Page 6 of Teacakes & Tangos
And then, just as I was wondering how on earth I was going to break the news that Mum’s precious car had been stolen, I heard the sound of an engine and looked round to see Dad driving into the close.
He was looking over at the garage – at the door that was wide open when it shouldn’t be – and I swallowed hard. Pretty soon, he’d see that the car was gone.
I watched him park and get out, and when I walked over to him, I could tell from his ashen complexion as he stared past me into the empty space that he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
‘Oh, Dad.’ I took his arm, gazing at him anxiously. ‘I just got back and the garage door was slightly open. And then I looked and...’ I trailed off helplessly, and Dad patted my arm and walked slowly over to the garage.
He stopped at the entrance and just stared straight ahead, and my heart filled with an aching sadness as I watched him. He was trying to pull himself together... to be strong for me. Anymoment he would turn with a half-smile and say it was fine. It was just a car.
But it wasn’t ‘just a car’.
That car meant everything to us.
And then suddenly, his shoulders slumped and his whole body seemed to sag. When he turned towards me, he was crumpling before my eyes and I rushed over to comfort him.
‘Dad, it’s okay.’ I put my arms around him. ‘I’ll phone the police. They’ll be able to trace the car. We’ll get it back, I promise.’
I was trying to hug him, to try and comfort him, but he was oddly unresponsive.
‘You don’t understand, love,’ he whispered.
I drew away so I could see his face. ‘What do you mean, Dad?’
‘It hasn’t been stolen.’
‘Oh. But... where is it, then?’ I gazed at him in bewilderment.
‘I’m so sorry, love.’ I felt a sigh shudder through him as he met my eyes at last. ‘There was no other way.
‘I had to sell it.’
CHAPTER THREE
‘The savings I had are all gone. And the bills just keep on coming.’
We were sitting opposite each other at the kitchen table. Dad had brought down a sheaf of final demand letters that he’d been keeping upstairs, presumably to spare me the worry.
‘I didn’t realise the monthly mortgage payment was so huge,’ I confessed, kicking myself for not having taken more of an interest in the actual numbers.
I reached over and squeezed his hand. I had an actual ache in my heart thinking that he must have been worrying all this time, keeping it all in, determined to spare me from any more turmoil and upset.
He’d shown me the letter that had made him realise selling Mum’s car was his only option. It was lying there on the table between us.
I’d looked at it and the sentences were blurry at first. But when I blinked the tears away, I could see how the wording of that letter would have struck fear into his heart.
The mortgage company was taking steps to repossess. We were going to lose the house unless we could pay the arrears immediately.
I swallowed hard. ‘I wish you’d told me about all of this.’
Dad shrugged. ‘It was my problem to sort out, love.’
‘I know. But a problem shared and all that?’
He looked down. ‘Sorry.’
‘It’s not your fault. None of this is your fault, Dad.’
‘Well, at least I’ll be able to pay off most of the debts, and the house should be safe from repossession now. There’ll only be a small amount still outstanding, and I’m sure I can come to an arrangement with the mortgage company so there’s no need foryou to worry. I got a reasonable price for the car, considering I had to lower it for a quick sale. Although not nearly as much as it was worth to you and me.’ He gave a despairing sigh and pushed a hand through his short, steel-grey hair. ‘I’m so sorry, love. If there was anything else I could have done...’
