Chapter 5

"I want him out," Tabitha told Sarah with crossed arms. "He is just simply not appropriate to live with us."

"Yeah, I know," Sarah snapped and then apologised as she shook her head. "I'm sorry, I know. I tried talking to my Dad. Told him, Adam living with us was as appropriate as bacon sandwiches at the Middle East peace talks but he just said we will have to make do."

Tabitha sighed. "But he is a racist. And he is so intolerant. And I daren't tell him our secret, can you imagine what the response would be if he found out?"

Natalie sighed and looked across. "I agree. He is a fuckin' nightmare. We can't be ourselves with him around; he has to grow up or go."

"Yeah. Preaching to the converted," she told them. "But we can't make him go. He won't go and Dad has no interest in making him go."

"We could all try and make him uncomfortable," Tabitha suggested. "Or making this a beer-free zone."

"He has a right to eat his takeaways or drink his beer in the house. As long as he tidies up after himself," Natalie told them. "We can't stop him doing that."

"Yeah I know," Sarah muttered. "But I just want him out really. He's just so ... male."

Natalie shrugged and put her head back on the mismatched chair. "Be honest, the male gender has done little to endear themselves to either of us recently," she admitted. "Except maybe Tab who hasn't had too much of a problem getting friendly." Sarah and Tabitha looked at each other and chuckled.

"Nah, but 'e's just the worst kind of guy. He is just so house-untrained," Sarah replied. "He ain't a geek who is shit scared of girls. He fancies 'imself. An intolerant fuckwit."

"Ok, so we gonna do?"

Sarah sighed. "I gotta talk to Dad again. He can't stay 'ere. It ain't on and wonder if we can get someone to fill in."

"There gotta be some nudists who 'ave to live with textiles," Natalie muttered. "Not everyone can live like us, or Jack and friends. There got to be someone."

Tabitha looked at Sarah and nodded. "Long as dey don't mind," she said in her ethnic drawl. "'bout baby when she comes."

Sarah rubbed her nose and stretched out. "So where is the little runt?"

"Workin'. Wiv his Dad," Natalie muttered. "He's in later."

Sarah nodded and bit her lip. "I'll talk to Dad, see what he can do."

"And if he says no?" Tabitha asked and Natalie grinned.

"If he says no then I say we just start to live our life. There's three of us, one of him."

Sarah nodded. "Ya ain't gonna make him house trained."

"Or not a racist," Tabitha added.

"Or not a chauvinistic, sexist pig."

"Yeah, I know," Natalie said with a shrug. "I know this but if he has to stay then we need to offer an olive branch."

Sarah sighed. "I'll go see me Dad. I'll do my best on him. He might budge," she said hopefully. "He might be pig-headed or he might be reasonable. Let's hope."

The stocky frame of Adam's father shouted across the small garage at him as he walked through the open doors and passed a car on the ramps. "All right Adam, how ya doing?"

Adam grunted and wiped his eyes. "Tired," he replied with a sleepy look and retrieved a set of grubby navy blue overalls from the wall. "Was nicely in the land of nod."

"Yeah well, that Troy. He wants ditching, I just haven't got 'round to doing it but every week he has a day off for one reason or t'other. It's not on. Reckon he was out last night on the piss."

"Well it was Friday night." Adam gave a theatrical yawn and stretched. "So where do you want me?"

Adam heard a shout from behind him and spun around to see his father's long-standing assistant bellowing. "Hey, Diane wants to know. Tea or Coffee?"

"Alright Danny. Tea. Black. No sugar," Adam called back and then asked his father about Diane.

"Ahh, lovely little eighteen year old. I ditched the Paki girl as she had 'er hand in the till. Can't trust 'em."

"Shit Dad. What did the Police say?"

"Don't get me started on the effing cops. Useless bunch of ... whatever. But you might remember Diane. Ivy's friend from Guides or whatever it was."

"No I don't," Adam muttered and looked up to see a stick-thin girl totter down the steps to the garage holding a tray of drinks, dressed in white top that was accentuating her figure and a short tartan skirt. "Not been here long?" Adam asked under his breath and his father smiled.

"No. Third day. But she is good with the customers."

"How long before she is changing the oil on a motor?"

Stuart Hodson laughed heartily as he watched the girl approach them shaking her long, blonde hair back. "I have left the biscuits in there as you ain't washed your hands," she told them quietly and looked at the young man watching her. "You must be Adam, right?"

"Yeah," he squeaked and took his drink from the tray. He watched closely as she backed away with the empty tray and her rear swung seductively as she walked. "She's nice."

"Cracking piece of eye candy," Danny spluttered and Adam grinned.

"Yah not wrong there." Adam was given a small hatchback to change the brakes on and then do an oil change on a battered Fiesta before lunchtime. Although he wasn't a trained mechanic, he had worked in his father's garage since he was fourteen from time to time and could easily do basic car maintenance tasks without too much help or supervision.

Although Adam liked his weekends, he was always willing to help his father's business and it was not unusual for him to do a Saturday shift if his father was short staffed.

Stuart popped out at lunchtime and returned with four meals from the local fast food restaurant that drew scorn from Diane as they came into her reception. "It's not healthy," she moaned as Stuart passed her a large burger, chips and fizzy drink.

"Ahh well. We've been working hard," Adam said truthfully and took a giant gulp of the cool lemonade. "When are we gonna get you to do something on the cars?"

Diane shrieked and looked at the owner of the garage. "I can't do mechanic stuff," she moaned in a high pitched voice and showed her perfectly manicured nails. "I'd break a nail."

Adam suppressed a smile. "Ahhh," he goaded and took a bite of his burger with his dirty hands. "They'll grow back."

Danny stretched and idly flicked on the television, looking at the fixtures on Ceefax. "Ahh shit. We're at Stoke," he moaned.

"Well you will support a rubbish team," Adam replied and Danny raised eyebrows.

"Hey, when you are in the top flight," he started, to a sneer in response from the young man.

"Not for long. Ya going down," Adam taunted. "Hell I reckon Preston'll beat Blackburn now."

"You guys never change," Stuart said with a smile and looked at Diane. "That OK? You didn't say what you wanted."

Diane looked at her half-eaten chicken burger and nodded. "It's just a lot for me."

"A lot?" Adam cried. "It's tiny."

"Well it's a lot. I don't want to put on weight." Adam bit his lip as he looked down at his slight paunch and then finished the last of his meal.

"I got an old lady coming in to say that her wheels need checking and Mr Graham said he was going to come in for a new exhaust this afternoon. Are you OK with the exhaust?" Stuart looked towards his son who muttered as he stretched his legs out in front of him.