We both looked down the garden as Joss screamed, having narrowly missed a shot. ‘Beat you!’ Kevin shouted, also laughing.
Then another noise came from the hall – a key going into the lock of the front door. Linda visibly tensed. ‘It must be Eric home early,’ she said anxiously. Standing, she left the room.
I heard the front door open and Linda say, ‘Hi, love, you’re home early.’
‘I left work early so I could meet Cathy and see Joss,’ Eric said.
‘Cathy is in the living room and the kids are in the garden,’ Linda told him.
A moment later Eric strode into the living room and I stood to shake his hand. ‘Eric, Joss’s stepfather,’ he said. ‘Lovely to meet you at last.’
‘And you,’ I said.
Of average height and build, I guessed he was at least ten years older than Linda – in his mid-fifties. He was dressed in grey trousers with a light-grey open-neck shirt and was clearly very hot – beads of perspiration glistened on his forehead.
‘Would you like a cold drink, love?’ Linda asked him.
‘I’ll get it. You stay here and talk to Cathy. I’ll join you when I’ve said hello to the kids.’
Linda still looked very tense and waited until Eric had left the room before she spoke again, and then it was in a lowered tone. ‘In some ways I think it would be better if he stopped trying to be friends with Joss and just left her alone. He keeps trying in the hope that one day he’ll get through to her, but it’s having the opposite effect.’
I nodded. ‘It must be very difficult.’
‘It is,’ she said.
A few moments later Eric appeared in the garden and we heard him call ‘Hello’ to Joss and Kevin. Joss let the shuttlecock fall to the ground and threw her racket after it. I could see the anger on her face. She stormed up the garden, past Kevin and Eric and into the house. She came into the living room looking like thunder.
‘What the fuck is he doing here?’ she demanded.
‘Joss, don’t, please,’ Linda said. Standing, she went over to her daughter. ‘He just wanted to see you and meet Cathy. He was trying to do the right thing.’
‘Right thing my arse! I’m going to my room,’ Joss said. She went out of the living room as Kevin and Eric could be heard coming in from the garden. ‘Kev!’ she called. ‘Come with me to my room. But make sure that creep doesn’t come or I’ll kick him where it hurts.’
Linda looked so embarrassed. ‘I’m sorry, Cathy.’
‘Don’t worry. I’ve heard worse. I’ll speak to Joss later about her language and behaviour.’
‘Thank you. I’m afraid we just let her get away with it now, as nothing we say makes any difference.’
Eric came into the living room with a glass of water, mopping his brow with a piece of kitchen towel. He sat on the sofa beside Linda and patted her arm. ‘Try not to worry, pet,’ he said.
Linda shrugged despondently. Easier said than done, I thought.
‘Linda tells me you’ve been fostering a long time,’ Eric said, making conversation.
‘Yes, over fifteen years.’ I smiled.
‘That’s marvellous. It’s something I’d like to do, or adopt. I understand there’s a shortage of foster carers.’
‘Yes, there is,’ I said.
‘Linda and I have talked about it, haven’t we, pet?’ Eric said, turning towards her.
‘I think we need to sort out Joss’s problems first,’ Linda sensibly said. ‘I’ll go up and see her.’
Linda stood and left the living room. Eric drank some of his water and then set the glass carefully on the table. ‘At least Kevin likes me,’ he said awkwardly.
‘It can be very difficult raising stepchildren,’ I offered.
He gave a small laugh. ‘You can say that again. I’m sure it would be much easier raising our own child.’
I nodded politely. Footsteps sounded on the stairs and then Joss’s voice called from the hall. ‘Cathy! We’re going!’
I smiled at him and stood. ‘It was nice meeting you,’ I said.
‘And you,’ he said, also standing.
He followed me down the hall. Joss stood at the front door with Kevin and her mother, holding a bag each.
‘What do you want?’ Joss said to Eric as soon as she saw him.
‘Joss!’ Linda chastised.
‘I just wanted to say goodbye,’ Eric said.
‘Well, you’ve said it, so bugger off.’
Linda sighed. Given Joss’s animosity towards Eric, I felt it would have been wiser if he’d stayed in the living room and had called goodbye from there, but it wasn’t for me to say.
Joss opened the front door and went out first, carrying the largest of the bags, followed by her mother and brother. Eric followed me out and we went down the path. He stood with the others on the pavement as I unlocked the car and lifted the boot lid.
‘Do you want some help, pet?’ he asked me, stepping forward.
‘Not from you!’ Joss snapped. And again I felt Eric would have done better keeping his distance (as Linda had suggested), for clearly anything he did or said antagonized Joss.
‘It’s OK, thank you,’ I said to him.
I helped lift the bags into the boot, checked that the bag containing the sound system was secure and couldn’t fall over, and then closed the boot lid. Joss hugged and kissed Kevin, said a stiff ‘Goodbye’ to her mother and blanked Eric.
I said goodbye to the three of them, and Joss and I got into the car.
‘Creep,’ Joss said, loud enough for Eric to hear, before she closed her car door.
I started the engine, gave them a brief wave and drove away. I couldn’t ignore Joss’s bad language and behaviour, for to do so would suggest I was condoning it.
‘Joss, you obviously love your brother a lot. Don’t you think you should set him a good example? I’m sure you would be appalled if he started behaving as you do.’
‘He’, meaning Eric, ‘shouldn’t have come home,’ Joss said, still angry. ‘He only did it to annoy me.’
‘Why would he do that?’ I asked.
‘Because he knows I hate him. He never leaves work early. He always comes in at the same time – that’s why I call in at Mum’s on the way home from school. I know he won’t be there. He did it to upset me.’
‘But why would he want to upset or annoy you?’ I asked.
Joss shrugged.
I glanced at her as I drove. ‘Joss, there could be another reason why Eric came home early, a nicer reason: that he’s trying to build a relationship with you.’
‘Bullshit,’ Joss said. ‘He’s a wanker. I hate him and he knows why.’
‘Whatever you may think of him, I don’t want you using that language. Not to me, your parents or anyone, and certainly not in front of your younger brother. Swear again and I’ll remove your television from your bedroom for the rest of this evening.’
‘Whatever!’ Joss said, and she put in her earphones and turned up her music.
Chapter Six