Civvy Street (3 page)

The doorbell rang.

‘What now?’ Susie pushed herself out of her chair and went to answer it.

‘Maddy. How nice,’ she lied, when she saw who the caller was. She liked Maddy, she really did, but Susie didn’t feel like receiving visitors. It was hard enough holding herself together in front of her family without having to put on an act for her neighbours too.

‘Susie, I’ve heard the news and I want to tell you how shocked I am.’

Susie raised her eyebrows. ‘I dare say I was more shocked.’

‘God, yes, of
course
you were. I didn’t mean...’ Maddy ground to a halt. ‘I just want you to know that Seb and I think the whole thing is appallingly unfair and if there’s anything we can do...’

Susie held the door wide to allow Maddy to step inside. ‘Maddy, much as I appreciate your support I don’t think there’s much you
can
do.’

‘No... well. But you know what I mean.’

‘I do. But, and let’s be brutally honest here, I bet it’s tempered by a large dose of “thank God it’s them not us”.’

‘Susie, of course I didn’t think that.’ Maddy held her friend’s gaze for a second or two before dropping her eyes. ‘Well, it never crossed my mind that the redundancies would include any officers from here. And it was awful when I found out that it did and that you and Mike were the casualties.’

Susie led the way into the sitting room.

‘Hi, Mike,’ said Maddy. ‘I just came to say how sorry I am about the news.’

‘Tea?’ offered Susie.

Maddy nodded. ‘But only if you and Mike are having one.’

Susie went into the kitchen.

‘Have a seat,’ said Mike.

Maddy perched on a nearby chair.

‘Thanks for coming round,’ said Mike. ‘Susie and I are feeling a bit bereft at the moment, as you might imagine. Being told you’re being made redundant is a bit like being told you’ve got a terminal illness – people don’t know what to say, so they ignore you rather than risk saying the wrong thing. Which is daft. As far as I can see the only “wrong thing” you might be able to say is “hooray and good riddance”.’

Maddy grinned. ‘No one would say that.’

‘I think Jack Rayner had to hold back.’

‘Yeah, but that’s Rayner for you, isn’t it,’ said Maddy.

‘Indeed.’

‘Seb’s gutted.’

‘I suppose he doesn’t fancy getting used to a new boss.’

‘No, he likes you and the way you do things. Besides, he’s worried it might be Craig.’

‘No way. He’s already over-promoted, in my opinion.’

Maddy nodded. ‘And I’ll miss having Susie as a neighbour.’

‘We’re not going just yet.’

‘No, I know, but all the same...’

‘Thank you, it’s appreciated. Susie and I were thinking we might try and stay in the area. At least if we do that we can still see our old muckers from time to time.’

Susie reappeared with a tray of mugs. ‘And house prices aren’t completely ridiculous around here.’

‘Although the job prospects might be a bit iffy,’ said Mike. ‘Still, I could easily commute to a bigger town... Salisbury or Trowbridge or somewhere.’

‘But you’ll find something,’ said Maddy, accepting a mug from Susie.

‘Yes,’ said Mike. ‘Of course I will.’ But his words showed far more confidence than his tone of voice suggested.

*

After the hiatus of the news of the redundancies, life at 1 Herts settled down for the ensuing weeks. Speculation as to who would fill the vacancies ground to a halt and, for those officers and men not directly affected, the news receded into the background. In fact, for the vast majority of the 1 Herts’ soldiers who subscribed to an I’m-all-right-Jack mentality, the whole business was largely forgotten. However, this was not the case in the Collins’ household where matters were getting increasingly tense.

Mike had been on a course run by a recruiting agency designed to teach the redundant officers the best way to present their CVs, how to market themselves, how to write really excellent letters when applying for jobs and how to conduct themselves in interviews. It was, Mike had told Susie on his return, mostly basic common sense but it had been useful all the same. Armed with his new skills and fired with enthusiasm, Mike had scoured the appointments sections of the quality papers and fired off loads of applications. And now they were waiting for the replies.

Mike returned home from work at lunchtime as he usually did. After dropping his beret onto the hall table, he picked up his post; three letters, personally addressed to him so not spam. His heart rate quickened; he knew what these would be. Eagerly he ripped open the first envelope.

Dear Major Collins, We regret to inform you...

Fuck. He opened the next.

Dear Major Collins, While Bingham and Co appreciate your eagerness to work for this company, it is with regret...

Shit. He opened the last.

Dear Major Collins, We are sorry...

Bollocks.

He felt his shoulders slump. He had been sure he’d been in with a cracking shot for all of those positions. He’d had the qualifications, the experience, the know-how. And he wasn’t over the hill. He was still young; he was only in his mid-thirties, for heaven’s sake. Wasn’t that the perfect age; young enough to still be open to new ideas and working practices but old enough to have plenty of experience? Angrily he screwed up the letters and stamped into the kitchen.

Susie looked up from the pan of tomato soup she was stirring. She saw the look on Mike’s face. ‘What’s happened now?’

‘Rejections. Three of them.’

Susie walked over to her husband and gave him a hug. ‘There’s other fish in the sea. It’s early days yet.’

Mike sighed. ‘I just... Well, I thought I’d be beating offers off with a stick.’

‘You will be, I’m sure of it. So who’s turned you down?’

Mike uncrumpled the letters and smoothed them out on the table. ‘This lot.’

Susie glanced at the letterheads. ‘Obviously companies with no taste and possibly worse management skills. You’ve probably had a lucky escape.’

She turned back to the stove and began to dish out the soup. ‘Anyway, I’ve been thinking...’ she said as she ladled their lunch into a couple of bowls.

‘And?’

‘You know McManners, the mess manager, is being given the heave-ho too?’ Mike nodded. ‘Supposing I applied to do his job.’

Mike shook his head. ‘No.’

Susie put both bowls on the table and sat down. ‘Why not? I understand basic accounting having run the thrift shop, I understand about catering and, God knows, I understand about 1 Herts. I’d be perfect.’

‘It wouldn’t be appropriate. It’s not a job for an officer’s wife.’

Susie raised an eyebrow. ‘I hate to tell you this, sweetie, but when this job falls vacant I won’t
be
an officer’s wife.’

Mike stared at her, his spoon halfway to his mouth. ‘That was a bit of a low blow.’

‘Don’t be so touchy, it’s the truth.’ She stared at Mike. ‘I’m going to apply.’

‘I’d rather you didn’t.’

‘It’s a job. It’s income. Anyway, I may not get it.’ Susie tucked into her soup.

Mike considered what Susie had said about not getting the job and wondered if he could make sure she didn’t. It wouldn’t be ethical but it might be possible. It was a sergeant’s job, not one for a major’s wife. It would be demeaning. And how would she cope with complaints from junior officers – officers who had once held her in esteem and now she’d be their paid lackey? He turned his attention back to his soup and carried on eating. Not worth kicking off a row about it now, the job hadn’t even been advertised. Maybe when it had been and
if
Susie applied for it, maybe he’d try and get her to see his point of view then. And if she didn’t? Well, maybe then he’d try and kibosh her plans.

*

‘You’re late,’ said Maddy as Seb arrived home for lunch fifteen minutes after she’d been expecting him. She was in the kitchen clearing up the mess left from the kids’ lunches.

‘Had to see Rayner.’

‘Poor you. What about?’

‘That’s the thing...’

Maddy looked at him expectantly. ‘What’s the thing?’

‘I’m getting acting rank and taking over from Mike.’

Maddy’s eyes widened. ‘You! Bloody hell. No, I mean congratulations and clever, clever you.’ She put down the dishcloth and gave her husband a kiss. ‘Craig must be pissed off. He must have thought he was in with a shout.’

‘It’s not common knowledge yet, so don’t say anything.’

‘Does Mike know?’

Seb shook his head. ‘Rayner’s telling him this afternoon.’

Maddy took a loaf out of the bread bin and began buttering slices to make them both a sandwich. ‘How do you think he’ll take it?’

Seb shrugged. ‘Badly, I should think.’

‘You reckon?’

‘It’s a bit of a kick in the teeth, in my view. I’m not exactly his equal, am I? I think if he’d been getting replaced by a senior major he might feel a bit more valued but as it is...’

‘Oh God, and Susie won’t be happy either, will she, with me usurping her as the OC’s wife.’

Seb shook his head. ‘No, I shouldn’t think so.’

*

Susie had spent the afternoon in Warminster trawling round estate agents. She knew what she wanted: four bedrooms, gas central heating, south-facing garden, off-street parking, good local schools and within a ten mile radius of where she lived now. She was hardly asking for a ridiculous amount, was she? And it seemed not because with the redundancy package they would have a decent deposit, and with Mike’s projected earnings there were a fair few properties to choose from. She came home laden with particulars of possible houses to show Mike. She parked the car outside the house and let herself in. She could hear movement coming from the kitchen.

‘Mike?’

‘Where have you been?’

He sounded in a right grump, she thought. She wondered what had happened now. She walked down the hall, into the kitchen and dumped the sheaf of papers on the table.

‘Just popped into town see what the estate agents have got to offer.’ The look on Mike’s face told her he didn’t want to talk about houses. ‘What’s the matter, hon?’

‘The last fucking straw.’

‘What?’

‘I’ve just been told who is replacing me.’

‘Not Craig, surely.’

‘No, although I almost think that would be better than who
is
getting the job.’

‘And that is?’

‘Seb.’

‘Seb? But he’s a babe in arms. How can he possibly command a company? He hasn’t even gone to Staff College yet. And Maddy is hardly OC’s wife material. I mean she’s a nice kid but...’ Words failed her.

‘I know.’ Mike looked at her bleakly. ‘It seems to me that the army thinks so little of me that I can be replaced by someone who has got almost no experience and zero seniority. Well, thank you very much. And it’s pissed off Craig so much he’s talking about resigning. Honestly, if he goes, it’ll be like the Night of the Long Knives in B Company.’

Susie gave her husband a hug. ‘With Seb emerging out of the chaos and carnage smelling of roses.’

‘I know it’s not his fault, said Mike, morosely, ‘but with this sort of HR bloodbath going on it makes me think I’m better off out of it.’

‘Maybe.’ Susie didn’t look convinced.

She was about to put the kettle on to make them both a cup of tea when the phone rang. She picked up the kitchen extension and an unknown voice asked to speak to Major Collins. ‘For you,’ she said, handing the receiver to Mike.

She listened to Mike’s side of the conversation with half an ear as she made the tea. Whatever it was, it sounded quite serious and Mike didn’t look happy. Wordlessly she put his tea in front of him and waited patiently for the call to end.

‘What was that all about?’ she asked.

Mike stared at her. He opened his mouth and then closed it again. Susie felt worried.

‘It can’t be that bad, surely?’ said Susie, hiding her fears with a light tone.

‘I... I don’t know how to put this.’

‘Put what?’

‘That was the mortgage broker.’

‘And?’

Mike swallowed and looked down at the table. ‘And... and they won’t give me a mortgage.’

‘What? Why?’

‘It’s my credit rating.’

‘What about it?’

‘That’s the thing, Susie.’ He still wasn’t looking at her. ‘I’ve found it a bit tough to meet the kids’ school fees on a couple of occasions so I bunged them on a credit card. And then... and then I couldn’t make the repayments so I transferred the debt to another card to give myself some breathing space.’ He glanced up at her. ‘I never meant to let it get out of hand.’ He stared at Susie beseechingly. ‘But I honestly thought it wasn’t that bad. That it wouldn’t have an impact.’

‘How bad? How out of hand?’ Susie tried to keep calm.

‘Twenty thousand, give or take.’

‘Pounds?’

‘It’s not fucking Smarties, is it?’ he snapped. ‘Sorry. Sorry, Susie.’ He rubbed his face with his hand. ‘Sorry,’ he said a third time. ‘I’m a bit stressed.’

‘You’re a bit stressed?’ Susie breathed in and out twice before she said, ‘Shit.’

Twenty thousand pounds of debt and no mortgage. How could he? How fucking could he? She looked at the pile of properties she’d been planning on showing Mike. Not much point in that now. Wordlessly she gathered them up and chucked them in the recycling bin. She wanted to cry. ‘Mike, why didn’t you tell me? I could have got a job ages ago. I could have earned some money to help out. Once the kids went off to boarding school I could have managed.’

‘I thought
I
could manage. I thought
I
could sort it and I didn’t want you to worry.’

‘No.’ She sighed as she bit her tongue. There was no point in getting angry. Neither of them could turn the clock back, so that was that. And he might not have wanted her to worry back then but there was no denying she was bloody worried now.

Silence fell and lengthened. Susie considered their options and decided there were precious few. She sighed as she came to terms with the stark grimness of their position. Finally, she spoke again. ‘That’s it then. I’ve got to get that job in the mess.’

‘Susie—’

‘Don’t you
dare
say it isn’t appropriate,’ Susie snapped, worry, anger and emotion finally getting the better of her. ‘We’re running out of choices. It’s a job I can do and probably do well... if I get it. And if I don’t, I’ll go and find something else. It may be that the best I can get is as a checkout girl in the Spar but, as things stand, I have to have
some
sort of income if we’re going to have a house of our own in the near future.’