Planet Poultry by Angela Gascoigne

Author:Angela Gascoigne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: novella, newcastle, gritty, love, adult-themes, domestic-violence, hopes-and-dreams, friendship, dark, work-place, good-luck, happy-endings, revenge
ISBN: 9781783331512
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited 2013
Published: 2013-07-23T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Jean Benson heaved the red check laundry bag onto the kitchen worktop; sticky sugar and coffee scraped and scratched underneath it setting her teeth on edge. I wish that lad would learn to clean up after himself, she thought while shaking her head.

Jean had always been meticulous about her laundry: separating whites and colours into appropriate bundles and checking wash temperatures carefully. But loading the whites into the washer today, she didn’t see that one red sock, that accident waiting to happen, that was lurking deep amongst Tom Swan’s good, white work shirts and white, fluffy bath sheets.

For as long as Colin could remember, his mam had been taking in other people’s washing and ironing. His dad hadn’t worked for fifteen years after a serious back injury at work in the ship yards which left him in excruciating pain and unable to carry out any type of manual work. Harry Benson’s occupation now was simply light gardening and housework in order to help his wife out with her domestic workload.

Jean had always been a housewife and full-time mother to Colin, her only child. But after Harry’s accident, she’d had to start applying for jobs, all to no avail. Her lack of experience in any work role left her basically unemployable. So the family lived off invalidity benefit, which wasn’t a lot and didn’t allow for any treats or holidays, but they got by.

It had always suited Jean to earn a little cash in hand by helping out people who had hectic lives by doing their washing and ironing for them. It made her feel useful, as though she was contributing something to the household finances. It also meant she could put an end to the impossible task of trying to find a job; a task that was hard enough, even for people who did have qualifications and work experience.

At one time, Jean had been reported by one of the neighbours, Doris Tremble, for working whilst claiming benefits.

Doris Tremble was the typical stuck-up type: the first person to buy their council house and fit PVC windows complete with ivory coloured vertical blinds. She then considered herself ‘upper crust’ and too good to mix with the other commoners.

The thing that Jean could never understand was why Mrs Doris Tremble didn’t buy a big expensive house on a posh, private estate if she felt she was too good for a council estate. But the truth was that she wasn’t really that wealthy. Doris Tremble was just a ‘wannabe snob’, trapped amongst the peasants.

It came as a great big slap in the face to that nosey neighbour when she found out from a reliable source that Jean Benson was well within her rights to earn a certain amount of income on top of her benefits and that she had gone through all the right channels in order to do so. She was doing nothing wrong.

Word soon reached the Benson family that Doris Tremble was the ring leader who set up the petition for the eviction too, as well as the disposal of Colin’s animals.

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