1) As always a big thank you to my proof reader, without her help this would be unreadable. So thanks.
2) This is for Jazzy I hope you like it mate.
3) Thank you to Mary for her help with the ending.
I have been thinking about 1979. Looking back it seemed like there was a lot going on that year. It was the year Madness released their first song 'The Prince'; Maggie came to power; Ali told us he was not going to box any more, and Russia invaded Afghanistan. It was the end of a decade, the last year of my teens and it was the year I lost my virginity.
I went on a booze cruise that year with a bunch of old school friends. I was already working as a painter. I had been since I left school three years before, but I needed some extra cash so I had posted some ads for 'handyman' work.
It would have been about early May when I got the call that changed my life. I was sitting down watching the 'Sweeney' when the phone rang and my Mum, who always sat near the phone, picked it up.
"Tom, it is for you".
When I took the receiver from my Mum a voice said, "Are you the handy man?"
"Well, I can only really work part time as the ad said, is that OK?"
"Yeah, I work full time myself but I have some things that need doing around the house. I am happy for them to be done over the weekend."
She told me that her name was Sue and she gave me her address.
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The weekend came and I was at Sue's house at 9am. I rang the door bell and waited. Boy, was I in for a bit of a shock - when the door opened standing in front of me was my old English teacher Miss Jones.
She had long brunette hair, deep brown eyes, a small button nose and thin tight lips. Miss Jones had on blue jeans and loose hanging t-shirt. Her hair was held back with a floral bandanna. She would have been about 31 years old, and stood about 6' tall. I could she that she did not have a bra on underneath her t-shirt.
"Er, Miss Jones, do I have the right place?"
Miss Jones face broke in to a smile, "It is Tom isn't it? I have not seen you since you left school. Yes, you have the right place, you had better come in."
She showed me around the place and told me what I had to do. I was mainly painting the place and fixing it up a bit as she had just bought it. We spoke for a while about what I had been up to since leaving school, how I only had a few CSEs and how I was happy with that. I told her about my job, and what my plans were for the foreseeable future. She told me to call her Sue. After a few cups of tea, she told me she had some papers to mark and would I mind starting upstairs.