The Paul & Jenny Stories Pt. 17h: The Batting Order Ch. 08
A Paul and Jenny story.
(Copyright 2002. All rights reserved).
All events and characters are fictitious.
Part 8.
Paul.
"How about your friend?" Jim asked as we walked out to the wicket to run the roller over the pitch and set up the stumps at either end of the wicket.
"Who?" I asked in reply.
"He's in the pavilion bar."
"Oh you mean Ian." I said, taking hold of one of the bars on the roller and together with Ron, Tony and Harry starting to drag it to the far end of the wicket. "He says he's never played cricket in his life. He's Scottish." I added as way of explanation.
"We need somebody to make up the numbers." Jim called from his position holding flat the piece of wood to be used as the guide to mark the creases for the batter and bowler.
"I'll ask him." I promised.
I hoped that we fielded first. He was already on his second pint of beer when we had left to come out to the pitch and looked like he was looking forward to a long session. I had helped Jenny behind the bar for five minutes until the first rush had gone and had a quick kiss from her as a reward.
I looked around for Steve but he had been talking to that young girl who had come with Jerry Thomson when I had last seen him. Len was in the main marquee with Stephanie and Ron, the curate, was talking to the Rector and their respective wives.
That left just the seven of us to do everything.
We finished rolling the pitch and then dragged the roller off the playing area and parked it down the side of the pavilion.
The two umpires were making their way out into the middle to supervise the toss of the coin between the team captains to decide who was to bat first.
I went back into the pavilion. There was only Ian standing at the bar.
"Ian." I said standing a little way along the bar from him. "Would you do me a favour?"
He turned and looked at me. I never knew how to take him. He could be as nice as pie one moment then aggressive as hell the next.
"What is it?"
He slurred the last word. How much had he had to drink?
"Would you play on our team?"
"We are short a player." I continued quickly. "We would only need you to field. You don't have to do anything else."
He sipped at his beer and looked from Jenny to me.
"Yes."
I hadn't expected that answer. Not without a few more beers inside him anyway.
"Yes?"
"Sure." He took another swallow of beer. "After what you did for us in Egypt."
I always found gratitude hard to take.
"Thank you." I said and turned to where the visitors changing room door was opening to reveal the opposing team.
"Has anybody seen my girlfriend?" Jerry Thomson asked, looming over me.
"No." I replied.
"She's out back with Steve." Ian said. "He's teaching her how to play cricket."
I looked out of the rear window at the nets and saw Steve with Jerry's girlfriend. He had her bent forward slightly with her ass cheeks hard against his groin as he showed her the correct way to hold a cricket bat.
Jerry had left the front of the building and I knocked hurriedly on the windowpane to attract Steve's attention and opened the window. He looked up, saw me waving at him and backed away from the girl.
"Sally." I heard Jerry call out.
"Over here." She replied.
Steve was moving down the pitch away from her holding one of the practise balls. He stopped when he was ten yards away, turned and lobbed it underhand towards her. She swung at it with her bat, connected and sent the ball into the netting at her side.
"I hit it." She said excitedly. "Why didn't you show me how to do it like Steve has?"
If I knew Steve he would be showing her how to do something else before too long.
Shirley.
My bum was sore. It hurt as I took my place behind the steering wheel of Jenny's car, turned the key in the ignition and pulled away.
I hated scenes, and David hadn't taken my telling him it was over very well. Well he would have to get over it. There was no future in it for me. His trip to Gloucester had proved that to me. I was expected to catch a bus from Cheltenham each day, let him have me a couple of times and then head dutifully back home.
My parents had started asking awkward questions as well. Where was I going each day? Who was I meeting? Was it a boyfriend? Why couldn't I bring him home to meet them?
I had found it so tiring.
It wasn't that I didn't like David. I did. He was a wonderful lover. But he was fifty-two and had a wife. I needed to clear my head for the year ahead at University while I took my masters. It was nice of Jenny and Paul to let me stay with them. I was glad they were so happy together. Paul hadn't so much as looked at me. He certainly hadn't tried anything on as a number of men I knew would if they had been in his position. I felt I could treat him like a brother.
I took the road out of Taunton that led to Chipping Marsden. Only another ten minutes.