The house in Swansea was a typical semi-detached from the nineteen seventies, complete with painted pebble-dash, steel poles supporting the front porch and blue panelling under the windows. The views over the Mumbles bay from further down the road were fantastic. Jay had lived here in his teenage years together with his sister, mother and Trevor. Jay had, however, found it difficult to even be in the same room as Trevor at first, seeking solace in long walks on the beach. But Trevor had grown on Jay over the years. He was kind, and he looked after Jay’s mother.
Jay and Jessica decided to spend the weekend with their mother and Trevor after the funeral. They needed to get away from things for a while. Jay persuaded Zu to come too. Anne had taken Buster, Jay’s father’s dog, to live with them. This was an offer gratefully received by Aunt Liz who did not look a gift-horse in the mouth. She was actually rather civil towards Anne immediately after the offer. Anne joked that Aunt Liz was probably hoping that Buster would poo in the garden just to annoy her.
Jay decided to go for a run on the beach after breakfast. He took Buster with him whilst Zu drank tea in the kitchen together with Anne and Jessica, all still wearing their dressing gowns. Buster was eager to investigate every puddle on the beach, making it difficult for Jay to get up to a reasonable speed. But Jay daren’t let Buster run loose. He was still a hyperactive terrier even though he was getting old. The fresh sea air blew gently against Jay’s face as the two ran haphazardly alongside the water. A sand-surfer swept silently past as seagulls made scavenging swoops on the litter and washed-up muscles which dotted the beach.
Jay found comfort on the beach. It seemed all the more comforting to have Buster running alongside him, with mouth ajar and tongue dangling out to one side. Buster had been a big part of his dad’s life, especially in the later years. It was as if the two ends of Jay’s life were finally coming together.
Jay walked into the kitchen smelling of sweat and out of breath. His mother commanded him to detain ‘the smelly dog’. Buster had indeed collected a very ‘doggy’ smell en route. Anne picked Buster up and placed him unceremoniously in the kitchen sink ready for a good scrubbing. Buster sat down quietly. He apparently knew what was coming. He stuck a sneaky lick on Anne’s lips whilst her face was within range. Anne spat into the sink, apologising for her behaviour, then hugged Buster anyway as if they had been friends for years.
“Arr.. he loves you!” commented Trevor in a light southern Welsh accent as he opened the door.
“Yes.. He is a little cutie I suppose.. even though he’s very naughty” replied Anne sponging soap off Buster. She turned to look at Jay “We’ve had a lovely chat whilst you were out Jay.. Zu’s a lovely girl!”
“Yes.. she is.. Where is she by the way?” asked Jay.
“Jessica took her up to the shops”
“You’ll not be seeing them before dinner time” added Trevor sarcastically.
“No.. probably not” smiled Jay “Mum?..”
“Yes Jay?” Anne dried Buster off with an old towel and set him down on the floor.
“Sit down Mum” Jay pulled a chair out from under the table.
“I’ll just go check the post” mumbled Trevor heading for the door, sensing that Jay wanted to talk with his mother alone.
“It’s ok Trevor.. you don’t need to go” Jay interjected.
“No.. it’s fine Jay.. I’ll give you two some alone time” Trevor left the room as Anne seated herself on the chair. Jay sat down opposite her, taking both her hands and clasping them in his. He looked down at her elegant yet undeniably ageing hands.
“Well.. I don’t really know where to start Mum.. If I’m honest.. I’ve never really been any good at saying these sorts of things.. “ Jay looked up at Anne’s face “..I just wanted to tell you.. I just want to tell you.. that I love you Mum”
Tears gathered at the bottom of Anne’s eyes as a warm smile spread across her face. She bent forward, kissed Jay’s cheek and hugged him. “Oh.. thank you Jay! That was very sweet of you.. I was getting worried there for a minute.. I thought you were going to say something horrible..” Anne took a piece of kitchen towel from the wall dispenser and wiped her nose “..You’re getting sentimental in your old age Jay!.. And please get rid of that beard.. it tickles!”
___________________
Jay and Zu drove back towards London in the late afternoon, deciding to break the monotony of the motorway by taking a detour into Southampton. Jay wanted to reminisce about his old student days. The traffic system hadn’t changes much with the exception of the addition of a couple of pedestrian crossings. The wide twin-lane approach road was still the same and Jay could easily recognise some of the buildings and landmarks as they headed towards the centre.
“You mustn’t be disappointed Zu”
“By what?”
“Well.. it’s not exactly Mayfair we’re going to”
“I hadn’t expected it to be.. You were in student accommodation right?”
“Yes..” Jay turned left onto a side road “..I was.. but I ought to tell you that the area is.. well.. a bit.. erm.. iffy”
“Iffy?.. What do you mean?”
“Well.. let’s put it this way.. there is a lot of err.. culture about”
“Ok..” Zu tried not to look confused “..I’m looking forward to seeing that”
Jay turned down a long road and checked a road sign.
“Yes.. this is it.. Derby Road.. Now.. we just need to find the old supermarket” Jay drove a further three hundred metres up the road, stopping suddenly when he noticed a disused building on the left “That’s it. You can just about make out the letters on the facia board.. ‘The International Meat and Halal Food Market’.. It was impressive they managed to get it all to fit in really”
“Is this where you lived?” asked Zu sounding mildly horrified.
“Oh, no.. Well.. in a way yes.. I used to do all my shopping here.. They were very cheap.. But.. no.. I lived in that house over there..” Jay pointed to a small terraced house with a newly painted ruby red door “..the one with the wheelie bin outside.. Come on.. Let’s go and have a look”
“Ok Jay.. but we shouldn’t disturb the current inhabitants”
“It’ll be fine Zu.. Anyway.. they are all used to people peering in each other’s windows around here.. this is the red light district”
“What?.. Really?..” Zu almost choked on her words “..Seriously?.. Why?.. Why did you want to live here?”
“It was cheap” Jay crossed the road holding Zu firmly by the hand.
“But.. wasn’t it nasty ..and very dangerous?”
“Only if you got food poisoning from the shop..” Jay smiled at Zu as they stopped outside the house “..Look.. This little area is the same.. You know.. I once caught a guy sitting on this wall looking through our front window and fiddling with himself.. It turned out that Steve’s girlfriend was staying over.. and she hadn’t closed the curtains properly.. She had apparently been ironing some stuff on the floor.. in the nude.. as one does I suppose”
“God!.. What did you do?”
“Well.. I’d just got back from the Chinese so I decided to confront the guy.. you know.. just for fun.. It was all rather comical actually.. He told me that he was looking after his friend’s bike which was parked over there” Jay nodded over to the corner “Now.. I knew that that was Steve’s mountain bike, so I asked him what his friends name was.. He got very bolshy and said that it was none of my business.. and then he ran off clutching his tackle in his hands.. I of course told Steve and his girlfriend that they might want to close the curtains properly in the future”
An elderly Asian gentleman wearing traditional Pakistani attire walked down the pavement. He stopped briefly to blow his nose into the road by pressing on one nostril and blowing out through the other. He continued to walk towards them carrying a flimsy plastic bag of groceries which was straining under the weight. The man wore thick glasses and concentrated all of his efforts on avoiding obstacles on the
pavement.
“Hi!..” exclaimed Jay as the man came closer “..Do you remember me?”
The elderly man, surprised by the sudden encounter, decided to stop anyway and take a closer look “I am certain that I do.. if it were possible for me to see you” he replied with a tired voice.
“I used to come to your shop every day.. You must remember me?.. Jay?.. James Jarrett?.. I used to buy sausage meat and minced lamb..”
“Oh.. yes!” The man began to shake with excitement at the recognition of Jay’s voice and grabbed Jay’s arm to steady himself “Yes.. Jay wasn’t it? We used to keep an account for you.. you didn’t always have enough money”
“Yes.. that was me.. unfortunately” Jay gave Zu an embarrassed look.
“I enjoyed you coming.. ” the man held up his index finger “..even though you were a bloody foreigner!” Jay and the old man laughed “..Yes.. but as you can probably see.. the shop’s closed down now.. They are thinking of making it into a laundrette or something”
“That’s progress I suppose”
“Yes.. progress is all around us.. We can’t fight it you know.. and I can’t fight the fact that my wife will kill me if I don’t get home soon with the shopping..” The old man lifted the bag up demonstratively “..But it was lovely bumping into you Jay.. quite literally.. You were always a good customer.. and a gentleman.. Take care of yourself” The old man tapped Jay’s arm and walked off down the pavement.
“Thank you.. you too” Jay turned to Zu “Sorry Zu!.. That was very rude of me.. I should’ve introduced you.. even though I don’t actually know his name”
“Oh.. that’s fine Jay.. I don’t think he could see me anyway.. But he seemed very sweet..” Zu looked further down the road at some pedestrians “..Are they all Indians that live here?.. They wear very bright clothing”
“Indian.. Pakistani.. Afghan .. you name it.. you’ll find them here.. together with lots of students.. and, of course.. prostitutes”
“But it all looks so normal.. and where are all the prostitutes?”
“They are like stars Zu.. They only come out at night!..” Jay laughed at his own joke “..But if you look in the windows.. like that one there..” Jay pointed towards a house a little further down the road “..you’ll see that some of them have signs saying ‘model’.. They switch the signs on when it gets dark.. together with a red light or two”
“Don’t the police do anything?”
“Like what?”
“Like closing them down for example.. Isn’t prostitution illegal?”
“Yes.. yes it is.. but I suppose they know that they will only push the problem elsewhere.. like out onto the streets for example.. At least this way the girls.. women.. are marginally protected by their neighbours.. and pimps”
“Nasty..” sneered Zu, scrunching up her nose and pulling her jacket together at the front “..Can we go please?”
“Ok. I’ll drive past the uni on the way out.. At least you’ve seen a bit of my life history now”
“Yes.. And I thought Baghdad was bad!”
Jay stuck his tongue out as he held the car door open for Zu and she climbed in.
They drove through the university campus, pointing out places of interest along the way whilst Zu tried to show interest. She was tired and dozed off almost immediately once they got back on the motorway.