Spoken – Jenny 34

 

[For back story go here: Story so far at 30 Nov 2020 and more recent Jenny episodes.]

[For other back story click in-links]

It was ironic, or perhaps a sign of the times, that having given up work in part to increase her bike riding, Jenny had ended up filling her time with practically everything else aside from getting in the saddle. She had so far gone out twice and one of those trips had resulted in her deciding to become a plumber, the career choice which was now taking up way more of her time than she'd expected.

It was as if the fact that she wasn’t working had shifted bike riding off her agenda entirely because there was no way she could justify heading out there if she wasn’t actually doing anything serious on the other side of the scale to balance it. On the other hand, biking through a lockdown and other restrictions while dealing with the family was always going to be tricky, plus she half wondered that if she went riding again she'd meet someone who'd convince her to become a garage mechanic or something.

But one evening, while leafing through a rather complicated plumbing supplies brochure, she put her work down, stared out at the darkening skies and determined that the next day she would go out, come hell, high water or any other heat or water based emergency. Like mole throwing off spring cleaning, she would throw off the bonds of drainage systems and u-bends in favour of getting fresh air into the depths of her lungs (“Hang refilling cisterns.”)

That at least was the theory. But, to use a certain phrase that she was forever questioning, there were always going to be spokes in the wheel. (She questioned this as obviously all good wheels had spokes, but these particular spokes appeared to go against a bike's operation rather than..)

Firstly the bike (although not the spokes) needed attention. There were two flat tyres, one of which was remedied with a quick pump, the second of which needed fixing. She oiled the cogs and gears and was satisfied with the smooth running of the chain set.

She went upstairs to get changed only to be distracted by Izzy who was trying to explain to someone at the work end of the telephone that she couldn't see the files that she wanted to see and that rather than this being a technical issue it was because the files required were actually only available on paper.

Phone call complete and debriefed, lunch then intervened.

Having cleared everything away and sent Izzy back to work, Jenny then took another half hour trying to find suitable cycling clothes which weren't in the wash or in need of a wash.

She had pretty much managed this but not got changed when Jude phoned her. Up until now Jenny had only occasionally spoken directly to Jude, previously offering the forthcoming mother of her grandchild support via Peter. There was no huge issue, said Jude, but if Jenny didn't mind she could do with a bit of a chat, just about stuff.

Jenny gladly obliged. Jude was a nice person in need of a sympathetic ear and someone who generally understood more about what she was going through than, say, her father. Unfortunately with only her dad to look after her presently (mum long gone and sister living elsewhere in the city) Jude had few options.

"How did you get prepared when you were having kids?" She asked.

Jenny cast her mind back.

"We bought lots of stuff," she said. "At least we looked at lot of stuff, not sure how much we bought. But we had a whole stack of catalogues. Used to be our evening reading."

As Jenny remembered it they became fairly obsessed with the baby kit that was out there and were forever trying to work out if it was actually useful rather than just something someone had imagined would be good. Inevitably there was lots of stuff passed on by friends and family but the things they got themselves became the special items. Clothes, mugs, cutlery and specific photos in special frames.

They made a date - or at least a promise - to meet up when they could and for Jude and Peter to survey what was still in the loft which might be of use or interest to them closer to the time.

By the time she was dressed and confident the bike would be OK, it was mid to late afternoon. She would have gone out but decided to hang around and wait for Peter and Helen to return from school. Once satisfied that the house was settled, she finally wheeled the bike into the road and got on.

The skies were darkening again.

Nevertheless, Jenny got on the bike and headed off south down their estate road towards the main drag. She had been in the saddle for perhaps fifteen minutes when her front bike light gave up the ghost, flickered strobe like and went out.