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Chapter 31
Poole Bay was now clearly in my sights as I battled my way through the traffic towards Canford Cliffs. Brightly colored sailing craft speckled the blue sea of the bay, jostled with the faster motorized cruisers and diced with certain death from the huge ferry that cruised powerfully through the tiny entrance of the bay.
"Cool," said Tommy, taking it all in.
My mother had given me detailed instructions and these were currently balanced on the dashboard in front of me. With eyes dangerously flitting from instructions to regional town traffic that was far too argumentative, I battled on.
Tommy had decided to spot green cars and was keeping up a running commentary that was improving my headache substantially. I tried against all the odds to focus on keeping us alive wondering through gritted teeth where kids got this sublime power to irritate.
At last we were getting warm. The houses were huge, stately and bordering onto Poole Bay. There were long drives in profusion and many had security gates. The one we were heading for stood out clearly in its opulence. Neat lawns, bubbling fountains and multiple garages signaled the sort of occupants for whom spending money was an inconvenience between desire and pleasure. It was pure mother territory.
We pulled up in front of the house and Tommy summed it up.
"Awesome!"
We decanted ourselves from the car like bad wine poured into golden goblets and climbed the palatial steps to pull the poshest lavatory chain I've ever seen.
I'd at least expected an old-fashioned butler or even a new-fashioned bodyguard but instead my mum opened the door.
She stood there for a moment gazing at me regally wearing a green trouser suit with a green emerald necklace made of stone's that matched her sparkling eyes. She was not tall but she had a powerful presence combining seductive femininity with natural authority. She was used to the world falling into step around her and expected it. Her black hair fell down to a point level with her chin framing features that had a classic beauty.
"Oh, its you Barry! How nice to see you. Come in."
She embraced me quickly and planted a kiss on my cheek. I managed one back with all the embarrassment of a teenager and we followed her into a palatial front room with views over the water, a cocktail bar in the corner and furniture that was so soft that it seemed to suck you in.
A collection of small boats and one large cruiser were tied up to the jetty at the bottom of the garden. Smartly dressed deck hands were busy doing things deckhands do on the biggest of the fleet.
"And is this your little boy?" She caught Tommy by the shoulders and held him at arm's length unsure whether to favor him with a kiss.
"No, I'm just looking after him for the day. He's quite inoffensive as long as you feed him blackcurrant juice and chocolate regularly."
"I think I have some chocolate somewhere. Perhaps we could find it in a minute."
But she had established that Tommy was not high in the pecking order and instantly dismissed him from her mind. Anger welled up inside me on Tommy's behalf. He may not be rich or influential but he was as important as anyone. She always had a talent for making me angry within seconds of us being together.
But Tommy had established that the garden was the place to be with all its nautical interesting. He tugged on my sleeve.
"Barree, can I go out in the garden?"
"Yeh, ok, but don't damage anything, especially the boats... and don't go falling in either, unless you see a friendly dolphin ready to save you."
"Are there really dolphins in the bay, Barry?"
"Probably not so be careful."
My mother open to the large glass sliding doors that led on to the patio and the garden beyond and Tommy scampered off to play. She looked relieved.
We chatted for a while, fairly inconsequentially. She wanted a know where I worked, was I married...the sort of things a mother might ask when she couldn't be bothered to keep in touch. I mentioned that I was responsible for the development of a web site and she mentioned that she knew somebody who had shares in or owned something similar.
I wanted to find out why she had asked to see me and clearly she didn't want to spend too long on small talk.
"The reason I asked you to come down was that I have a little problem and you might be able to help me."
"What sort of problem?"
"Why don't you come and have a look at it?"
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