Chapter 6

"Home James, and don’t spare the horses" Litara uttered in a posh voice from the back seat of the car amidst a mountain of Serena’s bags - God that girl can shop!

The afternoon had gone brilliantly and unforgettably with the tattoos to remind us. Also very expensively. Plans had been laid for me to cook dinner at home then rejoin Serena at her house so we could get ready and be at the Students Union by nine to meet Evan and the lads.

Mum’s mood was if anything stranger than in the morning when Litara and I got back indoors. She’d been to the Nursing Home to see her father, my grandpa Joe. He suffered from Alzheimer’s and was sometimes lucid but would sometimes come out with appalling stuff. It was best to leave mum alone on such occasions so as soon as the tea brewed Litara went through to the lounge with her while I whipped up a beef risotto.

Six thirty on the dot dad arrived back from the boatyard and I warned him to tread careful with mum.

"Best then that you get clear with your friend Serena straight after dinner. I’ve seen too much in life to be shocked by you in this last 24 hours but your mother was fit to burst when I left for the yard this morning."

With that he did the last thing I would have expected, coming over to the stove where I was stirring and giving me a huge hug. For a moment I was 5 years old again - I absolutely adored this mountain of a man who always made me feel safe.

"Be away with you Da" I spluttered barely able to stop tears. "Give mum and Litara a call and get yourself sat at the table for dinner."

Dinner was very subdued. Mum noticed my hair and the earrings of course but limited herself to commenting that my hair had needed trimming. Litara finished first and went upstairs only returning, with a bag in her hand, when I shouted that I was off to Serena’s.

Litara came outside into the front drive with me handing over the bag and saying "This is to help you put something together to wear for tonight but I want you to know that while I’m away working, any things that you want to wear from my wardrobes are yours to borrow."

"That is ridiculous!" I replied "I may not know much about fashion but I do know some of your things were very expensive and some you are very attached to."

"You’re right about that without question and I shudder to think how much I’ve spent over the years but in return I may have a big ask of you…. Bigger than you can possibly imagine, indeed to underestimate how huge an ask would be a big mistake.

What can you say to a statement like that? I thanked Litara for the bag and went over to Serena’s

Putting an outfit together with See was fun and surprisingly easy. "We’re going rock-chick style" she stated. "Beside a bit of eye makeup it is just pants and a loose top which will go with the jacket your sister lent you. Pretty much what you usually wear so you won’t feel uncomfortable"

Waiting at the Union for a ticket I couldn’t help but wonder at Serena’s understated description of my outfit - my ballet style flats I had bought that afternoon but the jeans were in fact leggings, the loose top matched with those leggings looked deceptively like a mini dress and Litara’s jacket was I learned by Alexander McQueen! Even ‘a bit of eye makeup’ had its own meaning for a rock-chick.

Martina, Gwen and Jenny had arrived by taxi and appeared to have chugged a booster or two before arriving so were well happy and soon persuaded Serena and I that we should all greet the boys with a cheer - that is a version of Alleluia that Jenny had filmed on the New York subway last Christmas then taught us to celebrate the end of our exams. Tonight for one night only we were going to be The Welsh Subway Sisters .

It couldn’t have worked out better because the lads (Evan, George, Andy, Gareth and fresh back from a London interview Brian) arrived synchronized walking in line in the style of some gangster film they'd watched so all eyes were on them until we broke out into Alleluia.

Unfortunately that was the high point of the evening. Evan behaved strangely around me; Gwen and Brian had a fight because although they had been going out together for weeks Brian had already accepted the offer of a job in London without telling Gwen. The band were hopeless so Jenny and Martina cheered themselves up with smuggled booze to the point Andy and Gareth had to get a taxi and take them home.

On the plus side Serena and George were getting on well but that left Evan and I as gooseberries outside the Union at midnight.

"What’s the problem Evan?" I asked. Evan had been my friend since since we both went to the same school before college and I wasn’t used to seeing him down.

"There’s something you need to know" stated Evan "and all I can do is say it straight out. I’m gay."

"Let me get this right. You’re telling me straight that you’re gay" I said barely suppressing a giggle.

"This isn’t a joke! This is deadly serious. I’m gay"

"You can’t be gay, you’re the star player in the college rugby team!" I squeaked.

"Tell me about it! How do you think the team and other lads would react if they found out that Evan ‘The Terminator’ Jones plays for the other side?"

"Well they’re hardly going to beat you up are they? My Da said he thought you could take on any two of your teammates at the same time and coming from him I don’t think that was a joke.”

I held his forearms away from me at arms length to have a good look. "No, I can’t see it Evan. my gaydar clearly doesn’t work. In any case why would that make you uncomfortable around me? Doesn’t that make my appearance easier to take?"

"You don’t get it do you, you daft cow! I was in love with Dai and he’s gone!" With that Evan turned his back to me and ran leaving me standing like the idiot I was for never having seen what had been under my nose for years.