Page 29 of Autumn in Sycamore Park
Amy looked heartbroken but gave a stoic little shrug. ‘Ah, well. He does work hard. His class are terrors, aren’t they?’
Only because he lets them get away with everything while he checks his Tinder profile under the desk,Jennifer, who had once taken a peak in through Rick’s classroom window while on the way back from a P.E. class with her kids, wanted to say. Instead, she just said, ‘It must be hard.’
‘Save Big Gerry!’ Amy shouted, fist pumping into the air, her voice loud enough to make Jennifer step back and almost trip over a raised section of paving. Then, turning to Jennifer, Amy smirked and said, ‘Got to channel the energy, haven’t you?’
‘I suppose. Save Big Gerry.’
‘Save Big Gerry!’
Jennifer was about to attempt to outdo Amy’s shout when she saw a familiar figure moving through the crowd. Tom looked like he’d just come out of a potting shed, wearing a tatty waxed jacket, jeans, and a faded cap he could have pulled out of a rubbish bin. Despite what looked like an obvious attempt to dress down, his sheer size and the angles of his face made Jennifer’s stomach ache. She looked away, hoping he wouldn’t see her, but too late, he had caught her eye. He smiled and wandered over.
‘Thanks for coming down,’ he said. ‘It’s a pretty good showing.’
‘It looks like the tree means a lot to people,’ Jennifer said, wishing she had a way with wit or charm, instead of sounding like a middle-pages newspaper column. ‘And, ah, sorry about the other night.’
Tom smiled again. ‘It’s quite all right. Not the circumstances for a first proper meeting, really, was it? Any time you’d like to stop by, I’ve always got the kettle on in my little shack over there. It’s not much, but it’s enough.’
‘Thanks, I will.’
Tom looked about to say something else, but instead just patted her on the forearm, then excused himself to mingle among the crowd. Jennifer turned as someone tugged on her arm.
‘Who’s the hunk?’ Amy gasped, both hands clutching folds in Jennifer’s sleeve and working them up and down as though she were trying to shake a dead animal back into life. ‘Oh. My. God. I’m practically hyperventilating. How did you find a way to speak?’
‘That’s Tom Reynolds,’ Jennifer said. ‘He’s the park caretaker.’
‘And the next Batman, with pecs like that,’ Amy said, making Jennifer cringe. ‘Has he taken you for a workout?’
‘Ah … what kind of workout?’
Amy, whose original question had perhaps been quite innocent, suddenly narrowed her eyes. ‘Oh, I didn’t mean … oh, you haven’t! Jennifer … no wonder you look so tired at work.’
‘No! I haven’t! We’re just friends. Barely even that. I mean, he seems to live in a shed in the park. I can’t—’
‘It’s probably a love dungeon.’
‘It was full of wheelbarrows and trellises.’
Amy’s eyes twinkled. ‘Tools for love.’
‘I don’t know what twisted world you live in, but let’s go and grab a couple more coffees before Pete sells out.’
‘Sure.’
They headed over to the burger van. Pete Markham gave them a salute, then grinned. ‘Half price for anyone fighting the good fight for Big Gerry’s justice,’ he said, then turned and tapped a little transistor radio behind him. ‘The council are on their way, in full riot gear.’
‘Really?’
Pete grinned. ‘Not quite. But Regina Clover is here.’
‘Oh, what a pretty name,’ Amy said.
Pete grimaced. ‘I just sold her an egg roll. Full price, of course. You’ll be able to find her by following the trail of dead grass, where the birds no longer sing.’
‘She’s that bad?’
‘She transferred from the taxation department last year into environmental management. Allegedly her plan is to have Big Gerry sliced up to make expensive furniture for the kind of rich people who would only ever buy something from Brentwell if it was on the internet. Luckily, she’s only one of three councillors in the environmental management department, so we only have to convince the other two.’
‘Hallelujah for democracy!’ Amy shouted, punching the air again.
