MANDY

Daddy Dearest - Part 10

Miranda Heath was in her kitchen making tea. Mandy looked at her and saw herself in sixteen years. "It's not like "Heartbeat", Mum. We don't have gentlemen criminals performing victimless crimes. We deal with drunks and shoplifters. I can't remember the last time we arrested someone who wasn't wearing trainers," Mandy said.

"But you have a career now, Mandy. Don't throw that away on a pipe dream," Miranda tried to reason with her.

"This is what I want to do, Mum. It's the chance of a lifetime."

"These men will use you up and spit you out," Miranda said bitterly. "You're nothing but a gimmick to them, a chance to make a quick buck. The police force is your chance to make something of your life."

"I'm not a gimmick, Mum." Mandy had come prepared for her Mother's resistance. "The whole police thing, it's not what I expected."

"Nothing ever is. But you've got to give it a chance. It'll be better when you get into the CID."

Mandy had to protest at that one. "They're all women hating, alcoholics! If you think footballers are going to use me, they've got nothing on coppers. I get more sexual abuse from my colleagues than I do from the drunks on the street."

"Stop exaggerating," Miranda said.

"Don't you want me to be happy?"

Miranda replied briskly, "You're my only child. I want what's best for you."

"You want what you think is best for me, you mean. It's not the same thing," Mandy corrected her mother.

"Don't do this, Mandy. It'll be the biggest mistake you ever made."

"Thanks for all your support, Mum."

"Can't you just trust me for once, and do what I'm telling you?"

"No Mum. I'm not a kid anymore. This is the chance I dreamed about as a kid. I don't understand why you're so against it."

"I've got my reasons," Miranda said cryptically.

Mandy was puzzled, "What reasons? I'm not running away to become a crack whore. What is so wrong about me playing football for a living?"

Miranda sighed, "You know you decided a long time ago that you didn't care about your Dad?"

"Ye..ah. He buggered off when you were pregnant and you never saw him again. What's he got to do with this?"

"He was a bloody footballer!" Miranda spat out. "And I was a stupid little girl. I met him in town and fell for all that celebrity crap. We went out for a few weeks and then he was transferred down south. He never told me he was going. I found out later that I wasn't the only one."

Mandy was shocked. "How come you never told me any of this?"

I couldn't bear to think how stupid I'd been," Miranda said quietly, "and I certainly didn't want to talk about it.

I told you your father had left and that was the truth."

"Does he even know about me?"

"I wrote to him, care of the club, when I found out.

He never replied, and I moved on."

"What a loser," Mandy said contemptuously. "So you hate footballers because of him; but it's not going to stop me playing football, is it?"

Miranda looked at Mandy for a long moment. "There's something else you need to know. His name is Graeme Duggan."

"Oh my god!" Mandy exclaimed. "He's the manager of City.

Well that's just bloody dandy that is! How can I play for them now?"