Many businessmen, on the other hand, expect all of their household costs, cars, holidays, and anything else they can think of to be paid for before they start to pay any tax.'
'But you have to remember, Mister Boswell,' Wellington angrily retorted, 'That these people are creating the jobs that allows the man in the street to pay for a car or a holiday......'
'If you don't mind gentlemen!' interrupted Councillor Eades, 'Could I just remind you that we are here to discuss local concerns, not issues that can only be resolved at national level.'
The two political adversaries reluctantly backed off, and the meeting returned to more mundane matters.
Barely a mile from the civic centre, a couple in the back of a Porsche sports car untangled their limbs, and tried to get their breath back after their exertions in the confined space. She suddenly giggled.
'What is it?' he asked
'This is ridiculous at my age, in the back of a car for goodness sake!'
'Oh, feeling your age, are you? You must be older than I thought, what are you, forty five, fifty?'
'Pig! She poked him in the ribs. 'Nowhere near it!'
He chose not to say that he knew perfectly well she was forty one on March the twelfth.
After a moments silence he said,
'I'm sorry, but you know how it is, I have to be seen to be whiter than white, try not to give you-know-who any ammunition, at least until access to the kids is sorted.'
'It's okay. darling, I understand, especially with the problems at your office at the moment. I really wish you would at least let me help you there.'
'No!' Then realising he may have sounded a little harsh, he said,
'I'm sorry, but what we have is precious to me, I believe that this really could be a “Happy ever after” kind of thing, and somehow I don't want to risk....' He searched for the word, '...... tainting it by allowing my work to intrude. Especially as it could get you into trouble. We'll sort out the problems at work eventually'
He gave her a tired smile,
'I have a friend with a cottage we might be able to borrow, if you were interested?'
'I might be.' she answered coyly.
'We'll see what we can arrange then, shall we.'
She kissed him, a slow lingering kiss. He took that as a yes.
At the public meeting, Allan Ross felt he was slowly losing the will to live. The discussion had moved on to the condition of the local roads, after which every aspect of bin collection issues and pharmacy opening times had been argued over in considerable depth. Finally, though, they moved on to petty crime in the area, and he started to show an interest in proceedings.
Tall and fairly muscular, he had been brought up in the area, and was known to be handy with his fists. Not that he made a habit of starting fights, but he had been known to finish a few in his time. He therefore wasn't the type who worried much about being a target for muggers and the like. And when he walked round to the row of shops that some of the older people regarded as a no-go area because of the youths hanging around, he never had any trouble.
He didn't bother them, and they didn't dare bother him.
Nor did he regard vandalism or petty crime as much of a problem for him. Nowadays he lived in a private house in one of the nicer streets with wife Julie and their kids, Mandy and John. They had a garage at the side of the house, a nice sized garden and good neighbours. He pretended to himself that playing football for the Cross Keys pub football team on a Sunday afternoon kept him fit and healthy. Steady jobs for both Julie and himself meant they could afford a big television and holidays abroad. All in all, he was fairly content with his lot in life.
His parents, though, were a different story, still living in their old council house in Mill Street, with junkies and drunks and joyriders causing a regular nuisance in the area. He despaired sometimes at the tales they would tell him about break-ins and stabbings, gangs fighting in the street, of their fear of leaving the house at night.
Although he dreaded speaking in public, he stood up and waited his turn, until eventually Councillor Eades invited him to address the meeting.
'I'd like to know when the police and the council are going to do something to help the people in the Craigends area? My folks live in Mill Street, and they can't get peace to sleep at night for young ones riding motorbikes up and down the lane at the back of the house, fighting each other, and giving the old ones a hard time. Not to mention junkies leaving needles around and drunks spewing and crapping in the gardens.
The annoying thing is, if they do any thing to try and help themselves, they just get into trouble for it. A few weeks ago some of the neighbours got together, and built a gate across the back lane, with a key for every house in the street, so that only the ones who lived there could get in. Next thing someone from the council turned up, and tried to make them take it down because it was public land, which we managed to discover was a load of nonsense. And then the council said, “Well, you still have to take it down because it's blocking access to emergency vehicles.” Which is bullshit because it's too narrow and most of the time it's blocked anyway by kids running cars down it till they get jammed, and then they set light to them!'
When he paused for breath, Councillor Eades tried to interject, but Allan was having none of it.
'Then yesterday, two neds tried to break into a shed a couple of houses down from my folks. The guy from the house saw them, managed to grab one, and a neighbour helped to hold him down while he swore and squealed and kicked like an animal for the full half an hour it took for the police to bother to turn up, then, guess what, the police came back this morning and charged them with assault, and some crap about detaining a minor!
The fact is, the people living there are beginning to wonder whose side you lot are on exactly?'
He sat down breathless as everyone looked to the officials on stage.
Superintendent Campbell put on his most conciliatory face.
'Well, obviously I can't comment on an ongoing case, especially without hearing both sides,' he replied, But there is provision within the law for common sense to prevail, and I would hope this case could be resolved in a fair and just manner'
'Yeah, that'll bloody happen,' came a voice from the back,
'It'll be the same crap as usual, the muppets that cause the bother will get a slap on the wrist,and the victims will land in the shit!'
Suddenly, everyone seemed to have a tale of injustice they wanted to tell.
'That old guy down Cheapside Street, used to be a foreman with the council, Tom I think his name was, he were that fed up with kids climbing over his fence and wrecking his vegetable patch, he bought a dog. Next thing that happens, a kid climbs in, and gets bit in the arse, Tom got fined and the dog was put down!'
Another
