Red.

Chapter 2

When Jed offered to take me out for a drink, I kinda hoped it would be a bit more than a Coke in the school playground at lunch break...

...It wasn’t.

Still Jed was hot... well, that’s compared with the other specimens in my year group. He was also smart in a nerdish sorta way.

When I say smart, I mean he could string more than two grunts together, which is really saying something.

And his grades... well, not bad for a boy. 

He had a cute smile; I’ll give him that. But my God he was dull as a speech at prize giving!

“So wot yer doing after school tonight Red,” he asks, grinning what he thought was his sexiest smile.

...It wasn’t.

”Dunno, got to be home otherwise the TDL will go nuts.”

“What‘s the TDL?”

“Oh! Just this monster that lives in my house – otherwise known as my Mother.” 

But in the end, did I care. Just another two hours of the TDL ranting and raving before falling into a drunken stupor. I could handle that. 

So I risked an awkward evening with Jed... sitting around in the park nursing half a bottle of Jack Daniels and Coke followed by him getting frisky and trying to French kiss me with his hand up my skirt.

Who knows, I might even have gone along with it, but not in the middle of the park. I’m not going to end up like those sad losers on facebook; a popular girl in the slappers line up.  

Hey, but what am I saying. Me and Jed?  I don’t think so!

So back home for tea and homework and the TDL in full melt down mode. Oh! Joy.

I wouldn’t mind so much only her voice is like a Screech Owl on Speed. 

Only tonight, something’s different. She’s smiling and laughing and chatting away on the phone. Like, this just can’t be my Mother?

She must have been abducted by aliens and replaced by some Android with a friendly interface. Something the TDL never had or if she had it once it short-circuited years back. 

And then it’s... ‘Hi darling, did you have a good day at school darling? What do you want for your tea?’

I thought I was going to puke there and then. Those were the first nice words she’d said to me since before I can remember. Something was up and knowing the TDL it was going to turn out real bad for me. 

And of course I was right.

“Tony darling. I do so want you to meet Red. Why don’t you pop in tomorrow after work and we can have dinner together?”

Holy shit, I thought. She’s got some poor dumb bastard of a boy friend in tow. Next thing it’ll be, ‘come and meet your new step Dad and let’s play happy families.’ No thank you, too much shit up the Creek for that. 

I quickly ran through all my possible excuses for not being around tomorrow evening. In desperation I even turned to the school fixture list. Rounders, choir, detention – anything – but just my luck. Not a sodding thing that would take me out for more than an hour or so. 

So what sort of half decent male would want to sleep with my Mother? Yuk! the very thought makes my flesh crawl. For Chrissakes she’s ancient. She must be like forty or something.

It just has to be some sad old git from a park bench after her money or something. I guess she would be quite a catch... for a tramp. 

Which only goes to show how wrong you can be.

When I did finally arrive home after hanging around as long as I could at homework club, which is more like an after school social club for the latch key kids, Tony had not even arrived.

I was beginning to wonder if he was all just a figment of the TDL’s twisted imagination.

But there she was, hair washed, full make up and looking half decent. It was scary. And there I was – day clothes, greasy hair and a fresh crop of zits. Still what did I care...

But the TDL had different ideas. 

“Red, he’ll be here in an hour, can you smarten up. I want to make a good impression.”

So you do, do you? Well what about what I want. Okay, like then I’ll go for the full make up and the revealing little black party dress with the sexy high heels – only I didn’t tell the TDL – just went upstairs and didn’t come down ’till the door bell rang. 

As I did my special glide down the stairs, there they were, right in the hallway – sucking the life out of each other...

I felt a sudden wave of revulsion and nearly missed my footing. Now that really would have screwed my big entrance. 

Get a grip I told myself, attempting to recover my sassy glide down to the bottom of the staircase. 

He caught sight of me out of the corner of his eye and looking up broke the clinch he was in with the TDL and said. “Who’s this gorgeous young lady?”

He had charm I’ll give him that. But he also looked like 20 years younger than the TDL with the most amazing blue eyes and a smile that would melt an iceberg.

Oh! My God, I thought, she’s got herself a toy boy. What is he doing with her? Blind, stupid or desperate? But strangely enough he didn’t look like any of these.

I had the feeling that the evening was just about to get interesting!