It Always Rains in November Read online

  Carly giggled.

  “You said shit, Mum, so you might as well call him a wanker. Not as if I don’t know these words. I use them all the time to describe Dad.”

  “I know you know these words, but I’m your mum, I shouldn’t encourage...”

  “So, like, what happens now, Mum? Where will you and Gemma live? You don’t want to stay here.”

  Carly’s heartbeat rate increased. Unlike at school, her brain was in fifth gear. Her mum and Gemma were moving out from Gary’s glitter. They’d be moving to a smaller place but it would be Mum, Gemma ...and Carly. That’s what her mum was about to say. Carly was going to be reunited with her mother, and her little sister. A happy ending. The second divorce would make up for the first one.

  “You were right, love, when you said I wasn’t thinking about Gemma. The novelty of the Travelodge won’t last long, so we’ll check out tomorrow. Then I’m going to go back home. Me and Gary will have to sort something out without hurting Gemma. Maybe me and Gemma will stay and he’ll move...”

  Carly’s mouth went dry and she could sense goose pimples.

  “Where does that leave me, Mum?”

  Maria looked surprised.

  “I’m not with you, love. Why...”

  “You’re never with me, are you, Mum?”

  “I don’t know what you...”

  Carly’s pigeon had joined her.

  “So all that stuff yesterday when you were like, ‘You are my girls and I would never want to hurt either of you,’ it’s all shit. Gemma’s your favourite and it’s OK to hurt me and leave me. I thought if you left Gary, I’d be part of your next place.”

  Carly looked up and saw Lip Ring taking an interest in the row.

  “Carly, please, not so loud.”

  “You don’t want people to hear. But I don’t care. I thought you’d think of me for once. How dumb was I?”

  “Carly, I’m sorry, I just hadn’t thought that far ahead,” Marie protested. “I have to sort things out first.”

  “Mum, it’s all bullshit. I was never part of your plans.”

  Carly had increased her decibel level and Marie followed suit.

  “Look, I’m leaving Gary and sorting me and Gemma out. But it doesn’t mean that I don’t love you. I can’t keep saying it to you. Anyway, you have got your dad.”

  “Yeah, that’s right. I’ve got Dad. Just fuck off, Mum.”

  Lip Ring came over to the table and began clearing the plates. As she did so, she contributed her support.

  “You tell her, babe. My mum was a bitch ‘n’ all.”

  Marie looked up, furious.

  “What did you say about me?”

  “She didn’t say anything, Mum. Just pay and take me home.”

  Carly was up and walking out, leaving Marie to pay. They walked back to the car.

  “I hope you gave her a tip. She was alright.”

  “No, I bloody didn’t,” Marie retorted. “She was mouthy and lazy. Did you see the state of the place?”

  “Whatever.”

  “Carly, please. It can’t be that every time I see you, you start having a go at me for being a terrible mum. I know I’ve messed up but I’ve taken your advice about Gemma. I don’t want to leave you and I’m sorry that I keep hurting you every time we meet, but I am trying to do the right thing.”

  “Just take me home, now.”

  As they drove Marie tried once more.

  “Look, we can’t keep arguing like this. I don’t want to upset you again. Let me, at least, come round on your birthday and we’ll go out and do some retail therapy or something. Must be some clothes you want.”

  Carly stared out of the window.

  “Whatever, Mum. Look, I’m not bothered. Take me home and get back to your favourite daughter.”

  “It’s only six, love; I told your dad I was going to take you out for the evening.”

  Carly shrugged. It didn’t matter what her mum said. It was crystal that she hadn’t given her older daughter a thought in her future plans. The rest of the drive was in silence as neither of them even put the radio on. When they arrived, Carly slammed the car door and was letting herself in the house, when she heard her mum call out.

  “Bye, Carly. I’ll see you on Friday.”

  Carly never acknowledged her but began crying as she closed the front door behind her.

  * * *

  Carly was relieved her Dad wasn’t in his usual evening coma in front of the TV. She assumed he’d be in the Pub with his sad mate, Colin, or even sadder brother, Uncle Frank. Even so, she went straight to her bedroom, rather than sit watching TV on her own. As she climbed the stairs, she heard a noise coming from his bedroom. Like a pig, or maybe two pigs. One sounded female. Carly’s scowl increased. This had better not be...

  Her dad had never had – at least as far as she knew – a girlfriend at the house since Marie had left six years ago. Defo never taken any other woman to her mum’s bed in that time. He wasn’t going out with anyone. Carly reflected on her day thus far – a fight, a suspension, and another row with her mum. She prayed that she was not about to find her Dad in bed with some tart.

  As Carly tiptoed to her parents’ bedroom, her force eight mood upgraded to hurricane when she heard a woman laughing. For six years, Carly had not knocked before entering, and she was not going to change now. She barged in and saw them lying in bed together, naked, holding each other and laughing. They soon stopped.

  “Get that fat bitch out of my house now!”

  The fat bitch’s face reddened and she pulled the sheets over her head.

  “Carly, don’t speak to Janice like that. Come back here and...”

  But Carly had gone, slammed the door shut, stormed back into her room and put on one of her Eminem CDs, very loudly.

  * * *

  Carl was fuming after Carly’s coitus interruption. Janice had been nervous about taking the big step so soon after becoming a pair, and to be insulted whilst in mid-passion was cruel. Janice had done nothing to deserve such a lack of respect. He could have expected better as well, having been celibate – Hull whore excepting – for six years. Naked in bed, his ability to chastise his daughter had been restricted. He wasn’t going to chase after her and have Janice’s lasting memory of their first night together being his hairy arse disappearing into the distance.

  “I’m really sorry about...”

  “It’s not your fault. I’d better go.”

  Janice took the sheet with her to cover her wobbly bits and began dressing. Carl thought about persuading her to stay, but Carly’s timing had been exquisite in popping the bubble.

  “Look, she didn’t mean it,” he reasoned. “I’ve not had anyone here since Marie left and I guess she was shocked.”

  Janice was unconvinced.

  “Oh, she meant it. You and her obviously need to talk.”

  Carl was also up and getting dressed.

  “At least let me take you...”

  “No, there’s no need. I need a walk. Think about all this.”

  Both were now dressed, but separated by the double bed.. Carl clambered over to the other side. Janice was sat on the edge of the bed, putting her comfy shoes back on. He stood astride his new lover and placed his hands on her hips.

  “It hasn’t put you off me has it, all this with Carly?”

  Janice smiled and looked up at him.

  “I know all about stroppy teenagers. You won’t get rid of me that easily.”

  She gave him a peck on the cheek. He was relieved. No damage done. They were still friends.

  “I’ll see you at work tomorrow,” she said.

  “No, you won’t – not in the morning anyway – I had a call from one of Carly’s teachers earlier. He wants me to go in and speak to them. She’s been in a fight.”

  Janice managed a grin.

  “So it’s not only me that she gives a hard time to?”

  “No, honestly Jan, what she sa
id, wasn’t meant at you. She’s going through a phase, keeps arguing with her Mum, keeps arguing with me.”

  Carl walked with Janice back downstairs. Eminem could be heard from Carly’s bedroom. Their formative romance was ending with the following lyrics accompanying their farewell;

  ‘No you think I’m ugly Get the fuck away from me, don’t touch me I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I SWEAR TO GOD I HATE YOU OH MY GOD I LOVE YOU’

  “Nice isn’t it?” grinned Carl.

  “I should introduce her to my Nathan. He likes Eminem.”

  “Knowing our kids, a bit premature for happy families.”

  At the front door, Carl held Janice close and kissed her on the lips. She opened her mouth for him, but kept her tongue to herself. Eminem was also saying goodbye.

  ‘Now shut the fuck up and get what’s comin to you You were supposed to love me’ Then the sound of woman choking ‘NOW BLEED! BITCH BLEED! BLEED! BITCH BLEED! BLEED!’

  Carl waved Janice goodbye as she walked up the road. It looked like it was going to start raining again. Shutting his front door, he considered knocking on Carly’s door and talking to her. As he was about to knock, he heard more Eminem

  ‘So you can suck my dick if you don’t like, my shit Cause I was high when I wrote this so suck, my dick – ha ha!’

  Carl decided not to try and resolve issues with Carly that night.

  Chapter 19

  Tuesday November 9th

  Marie and Gemma were awake early on Tuesday and checked out of the hotel before seven. Marie was going to suggest a visit to The Little Chef for breakfast, but she caught sight of Lip Ring through the restaurant window and told Gemma that they would drive to Grandma’s for breakfast. It was raining so they ran to the car, Marie holding two cases. She was kitted out for business at Crouts and her three inch heels caught in a puddle, splashing her new tights, just as they reached the Beamer.

  “Shit!”

  “You said shit, Mummy. That’s a bad word.”

  “Mummy’s naughty. Smack Mummy’s hand, Gemma.”

  Gemma did so, but not painfully. Marie strapped her in the back seat and checked her tights. Her black Laura J high heels were also stained. She cleaned the shoe with a tissue. Her tights would have to do. She wasn’t going to look through her suitcase for a fresh pair. At least the rain hadn’t ruined her hair. She liked her blonde highlights and toyed with her fringe before setting off.

  “Mummy, are we coming back here?”

  “No, Gemma. That’s the last of this place. We are going to be back with Daddy tonight.”

  “Hooray. I wanna see Daddy.”

  Marie looked in the mirror at her baby. Was now a good time to tell her that they’d be moving again soon? That Mummy and Daddy were about to split up? That she was about to lose her playroom, her excessive toys and her Daddy. She’d miss the playroom and her toys. Marie gave a little wave to Gemma. Gemma waved back and smiled. At least one of her daughters liked her – until she grew old enough to know better.

  Marie thought back to Carly’s birth, almost 13 years ago. It had poured down that day as well. Always bloody rains in November. The horrible memory though, was six years ago, when Marie had said goodbye in the rain to Carly. Carly, standing at the front door with her Dad, screaming, crying and begging her mum not to go. That’s when Marie let Carly down and ever since then, Carly had become more and more hostile, more estranged. Marie gazed again at Gemma. She was falling asleep. Would she grow to hate her Mum as well?

  Her mobile ringing jolted her from these thoughts. She placed it on loudspeaker so that she could continue driving. The voice identified himself as Dennis Philips, head of year eight at Carly’s school. She wasn’t able to meet him that morning but would see him after lunch. He didn’t provide details and Marie didn’t think to ask him. She dropped Gemma off at her mum’s and made the hour drive back to work at Crouts Furnishers.

  As she drove, Marie worried about Carly. What had she done at school that was so bad? The fight she mentioned – maybe it was a lot worse than she had admitted. Perhaps Carly’s behaviour was bad because she was such a crap mother. At least spending the morning at work would take her mind off the girls. And then she considered whether she spent too much time on her career at the expense of her daughters. As she parked outside Crouts, she resolved that from now on her daughters’ needs would be top priority. She was going to do her best to ensure that both Carly and Gemma were happy.

  * * *

  Louis was already at his PC, working in their dungeon, when Marie arrived.

  “Morning, Louis. Any ghosts today?”

  “Just a surprise. The IT bloke from yesterday’s meeting has resigned.”

  “What, Richard...Richard Horton?”

  “Yep, that guy. One of the accounts supervisors was going on about it when I was up there before.”

  Marie squeezed in behind her desk and sat down.

  “Resigned! Wonder where that leaves us?”

  “Stuffed, apparently, he’s....”

  “Shh a minute. Someone’s coming down the stairs.”

  A pleasant looking woman came in and smiled at them.

  “Hi, are you the auditors? I’ve got some files that you were after.”

  “Thanks for...”

  “I’m Janice by the way. I’m the Purchase Ledger supervisor. I work for Martin Miller.”

  Marie and Louis flicked through the files.

  “Looks good,” said Marie. “Is this everything?”

  “You should have the emails from IT to go with these files…”

  Marie frowned.

  “That’s looking less likely. Apparently Richard Horton who was doing this for us has handed in his notice…”

  Janice rolled her eyes.

  “Yeah, I know. A real surprise as he has loads of projects he is supposed to sort out with us and I was working on them with him last week. The rumour is that he had a bust up and walked out.”

  Marie noticed Louis about to speak and, concerned that he was about to disclose details about the previous day’s meetings, put her finger to her lips. Janice appeared to be willing to gossip freely, and Marie didn’t want her repeating information supplied by the auditors.

  Janice hadn’t seen Marie motion discretion to Louis, and carried on... “He was a nice guy, Richard, whereas Jeffrey Parker... well, I know that I’m not supposed to say this to you, but he is a bit of a nasty sleaze. The word is that it’s Jeffrey who Richard clashed with. The rumour is that he punched Jeffrey before walking out.”

  Marie took a liking to Janice. She was about her own age and would be good for a chat as well as a possible source of inside information. There was an excess of dubious testosterone at this company so Janice could provide balance.

  Janice meanwhile had reverted to explanation mode.

  “There are a couple of other files and I will sort those out for you. But I’m off this afternoon, so they’ll have to wait until later in the week if that’s OK.”

  “No, that’s fine – I’m also off this afternoon – problems with my teenage daughter,” Marie confided figuring that whilst professional discretion was a must, there was no harm in sharing personal information in a bid to enhance a rapport. Janice didn’t need much encouragement.

  “Oh, you have a teenager as well. I’ve got a 16 year old boy, and he’s going through a hell of a phase at the moment.”

  Marie saw Louis raise his eyebrows. A conversation about teenage kids was never going to excite him.

  He picked up the files in order to take copies and left, leaving the two women alone.

  “Wouldn’t have thought you were old enough to have a 16 year old.”

  Marie scolded herself for sounding like Jeffrey Parker and hoped she hadn’t sounded fake or sleazy. Janice could do with some better clothes – the white blouse and knee length grey skirt didn’t do much for her fuller figure – and some extra bounce in her lifeless hair, but she was attractive. Even so, she m
ust be mid 30s and a teenage son was perfectly feasible. Marie feared she was becoming a corporate bullshitter – compliments given but not meant – to achieve an end. Meanwhile, Janice continued to discuss her wayward son. She sat down in the one spare chair in the office, squashed between the two audit desks. It was a hard plastic rejected piece of furniture that Marie guessed had been given to the auditors instead of the local tip. Marie had spotted a piece of chewing gum on the side. Janice appeared comfortable, though, sitting there and chatting.

  “It’s so difficult with a teenage lad. He has no respect and gives me a constant hard time – coming to work is almost a break.”

  Marie noticed Janice hadn’t reciprocated the earlier compliment. She’d been up at 6 o’clock at the Travelodge, ironing her black skirt and washing her hair, all part of an attempt to look as good as she could. Telling herself to be less superficial, it also occurred to Marie that Janice’s problems with her son mirrored her own issues. She might learn something from Janice.

  “Is that what you’re doing this afternoon, sorting out your son?”

  “Yes, he’s in trouble for constant truanting. I can’t get through to him, but hopefully it will all be sorted this afternoon.”

  “Hope you don’t mind me asking…” Marie hesitated, “…but is it only you? His Dad not in the picture?”

  “Just me. His Dad left when Nathan was a baby. What about yourself.”

  “My elder daughter’s dad is around. Wasn’t much of a husband but he’s OK as a father … I think. My daughter hates us both at the moment so she’d probably say we were both rubbish. My younger...” Marie was relieved to be interrupted saving her from explaining her two daughters, two different dads, two failed marriages scenario.

  “I know it must be hard…” Janice paused, and Marie wondered why she was suddenly more reticent “…the man I have started seeing has a daughter and she is awful, such a nasty aggressive girl.”

  “Maybe she is troubled. It’s hard being a teenager.”