Episode 21 - Jez
dedicated to the lads and lasses at Graham Campell Ferrum:
May the only slag that dribbles down your leg be in the foundry
The Carlisle Cats regrouped later in the evening at Jez's place. As always, she had a good supply of booze that she replenished every pay day; a luxury she was finding hard to maintain. Things were getting tight on her miserly wage as a cab driver. She used to be a welder in a foundry but had been put off last year. It seemed that not many companies were interested in employing a 40 year old woman in the industry now so she had to resort to driving.
The usual crowd turned up, some had new grrfriends, some that would last a weekend. All were welcome as long as they didn't throw up or steal anything...the former being the most frowned upon.
As usual, Jez would take her position in the kitchen, overseeing the crowd and remaining close to her beloved beer supply. Jez had two fridges in her kitchen; one a small bar fridge that contained food and the other, almost industrial in its size, for alcohol.
Midge joined her, beer in hand, and talked about the game. Jez asked her what she knew about the new grrl.
'She is bloody uptight but seems nice enough. Chloe has her eyes set on her which worries me a bit,' she confided. Jez eyed her cunningly.
'You a bit jealous, love?' she asked. Midge laughed,
'No, but you know what Chloe is like. I just don't want her screwing her up.'
'So, is she or isn't she?' Jez asked. Midge looked at her squarely and said;
'Well, I think she is just as straight as Sporty Spice.' They both laughed. Midge took a long swig of her beer and belched, dismissing the subject.
'I hear on the grape vine that you and Paulie had a bit of a falling out.' Jez said.
'Yeah,' Midge said ruefully. 'I love the little guy to death but I was just so sick of his attitude. When I got home from the hospital, he took the ambulence driver into my room and I passed out on the couch. That was the last straw.'
Jez laughed. She had been victim to Paulie's freeloading and fully understood what he was like. Regardless, he was a much loved character in the building and she knew that they would patch things up once they got a bit of space.
They watched as two of the youngest members of the team played tonsil hockey on the sofa. Their amorous exploits were enough to make the others around them uncomfortable and they now had the sofa to themselves. Midge commented that maybe they should move on into the spare room and they both laughed.
The spare bedroom was on a first come, first serve basis. There was a huge sign on the door warning those that entered that only single women or their partners were allowed. Jez was sick of the room being used as an adultress' escape. The apartment had been trashed a few times from brawls that had erupted over infidelity and she had a strict policy that if you used her place as a motel, make sure that a jealous grrlfriend wasn't going to storm in and kick your arse. Jez was sympathetic towards the grrls that didn't have a place to take their pick-ups, but she wasn't going to risk having her ceramic elephant collection totalled again.
The young lovers now had their hands under the other's shirt and Jez decided it was getting a bit out of hand. She yelled out from the kitchen that if they stained her couch they'de be paying for the cleaning. They both looked up, flushed more with raging hormones than embarrassment, and retired to the spare room. The others jeered as they snuck off for some privacy.
Sophie B, k d and Melissa pumpeded out of her stereo endlessly. There was also a huge sign on Jez's cd player that informed those that dared fuck with her choice of music risked life and limb. The beer began to dwindle and most of the team decided to go to the Prince of Wales and cruise.
Midge decided to call it a night. She was on the early shift the next morning. She said goodby to Jez, who was really getting drunk, and left.
Jez began to feel melancholy and put on some Patsy Cline, much to the disgust of the stragglers and stay-overs. Jez was well into the twilight zone of beer and didn't really care what the others thought. The seemingly impenetrable butch sat sobbing into her beer, looking into a locket that she wore around her neck, wailing along with Patsy about how crazy she was for feeling so lonely.
to be continued... |
