HaâŠrunk runk runk runk runk. HaaaâŠrunk runk runk runk runk. HaaaaâŠ.. runkâŠâŠ........... runkâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠ.. runkâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠ wooo.
âBloody thing. Rotten sodding rust bucket.â I turned the starter key one more time and got a dying whimper, then silence.
I could have cried. I knew it would cost me money I could ill afford to get the thing fixed. Like most people in our street I owned a clapped out old car simply because I and they couldnât afford to get anything better. We were like dogs chasing our tails. We could never save enough money to get a decent car because we were always spending our money trying to keep the cars we had going.
I should explain. Iâm a fifty year old widow, name of Belinda, living on government welfare money. Iâd get a job if I could, but I have few if any skills, and at fifty employers donât want you. I live in a street on an estate of government houses occupied mainly by people who, like me, are always strapped for money.
I got out of the car and lifted the bonnet. I had no idea what I was looking at and for.
Gloria next door looked over the low fence. âGot troubles?â
âYes, bloody thing wonât start, and now Iâve run the battery down trying.â
Gloria was a widow like me, but she didnât live alone. She had an unmarried son living with her, Alan by name. A bloody good looking fellow of about nineteen or twenty, and very bright. Heâd get out of this area one day and go and live in one of those posh suburbs. Probably marry some well off bird.
Funny thing about Alan. Iâd never seen him with a girl, and his mum said he wasnât all that interested. Too busy âgetting onâ, as she put it. Heâd got or won some sort of grant and was at university studying engineering.
âHey,â said Gloria, âAlanâs at home today. Would you like him to have a look at it?â
âWould he?â
âCourse he would. Iâll fetch him.â
Two minutes later out strode Alan, very purposeful.
âTrouble?â He asked.
âWonât start.â
âLetâs have a look.â
He stuck his head under the bonnet and began to fiddle with things. After a while he looked up and said, âTurn it over, will you?â
âCanât, batteryâs flat.â
âAh! Iâll get my charger and weâll give it a quick burst. How about a cup of tea while we wait?â
âRight.â
He made off in the direction of his shed and I went indoors to make the tea.
Five minutes later he was tapping at the door and I yelled, âCome in.â
We drank our tea and chatted on about his studies and the street gossip, and so on. Then he said, âShould be able to turn it over now.â
We went out and he stuck his head under the bonnet again. âTurn it over now,â he called.
I turned the key and got the HaâŠrunk runks again.
He came out from under the bonnet and said, âTiming has slipped and the plugs are buggered. I can fix the timing, but can you afford new plugs?â
âSuppose Iâll have to if I want the thing to start.â
âRight. Iâll go off and buy the plugs and you can pay me when I get back. Okay?
âYes.â
Off he went in his car. Iâd been all dressed up to go out on a visit to an old friend, but as it looked like I wouldnât be going now, I decided to change.
I stripped off down to my panties and being a warm day I put on a pair of shorts and a top. I hate bras and only wear them when Iâm going out in company, and not counting Alan as company, I removed the lousy things and let myself swing free. Of course, the trouble is, Iâve got plenty to swing free. Joe used to enjoy himself enormously with what he called my âlove lumpsâ before he got sick and died. God, I miss him.
Alan came back and got his head under the bonnet again and fiddled around for half an hour or more. I got down to some work around the house and let him get on with it.
Iâd seen Gloria go out, so as it was approaching lunch time I went out and asked Alan if heâd like to have lunch with me.
âIf itâs not too much trouble, Belinda,â he replied, âmumâs gone out for the afternoon, so Iâd have to get my own. ErâŠjust turn it over, will you?â
This time it ha runked, then fluttered into life.
Alan reappeared from under the bonnet and said, âGot it going, but she badly needs a service. Would you like me to do it for you some time?â
âWould you really, Alan? How much would it cost, and by the way, how much for the things you bought?
âHave them on me,â he said, smiling, âand Iâm sure we can come to some arrangement about the service.â
âWell, if youâre sure, I mean, I donât want to imposeâŠâ
âYou wonât impose, Bel,â he replied. âBe my pleasure to do it for you. I canât do it today because Iâve got a lecture to go to this afternoon, but how about tomorrow? Say, nine oâclock?â
âThat is kind of you, Alan. Are you sure I canât pay you?â
âYouâre giving me lunch, arenât you?â
âYes, and by the way, itâs ready.â
âIâll just give the battery a slow charge while we eat, and then you can probably use the car this afternoon.â
I went inside to put the meal out, and a couple of minutes later Alan came in.
Now Iâm not one of those silly women who try to pretend they are not the age they are. I mean, at fifty I donât try behaving as if I was a teenager. Yet I have to say that I had noticed Alan sort of eyeing me from time to time, even when Joe was alive.
Mind you, Iâm not saying Iâm beautiful or anything like that, but I am buxomâŠnot fat you understandâŠIâve got what Joe used to called, âNice rounded curves.â Weâd never managed to have kids, so I had no marks on my thighs and belly and things like that.
As for my face, itâs all right I suppose. Being a bit on the plump side it seemed to have kept most of the wrinkles at bay. Even when Joe was alive I had to send one or two of his mates packing when they tried it on with me, and since heâs died there have been quite a few just âdropping inâ and then telling me we could have a âmeaningful relationship.â One or two have been less polite and offered to console by âscrewing me.â
Since theyâve all been married men I have rejected their offers of consolation and sent them home. Mostly I did this in a kindly but firm way, and I only had to black the eye of one of them.
Now regarding Alan; his apparent interest in me started when he was about fourteen. Joe still being alive, and keeping me well satisfied, sexually speaking, I gave no great weight to Alanâs trifling interest. After all, a lot of young fellows take an interest in older women. I think this is because they really fancy their mothers, but believing they canât have them, they look for a substitute.
Well, Iâm not about to be anyoneâs substitute. If there was some unattached bloke who fancied me for my own sake, and I fancied him, I might give consideration to a joint celebration. I mean, Iâm not âpast itâ, as some young ones seem to think. I could enjoy a âfrenzied couplingâ with the best of them. Itâs just a matter of the right bloke.
During lunch we talked about my car and what might need doing to it. We went on from there to discuss the problems of widows, especially those like me living alone. Mainly this was about money and the sort of jobs that crop up round the house that people like me donât know how to fix; like changing a tap washer or mending a fuse.
We didnât get on to what might be called politely, âemotional problemsâ, but we did seem to be skirting round that aspect.
I prodded things along by asking Alan if he had a girl friend. He said he hadnât, pointing out that heâd had to work so hard at his studies, and heâd hardly had the time to get to know any girls.
I could understand that. Any kid who intended to get off our estate and have a better life, had to really sweat at it. They couldnât afford to take girls out. Whatâs more, they couldnât afford to be saddled with a pregnant girl, or get a dose of something nasty.
I should point out that most marriages around here take place because the girl is pregnant, and thereâs plenty of ânastiesâ going around.
But enough of our sordid goings on. I was having lunch with a nice looking young bloke who was doing me some really good turns, so, I thought to myself, âEnjoy Belâ, it wonât come round too often.
One of the things I liked about Alan was the fact that he wasnât like most of the loud mouthed louts we have around here. He was quietly spoken and if he used foul language, I had never heard him.
I suppose that would have put him at a disadvantage with the local girls, even if he had time for them because they seemed to prefer the scruff bags. Me, I like them gentle, like my Joe, which is another reason why I hadnât taken on anyone else so far.
Even when Alan had eyed me, it was in a shy sort of way. Not like most of them, young or old, who were always trying to look down the top of my dress or up my skirt.
So I basked in the company of a young man who I thought to be a âgentlemanâ.
All too soon Alan announced he had to go, and would see me tomorrow and service the car.