The Age of Misadventure

Chapter Seven

It’s past one o’clock. Bonnie’s hunched over a glass of brandy in the lounge. She’s in my favourite armchair, staring out of the French windows at the patch of lawn outside, wrapped in a thick dressing gown, my striped pyjamas and a pair of my old fluffy slippers. The bracelet still encircles her wrist, the little charms winking in the light. Jade’s in her cream coat, standing by the windows, frowning with her arms tightly folded. She reminds me so much of Terry.

‘Go on then, Mum. Tell me I’m being stupid.’

Bonnie’s face is anxious and tired, stripped of make-up. She bites her lip.

‘You have to follow your heart, love. It’s the only thing.’ She thinks for a moment. ‘But look where that’s got me. Well, maybe you’ll have more luck, Jade. Of course you will. I mean, Demi’s happy. She and Kyle are in Phuket. She sent me some pictures. I’m so glad she’s away from all this …’ Her face freezes. She’s thinking of Adie, of her escape in the taxi.

I stare from Bonnie to Jade and realise I haven’t spoken. I don’t know what to say to my daughter, which is unusual, so I just mutter, ‘I’ll support whatever you want to do, Jade.’

Her face clouds. I’ve said the wrong thing. ‘Can’t you just be happy for me, Mum?’

I slide from the chair and go over to her, wrap my arms round her. Her shoulders stiffen.

‘I’m happy for you, love. It’s only …’

‘You think it’s too soon?’ She pulls back and her eyes blaze.

I start to yawn and wish I hadn’t. She’ll think I’m bored. I’m so tired my bones ache.

‘Jade, you and Luis love each other. I can see why you want to move to Brighton to be with him. Of course. You’re smart, talented, sophisticated, beautiful.’ She rolls her violet eyes. ‘You’ll have a great life there. Of course I’m happy for you.’

Bonnie gives a dry laugh, but her face is sad. ‘You’ll be fine. You won’t mess up like your mum did. Like I’ve done.’

Tears start and she sucks the dregs from the brandy glass. I fill it halfway and she brings it to her lips. I offer a small glass to Jade and pour one for myself.

Jade sidles over to her. ‘You’ll be okay, Aunty Bonnie.’

Bonnie takes a breath and forces a smile. ‘I hope you’ll be lucky in love, Jade.’ She breathes out. ‘You’re off to start a new chapter of your life with your lovely young man. And I …’ A tear tipples from her eye and she dabs it away. ‘I’m about to end a chapter with my wicked old man.’ A laugh bubbles in her throat. ‘So, cheers to you and to me. In fact, cheers to all three of us.’

‘Bring it on,’ I grin and our glasses chime together.

Suddenly, there’s a rap at the door, loud and insistent. It can only be one person. Bonnie leaps up and runs off like a wild-eyed rabbit to hide upstairs, swiping her handbag from the table and, as an afterthought, taking her glass of brandy with her.

I tweak the door open. His face is grey in shadow.

‘Let me in, Georgie.’

I keep the door slightly ajar.

‘I’m in my pyjamas, Adie. For God’s sake.’

‘Where’s Bonnie?’ Then he’s in, looking round the reception area for signs of her. ‘Is she here?’

He charges up to the kitchen. Jade and I are behind him. I check that Bonnie hasn’t left anything and breathe out.

‘No, Adie, she’s not here. Do you never talk to her? Wherever would she be at this time of night?’

Jade stands behind me.

Adie stares round the room. ‘She must be here …’ He rushes from the kitchen to the lounge, stares out of the French windows at the raised garden.

I follow him.

‘She’s not.’ I make my voice low. ‘What the hell’s going on, Adie?’

He shakes his head: I think he’s going to cry. I hope not.

‘She’s gone.’

‘Where?’ I put my hands on my hips in a Haka stance and think about thrusting my tongue out but decide against it. ‘Where’s my sister?’

He says nothing so I grab his arm.

‘Adie, I’m going to call the police.’

He snatches at my wrist and holds it too hard.

‘No. Don’t do that.’

Jade says, ‘Get off my mum.’

I pull my arm away. ‘Where is she, then?’

His face blanches even more.

‘She’s not at home. I’m worried about her. Something’s happened.’

‘To Bonnie? What have you done, Adie?’ I raise my phone, a sign of intent.

‘Georgie, I’m in a bit of trouble. I owe a man some money. I think he came to the house …’

I gasp. Jade does the same behind me. I’m suddenly relieved that Bonnie’s upstairs. I breathe out.

‘You should phone the police.’

‘I can’t. I have to find Bonnie.’

‘Do you have any idea where she might be?’

He’s miserable. ‘I hoped she might be here. I got home an hour ago. Someone had broken in, been through the things in my office, and Bonnie was missing.’

I fold my arms. ‘I’m worried now, Adie.’

He nods, licks thin lips. ‘She hasn’t taken her coat but her handbag’s gone. I’m just worried. I’m having a few problems with a business deal and now she’s missing.’

‘Adie, what on earth have you done?’

‘Nothing I can’t sort out.’

His elbows move out from his body, he stands taller. He’s recovering his poise.

I wonder what to do, how to get him out of the house. Then his phone buzzes and he grabs it from his pocket.

‘It’s a text. From Bonnie.’

Jade puts a steady hand on my shoulder.

I frown. ‘Where is she, Adie?’ My mind’s accelerating. She’s probably under the bed.

‘At the airport. She’s telling me to meet her there. We can catch a plane somewhere – get away together.’ He gapes at me for a moment. ‘She’s okay. Thank goodness. She said she heard someone downstairs and knew instinctively we’d need to get away for a bit. My clever little Bonnie. I’ll go back to the house quickly, pack a bag and we’ll be gone.’

He turns away. He’s not interested in me any more. He’s off, through the kitchen and reception, towards the door.

‘I’ll be in touch, Georgie.’

He flips the bolt and is outside, letting chilly air whoosh into the house. He slips into the darkness and he’s a shadow. I hear the clip of his car door, the growl of an engine. Then he’s gone. I close the door and lock it.

‘And good riddance to Adie. Well done, Bonnie. She played a genius card there.’

Jade’s face contorts. ‘But when he gets to the airport, she won’t be there. What then?’

‘It buys us time.’ I shrug. ‘But we’ll have to think of something.’

I go back to the lounge and Bonnie’s standing in the doorway, holding her phone in her fist.

‘In an hour or two, I’ll message him again. I’ll tell him I was nervous, I imagined someone was following me and I took a cab to Edinburgh Airport. I’ll send him on a goose chase.’

‘You heard it all, Bon?’

Her brows are knit in a frown. She’s clearly furious.

‘I snuck down and listened. Adie’s messed up one of his deals. I tiptoed back upstairs and texted him. I’m not being frightened out of my own house by his dodgy friends. I want out.’

Jade links her arm through Bonnie’s. ‘What are you going to do?’

Bonnie’s new resolve and determination fills me with optimism. She’ll be better away from Adie. I plaster a smile on my face and launch in.

‘We have to avoid Adie until he’s out of trouble. We need to think carefully and come up with a plan.’

I gaze from my daughter to my sister. Jade’s face is calm, her skin luminous. She’s off to Brighton to start a new life with her Spanish beau. Bonnie’s pale, anxious. I have to get her away from Adie. I think of what might have happened to Bonnie if she hadn’t left the house in Frodsham and my mind shuffles thoughts about what to do next.

Jade leans back in her seat and stretches her arms out, flexing the muscles. I’ll miss her when she’s in Brighton. The feeling of loss is already starting to squat on my shoulders and clutch at my heart. Then an idea flashes in my mind, perfectly formed. It’s an opportunity, exploding in front of me like a firework. In one move, I can persuade my sister to leave her philandering husband and stay close to my daughter at the same time. Adie and his criminal capers are the perfect excuse.

My mind moves to Nanny, all alone in her cold home. At once, I know how to resolve all of our problems in a single checkmate move. And we can have some fun at the same time. It’s the perfect opportunity to be together, to bond, three generations of women celebrating independence. A wide grin stretches across my face and, quick as lightning, I change it to a serious frown.

‘Bonnie, Jade – I know what we have to do. It’s as clear as daylight. We can’t stay here and wait for Adie to find out we’ve sent him on a goose chase. We’ll take things into our own hands, be in charge of the situation. Until this problem with Adie blows over, we have to put ourselves first. So, we’ll all go away together, tonight. And I know the perfect place.’

Chapter Eight

The sky is full of stars, little diamonds set in metres of black velvet. It’s almost three in the morning and the cold has started to bite at the exposed bits of my flesh. Bonnie’s helped herself to items from my wardrobe; she’s wearing a long faux-fur coat and matching hat and she looks like a movie star. Jade’s on the phone to Luis, multitasking at the same time, packing cases and boxes into the back of my BMW. Her movements are smooth and athletic.

I raid the till for the unbanked day’s takings, text Amanda that I’ll be away for a few days and promise to ring her soon with the details, but please could she hold the fort. Then we lock the front door, leave a light on in the hallway and drive through empty roads to a terraced street on the other side of the park. There are no lights on anywhere: the row of little houses is all in spongy darkness, behind scratchy hedges as straight as sentries.

I slip the key in and open the front door. The three of us are in blackout, walking on our toes, hunched over in a line like the kids in Scooby Doo. I flick the kitchen light on and suggest Bonnie and Jade wait downstairs. Nanny’s not going to like being disturbed. I’m scared about waking her. What if she has a heart attack?

I creep upstairs, stand on the top step and a floorboard creaks. I hold my breath for ages, thinking what to say.

Then an old lady’s voice rasps, ‘I have a shotgun in here. And if you don’t believe me, you burgling bastard, try me. Come in here and I’ll blow your bloody head off.’

‘Nan?’ I whisper as loudly as I can. ‘Nanny, it’s me, Georgie.’

I hear the expletive under her breath. Then she calls, ‘I haven’t got my teeth in. Don’t come in yet.’ I wait, staring in the dark, then she says, ‘All right. You can come in.’

I tiptoe into her bedroom and she switches the bedside lamp on. The room floods with orange light. She sits up in bed in a duck-egg blue winceyette nightie with ruffles at the neck and blinks. Her hair’s dishevelled, tufty and tucked under the green woolly hat. I glance round the room. The old wardrobe with the silver mirror reflects our shapes back to us: a ghostlike sliver of a woman sitting up in a bed with rumpled blankets and another woman in a bulky coat, shivering. The room’s bare except for the wardrobe, a pile of old books and newspapers in the corner, and several cardboard boxes full of junk. There’s a pervasive smell of dusty old clothes and stale piss.

I take a breath. ‘You haven’t really got a shotgun, have you, Nan?’

‘Don’t be daft. You think I’m mad? What do you want here at this time of night? Your house burned down, has it?’

I move to the edge of the bed and sit down next to her, taking her hand. Her fingers are stone cold.

‘Nan, I have some news for you. I don’t want you to worry.’

She leans forwards and her lip trembles. ‘Bonnie, is it? Is she all right?’

‘She’s downstairs. With Jade. We’ve got the car outside. We have to go away.’

It takes her a while to take this in. She frowns, her face a creased map of the tropics, and her eyes glitter.

‘What about me?’

This is it, I think. Here we go. ‘You’re coming with us. To Brighton.’

‘Over my dead body, Georgina. I’m not going anywhere.’

‘I can’t take care of you here, Nan. Not now. Please, trust me on this. It’s not good for Bonnie to stay here. Adie’s done something stupid; he owes money and he’s made some enemies.’ I take a deep breath, finding the right words to coax her to leave the house she’s lived in for over sixty years. ‘We have to go, Nan. All of us. Jade’s going to Brighton to live with Luis. Bonnie needs to get away, just for a short while. We’ll all go with Jade.’ I stop there: I’m about to say ‘to keep an eye on her’, but it’s best to say nothing.

Nanny stares, her mouth a straight line, and I wonder how I’m going to persuade her. Then she eases her legs out of bed, feet encased in hairy socks, and turns to me.

‘We’d better get packing then, Georgina. I can’t do it myself, can I? I’m in my eighties. You make sure I have plenty of warm clothes. My own towel. Plenty of Guinness. And I’ll need to take my heart tablets and my arthritis tablets. And some photos – Wilf and the one of us and our Josie and Kenny at the caravan site in Wales.’

I must have my mouth open, because she says, ‘Stop staring, Georgina. Come on. You can tell me about it as we go. I hope you’ve brought some sandwiches and a flask for the journey. I like my tea sweet. And I’m not sitting in the front seat. I don’t like all those blinding headlights. They give me a headache.’ She struggles to her feet. ‘Well, I suppose it’ll be an adventure. I don’t get out much.’ She pushes me away with her hand. ‘Go on with you, then. I’m going to get dressed. I don’t want you staring at my bits and bobs. Get packing. I’m going to Brighton.’

It takes us two hours to pack to Nanny’s satisfaction. I do most of it. Nanny spends the time patting my faux-fur coat with Bonnie in it and asking Jade what Spanish men are like between the sheets and whether sex is banned the night before a football match. Jade replies with deliberately outrageous comments.

‘We have this game, Nanny, where I wave a red sheet at Luis and he puts his fingers on his head like bulls’ horns and chases me naked round the bedroom.’

Nanny believes her. Her eyebrows shoot up under her woolly hat like circumflexes.

By five o’clock, we have her strapped in the back of the car next to Bonnie. She’s still stroking the arm of the faux-fur coat like it was Blofeld’s white cat. Jade’s next to me, chatting to me to keep me alert. Bonnie looks miserable.

‘What’s the plan, Georgie?’

The idea came to me straight away, before we collected Nanny, and it seems like a good strategy for escape.

‘We’ll make sure Adie doesn’t know where we’re going. The plan is to drive north for a bit, to take money from a bank and a cashpoint in Edinburgh, so that we put him off the scent. You text him you’re going to the airport there, Bonnie. He’ll believe you because we’ll leave a trail of evidence. Adie’ll follow you north. We’ll have a rest in Edinburgh for a few hours, then join the M1, find a bed and breakfast or a hotel off the motorway, where we can sleep properly and recharge our batteries.’

‘Edinburgh? I thought we were going to Brighton?’ Jade’s eyes blaze.

‘We are going to Brighton. Via Edinburgh.’

‘That’s mad, Mum. This whole thing is ridiculous.’

I hope my daughter doesn’t wake Nanny, who’s snoring.

‘It’s just a few hours, Jade. Bonnie can’t risk Adie following us.’

‘Then what?’ Jade’s voice is sulky: she’s tired and, just as she did when she was a child, she becomes moody.

‘Then we’ll go on to Brighton. You can meet up with Luis and we’ll lose ourselves somewhere, find a place to stay for a bit until we can sort all this mess out with Adie.’

Jade tuts loudly. ‘You’re not staying with Luis and me. Couldn’t you just drop me off and go somewhere else? East Anglia? Or Cornwall. That’s a long way away.’

I decide to say nothing. She must already feel that I’m trying to be a gooseberry. And it’s true: it’s a case of two birds with one stone. Bonnie’ll be safe from Adie and I’ll check my daughter isn’t moving in with a rampant Lothario. She turns a shoulder away from me, sulking.

It’s half past five, but the traffic’s starting to build. I turn onto the motorway and glance at other cars, to see if Adie’s following us. Several heavy lorries lumber past. I blink to keep alert. The sky is tinged with pink and the light gradually lifts the darkness away.

Nanny and Bonnie nod off on each other’s shoulder and Jade keeps me awake by talking non-stop about Luis and his footballing history.

After an hour and a half we’re on the outskirts of Leeds, and I know the age and background of every member of Luis’ family, his team and all the details and permutations of the offside rule. She plies me with coffee from the flask and I drive into a dappled crimson dawn. The wheels thrum on the tarmac and the dancing red brake lamps swirl in front of me, blurring away into the distance. I yawn. Jade puts rock music on the radio and the powerful sounds of The Disturbed fizz through my brain and my focus improves. My limbs feel heavy and my ankle on the accelerator aches with stiffness.

It’s well past past eleven o’clock as we drive through the Old Town part of Edinburgh. It’s a beautiful city and I wish I was awake enough to enjoy it. I concentrate on the shuffling traffic. Jade’s in a bad mood; she’s turned away from me and she’s texting with a passion. I pull up outside an ATM, lean over to the back seat and shake Bonnie awake.

‘We’re here.’

She sighs and opens one eye. ‘Brighton?’

‘Edinburgh. Bonnie, have you got your bank card, the one from your joint account with Adie?’

She looks puzzled. ‘Yes …’

‘Right. The maximum you can take out is £300. When the bank opens, you can take another £500 over the counter.’

‘I thought you had money from the till, Georgie?’ She’s still half asleep.

‘I do. It’ll keep us going for a while. But if Adie traces the transaction, which he will, and he thinks we’re heading north, then we’ll send him the wrong way if he decides to follow us. And the £800 will be useful when we’re in Brighton.’

‘So why aren’t we going further into Scotland then?’ Bonnie frowns. ‘I’ve never been to the north of Scotland. It’s supposed to be really nice there.’

‘It’s not a holiday. We’re going to Brighton. I’ve arranged to be with Luis. I’m moving in with him. I’m not going to the north of bloody Scotland.’

Jade folds her arms and I instantly worry that I’ll lose her. We’ve been so close and I wonder what Luis must be like, to be able to lure her away, and if it’s only a glamour thing, a passing fancy. I clamp my lips together to stay silent.

‘I need breakfast. I’m hungry.’ Nan’s awake, her voice sharp and insistent.

‘Okay,’ I sigh.

I feel like a frazzled mum, trying to cope with a badly behaved group of youngsters. But this crazy situation was my idea and I focus sharply on the purpose of it, keeping my mind on the prize. I’ll be with Jade, making sure my daughter isn’t throwing her life away on some frivolous relationship, and, in the same smart move, my sister’ll be miles away from her devious, cheating husband.

I wave my hands, all smiles. ‘I’ll find us a café after Bonnie’s been to the ATM, then we’ll come back when the bank’s open. Are you all fine with that?’

By half past twelve, Nan’s finished a hearty breakfast and everyone else has pushed away food they’ve hardly touched. Jade’s in a foul mood.

We drive ten miles out of Edinburgh and I find a quiet car park and pull in. Nanny’s slurping the dregs of a chocolate milkshake through a straw. Bonnie immediately takes out her mirror and checks her make-up. Jade turns an angry face to me.

‘What are we doing?’

‘I need to sleep, Jade. I’m really tired.’

She blows air through her mouth. ‘Oh, for God’s sake. Why don’t I drive for a bit?’

‘I’m not keen on you driving, Jade. It’s a long journey and you’re not used to this car. I’d rather drive.’ The excuse sounds weak in my mouth. ‘I’ll just sleep for a few hours. I’ll be fine.’

I keep my thoughts to myself. I wish we could go north, have a fun time in Scotland, the four of us. It’d be lovely to have a break together. I consider suggesting it, but she’s already impatient to go south. Once Jade’s in Brighton, in Luis’ flat, I won’t see so much of her.

She breathes out a loud sigh and goes back to her phone. I snuggle down in the seat and close my eyes. The radio rattles and I think about switching it off. The midday news comes on and I listen, half expecting a story about Adie. It’s the usual politics and sport.

As I start to drift off, I hear Bonnie saying, ‘I wonder what Adie’s doing now.’

Nan says, ‘Good riddance.’

There’s a pause, then Bonnie sniffs. ‘Demi’ll be in Thailand. I’d like to go to Thailand.’

Jade huffs. ‘I’d like to go to Brighton.’

There’s a sniff at the back. Bonnie’s tearful. ‘Do you think I’ll ever see Adie again?’

Nanny’s voice is firm. ‘He needs sorting out, that Adrian Carrick. No man should cheat on his wife. Wilf and I were married for fifty years and some. He never looked at another woman.’ She giggles. ‘Except once.’

Bonnie cheers up. ‘What happened, Nan?’

Nan’s laughing; I can sense her rocking backwards and forwards and I know her eyes hold an evil expression.

‘We were in The Bluebell with your mam and dad. It was New Year’s Eve and I’d had a couple of port and lemons. This drunken woman kept waving mistletoe in Wilfie’s face, pursing her big red lips, trying to get him to kiss her. I was livid.’

Jade’s suddenly interested. ‘What did you do?’

‘I followed her to the toilets, got her by the scruff of her neck and told her to keep her hands off my Wilf or I’d poke her eyes out.’

Bonnie laughs. Her voice is too high.

‘Then I got Wilf home and I asked him if he fancied her. He’d been on the whisky and he said he thought she had nice legs, so without thinking, I slapped him in the face with a smelly dishcloth.’

Jade’s mouth must be hanging wide open. ‘Nanny …!’

‘He was so drunk, I thought he was going to keel over. The next day he couldn’t remember anything. He never touched the Jameson again.’

It’s quiet inside the car and warm. I breathe out and sleep for what seems like an age. Then Jade’s shaking me.

‘Mum, can we go now?’

I sit up. I’d slumped right down in the seat.