Chapter 6: Tuesday July 9th 1963-Part One

By half past three in the afternoon Roger Thompson was running around the beach his excitement irrepressible and contagious. He'd started off jogging around the beach by himself, but once the result of the third test had become more universally known he had been joined by other cricket mad fans who were celebrating a rare victory by England over the West Indies.

"See dad," he'd said once Fred Trueman had had Joe Solomon caught by wicketkeeper Jim Parks for 14 to complete the 217 run demolish of the West Indies, arguably the second best team in the world behind Australia, "told you Freddie wouldn't let us down, 7-44, wasn't he fantastic?"

"Yes you certainly did, and yes he was," said Stanley Thompson unable to keep the grin off his face. "But I'll bet even you didn't expect it to be this easy."

"True dad, I thought they might at least last 'til tea, you know, make 150 or something instead of the 91 they did manage."

"So that means the cricket's finished then," said Caroline sounding quite pleased at the thought.

"Yes indeed it does Caroline," answered her father.

"Oh goody," she said and she grabbed the radio and changed the station just as a Beatles song began to play. Satisfied that all was right with the world musically Caroline moved to her towel, picking up the sunburn cream as she did so. She threw it in the direction of her brother and as she lay on her stomach said, "Thanks bro', if you'd be so kind."

Roger picked up the tube of cream from where it had dropped on the sand after it had hit his arm and at first thought that it was a bit of a cheek. But then he turned to look at his sister with tube in hand and took a closer look at her bikini clad body. While she was his sister and therefore completely out of bounds sexually he supposed that there could be worse way to spend time on a beach than by massaging sunburn cream into her already well tanned skin.

It was as their son knelt either side of their daughter's upper thighs and squeezed some cream between her shoulder blades that Evelyn, who like her daughter was laying on her stomach, turned to her husband. "Stanley," she said as she watched her son's groin brush against her daughter's shapely bottom with a light almost incidental motion as he massaged the cream into her shoulder blades and upper back, "do you think we should tell them exactly what's going to happen tonight rather than have them find out when they get there?"

"Yes Eve I do." Responded her husband. Turning to his son he called out, "Toss me the sunburn cream when you've finished with it Roger, please."

They both watched as their son massaged cream into their daughter's back and then her legs before he finished at the junction of her buttocks and her thighs making sure that cream covered the tiny area of bottom flesh that her bikini briefs failed to cover. Moving to her right side he then screwed the cap back on and tossed it in his father's direction.

A good throw allowed Stanley Thompson to catch it deftly in his right hand. Then taking up a similar position to the one his son had adopted he began to cover his wife's back, legs and the small part of her buttocks that was exposed in a similar fashion.

Satisfied that she was protected properly from the sun Stanley lay back and put his own sunscreen protection on before he turned his head to look at Evelyn who turned her own towards him. He was fully intent on continuing a more in-depth answer to his wife's question. "As far as tonight is concerned Eve it isn't going to be pleasant for them either way, but I doubt that finding out what's facing them when they get there is going to be a pleasant experience. Especially for Caroline! Plus I don't think Roger will take too kindly to the sudden shock of seeing his mother and sister being forced into such a public display of sexual activity."

"Yes indeed, especially if Caroline does turn out to be like me and begins to enjoy the physical side of the sex even under such embarrassing circumstances," said Evelyn. "I think it's a fair bet... !" She grimaced. "Sorry, poor choice of words. I think they would definitely prefer to hear about what is planned before we go rather than find out from those bastard when we arrive. I just wonder what effect it will have on her when she realises that James Wilson's own daughter Doris is going to lose her virginity as a birthday present."

"So," Stanley Thompson, "when should we tell them?"

"When we get back to the tent. If you like I'll do the telling seeing as I'm the one making the... er... payments." Not needing a reply Evelyn picked up her copy the notorious D.H. Lawrence novel 'Lady Chatterley's Lover', turned to her bookmarked page and started reading the first line of chapter six:- 'Why don't men and women really like one another nowadays?' Connie asked Tommy Dukes, who was more or less her oracle.

'Hmm' thought Evelyn Thompson, 'I wonder where the Wilson men would fit in a question like that?'.

They all sat around the makeshift table ready to tuck into their early dinner of sausages, fried eggs and the baked beans that invariably accompanied holiday meals. Evelyn took a bite from one of her three sausages and turned to Caroline and Roger in turn. "How much of what your father and I told the two of you about how we paid back all that we owed and paid for this holiday do you really believe?"

Caroline, being almost a year older than her brother, decided that she should answer for the two of them and said, "Not a lot mummy, really." She took a bite of one of her sausages and a piece of her egg that had been fried sunny side up and added, "I mean Rog' and I had already worked out that the sort of bets dad makes on his accumulators would make it difficult to win the sort of money needed to pay the back rent owed and the electricity bill never mind putting the sort of money together to be able to afford the journey down here and two weeks at this camp site."

"Is that all Caroline?"

"Hardly," she responded. "I mean when you go to that house your skirts are so short you could almost see your arse. And when you went up there the first time Roger and I could clearly see your breasts. Mummy, just what sort of payment were you making up there?" This time she scooped some baked beans on to her fork and ate them before she looked her mother in the eye without blinking. "I'm betting you weren't handing over money. Mummy, just what sort of currency were you using to pay for our holiday?"

That was when Evelyn looked to her right and Stanley Thompson knew that despite what his wife had said at the beach that it was time he took over the explanations. "There's no easy way to say this Caroline, Roger." He took a deep breath and looked each of them in the eye as he tried desperately not to look at Caroline's knickers which were visible beneath her short skirt as she sat cross-legged eating her evening meal and drinking her tea. "For about the last two or three years I've had a gambling problem. A very serious one." He took a deep breath, followed it with a sip from his cup of tea and continued. "At first I won more than I lost, which was fine because I was using either money we could afford to lose or money that I'd won." Roger began to say something but Stanley held up his hand. "Let me finish son. The rest of what I'm about to say isn't pretty, but it's something both of you need to know before we go to the 'Stag's Head' for that thirteenth birthday party of Doris Wilson."

Stanley Thompson finished the rest of the food on his plate, drank his tea, put the cup down in its saucer and turned to each of his children in turn wondering how they were going to react when they heard everything. "You see," he said finally, "I began to lose. At first, like all gamblers I thought it was just a phase I was going through and that I would start winning again. Trouble is it never happened. I would throw good money after bad making each bet bigger than the one before as I tried to win back the money I'd already lost. Of course my bookie was very accommodating and when I'd bet the rent money and a fair proportion of the housekeeping he allowed me to build up a line of credit. So that was how come the rent and the electric bill never got paid."