Chapter 30

I woke on Sunday to the sun streaming through my bedroom window, and the sound of Mum shouting me for breakfast. I climbed out of bed, went across to the bathroom and relieved myself and then, still dressed only in my sleep shorts went downstairs, where, as usual, my Dad had cooked our Sunday morning fry-up for breakfast.

“What time are we setting off?” I asked as I began to shovel forkfuls of food into my mouth.

“Well, it opens at ten,” Dad replied, “I thought we’d set off about ten thirty, get there just before midday.”

According to the kitchen clock, it was already nine thirty, so I decided I’d better get a move on. I finished quickly and walked back upstairs, collected my towels from my room and got into the bathroom before my sister could take it over, showered, dried myself off and dressed in there, then went back to my room to get my things together ready to go back to Manchester. I’d decided that I was going to take my PlayStation with me, to give me, and possibly Charlie something to do in the evenings, and walked downstairs at just on twenty past ten.

“All ready?” Mum asked me.

“Yes,” I confirmed, “shall I go and put my stuff in the car?”

“Yes, please,” Mum said, “it will have to go in the back, we have a car full.”

“Who’s coming?” I asked.

“Cal and Jean,” Mum replied.

“Jean?” I asked.

“Andrew’s new girlfriend,” she answered, “you know the one who isn’t a member of the girl of the week club.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” I said, “she actually exists. I thought she must be one of those blow up doll things.”

Before Andy could take revenge on me for that, the front door bell rang, and he went off to answer it. He came back in leading a girl by the hand.

Everybody greeted her by name, except me.

“David,” Andy said, in his best formal tone, “may I present my girlfriend, Jean Canham. Jean this is my abominable little brother David.”

I thought the little brother was a bit extreme, given that I’m an inch taller than he is.

I walked round the table and extended my hand to her.

“Hi, Jean,” I said, “I’m David, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” she replied, “you’re an actor aren’t you?”

“Well,” I answered, “sort of, I suppose. So far I’ve made one film and I’m rehearsing a TV drama.”

“So you’re away from home during the week?”

“Yes, in Manchester, although we’ll be moving up to Windermere for a few weeks in a couple of weeks for location filming.”

“It sounds exciting,” she said.

“It’s mostly sitting around in a caravan reading,” I replied, “we’re lucky if we get on an actual live set for an hour a day.”

“Still, I’d love to see it in action,” she said, “if I could.”

“I’ll tell you what, I’ll ask the producer on Monday, and maybe we can get Andy to bring you over during half-term.”

“That would be great if you could,” she said, “thank you.”

Just then. Cal arrived, and we were all ready to go.

We sat Alison and Jean in the back, Andy in the co-pilot’s seat and me, Mum and Cal across the middle row. At ten thirty on a Sunday morning the drive into Manchester only took an hour and we parked the car on a meter on the street outside the Museum and went in. It’s nice that we get free entry to national museums.

The Museum of Science and Industry, to give it it’s official title, is built around the world’s first railway station, Liverpool Road in Manchester. It has an aviation section, including genuine space craft, and a lot of old aeroplanes, steam engines, steam train rides, and a lot of historical exhibits about the gas, electricity and communications industries. One of the highlights is SSEM, the world’s first stored programme computer.

As soon as we were inside we split up, Andy and Jean went off to do their own thing, whatever that may be, Mum and Dad set off to find the café, and that left me, Alison and Cal to fend for ourselves, until one thirty, when we’d agreed to meet up at the bistro for food.

“So, ladies, what do you want to see first?”

“Space?” Cal suggested.

“Medicine,” Alison said, “what about you?”

“Aviation,” I said.

“Well, aviation and space are together,” Cal said, “so why don’t we start with medicine and then come back to that?”

“All right,” Alison and I both agreed, and we set off in the direction indicated on the ‘what’s where?’ board.

The medical history section was quite fascinating, particularly the old surgical implements, which looked more like they belonged in a mediaeval torture chamber than an operating theatre. We spent the best part of an hour looking at various pieces of medical equipment and learning their history and purpose. Not much use to me and Cal but given that Alison had determined that she wanted to be a doctor, definitely a plus for her. Then we moved on to the aeronautical wing, which was housed in a part of the old Deansgate market. There were a lot of old aircraft in the exhibition including a Halifax bomber and an old Shackleton seaplane. But I felt that the most fascinating things were the early aeroplanes flown by the aviation pioneers before the first world war.

Cal was more fascinated by the space exhibits, particularly the rockets, and the Apollo command module. She was intrigued by the size of it, or rather, the lack of size. It was tiny to say it had to house three grown men.

Looking around took us up to the time we were due to meet up and eat, so we found our way to the bistro, just in time to see Mum and Dad, pushing two tables together to accommodate all of us. We went over and joined them and as we sat down, Andy and Jean joined us. We all spent a few minutes perusing the menu, and all settled on panini and Pepsi, apart from Mum and Dad who wanted coffee with theirs. Mum led Alison away to order the food, while the rest of us compared notes on what we’d seen. Andy thought that the hall of steam engines was very good, and they were planning on visiting the gas and electricity industry exhibits after we’d eaten. Jean didn’t seem overly thrilled at that, and the look of gratitude when Cal suggested to me that we invite her to join us, was palpable. She accepted immediately.

This didn’t please Andy, but he cheered up when Alison got back and suggested that the three girls all go explore the shops on Deansgate, while the rest of us looked round the rest of the museum. Of course, the girls then complained that they didn’t have any money to spend if they found something irresistible, which led to my sister relieving me of my debit card.

“David,” Mum objected, “you’re not letting them loose with your money, are you?”

“It’s all right Mum,” I replied, “there’s not much on that card. They might be able to get a nice top each, but nothing else.”

Alison looked disappointed, but the other two smiled at the thought of getting something.

“Is he always this generous?” Jean asked.

“Yes,” Cal answered, jumping in before Alison could, “I’ve heard him described at school as the most easily manipulatable boy on the planet. He’ll do just about anything for anybody, and give them anything he’s got.

“And is he?” Jean asked.

“Not really,” Cal replied, sounding a little disappointed.

“Ah,” Jean said, archly, “I see.”

Somehow, I felt that she did.

Which is how Mum, Dad, my brother and I spent the afternoon wandering round the museum, while the three girls went shopping on Deansgate. Fortunately, because of the UK’s Sunday trading laws, we knew they’d be finished by four thirty, and we’d arranged to meet them outside the museum then. Once we were all back together again, we’d take the car round to the Midland, put my stuff up in the suite and go out to get something to eat before they went back home and I spent the evening checking my lines for Monday’s rehearsal.

We spent a very pleasant couple of hours exploring the history of utilities in Manchester, and a very good exhibit on the Manchester beneath out feet, before it was time to go and meet the girls.

They were a few minutes late, but they’d obviously done some damage to my account, judging by the fact that they were each carrying a bag, and I was rewarded by each of them with a thank you, and a quick kiss on the cheek. At least they handed my card back.

It’s a strange thing but from the Museum to the hotel is about half a kilometre. It took us nearly fifteen minutes to drive there, thanks to the arcane one-way system round Manchester city centre.

Dad stopped the car outside the hotel, and the doorman came over, looked inside the car, recognised me and opened the door.

“Welcome back Mr. Barker,” he said as everyone started to climb out.

“Thank you, Steve,” I replied, “can my Dad put the car in the car park for a few hours?”

“Certainly sir,” he answered, and gave my Dad directions round the corner and the code to open the barrier at the entrance. I pulled my two bags and my PlayStation out of the back of the car, and led the rest of them inside, where we waited for my Dad to catch up to us before walking across the foyer to the lifts.

On the way over I stopped at the reception desk and checked whether Charlie was in, she was, and asked them to warn her that we were on the way up.

She met us at the suite door.

“Hi,” she said, smiling as I stepped out of the lift, “welcome back. I didn’t expect you until later.”

“Mum and Dad decided to make it a family day out at the science museum, which is why we’re descending on you in droves.”

“Aren’t you going to introduce us, David?” Mum asked.

“Sorry,” I replied, “Charlie, these are my parents, James and Pat, my brother Andy and his girlfriend Jean, my sister Alison, and my friend Cal. Folks, this is my room mate and co-star Charlie.”

Everybody said hi, handshakes and hugs were exchanged and we all entered the suite. I quickly deposited my stuff in my room and came back out to find everyone sitting around.

“We were going to go out and get something to eat,” I told her, “why don’t you come with us?”

I looked at Dad for confirmation and he nodded.

“I’m not dressed for going out,” she objected.

“We’re not exactly in evening dress,” I replied, “and your wardrobe is just through that door there.”

I pointed to her bedroom door.

“You could be changed inside fifteen minutes, five if you don’t need to shower,” I said, “and in the meantime we call all sit here and talk about you.”

“That’ll be a short conversation then,” she said, as she stood up and disappeared into her room.

It was nearer twenty minutes when she re-emerged, clean and sweet smelling, and dressed similarly to Cal and Jean in jeans and a very nice flowery top, both of which showed off the shape beneath them to its best advantage.

“Is everybody ready?” I asked.

When everybody agreed, we set off downstairs, and left the hotel heading for Chinatown.

“Yang Sing,” I suggested, as we walked out onto the street.

“Yang Sing?” my sister queried.

“A really good Chinese restaurant, in Chinatown,” Charlie answered, “David and I ate there a couple of weeks ago.”

Cal didn’t look happy when she heard that, although the smile never left her face.

At the restaurant we were ushered to a large round table, the middle of which revolved, and within twenty minutes, after wading our way through piles of prawn toasts and prawn crackers, the centre was filled with twelve different dishes, and piles of rice, both boiled and fried.

We all tucked into whatever took our fancy, and an hour later we were stuffed, and there still seemed to be enough food left on the table for a family of four. After refreshing ourselves with the hot towels provided, and finishing our drinks, Dad and I went over to pay while the others gathered themselves and their handbags together and waited for us outside.

We parted company at the door of the hotel, I got kisses on the cheek from the four Castleford ladies, and everybody exchanged hugs with Charlie. Once inside, I went to the reception desk to collect our keys while Charlie called the lift, and we rode upstairs in silence. At the door to the suite, I handed her key to her, and opened up with mine, standing back to let her go first.

“Thank you,” she said, as she sat in one of the armchairs in front of the TV set, “are you always this much of a gentleman?”

“I try,” I replied.

She looked at me for a few seconds. I could see there was a question in her mind, and I had a shrewd idea as to what it was.

“Was Cal THE Cal?” she asked, “your Cal?”

“I don’t know about my Cal,” I replied, “but she’s the only Cal I know.”

“And you’re still nice to her after what she did?” she asked.

“She and her mother live next door, our mothers are best friends, we’ve been best friends since we were five,” I replied, “it would be difficult to be nasty to her.”

She looked at me for a long moment.

“You still love her, don’t you?” she asked at the end of it.

That marked my turn to think, and I did. Did I still love her, or was the idea of loving somebody what I was stuck on. The short answer was that I didn’t know. What I did know is that she was right, I did still love Cal, but I wasn’t in love with her. She’d shattered that on that night in Munich. The problem was, then and as I sat there thinking about it, the trust issue. I wasn’t going to start playing the if only game, but that trust had been destroyed.

I looked back at Charlie.

“Yes,” I said, quietly, “I still do.”

“Then why not accept the fact that you’re both fifteen, you’re both going to do stupid things, and you’re both going to have to live with that.”

“Oh, we’re going to have to live with more than that,” I said.

“She’s pregnant, isn’t she?” she said, her voice hardly above a whisper.

I nodded.

“And you don’t feel you could help her raise another man’s child.”

I shook my head.

“Is that just your wounded male pride, or some deep seated macho thing?” she asked.

My head jerked up with a start.

“What?” I spat.

“Okay, sorry, I asked that clumsily,” she replied, “let me ask you this. Let’s suppose that this rift between you is permanent. In a few years, when you’re a successful actor, you meet another girl. What if she made a mistake when she was younger and has another man’s child. Would that make a difference to you?”

“Well, no,” I said, “but that would be different.”

“How?” she asked.

I couldn’t answer. The only answer that I could have given was that Cal’s ‘mistake’ had hurt me badly, whereas some other girl’s wouldn’t have. When I didn’t answer she carried on.

“Look, David,” she said, “I’m not saying that what Cal did wasn’t wrong. I’m not saying that it didn’t hurt you. Or even that it didn’t hurt her, but you have to keep in mind that she was a young girl, fifteen years old. Was it her first time anywhere alone?”

“Yes,” I replied, “but it was my first time anywhere alone while I was in LA.”

“And you were surrounded by friends,” she said, “she had nobody there, I don’t know the circumstances of what she did and why, but I think maybe at that age, I might have acted the same way.”

“So, you think I should just forgive, forget and take her back?”

“No, David,” she replied, “I don’t. Forgive? Yes. Forget? No. And if you do decide to take her back at some time, you should make it very clear that she’s made her one allowable slip-up. If anything like that happens again, then it’s finished, permanently. But that’s just my opinion, you have to make your own decisions.”

“Do you know what?” I asked.

“What?” she replied.

“There are times when I wish I was old enough to drink. Then I could just get drunk.”

“That only causes problems, not solves them,” Charlie answered, “ask Cal.”

“It still sounds enticing though,” I said.

“If that’s what you want, I could probably blag something from room service.”

“No, you’re right,” I admitted, “it’s not the answer. I just wish I knew what was.”

“Go with your heart,” she said

Go with my heart. I wasn’t sure I had one any more. I stood up.

“I’ve got school in the morning,” I said, probably a little more brusquely than I intended, “I’m going to bed. Goodnight.”

“David I,” she began, then thought better of it, “Goodnight.”

As I turned to close the door to my bedroom, the last thing I saw was her pressing the button on the remote that switched the television on. I went through my usual bedtime routine and climbed into bed. I took me a long time to get to sleep that night, my mind was running along like a sprinter, and I just couldn’t get it to stop.

I was still turning the conversation over in my mind after breakfast the following morning when we got into the car to take us to the rehearsal rooms. I had lessons all morning, while the rest of the cast rehearsed scenes that I wasn’t involved in. The teacher they’d brought in was a young woman, in her early twenties, called Liz Golding. She’d only qualified a couple of years earlier and was very enthusiastic.

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