So, for over fifteen years, Ive worked at this factory with a bloke called Richard. Were not especially closejust the sort to share a cuppa during lunch and chat about lifes odd bits. You know how it goes: even if youre not best mates, work has a way of making people spill their secrets. Thats how I found out Richard raised his son, Jamie, all on his own after his wife left him. The lad wasnt even five when she walked out, and Richard just rolled up his sleeves and got on with it.
Hes never been a strict or overbearing chap. Richard always wanted Jamie to do well for himselfto get his head down in school and land some comfortable office job, not end up slogging it out on the shop floor like us. Over all those years, Id hear bits and bobs about Jamie being dead smart, especially with maths and science, and that he was hoping to get into a good uni somewhere like Manchester or Durham. Richard, bless him, picked up extra shifts and worked doubles, scraping together every last pound in case Jamie couldnt grab a spot at a state uni and needed help with tuition fees.
But then, right before finishing up at sixth form, Jamie suddenly did a complete U-turn. Out of nowhere, he tells his dad hes skipping uni and wants to join the Army after his A-levels. Apparently, his girlfriend Emily has this idea that a proper man should serve his country, and the sooner the better. Get thisJamie brings Emily home to meet Richard, all proud and keen to show off how pretty she is. But honestly, the girl comes from a bit of a dodgy background.
Richard doesnt say much, but he goes along with things when Jamie suggests Emily move in with them for a bit. At first, she was sleeping on the old sofa in the lounge, but soon enough, she was in Jamies room and clearly started pulling the strings. It wasnt long before she started floating this idea that the money Richard had put aside for Jamies uni might be better spent on sending her to college instead.
Her dream, so she says, is to become a nurse, but she couldnt get enough grades for a spot at any state college. Richard wasnt keen, but in the end, he handed over the money, sent Jamie off to the Army, and hoped it would all sort itself out.
Well, no sooner had Emily got her hands on the cash and Jamie had left for basic training, she started working on Richard even harder. She floated the notion they should sell his flat and buy two single-bed flats, so when Jamie finished his service, he and Emily would have their own place.
Can you believe the nerve? She turned up at his place with barely a penny to her name, and now shes trying to wrangle her way into getting a flat of her own. Its obvious Richards not dafthe knows Emilys at it but once Jamies back from the Army and starts siding with her, I can see him caving in.
Honestly, I just feel for Richardhes only got the one son and after all that hard graft, Jamies fallen head over heels for a girl whos just taking him for a ride. What rotten luck, mate.
