‘Right, so it’s settled,’ Marcus said. ‘We’ll have a big Edgar Road Christmas again, and as it’s Theo’s first Christmas, we’ll make it perfect.’
‘If we’re having it at the restaurant it won’t be on Edgar Road,’ Harold pointed out. Normally Harold didn’t like Christmas, but since meeting us, and having Snowball, he actually seemed to be changing his tune. If only Jonathan would do the same. ‘I can be in charge of the guest list, if you’d like. To make sure that no one we know is on their own on Christmas Day,’ he offered, a little bashfully. Harold wasn’t used to being helpful – even Marcus, his own son, said that, so this was new for him. I believed George could take credit for that change in him. With my help of course.
‘Great, so if we can only sort out that son of mine, we’ll be all good,’ Tomasz said, scratching his head. I felt sorry for him. Tommy and he had always been so close, both being into the same things, and having similar personalities. Aleksy was more like his mum, sensitive and serious.
‘I’ll have a word,’ Jonathan offered. ‘I’m not an expert at teenagers but it’s worth a go.’ I purred and rubbed his legs to show him I approved, although we all know that he was doing it because Claire had told him to.
I sneaked out to find Jonathan and Tommy in the back garden. Jonathan was clutching a bottle of beer, Tommy looked sulky.
‘Listen, mate, I don’t know what’s up with you but trust me, if you keep getting in trouble at school there won’t be a job in finance for you when you leave.’
‘I just don’t like school. They tell us what to do all the time and don’t even give us a chance to have any thoughts of our own,’ Tommy replied, looking at the ground. The most he’d said all day.
‘Mate, that’s life sometimes. If you want things you have to play the game.’
‘But why?’ Tommy asked.
‘You want a job like mine, right?’ Jonathan asked.
‘Yeah, I want to make loads of money and I really like the idea of working with stocks and shares, I even read about it,’ he mumbled.
‘So why the hell are you behaving like a jerk then?’ Jonathan asked. Not one to mince words was Jonathan, but in this instance I agreed with him.
‘I dunno,’ Tommy looked at the ground. ‘I guess I just get fed up with everyone telling me what to do like I’m some dumb kid.’
‘You’re behaving like a dumb kid,’ Jonathan pointed out. ‘Sort out your grades, sort out school and get your parents back onside and maybe, just maybe, I’ll get you some work experience in my office.’
Tommy’s eyes lit up. He looked really pleased and he even almost smiled.
‘Really?’
‘But you need to sort your act out first. Because I’m not going to help you until you start behaving yourself. Deal?’
‘Deal,’ Tommy said.
‘And if there’s more to it than just being a bit fed up with school or being a teenager, then you tell me. Don’t mess up your future, Tommy; honestly, it’s not worth it.’ Jonathan ruffled Tommy’s hair and then went back into the house. He looked relieved as he did so.
I felt, perhaps, that Tommy needed some support, rather than more telling off, so I went up to him, gently pawing him.
‘Ah, Alfie, sorry I didn’t make a fuss of you. I’m just so annoyed all the time. I don’t know why half the time either.’
‘Meow.’ I rubbed his legs. He was still my Tommy, but he was also a teenager and I knew, from experience, how terrible being a teenager could be. Not only for humans, by the way. When George had his teenage phase I despaired as he refused to tell me anything. Thankfully, it passed eventually, and I hoped that with Tommy it would do the same.
‘I just feel so angry and then I feel sad that I’m angry. I don’t like to push everyone away but I don’t know how to stop. Does it make sense?’
‘Meow.’ I let him scratch my head – I do love a head scratch. I understood poor Tommy didn’t mean to be horrible, but that was a teenage thing too. It might even be a medical condition – ‘being a teenager’ – but I didn’t know for sure. I’m a cat not a doctor after all.
‘I promise I’ll try harder,’ Tommy said, but his shoulders were slumped and he sounded sad. I cuddled into him as much as I could. He needed me, and I would be there for him. I tried to convey to him that he wasn’t alone because I could feel his loneliness. It might not have made any sense as he had lovely family and friends surrounding him, but then, life didn’t always make sense and feelings certainly didn’t either.
Chapter Six
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Snowball and I were enjoying a bit of alone time in her back garden. It was quite rare, because Harold was a very needy human. He was quite old and had suffered ill health in the past, so it was understandable, and also George would often be around, or one of our other friends. But today Harold was at his senior centre, playing chess or cards, and George was with Hana, so we took advantage of a bit of time and space for ourselves. We appreciated it more because it was so unusual, I guessed.
‘Isn’t life funny?’ Snowball asked as she played with a pile of leaves. Like me, she was quite a philosophical cat. I think becoming a parent to George had made me think about things more deeply, for sure.
‘I know. When you left and moved away I thought I’d never see you again. And yet, here you are and I see you every day.’
‘Exactly. And although I will always miss my family a bit, I have grown very fond of Harold – even his snoring doesn’t bother me anymore – and I adore George. It’s also nice to be back with my other cat friends.’
‘It is. We never stop missing those we love,’ I added. I was speaking from experience here.
‘I know.’ We were both silent. ‘Hey, let’s be more cheerful. Race you to the rec ground,’ she shouted as she bounded off.
I chased after her, and was pleased to see our other friends there as we approached, slightly out of breath from our run. Nellie was playing in a bush, Elvis was licking his paws and Rocky was lying in a very rare sunny spot. We cats of Edgar Road tried to catch up regularly but with winter and the frequent rain, we didn’t always see each other as much as we’d have liked. No one liked having damp fur.
‘Snowball, Alfie,’ they greeted us.
‘What’s going on?’ I asked as I caught my breath.
‘Nothing much, it’s been so cold lately I feel that I’ve barely been out,’ Rocky said.
‘But, I have news. There’s a new woman moved in to one of the flats at the end of the road. I think where your families used to live,’ Elvis said, stretching his legs out.
When I first moved to Edgar Road, Tomasz and Franceska lived in the upstairs flat of one of the houses and Polly and Matt lived in the downstairs. They had separate front doors but it was a house split in two.
‘Does she have a cat?’ Always my first question.
‘No, it’s just her on her own. I thought I might take an interest as she would possibly be a candidate for your lonely club,’ Elvis explained.
‘It’s the Sunday Lunch Club,’ Snowball corrected.
‘Well, anyway, she looks about the right age, although maybe a bit younger than your Harold, I would guess, and she’s definitely on her own.’ Goodness, Elvis had done his homework.
‘Has Salmon’s family met her yet?’ I asked. Salmon was the neighbourhood watch cat, he knew everything that was going on. As did his family. Heather and Vic Goodwin ruled Edgar Road in many ways. They wore matching jumpers and were the busybodies (Jonathan’s word) of the street. Salmon usedto be our nemesis but we had all softened towards each other and found a way to be cordial nowadays.
‘Probably,’ Nellie said. ‘But I haven’t seen Salmon for a few days. If I do, I’ll see what I can find out, and you do the same,’ she suggested.
Salmon was useful for knowing all the comings and goings of Edgar Road– nothing seemed to escape his notice. We sometimes had to butter him up a bit to get the real gossip but I wasn’t averse to that.