The Vale - Chapter 7

 

Standing at the edge of the balcony, leaning over, I caught sight of the green Mini turning into the parking area. It was the one I'd see before, painted like a chessboard on the roof. I’d seen it so many times tearing around the estate. I knew that the driver was called Trevor because I’d heard local kids, younger kids than me, the feral ones who were given a free run of the estate at all times of day and night, chanting, ‘Trevor is a maniac, Trevor is a maniac,’ as he sped along the roads.

 

Adam and I shut the balcony door and quickly helped Dan tidy up. We felt nervous now, panicked even, that this Trevor might get angry with us, perhaps his temper might match his driving. It quickly became apparent, we needn’t have worried. The key turned in the door, Trevor entered, a young man in his late teens, in a cloud of overpowering aftershave. He was accompanied by a much older man with bristly, sandy coloured sideburns like two strips of carpet who smiled broadly at us. 

 

‘Grandad!’ said Dan.

 

‘Daniel! You have friends over I see. Good for you. I expect these lads are from your school eh?’ We nodded. The old man sat himself down on the arm of the sofa just next to me, removed his sheepskin coat and threw it onto the chair next to us. ‘I’m Dan’s grandad, as you’ve probably guessed,’ he laughed, ‘but you can call me Mick, or Grandad Mick if you prefer.’

 

Trevor went straight to the kitchen to put on the kettle. ‘You lot been drinking cider?’ he shouted.

 

Dan glanced at us, his eyes widened. ‘No,’ he said thinly.

 

Grandad smacked the palm of hand on his thigh and winked at us, laughing quietly, wheezing into his hand and nodding his head. 

 

‘Well somebody has!’ Trevor poked his head out of the doorway, stared at us and grinned. 

 

Having felt uncomfortable after first arriving in Dan’s flat, and even before that with everything we encountered on the way, I now found myself feeling very relaxed and at home with his brother and grandad. They swore and made rude jokes and put their feet on the table, and unlike my own family, there was no hint of tension. We drank tea and I started to sober up. I felt like I was a part of their tribe, just temporarily, and almost guilty about the assumptions I had made the previous evening regarding the residents of Kemble Tower. 

 

‘Hey, your brother’s going out in a bit, Dan, he’s got a date, ha ha ha,’ he rubbed his hands together. ‘That’s why I’ve come over, to keep an eye on you while your mum and dad are off galavanting for the weekend. It’s not that we don’t trust you but I know what I was like at your age. Mind you, I always got away with it. Where do you live boys, are you local?’

 

I nodded, ‘Yes I’m in one of the other towers and Adam’s down in the houses.’

 

‘I remember when all this was built and I remember when it was an airfield and a factory. I used to work here years ago, assembling planes, Spitfires. Ah, those were days, taking off, landing, there was a great big, long runway out there, it’s still there as it happens, runs right between the tower blocks, it does. Whoosh!’ he made a sort of gesture with his hand, up towards the ceiling. 

 

‘You’ve told me this Grandad,’ Dan pulled his feet up onto the sofa, great long feet in green socks, he bent his legs and hid his face on his knees as if mortified. ‘You’ve told me so many times.’

 

‘I think my dad’s mentioned that a few times,’ I said, ‘his uncle worked there too.’

 

‘My nan remembers it,’ said Adam.

 

‘So it’s not just me then Dan. I know you don’t want to hear about the olden days. It was the good old days though, it doesn’t get more thrilling than flying about in flimsy little planes, lads!’

 

‘It sounds quite dangerous,’ Adam said. He had a way of nervously shaking his head left and right when he felt uncomfortable about speaking.

 

‘It was! It was bloody dangerous! The most dangerous things are always the most fun. If you haven’t realised that already, then you’re about to.’

 

Trevor returned to the lounge having put on even more aftershave and changed his clothes. He looked at us then pointed at his grandad and said, ‘Whatever you do, don’t listen to anything that man tells you!’ 

 

‘Get out of it. I’m not where I am today without imparting some of my wisdom on the younger generation.’

 

Trevor tutted and stood in front of the mirror re-arranging his hair which was thick with gel, giving it the appearance of being soaking wet. ‘I’m off now, meeting my bird,’ he said, pulling up his collar.

 

‘Go on Trev, tell us her name at least.’

 

‘It’s Rachel, Grandad.’

 

‘Rachel the hairdresser?’

 

‘No! Rachel from the card shop,’ he snapped his fingers and pointed at his grandfather, flashing his gold sovereign ring, ‘don’t get that wrong Grandad Mick. I’ve got to go, my bus is in ten minutes.’

 

‘Oh, you’re not taking your motor then?’

 

‘No, not tonight. We’re going out drinking, to a cocktail bar, she’s expensive, Rachel from the card shop, classy. I’m meeting her in town, won’t be back until the early hours, we’ll catch a taxi, that’s if I come back at all. If her parents are out, I’ll be stopping there so don’t bother waiting up for me.’ Trevor remained fixated on his reflection until the very last minute when he patted Dan on the head and said, ‘You be good for Grandad. Nice meeting you lads!’

 

The door slammed shut and a few seconds later we heard the murmur of the lift descending to fetch him and I remembered the big dog. ‘Hey…there was a dog in that lift, earlier,’ I said, ‘just lying there.’

 

‘Nah, you must have imagined it,’ said Grandad, ‘it was an apparition,’ he said before slapping his knee and laughing hysterically.

 

Dan tutted. ‘Yes, the white Alsatian. She’s the guardian of our lift. She’s there every day until about six, then she usually goes home for her dinner. I think she’s called Angel.’

 

Grandad got up from the arm of the sofa. ‘She looks scary but she doesn’t do you no harm,’ he said, ‘if you ignore her, she’ll ignore you.’ He peered out of the window and turned back to us with shining eyes, clasping his hands together. ‘Hey lads, I’ve had an idea.’ 

 

Dan looked worried. ‘What, Grandad?’

 

The old man went to the kitchen and then to the hallway, he came back smiling. ‘Trevor’s left his car keys,’ he said, holding them up and jangling them. ‘How about another driving lesson, Dan?’

 

‘Mmmmm,’ Dan squirmed a little, ‘we did have some cider, although it was only a bit and it’s probably worn off now.’

 

‘We don’t have to do handbrake turns or race up and down, we could just go to the car park and practise some basic moves, stopping, starting, going backwards, that sort of thing. What do you reckon lads?’ He looked at us and to be honest I was excited at the prospect. Adam looked a little more apprehensive and had his hands clasped flat between his knees as if praying.

 

‘Come on!’ The old man laughed and stuck his tongue out. ‘It’s getting dark now, no one will see us.’

 

Adam half stood up and hovered on bent legs, unsure of where to go next. ‘But…..we’re only twelve.’

 

‘I’m nearly thirteen,’ I said. 

 

‘If you’re tall enough for your feet to touch the pedals, you’re big enough to drive. Come on.’ 

 

We bundled into the lift, it was the same one that we came up in but Angel had gone now, back to her own dwelling although a doggy odour lingered. I felt very self-conscious, crossing the estate with Dan and his grandad, not really knowing what was coming next but not wanting to back out either. 

 

There was a sense of having nothing to lose, my own life was pretty boring and I had recently become aware of a simmering energy rising up inside me. Some sort of gorge was opening up and I knew I had to fill it; being so young, I was aware that if I filled it with bad stuff, there would be plenty of time for the bad stuff to dissipate by the time I was a proper adult with gripping responsibilities.