Still Life – Jenny 47

 

[For back story go here: Story so far at 30 Nov 2020 and this one.]

[For other back story click in-links] 

Peter wouldn't sit still. He wouldn't even stand still. Jenny completely understood why but even so she was adamant that he needed to stop moving about. He needed to talk calmly, collect his thoughts and decide the next thing to do. This would have been a semi-easy thing were it not for the fact that Helen would also not sit still. She wouldn't even sand still.

And so with both kids gyrating manically through the house, the occasional text from Izzy upstairs asking them to keep the noise down and still not having had even the first sip of her first coffee that morning, Jenny was attempting the impossible.

"When did she go in?" she asked Peter, trying to get a grip and some real information to get a grip on.

"She doesn't say."

"Who's with her?"

"She doesn't say."

"I'm going to cancel the whole account," said Helen storming out of the room on a different planet. "I can't have this going on, it's doing my head in."

"Don't do anything rash," said Jenny after her.

"I won't," replied Helen and Peter at once.

"But I have to do something, I can't just... Not," said Helen, disappearing.

Jenny decided to concentrate on Peter. At least his issue had a clear end in site. If Jude had gone to the hospital then he could find out what was going on and see what he could do and then do it. Or not if he couldn't. End of issue, start of more worrying time, but at least he'd know where he stood and that would be a start.

"So," began Jenny. "We know Jude's in hospital - do we know why?"

"Because she's having a baby, remember?" said Peter.

"Yes, but is she having it now or is there something wrong with the baby or with her?" asked Jenny patiently. "All these things - it could be something or nothing - they might let her back home again, right?"

"I don't know."

"So we need to find out," said Jenny. "Before we get too carried away."

"I'm trying to find out!" Peter roared back at her, "But no one is answering my texts or messages or what'sapps or even the Instagram messages. So how am I meant to..?"

“What about that Concorde thing?”

“It’s called Discord! And there’s nothing..”

"Have you tried ringing her sister?" asked Jenny.

Peter's response was, at first, pure sound. "No one ever uses the phone!" he raged. "Now can you please put the code into the Xbox so I can try and calm down?"

Jenny did so, glad to be of help. And then, with trepidation, she went upstairs in the direction of Helen.

Helen was lying face down on the bed. Sobbing. 

"I can't live without it, mum. Everything’s stupid without it. Everything makes no sense. It doesn’t exist and I don’t see the point.”

“Look,” said Jenny. “Sometimes we have to have things taken away so we can appreciate what they are and what they mean to us,” said Jenny. “That way we can gradually understand what we need from life and what best to do. It’s not the end of the world - we can do it again.”

“You said something like that when Freddie dumped me,” sobbed Helen. “I hated you then as well.”

Jenny bit back the speech she immediately wanted to make.

“Is that tech person doing anything?” she asked gently instead.

“He’s called Adrian,” said Helen. “And what do you think?”

“I don’t know, that’s why I was asking.”

“Well I don’t know either so I might as well be asking you.”

Jenny sighed. “I can tell I’m not going to get anywhere here,” she said, and got up. “Why don’t you paint something?”

“Why? What’s the point?”

“Just to make yourself feel better. To do something different. Or just to do something.”

“Can I have one of those biscuits?” asked Helen, only half enunciating the words. 

“Well, that’s one thing I can do I suppose,” said Jenny.

She went downstairs to find something that would apparently help her daughter.

On the way back up, armed with a plate carrying two biscuits, Izzy stepped out of the office/bedroom and intercepted her. 

“Is everything alright?” she asked. “I heard everyone shouting and wondered if there was something up?”

“Everything’s up,” said Jenny. “But in not very many days they’ll be back at school and then, even if something is up, I won’t have to try and solve it.”

“Yeah,” said Izzy. “That’ll be good.”

And she took the special biscuits, smiled and went back into the bedroom.