‘Ssh,’ Steph replied, as she noticed a lady turn around from the seat in front and give them both a filthy look. She had let Barry fondle her breasts and put his hand inside her knickers, but she wasn’t about to discuss that on the 174 bus.
‘Tell me then?’ Tammy whispered, impatiently.
‘No, not on here. Tell me about you and Jacko. You seemed ever so cosy the other night. Do you like him, Tam?’
‘Yeah, but only as a mate. I ain’t Jacko’s type, Steph, and even if I were I wouldn’t want your bleedin’ sister’s leftovers. We do get on well though. He’s more of a laugh and so much nicer than I ever thought he would be. I used to think he was so up his own arse, but he ain’t when you really get to know him, is he?’
Stephanie nodded in agreement.
‘So, when you gonna shag Barry then?’ Tammy asked, in her usual none-too-quiet voice.
The woman who had looked around earlier stood up and glared at the girls. ‘Charming!’ she mumbled, as she moved seats.
Unable to stop themselves, both Stephanie and Tammy burst out laughing.
Pam had been not only surprised, but also delighted by how nice Angela’s boyfriend was. She had been extremely reluctant to welcome Jason O’Brien into her home, as she felt Angie was too young to be having boyfriends, but Jason seemed rather shy, sweet, yet charming at the same time.
‘So what does your mum do on a Sunday, Jason? Does she cook a roast as well?’ Pam asked, trying to find out if the boy came from a decent home.
‘Yes, Mrs Crouch. My mum and dad are both very religious. They go to mass every Sunday morning, but Mum always puts the meat on before they leave, so we all have a nice roast dinner when she gets home.’
Pam glanced at Cathy as if to mentally say: please don’t swear. Linda was out on the lash again, all of them spoke like navvies at times, and now Angela – of all people – had brought home a boy who came from a godly family. ‘So, what church do your parents attend, love?’ Pam asked.
‘My family are Irish Catholics. They go to St Peter’s Church, near the Chequers.’
Pam was Church of England, but knew very little about her religion – or anyone else’s, for that matter. ‘Would you like some dessert now, Jason? I’ve got homemade apple crumble, or there’s plenty of ice cream in the freezer, if you’d prefer that?’
‘You’re not still hungry, are you Jase?’ Angela said, kicking her boyfriend under the table.
‘No thank you, Mrs Crouch. I’m really full up,’ Jason replied, politely.
‘Can we please go upstairs and play some records now, Mum?’ Angela asked, in her innocent, childlike voice.
Pam thought carefully before answering. She refused to let Stephanie and Barry sit in the bedroom together because she found it inappropriate. It was different with Angie though. She had not long turned thirteen, and seeing as her boyfriend came from a church-going family, she really couldn’t see the harm in it. ‘You can, but don’t you dare tell your sister, as I don’t want her sitting upstairs with that Barry,’ Pam replied.
‘Come on, Jase,’ Angela said, grabbing her boyfriend by the hand.
‘And make sure you behave yourselves. I shall be checking up on you regularly, you know,’ Pam shouted out, as her daughter bolted up the stairs with Jason in tow.
Angela pushed Jason against the landing wall, snogged him passionately and smirked. ‘We’ll be on our best behaviour, I can promise you that, Mum.’
Wayne Jackman stared wistfully at Stephanie and Barry as they walked up to the salad bar laughing and joking. He wasn’t jealous of their happiness. He was just annoyed with himself for not taking Steph up on her offer when she had asked him out in the first place.
‘You OK, Jacko? Shall I order us all another drink?’ Tammy asked. They’d been ordering glasses of Coke and sneakily pouring the vodka in from a bottle Barry had bought to the restaurant with him.
‘Yeah, order some more up, girl,’ Wayne replied, chirpily. He liked Tammy, thought she was great fun, but she was no ravishing beauty and he certainly didn’t fancy her. Steph was the looker of the two. She had intelligence and an aura about her, and Wayne could kick himself for choosing her stupid sister over Steph. He must have been mad and blind, but it was too late to do anything about it now. When Barry and Steph returned to the table, Wayne smiled at them. ‘Get the vodka out, Bazza.’
Making sure none of the waitresses were looking, Barry poured a generous amount in all four of their glasses, then screwed the lid back on the bottle. He lifted his glass aloft, ‘To a top geezer who I owe my life to. Happy birthday, Jacko.’
With the washing-up out of the way, Pam flopped down in the armchair opposite Cathy.
‘Shall I open that bottle of wine now?’ Cathy asked, hopefully.
‘No! We can’t keep drinking the bloody stuff, Cath. We’ll have problems before you know it and we’ll have to join that Alcoholic’s Anonymous group. We should just drink it on a Saturday night like we used to, or the odd special occasion.’
Cathy chuckled. Pam could be such an old fuddy-duddy at times. ‘We’re hardly bleedin’ alkies are we? There’s only a couple of poxy glasses each in a bottle. Anyway, it is a special occasion. It would have been my twenty-fifth wedding anniversary today.’
Pam looked at her pal in amazement. ‘But you hated your old man, Cath.’
‘Yeah, I know. Still a bloody special occasion though, ain’t it?’
Pam burst out laughing. Sometimes she didn’t know what she would do without having Cath to lighten up her day. ‘Go on then, you pisshead.’
‘Pot calling kettle,’ Cathy joked.
Suddenly remembering her youngest daughter was up in her bedroom with a boy for the very first time, Pam leapt out of the chair. ‘I’d better go up and check on ’em. They’re a bit quiet up there, ain’t they?’
‘Stop worrying and sit back down. The top forty’s just started and you know how your girls are addicted to listening to them bleedin’ charts. You can guarantee Angie is making that poor boy listen to the rundown like she’s made me and you listen to the shit in the past. She’s only thirteen, Pam.’
‘You reckon that’s all they’re doing, then?’ Pam asked, feeling relieved.
Cathy grinned. ‘Of course it is.’
With the top-forty chart on in the background, Angela released Jason’s big, hard penis from the zip of his jeans and, without warning, shoved it inside her mouth.
‘Oh, Ange. That feels great, but say your mum comes up?’ Jason panted. He had only ever slept with one girl in the past and receiving a blow job was a completely new pleasure for him.
Flicking her tongue over the top of Jason’s penis like Jacko had taught her to do, Angela opened her eyes, glanced at the look of ecstasy on her boyfriend’s face, and sat up.
‘Don’t
