as only one made the effort this year I can only come to the easy decision that the winner is… Flat 5.’
The whole room seemed to explode with rage, residents were screaming at one another, handbags swinging and Rose and Paul just looked at James startled. He went over to them.
‘I thought Aggie wasn’t interested?’ Rose proclaimed.
‘She wasn’t but where’s everyone stuff?’
All three stood. ‘I’ll go,’ James said before dashing out, down the stairs, passed the laundry room and down to her flat at the end. And there, running from her flat to the very end of the corridor were all the Christmas decorations. Every single one was lined up and ordered in a way that resembled a grotto and right in the corner sat Aggie slumped in an armchair, her head flopped to one side and snoring loudly. She must have been up all night collecting all this stuff he thought. He was not angry; in fact he thought the whole thing was funny and he admired her in a way. ‘So that was what she had meant by wasting time and money,’ James whispered to himself. ‘The whole time you had planned to take all this rather than buy your own.’ Noticing that she was uncovered he lightly touched her leg, which was freezing cold. He went into her flat, retrieved a blanket and put it over her legs. Kneeling in front of her James moved a strand of grey hair to one side, away from her eyes.
‘Oh Aggie, you’ve done it again, you really know how to shock us don’t you?’ he said to the sleeping lady. ‘If only you could get Sasha off our hands too,’ he jested as he stood up.
He took one last look at the scene and decided he would go straight out to his car and begin his journey to Devon, leaving Paul and the manger to deal with this chaos.
Smiling he made his way back down the hall but what he had not realised was that Aggie, although looking as though she was asleep, had heard everything he had said and Aggie would do anything for her James…
Acknowledgments
Although this story is based around a care home I would like to express that the characters in this book are not based on or are they a true portrayal of those who I have worked with for many years. Despite what is depicted in this story, I really want to say that those I work with are an amazing group of carers who are kind, compassionate and dignified and always go the extra mile to improve the lives of our residents. You are my extended family and I love you all. These stories always were meant to entertain, not to ever offend. I would like to thank Jane, Sally and Peter who have been incredibly supportive over the years; Sally especially deserves an individual big thank you for not taking offence when I put her in the freezer; to Win L, John M, Reg, Pauline, Joan H, Phoebe, Violet L, Richard, Marge and Ernie and of course Maureen who have all sadly left us now but who I believe are watching over us from a kinder and more loving place. Also thank you to Jo who always said yes and was a ray of sunshine; Denise my astrological oracle and dear friend, Nick my best friend who without him I believe I would have left this plain long ago; Tessa my mentor and voice; David who always says the right thing and proof read this book; Filomena and Roz, Carol, Paul and Jean; Mum and Dad, Stefan, Leonie and Arran; to my wife Nathalie who is my anchor and who has always had the tiresome task of preventing me from drifting too far away and, above all, my two sons Logan and Conner. There are no words that can express how beautiful you both are, in body and spirit, and how you make my every day magical. To have all of you in my life makes me a very
lucky man indeed. Love and light to you all and a big thank you!
K.J. Broadhurst
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