Civvy Street
Authors: Fiona Field
About
Civvy Street
Susie Collins’s world falls apart when her husband, Mike, is made redundant by the army. Suddenly they are no longer part of the regimental family, with all its support systems and protective hierarchy. Life outside has never seemed so bleak.
But worse is to come, when Susie learns that the family finances are in a much rockier state than she realised. Their rebellious twin daughters will have to leave their fee-paying school for the local comprehensive and there will be almost no money left to buy a decent house.
These are desperate times and Susie knows that she must find a job quickly. But will the regiment really accept her back in the post of humble mess manager? What will her friends think? And how on earth will Mike and the girls cope? Life is tough for newcomers on civvy street.
To Ian, who
still
believes in me
About the Soldiers’ Wives Series
An Invitation from the Publisher
Major Mike Collins walked into the adjutant’s office feeling relaxed and reasonably cheerful. It was almost the weekend, tomorrow the kids were going to come home from boarding school on an exeat and the weather was lovely. All in all, life could be a lot worse.
‘Go right on in, Mike,’ said Andy, the adjutant. ‘The CO’s expecting you.’
Mike nodded, crossed the office to the adjoining door and knocked. He’d been summoned by the new commanding officer of 1 Herts in a phone call a few minutes earlier. Jack Rayner wasn’t his favourite person – in fact, thought Mike, a more ambitious, back-stabbing, self-seeking officer would be hard to find. His predecessor, Tony Notley, had been pretty pushy and ruthless when it came to furthering his own career but nowhere near Rayner’s league. It was like comparing a Vauxhall Conference football player with David Beckham or Ronaldo. Still, Mike was due a posting in the not too distant future – probably to some staff job somewhere – so, in all likelihood, he wouldn’t have to suffer Rayner for much longer.
‘Come.’ Lieutenant Colonel Rayner’s voice rang through the solid oak.
Mike pushed the door open, saluted as he stood on the threshold and then shut the door behind him. He wasn’t concerned about this summons. No doubt the CO wanted to discuss how members of his company were shaping up: who might be a suitable candidate for this or that course; who might have the potential for promotion; which of his junior officers ought to be posted out to a staff job to broaden their experience. Or maybe that posting Mike was expecting had come through. Or if not that, perhaps he had a job for Mike: some committee to chair; an inquiry to lead; maybe a board to sit on. That was the thing about being in an infantry regiment; if you weren’t actually doing what infantry soldiers did – fighting battles, killing the enemy or romping around the ranges on exercise – then the days had to be filled by training, courses or just being kept occupied in one form or another.
‘Have a seat.’ The CO nodded towards the armchair to the side of his desk.
Mike removed his beret and sat down.
The CO looked at him and sighed. ‘Look, Mike...’ He bit his lower lip and paused. ‘There isn’t an easy way to say this.’
Mike felt the first twinge of apprehension. What the hell was the CO finding so hard to spit out?
‘The thing is... the thing is... I’ve had the list of names of soldiers in the battalion who are being made redundant.’ There was another pause. ‘And, the thing is, you’re on it.’
If Mike hadn’t been sitting down he’d have reeled and staggered. Then he cleared his head. Surely he’d misunderstood. He’d
thought
the CO had said he was being made redundant but he must have got hold of the wrong end of the stick. He was a career soldier. He had a regular commission. Provided that he kept breathing and stayed alive he had a job for life. He did, didn’t he? The CO was still speaking but Mike realised he hadn’t heard a word.
‘Sorry, Colonel,’ Mike said, shaking his head, completely puzzled. The CO fell silent. ‘Sorry, could you say that again?’
‘You’re being made redundant.’ The CO didn’t meet Mike’s eye. ‘Sorry, Mike, that’s how it is.’
Mike’s shoulders slumped. His head rang and he felt dizzy. Redundant? There had to be a mistake. ‘But I can’t be. I’m on a regular commission. I’ve got years left to serve.’
‘I’m afraid the nature of your commission has got nothing to do with it.’
‘But... but...’
The CO shook his head. ‘Look, Mike, no one is sorrier than I am to be the bearer of bad news. I was devastated when I read the letter from the MoD.’
Mike stared at his boss. For someone who professed to be ‘devastated’ he looked remarkably sanguine. A bit embarrassed maybe, but not gutted.
‘Really, sir?’ Mike felt cold anger start to consume him.
‘I was shocked when I saw your name.’
Not half as shocked as me, thought Mike, bitterly.
‘You’re a valuable officer,’ continued the CO.
‘But not valuable enough, eh?’
‘It’s not like that, Mike.’
‘Isn’t it?’ Mike sank back in the chair as he tried to come to terms with the awful enormity of what he’d just heard. Sacked. Chucked. On the scrapheap. The army could dress it up however they liked but the cold, stark reality was they didn’t want him. A thought struck him. Important stuff from the MoD always got sent out to commanding officers well ahead of time – generally it was embargoed till the due date but that didn’t necessarily stop the recipients opening it for a sneak preview. And Rayner, for a bet, would have been unable to resist the temptation. ‘How long have you known about this, Colonel?’
‘I... well...’
Mike stared at the CO coldly. No further confirmation of his suspicions was required. ‘And you didn’t fight it? You didn’t tell the MoD that, seeing as how I am so “valuable”, they ought to look at someone else to cull?’ Mike shook his head. ‘Obviously not.’
‘Mike, Mike, it’s not like that. This isn’t how these things work.’
Mike snorted. ‘Really.’
‘And there’ll be a redundancy package. It’s very generous.’
‘Generous enough to pay for the twins’ boarding school fees for the next seven years?’ He glared at the colonel who remained silent. ‘No, I thought not.’
‘No... Mike... I mean, I don’t know the exact details of your personal package but... but...’
Mike shook his head, bringing the CO to a stuttering silence. ‘But with all due respect, Colonel,’ his tone clearly implying he had no respect for his boss whatsoever, ‘whatever it is, it’s going to be crap when compared to my potential earnings from the army for the next twenty years, and you know it.’
‘But you’ll get another job, have another career.’
‘I don’t
want
another job. I want this one.’ He stopped. He sounded petulant and he felt his emotions were on the brink of getting out of control. And no way was he going to lose it in front of Rayner. ‘If you’ll excuse me, Colonel, I ought to go and tell Susie. I think she should get to hear of this before the regimental grapevine gets to her first.’ Mike replaced his beret on his head and, with a perfunctory salute, left the office.
‘Mike...?’ Andy began, as Mike swept through his office, his expression thunderous.
‘Not now, Andy,’ Mike snapped at him, over his shoulder.
Andy stared after him in bewilderment and wondered what the hell had gone on between him and the colonel.
*
Susie heard the door slam and the sound of her husband’s footsteps thump along the hall.
‘Mike? You’re home earl—’ The rest of the sentence was forgotten when she saw the look on her husband’s face as he pushed open the sitting room door. ‘Dear God, what on earth is the matter?’
Mike stared at her, his mouth working.
‘Mike?’
‘Redundant. They’re making me redundant.’
‘But... but they can’t.’
‘Apparently, they can.’ For a second, Susie thought he was going to cry, but then he straightened his back and took a deep breath. ‘The CO told me a few minutes ago.’
Susie stared past him as she tried to take in the news. ‘When? When will you have to leave?’
Mike shrugged. ‘I don’t know, I didn’t ask. I had to get out of his office. If I’d stayed there to ask questions I think I might have been tempted to punch him.’ He slumped into an armchair. ‘Arrogant, fucking bastard.’
‘Oh, darling.’ She knew her husband hated Rayner, but she hadn’t thought it was this bad.
‘You know what he’s like. He didn’t give a toss about me. He’s only ever been out for his career, worrying about his own back. I’ve never liked him, never trusted him. Right back when I first came across him at Sandhurst I always thought he was a slimy shit.’
‘Mike!’
‘Come off it, Susie. You know as well as I do what he’s like. He’s hell-bent on getting to the top and he doesn’t care one iota about who he has to trample on to get there. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if I found out he’d actually put my name forward for redundancy.’
‘Surely not.’
‘I wouldn’t put it past him. Of course he gave me a load of bollocks about being devastated that my name was on the list. Well, I can tell you something... he didn’t look fucking devastated.’
Susie nodded. ‘Do you think that if Tony Notley had still been in charge he would have fought to keep you?’
‘I dunno.’ Mike put his elbows on his knees and rested his chin on his hands. ‘And to think about all the years I’ve given to the army, all the loyalty... and for what? All the shit that we’ve had to put up with, the postings, the short tours, the separation, the crap housing and then they kick me in the teeth with this.’
‘How long have you got left?’
‘Dunno, told you, I didn’t ask. A few months. Well, one thing’s for sure, from now till I go, they’re not getting anything out of me. From here to the end I’ll be spending my days in the office sorting out my future and my next job. Much as this’ll put a burden on Seb and the others in the company they’ll just have to get over it. As far as I’m concerned the army can sod off.’
Susie nodded. Why should he carry on busting a gut for an organisation that had done this to him? ‘They can shove those committees that I’m on too. In fact, first thing in the morning I shall take great pleasure in going round to Camilla Rayner’s and dumping the files in her lap.’