Chapter 11

It was late afternoon when Sargent Wright called to tell us that they were exiting the motorway and would be here soon. At the time, Jason and I were downstairs in the cafe, busy grilling some pork chops on the Lava Rock Grill. Something that Tim disagreed with. He wanted us to light up the charcoal grill in the yard, but it was too cold outside.

I was on edge, and I couldn’t wait to see mom. When I heard the doorbell chime, I felt the butterflies rise in my stomach. My vision went to the shop window. There she was, mum was standing behind everyone else. She was clenching her handbag with both her hands.

“Go!” Jason said. He motioned his head towards the cafe entrance.

I was making my way across the cafe when the door to the flat opened, Tina appeared. When I opened the cafe’s main entrance, Mum didn’t acknowledge my presence, and I sneaked up behind her. Tina embraced everyone in turn before she disappeared upstairs with her two cousins.

“Hey, beautiful,” I whispered in mums ear.

She quickly turned to face me. On seeing me, she raised her hand to her mouth. “Oh my God!” she screamed, getting Sargent Wright and his wife’s attention. She embraced me, holding me tight in her arms as she buried her face on my shoulder, stifling her cries.

When mums emotions subsided, I greeted Sargent Wright with a firm handshake. He introduced me to his wife, Eveline. He also insisted that I call him Mr Wright when he was off duty.

“So this is the young man that Barbara and Tim have been telling me about,” Eveline said, greeting me as well with a firm hug. That won me a hard slap on the shoulder by Sargent Wright.

“Hi, uncle Barry and aunty Eveline. Welcome to Birmingham,” Jason said as he appeared from the shop entrance. He wouldn’t make eye contact with either of them.

Sargent Wright stepped back. “Is that you, Jason? I haven’t seen you in such a long time. I wouldn’t recognise you if I saw you on the street.” He walked up to Jason putting his arm out for a hand gesture but eventually embraced him in a firm embrace.

Jason stayed downstairs until the meat was ready. I went upstairs with mum and the others. I didn’t have any choice; mum wouldn’t let go of my hand. I figure she missed me all these months. Everyone made mum feel at home, especially Barbara and Eveline. It was like all three of them were long lost, friends. They had so much in common. Before you know it, they were exchanging telephone contacts.

“Don’t forget to add each other on Facebook,” Tina cheekily said.

“There is also Instagram,” one of Tina’s cousins added.

The evening went splendidly. The food was incredible, a table with various dishes, enough food to feed an army.

“With all this food, we could have invited Shark and his henchmen,” I said to Jason.

Jason rolled his eyes. “Don’t joke like that,” he replied. I gather the lesson was enough for him. When he sees a casino now, he’ll go the opposite direction. Jason grabbed a couple of shot glasses and poured two JD shots to the rim. “Let’s get wasted,” he screamed. We threw the liquid in our mouths at the same time.

Instantly the soundbar came to life with ‘Be the one’, the sound system’s bass, shaking the walls. We quickly cleared some space in the living room for dancing. Tim and Barbara were the first to hit the dance floor. It didn’t take long before everyone joined in. The drinks flowed well into the night. Even Tina and her cousins had their first taste of Champagne. All the grown-ups seemed to control their consumption of alcohol. I guess they have years of experience in that department. Jason and I didn’t get wasted, but we got tipsy.