Part Twenty-Eight
A panicky 'get me out of here' compulsion propelled Yvonne to turn her back on the Old Bailey, leaving Karen who was still chatting to George. She took short rapid strides along the pavement at a breakneck speed to put as much distance between heme as they were further away than she had first thought from Nikki's carrying voice.
"I've not been young for years. I'm smaller than the rest of you," Babs puffed, her face flushed.
Yvonne's face split into a wide grin at the three out of breath women.
"We wouldn't think of leaving you to go off on your own. Old friends like us are here for you anytime you want." Tears sprang into Yvonne's eyes at Helen's simple touching words from her heart. These days, feelings came easily enough to the surface, maybe making up for lost tim voice.
"I've not been young for years. I'm smaller than the rest of you," Babs puffed, her face flushed.
Yvonne's face split into a wide grin at the three out of breath women.
"We wouldn't think of leaving you to go off on your own. Old friends like us are here for you anytime you want." Tears sprang into Yvonne's eyes at Helen's simple touching words from her heart. These days, feelings came easily enough to the surface, maybe making up for lost time when her point of pride was never to let anyone see her cry, no matter how hard things got. When she was with Charlie and was bringing up her kids, there was never the time somehow and it was her pride and strength that had got her through the rough times. It only stopped making sense when she first realised that she had friends to go to who were only a cell block or two away. "It's up to you, Yvonne. We don't want to impose if you've got other plans or if you're not up to it but Helen and I were wondering if you wanted company tonight," Nikki asked hesitantly accompanied by Helen's emphatic nod of agreement.
"There's nothing I want more. What say you all come round to my gaff and I'll cook for you all." Yvonne's spirits soared as this unexpected good news would fill the house with those whom she was fondest of and would chase away the threatening winter shadows.
"I'd love to come, Yvonne, but Henry's not very well today. Some sort of three day wonder flu bug. I feel guilty if I'm leaving him on his own for too long. Another time, certainly." "Give my love to the Reverend and hope he gets better." Just then, Yvonne's mobile bleeped and her fingers fumbled their way through the contents of her handbag to her phone at the bottom and fished it out. The others were all cheered up and listened to the conversation.
"Hey, Crystal……..Yeah, Lauren's finished on the stand for today….she survived, that's the best you can say but I'd sooner not talk about it too much…….I don't suppose you and Josh are up for a bit of company tonight, my place ….you mean you're getting a bit stircrazy of being stuck at home with the kids, tell me about it…….we've got Helen and Nikki to help look after the kids and I can rustle up some spare beds….oh, yeah, one's small enough for Zandra and you've got Daniel's carrycot…….bleeding hell, sounds like you're organising a trip to the Himalayas…….so long as we don't talk about the trial and have a few laughs, that's fine….see you at seven." Nikki looked a little doubtful at the idea Yvonne mapped out but Helen was pleased.
The trial had swallowed up all of them in its intensity and close concentration. Everything was riding on Lauren's future. They blinked at the thin sunshine and biting wind of a winter's day and told them they had half a day to kill. They all felt as if they were bunking off school, unaccustomed as they all were to be around on the streets of London in this time of the day. It was time to move on from there.
Josh drove their grey Audi onto the front drive outside Yvonne's house and stared at it open mouthed and next at the red Ferrari parked nearby. This place was out of this world compared with which the clutter of their possessions felt downmarket. Crystal was the bolder of the two as the Lord had given her the pride in herself to hold her head up high. Besides, Yvonne was Yvonne wherever she was and would no more change than Jesus's disciples. It was on a more practical level that the clutter that accompanied a family outing such a formidable matter of organisation. First Crystal edged Daniel out of the rear side door, still asleep in his carrycot and placed it on the ground while Josh unclipped Zandra from out of her little self enclosed car seat from which she had proudly looked around at the passing scenery. Even after that, the many soft toys, teddy bears and the one hundred things that accompany babies and small children needed scooping together in all the holdalls.
"Want a hand?" a very familiar pleasant Scottish voice right behind Josh made him jump a mile. "Yeah, but I don't know where to start, Miss Stewart," His uniform reaction to her and his nerves took over.
"It's Helen now," Came her friendly reply accompanied by her strong handshake.
"Do you want us just to dive in and pack whatever there is in these holdalls?" Nikki's tactful contribution mentally sorted through the clutter. "Have you brought your guitar by any chance, Crystal?" "Yeah and it's in the boot," Crystal's shorthand reply spoke of the busy mother who wished that she only had one pair of hands to sort out all the demands on her.
Josh led Zandra by the hand leaning over so that the little toddler didn't have to reach to high up for him and crystal took Daniel inside in his carrycot and two willing pack mules carted the rest of the belongings inside, including Crystal's guitar.
Yvonne's eyes lighted first on the wide brown innocent eyes in the centre of the tangle of black curls that belonged to Zandra as her form, dressed in dungarees and a cardigan tottered in ahead of the others. A more perfect mix of Josh's good looks and Crystal's African Queen persona could not be imagined. When Crystal appeared with her carrycot, this was a double treat.
Long ago instincts were sharply revived that saw Zandra balenced on Yvonne's knee and, likewise, the little game with her fingers of "here is the church, here is the steeple," that caused the little girl to giggle happily. Trigger was not one to miss out on fresh human company and padded in gently, tail wagging. He concluded that this tiny human was some sort of puppy equivalent so he knew to be at his most consciously reassuring and let the excited little girl gently stroke him. Josh, understandably unaware of all this, looked worried at such a big boisterous looking dog with his little child.
"Don't worry, Josh. He's as soft and gentle as can be." Just then, Daniel woke up after a long sleep and indicated that he wanted to make his bid for freedom.
"Can I hold him for a little while, Crystal? I'll be very careful," Helen asked, something within her moved by the tiny helpless thing. There was an appealing look in her that Crystal could not say no to even if she had wanted.
Helen's hands and fingers were secretly nervous as they gingerly picked up the baby. A sudden warmth flowed through her as she held the baby in her arms and a sudden rush of confidence told her as she gently rocked him in her arms with the feeling of what came right to her. She stretched out her little finger to Daniel and his tiny fingers latched on with surprising strength. She was lost in a new world….
Nikki discreetly observed Crystal's children from a distance. This experience was all strange to her but her heart warmed to Josh and Crystal's glowing pride and obvious love for their children.
……..'I wanted kids one day.' 'You can still have them, Helen.There are ways.'….
A much polished brightly glowing jewel in Nikki's memory was every gentle kiss exchanged, every word exchanged between them in that rare snatched moment when they were alone in the Art room at Larkhall. It shone all the brightly from too many lonely nights in her cell when she relived that precious memory. It was only right now that silhouetted that fragment of the conversation in sharp profile and asked her a question that she was far too honest to duck. There was nothing in principle against the idea and maybe if they could live their lives together at the same part of the day. One day, the time may come…… These thoughts gently drifted round in Nikki's head while the gentle soothing sounds of crystal's children conveyed distant feelings of summer days. For Crystal and josh, on the other hand, they could take a break from their continual tiredness and expenditure of frenetic energy that they poured out on their children. The practised half eye of attention was enough but in Josh's case, the luxurious armchair helped him to drift halfway towards a dreamlike state.
"I'll finish off the food. No Crystal," Yvonne insisted firmly, stopping her from rising automatically to her feet. "I remember being up to my armpits in nappies and trying to be the perfect mother and wife for His lordship like the magazines tell you to, so I'm going to make sure you and Josh get totally spoiled. You both bleeding need it." Josh jerked himself properly awake hearing old associations in Yvonne's imperious tones and he and Crystal sank back, basking in the sheer luxury of half their normal routine being firmly and lovingly taken off their shoulders.
Yvonne deftly served them dinner which they all tucked into and Crystal had enough hands spare to pick at her dinner while Zandra intermittently clamoured for attention for her dinner to be cut up for her. Helen and Nikki gradually got used to the snatched conversations in such a child oriented environment and admired how capably Crystal coped.
"Hey, Crystal, why don't you sing us a few songs for old times sake, open the windows wide and imagine Old Bodybag being pissed………I mean driven mad by the singing." Crystal smiled broadly at Nikki's hastily modified invitation and Yvonne and Helen came to the rescue while Crystal unzipped her guitar case without little fingers in the way. Daniel could not be distracted for very long before he started to crawl his way along the soft carpet in Crystal's direction.
"Kumbaya, my Lord, Kumbaya.
Kumbaya, my Lord, Kumbaya……" Crystal's powerful singing and stately guitar strumming added musical life and colour to a house which had known much company and was far too quiet for it's good and Yvonne's also. The singing of the others wrapped harmonies around Crystal's lead and they remembered the repeated complaints about that 'flaming Kumbaya' that only made Crystal sing to the Lord all the more. Helen had been on the fringes of the singing at the time but she remembered keeping to the fringes so that she could avoid being dragged in officially into a matter by the woman whom she owed no favours to. The song fizzled out as Crystal's guitar playing suddenly stopped when Zandra claimed Crystal's attention.
"We'd better put the kids to bed." Crystal nodded, seeing that Zandra had already had a busy day earlier on and she would only start getting ratty. Daniel had only come briefly to life recently and instinct told both of them that that wouldn't last.
"I'll help Crystal. You two, just take it easy," Yvonne ordered.
Helen and Nikki snuggled gratefully up together, blissfully conscious that they could detach themselves away from their daily routines. However traumatic it had been to see Lauren appear on the witness stand, at least they could face it together. Nikki had enough trust in Trisha's utter loathing of Fenner that she would uncomplainingly shoulder the burden of running the club while the trial was on, even though after the trial was over, she foresaw the kickback of more petty bickering as payback. She had a forward thinking mind which rarely let her to relax in the present without a part of her forever planning for the future. Right now, she suppressed that side of herself and linked hands with Helen's, running her fingertips along Helen's palm. The light was as gentle as the kiss they exchanged while the welcoming sounds of the house kept them company along with Trigger who sprawled himself contentedly asleep on his favourite spot, having basked in all the very welcome human attention. They gently and lovingly caressed each other as the soft armchair drew them together and the healing powers of the touch of their fingertips eased the tensions of the day from each other in a similar way that the companionship of the rest of them did for them. This evening had that blissful end of the week feeling where, for the moment, they only had each other in the world. "Is everything all right, Crystal?" Helen asked as Nikki's sharp ears picked up the light sounds of returning footsteps.
"After Zandra heard me read her favourite story three times over, she settled asleep. Daniel's only just over his teething problems, thank goodness and he's out like a light," Crystal's weary voice explained. "She sounds like she likes books already," Nikki said brightly.
"Don't you believe it. She just says it to keep me longer," Crystal's grinning reply made Nikki blush faintly that she had not thought of this obvious explanation. She wondered briefly just what she was like at Zandra's age.
"This is the life. Good company, the end of the day…." sighed Nikki contentedly.
"and a drink between friends.".
"You cheeky sod, Helen. Well, since you've offered to fetch the drinks, the drinks cabinet is there in the corner," Yvonne grinningly retorted.
After sticking her tongue out, Helen cheerfully acted as barmaid for them all and fetched a can of lager for Josh and went to serve four drinks from the well stocked cabinet. This was the first time that she took in the sheer luxury and space of Yvonne's house which took her by surprise. It seemed to say something about her that while it had all the luxuries of life, it had that comfortable lived in welcoming feeling. The memory of what she had once told Sylvia that she had 'twenty three boxes of Chanel perfume' seemed very real to her now. The last thing she had ever expected when she was a Wing Governor was hanging out at Yvonne's house but here she was now and everything felt comfortable. Years of living with Nikki had influenced her to depend on gut instinct more than she ever had before and go with where it directed her. After she poured out the drinks, she found herself a tray and served the drinks with the grace of a one time barmaid in her student days.
"Can't get good service these days." The light hearted banter was exchanged in fairly soft voices between people whose roots went back a long way yet their roles were mysteriously changed. All of them were secretly united in their total avoidance of talking about the trial. In different ways, they had a strength of purpose but none of this would help when Lauren's fate was as if she were a ball on a spinning roulette wheel and her ultimate destination was so much in the balance. This trial had showed that nothing could be taken for granted and, Josh aside, all of them had previous experiences of the uncertainty of how a court of law operated. So they put on their best smiles, luxuriated in the brief period of peace and tranquillity before the next battle to be fought.
Josh was only tired out from a backbreaking week at work, working long hours to bring up a growing family. With good grace, he had exchanged the welcoming haven and sanctuary of home for tearing out into the night to meet a diverse range of strong forceful women, from ex prisoners and his one time Governor that he had not seen for years. Crystal was overjoyed at the thought of the idea and she was stuck at home and deserved a treat. She needed to have the sort of company and the break that you didn't have to pay expensively for. In any case, he liked being surrounded by beautiful women, even if, right now, he couldn't get a word in edgeways. The chair he was sitting in was comfortable and the soft voices eased him back into dreamland. "Is it OK for you to play us some more songs, Crystal. I remember missing your singing once you'd got out." Crystal looked sideways at Josh slumped sideways in the corner of the settee and felt sorry for him. He looked so tired.
"We'll have to be quiet because of the kids ….and for Josh. He'll sleep like a log but I'm still nervous in case Daniel wakes up. You have a number of bad nights, then you thank the Lord when you wake up in the morning without hearing your baby crying in the night." Yvonne nodded sympathetically. She'd been there before.
Crystal picked up her guitar from where it had leant against the wall and, very softly, her fingers strummed the chords of a song which none of them had heard before. The need to keep quiet for the children's sake softened the melody and let the words speak with more force than it otherwise would. It spoke sweet benedictions to them in a way that flowed easily between religion and a modern prayer for all of them whoever they may be. Nikki had always respected Crystal's fighting spirit but had always found her fundamentalist religion hard to take to. This song carried her emotions gently along and made sense to her and gave her the peace of mind that she craved. Helen, for her part, was happily drawn along without a care in the world as if she was made for this sort of occasion. Yvonne raised her glass to her lips and the taste of her liquor never tasted so sweet than when she had the human company to wrap around her and the house was as full of good people as it was always meant to be.
A panicky 'get me out of here' compulsion propelled Yvonne to turn her back on the Old Bailey, leaving Karen who was still chatting to George. She took short rapid strides along the pavement at a breakneck speed to put as much distance between heme as they were further away than she had first thought from Nikki's carrying voice.
"I've not been young for years. I'm smaller than the rest of you," Babs puffed, her face flushed.
Yvonne's face split into a wide grin at the three out of breath women.
"We wouldn't think of leaving you to go off on your own. Old friends like us are here for you anytime you want." Tears sprang into Yvonne's eyes at Helen's simple touching words from her heart. These days, feelings came easily enough to the surface, maybe making up for lost tim voice.
"I've not been young for years. I'm smaller than the rest of you," Babs puffed, her face flushed.
Yvonne's face split into a wide grin at the three out of breath women.
"We wouldn't think of leaving you to go off on your own. Old friends like us are here for you anytime you want." Tears sprang into Yvonne's eyes at Helen's simple touching words from her heart. These days, feelings came easily enough to the surface, maybe making up for lost time when her point of pride was never to let anyone see her cry, no matter how hard things got. When she was with Charlie and was bringing up her kids, there was never the time somehow and it was her pride and strength that had got her through the rough times. It only stopped making sense when she first realised that she had friends to go to who were only a cell block or two away. "It's up to you, Yvonne. We don't want to impose if you've got other plans or if you're not up to it but Helen and I were wondering if you wanted company tonight," Nikki asked hesitantly accompanied by Helen's emphatic nod of agreement.
"There's nothing I want more. What say you all come round to my gaff and I'll cook for you all." Yvonne's spirits soared as this unexpected good news would fill the house with those whom she was fondest of and would chase away the threatening winter shadows.
"I'd love to come, Yvonne, but Henry's not very well today. Some sort of three day wonder flu bug. I feel guilty if I'm leaving him on his own for too long. Another time, certainly." "Give my love to the Reverend and hope he gets better." Just then, Yvonne's mobile bleeped and her fingers fumbled their way through the contents of her handbag to her phone at the bottom and fished it out. The others were all cheered up and listened to the conversation.
"Hey, Crystal……..Yeah, Lauren's finished on the stand for today….she survived, that's the best you can say but I'd sooner not talk about it too much…….I don't suppose you and Josh are up for a bit of company tonight, my place ….you mean you're getting a bit stircrazy of being stuck at home with the kids, tell me about it…….we've got Helen and Nikki to help look after the kids and I can rustle up some spare beds….oh, yeah, one's small enough for Zandra and you've got Daniel's carrycot…….bleeding hell, sounds like you're organising a trip to the Himalayas…….so long as we don't talk about the trial and have a few laughs, that's fine….see you at seven." Nikki looked a little doubtful at the idea Yvonne mapped out but Helen was pleased.
The trial had swallowed up all of them in its intensity and close concentration. Everything was riding on Lauren's future. They blinked at the thin sunshine and biting wind of a winter's day and told them they had half a day to kill. They all felt as if they were bunking off school, unaccustomed as they all were to be around on the streets of London in this time of the day. It was time to move on from there.
Josh drove their grey Audi onto the front drive outside Yvonne's house and stared at it open mouthed and next at the red Ferrari parked nearby. This place was out of this world compared with which the clutter of their possessions felt downmarket. Crystal was the bolder of the two as the Lord had given her the pride in herself to hold her head up high. Besides, Yvonne was Yvonne wherever she was and would no more change than Jesus's disciples. It was on a more practical level that the clutter that accompanied a family outing such a formidable matter of organisation. First Crystal edged Daniel out of the rear side door, still asleep in his carrycot and placed it on the ground while Josh unclipped Zandra from out of her little self enclosed car seat from which she had proudly looked around at the passing scenery. Even after that, the many soft toys, teddy bears and the one hundred things that accompany babies and small children needed scooping together in all the holdalls.
"Want a hand?" a very familiar pleasant Scottish voice right behind Josh made him jump a mile. "Yeah, but I don't know where to start, Miss Stewart," His uniform reaction to her and his nerves took over.
"It's Helen now," Came her friendly reply accompanied by her strong handshake.
"Do you want us just to dive in and pack whatever there is in these holdalls?" Nikki's tactful contribution mentally sorted through the clutter. "Have you brought your guitar by any chance, Crystal?" "Yeah and it's in the boot," Crystal's shorthand reply spoke of the busy mother who wished that she only had one pair of hands to sort out all the demands on her.
Josh led Zandra by the hand leaning over so that the little toddler didn't have to reach to high up for him and crystal took Daniel inside in his carrycot and two willing pack mules carted the rest of the belongings inside, including Crystal's guitar.
Yvonne's eyes lighted first on the wide brown innocent eyes in the centre of the tangle of black curls that belonged to Zandra as her form, dressed in dungarees and a cardigan tottered in ahead of the others. A more perfect mix of Josh's good looks and Crystal's African Queen persona could not be imagined. When Crystal appeared with her carrycot, this was a double treat.
Long ago instincts were sharply revived that saw Zandra balenced on Yvonne's knee and, likewise, the little game with her fingers of "here is the church, here is the steeple," that caused the little girl to giggle happily. Trigger was not one to miss out on fresh human company and padded in gently, tail wagging. He concluded that this tiny human was some sort of puppy equivalent so he knew to be at his most consciously reassuring and let the excited little girl gently stroke him. Josh, understandably unaware of all this, looked worried at such a big boisterous looking dog with his little child.
"Don't worry, Josh. He's as soft and gentle as can be." Just then, Daniel woke up after a long sleep and indicated that he wanted to make his bid for freedom.
"Can I hold him for a little while, Crystal? I'll be very careful," Helen asked, something within her moved by the tiny helpless thing. There was an appealing look in her that Crystal could not say no to even if she had wanted.
Helen's hands and fingers were secretly nervous as they gingerly picked up the baby. A sudden warmth flowed through her as she held the baby in her arms and a sudden rush of confidence told her as she gently rocked him in her arms with the feeling of what came right to her. She stretched out her little finger to Daniel and his tiny fingers latched on with surprising strength. She was lost in a new world….
Nikki discreetly observed Crystal's children from a distance. This experience was all strange to her but her heart warmed to Josh and Crystal's glowing pride and obvious love for their children.
……..'I wanted kids one day.' 'You can still have them, Helen.There are ways.'….
A much polished brightly glowing jewel in Nikki's memory was every gentle kiss exchanged, every word exchanged between them in that rare snatched moment when they were alone in the Art room at Larkhall. It shone all the brightly from too many lonely nights in her cell when she relived that precious memory. It was only right now that silhouetted that fragment of the conversation in sharp profile and asked her a question that she was far too honest to duck. There was nothing in principle against the idea and maybe if they could live their lives together at the same part of the day. One day, the time may come…… These thoughts gently drifted round in Nikki's head while the gentle soothing sounds of crystal's children conveyed distant feelings of summer days. For Crystal and josh, on the other hand, they could take a break from their continual tiredness and expenditure of frenetic energy that they poured out on their children. The practised half eye of attention was enough but in Josh's case, the luxurious armchair helped him to drift halfway towards a dreamlike state.
"I'll finish off the food. No Crystal," Yvonne insisted firmly, stopping her from rising automatically to her feet. "I remember being up to my armpits in nappies and trying to be the perfect mother and wife for His lordship like the magazines tell you to, so I'm going to make sure you and Josh get totally spoiled. You both bleeding need it." Josh jerked himself properly awake hearing old associations in Yvonne's imperious tones and he and Crystal sank back, basking in the sheer luxury of half their normal routine being firmly and lovingly taken off their shoulders.
Yvonne deftly served them dinner which they all tucked into and Crystal had enough hands spare to pick at her dinner while Zandra intermittently clamoured for attention for her dinner to be cut up for her. Helen and Nikki gradually got used to the snatched conversations in such a child oriented environment and admired how capably Crystal coped.
"Hey, Crystal, why don't you sing us a few songs for old times sake, open the windows wide and imagine Old Bodybag being pissed………I mean driven mad by the singing." Crystal smiled broadly at Nikki's hastily modified invitation and Yvonne and Helen came to the rescue while Crystal unzipped her guitar case without little fingers in the way. Daniel could not be distracted for very long before he started to crawl his way along the soft carpet in Crystal's direction.
"Kumbaya, my Lord, Kumbaya.
Kumbaya, my Lord, Kumbaya……" Crystal's powerful singing and stately guitar strumming added musical life and colour to a house which had known much company and was far too quiet for it's good and Yvonne's also. The singing of the others wrapped harmonies around Crystal's lead and they remembered the repeated complaints about that 'flaming Kumbaya' that only made Crystal sing to the Lord all the more. Helen had been on the fringes of the singing at the time but she remembered keeping to the fringes so that she could avoid being dragged in officially into a matter by the woman whom she owed no favours to. The song fizzled out as Crystal's guitar playing suddenly stopped when Zandra claimed Crystal's attention.
"We'd better put the kids to bed." Crystal nodded, seeing that Zandra had already had a busy day earlier on and she would only start getting ratty. Daniel had only come briefly to life recently and instinct told both of them that that wouldn't last.
"I'll help Crystal. You two, just take it easy," Yvonne ordered.
Helen and Nikki snuggled gratefully up together, blissfully conscious that they could detach themselves away from their daily routines. However traumatic it had been to see Lauren appear on the witness stand, at least they could face it together. Nikki had enough trust in Trisha's utter loathing of Fenner that she would uncomplainingly shoulder the burden of running the club while the trial was on, even though after the trial was over, she foresaw the kickback of more petty bickering as payback. She had a forward thinking mind which rarely let her to relax in the present without a part of her forever planning for the future. Right now, she suppressed that side of herself and linked hands with Helen's, running her fingertips along Helen's palm. The light was as gentle as the kiss they exchanged while the welcoming sounds of the house kept them company along with Trigger who sprawled himself contentedly asleep on his favourite spot, having basked in all the very welcome human attention. They gently and lovingly caressed each other as the soft armchair drew them together and the healing powers of the touch of their fingertips eased the tensions of the day from each other in a similar way that the companionship of the rest of them did for them. This evening had that blissful end of the week feeling where, for the moment, they only had each other in the world. "Is everything all right, Crystal?" Helen asked as Nikki's sharp ears picked up the light sounds of returning footsteps.
"After Zandra heard me read her favourite story three times over, she settled asleep. Daniel's only just over his teething problems, thank goodness and he's out like a light," Crystal's weary voice explained. "She sounds like she likes books already," Nikki said brightly.
"Don't you believe it. She just says it to keep me longer," Crystal's grinning reply made Nikki blush faintly that she had not thought of this obvious explanation. She wondered briefly just what she was like at Zandra's age.
"This is the life. Good company, the end of the day…." sighed Nikki contentedly.
"and a drink between friends.".
"You cheeky sod, Helen. Well, since you've offered to fetch the drinks, the drinks cabinet is there in the corner," Yvonne grinningly retorted.
After sticking her tongue out, Helen cheerfully acted as barmaid for them all and fetched a can of lager for Josh and went to serve four drinks from the well stocked cabinet. This was the first time that she took in the sheer luxury and space of Yvonne's house which took her by surprise. It seemed to say something about her that while it had all the luxuries of life, it had that comfortable lived in welcoming feeling. The memory of what she had once told Sylvia that she had 'twenty three boxes of Chanel perfume' seemed very real to her now. The last thing she had ever expected when she was a Wing Governor was hanging out at Yvonne's house but here she was now and everything felt comfortable. Years of living with Nikki had influenced her to depend on gut instinct more than she ever had before and go with where it directed her. After she poured out the drinks, she found herself a tray and served the drinks with the grace of a one time barmaid in her student days.
"Can't get good service these days." The light hearted banter was exchanged in fairly soft voices between people whose roots went back a long way yet their roles were mysteriously changed. All of them were secretly united in their total avoidance of talking about the trial. In different ways, they had a strength of purpose but none of this would help when Lauren's fate was as if she were a ball on a spinning roulette wheel and her ultimate destination was so much in the balance. This trial had showed that nothing could be taken for granted and, Josh aside, all of them had previous experiences of the uncertainty of how a court of law operated. So they put on their best smiles, luxuriated in the brief period of peace and tranquillity before the next battle to be fought.
Josh was only tired out from a backbreaking week at work, working long hours to bring up a growing family. With good grace, he had exchanged the welcoming haven and sanctuary of home for tearing out into the night to meet a diverse range of strong forceful women, from ex prisoners and his one time Governor that he had not seen for years. Crystal was overjoyed at the thought of the idea and she was stuck at home and deserved a treat. She needed to have the sort of company and the break that you didn't have to pay expensively for. In any case, he liked being surrounded by beautiful women, even if, right now, he couldn't get a word in edgeways. The chair he was sitting in was comfortable and the soft voices eased him back into dreamland. "Is it OK for you to play us some more songs, Crystal. I remember missing your singing once you'd got out." Crystal looked sideways at Josh slumped sideways in the corner of the settee and felt sorry for him. He looked so tired.
"We'll have to be quiet because of the kids ….and for Josh. He'll sleep like a log but I'm still nervous in case Daniel wakes up. You have a number of bad nights, then you thank the Lord when you wake up in the morning without hearing your baby crying in the night." Yvonne nodded sympathetically. She'd been there before.
Crystal picked up her guitar from where it had leant against the wall and, very softly, her fingers strummed the chords of a song which none of them had heard before. The need to keep quiet for the children's sake softened the melody and let the words speak with more force than it otherwise would. It spoke sweet benedictions to them in a way that flowed easily between religion and a modern prayer for all of them whoever they may be. Nikki had always respected Crystal's fighting spirit but had always found her fundamentalist religion hard to take to. This song carried her emotions gently along and made sense to her and gave her the peace of mind that she craved. Helen, for her part, was happily drawn along without a care in the world as if she was made for this sort of occasion. Yvonne raised her glass to her lips and the taste of her liquor never tasted so sweet than when she had the human company to wrap around her and the house was as full of good people as it was always meant to be.