Four - Sandra 66

[For a quick guide go here: Quick guide.]

[Old back story is here: Story so far at 30 Nov 2020 and other episodes especially this one.]

[Other back story through in-links.]

[If you're enjoying this you can now buy me coffee here!] 

There were a fair few travel magazines about Australia strewn around the knocked-through sitting room and Frankie had already made a couple of comments about how she wanted to get a cat so she could use all the magazines as liner for cat litter. It was a convoluted round the houses type way of telling her parents she didn’t want them to emigrate to Australia, even when such a thing might be possible, but she was bored now and needed to find more interesting ways to express her distaste for the move.

Sandra on the other hand was far more interested in being direct.

“I’ve had enough of all of this,” she said. “Honestly. It’s like this family is operating on some bizarre kind of code language. No one’s actually telling anyone precisely what they need to know. Everyone’s just pussy footing around trying to be nice and achieving nothing.”

“Well,” said Frankie, “I don’t think it’s that bad. I just think maybe we can persuade them to be a little less adventurous…”

“I just think maybe we can tell them no,” said Sandra. “I don’t say no enough and I’m tired of still having to do the things that I moan about in the hope that someone will pick up on the fact that I don’t like it.”

There was a pause.

“Is there something you’re not telling me?” asked Frankie.

“No,” said Sandra, firmly.

Frankie made another peppermint tea for her sister and checked her watch. 

“They’ll be here soon,” she said. “How should we approach this?”

“By telling them no,” said Sandra again. “Quite simple – they walk through the door, and before they can open their mouths we just say no. No you can’t go to Australia no you can’t sell the house and no you can’t just fly away like that.”

“Do you think it’ll work?” asked Frankie.

“I know where they keep their passports,” said Sandra.

“How is work at the moment?” asked Frankie, hoping to find another subject that they could talk about while waiting for Eric and Yolanda turn up, fashionably late.

“Oh, it’s alright, I suppose,” said Sandra. “Trying to make good of someone else’s mess as usual.”

“What, with the lorry firm?” Said Frankie.

On reflection Sandra probably thought the description would fit most parts of her life at the moment. People had messed up and rather than taking responsibility and facing the music they were continuing in their messed up way and getting her to paper over the cracks. It wasn’t the greatest of times but she was probably doing a good enough job for everyone. But of course if all she was doing was papering over the cracks then somewhere down the line the problems would come back again and eventually things could fall apart.

Eric and Yolanda’s car pulled up on the drive. The sisters braced themselves for whatever was about to happen but did so without speaking to one another. And then Sandra turned to Frankie.

“I need to speak to you about Rob,” she said suddenly.

“What? Rob?”

“Your Rob.”

“Yes, I’d guessed that but…”

“There’s something going on,” said Sandra. “Still. I mean, there have been things going on but now there’s still lots going on and its complicated and…”

Eric and Yolanda were approaching the front door.

“…I thought I could make it stop but it doesn’t look like it.”

Yolanda pressed the doorbell in an emphatic way. Eric knocked on the door. It was an irritating habit the two of them had but Frankie couldn’t be bothered to comment on it now.

“I’m guessing I’m not going to like this,” noted Frankie.

“Depends,” said Sandra, weakly.

“And I hate to say it, but I think it’s going to have to keep.”

Frankie went to open the door to the knocked-through house.

Eric and Yolanda burst in, or they would have done had the door presented any more resistance. Instead they made an over-theatrical entrance. Once the door was closed and before they could launch into their anecdote about their journey to get here, Sandra started up.

“You can’t go,” she said. “Simple as that. You can’t go to Australia, you can’t emigrate, you can’t sell the house, you mustn’t leave the country. Is that all clear?”

Eric and Yolanda looked blankly at her.

“If you want to be in Australia you can take all the pictures from these magazines and put them up on your walls,” she said. “But the idea of going there is stupid. Alright? Just stupid. And Frankie agrees with me.”

Sandra stopped. And then she started again.

“And I seem to be helping Rob to be a criminal,” she said.

Yolanda’s face softened. “You don’t need to worry, poppet,” she said. “We’ve found a lovely bungalow in Prestatyn.”