He gave a resigned sigh, and leaned close. ‘Don’t make excuses, you’ve had a face all day like you’ve been sucking a lemon, just try and show a bit of enthusiasm. It’s Pam’s big day, and who knows, maybe you could be the lucky one that catches her bouquet.’
Jane sighed and returned to her gilt-backed chair at the top table. She sipped at her champagne, which was now tepid. She had stuffed a paper napkin down the front of her cleavage to stop her mother constantly telling her to pull up the bodice. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed an overweight man accompanied by a small blonde woman approaching her table. There is always an embarrassing relative in a family and for the Tennisons it was Uncle Brian, their mother’s older brother. Clinging to him like a limpet was his tiny wife Claire. They both appeared to have had too much to drink.
‘Here she is, our own little Dixon of Dock Green… Evening all.’ Uncle Brian snorted as he laughed and gave a salute. ‘Collared any big-time villains yet, or are you still directing traffic?’ he asked.
Jane gave a small tight smile. ‘Dixon’s male and we’re about to crack down on dodgy car dealers, Uncle Brian.’
He laughed loudly and his wife tittered.
‘Well, when you want a nice reliable second-hand motor you know where to come. You know our Barbara’s an air hostess with Dan Air now and travels the world on long-haul flights? She’d have been here today but she’s in New York… lovely uniform, wonderful job. It’s the sort of work you should be thinking about.’
‘She’s lost loads of weight, you know,’ Aunt Claire added.
‘Good for her,’ Jane said, recalling Barbara was at least thirteen stone plus and as haughty and objectionable as Uncle Brian. ‘Mind you I’ve always thought an air hostess was a sort of glorified waitress,’ Jane said sarcastically.
‘She’s dating a pilot and having a lovely time,’ Aunt Claire said and gave Jane a sidelong glance.
‘I’d never have let our Barbara go into the police. In fact I was surprised when your mother told us you’d joined, and those hats you have to wear, dear me, they’re so ugly, but each to their own chosen path, I suppose.’
‘I am finding it really fascinating, and I was at my first autopsy the other day. They make this Y-shaped incision that begins with cuts behind each ear and goes all the way down along the neck and chest to the pelvis so they can remove the intestines. The pathologist also peels the flap of skin off the face and over the skull.’
Aunt Claire’s mouth was wide open in shock and disgust.
‘Interesting, isn’t it?’ Jane said, smiling cynically.
Uncle Brian laughed and did another silly salute before whisking his wife onto the dance floor.
It was half an hour later when Pam returned wearing a smart suit and hat. She threw her bouquet over her shoulder, and the auburn-haired bridesmaid, who was by now very flushed and rather tipsy, caught it. With a sigh of relief Jane watched the ‘happy couple’ depart in a red MGB V8 Roadster, a ‘Just Married’ notice taped to the boot, along with old shoes and empty tin cans tied to the rear bumper, which bounced and rattled as the car pulled away backfiring. The MGB had been lent to them by Uncle Brian and was to be returned after the honeymoon was over, but Jane suspected it might not last out the trip to the Lake District and back.
By the time Jane returned home with her parents it was after nine and she felt drained. She couldn’t wait to remove the salmon-pink nightmare dress and, after struggling out of the tight corset, she threw the dress on the floor and chucked her wilted coronet into the wicker bin. She lay on her bed in her underwear looking up at the ceiling. She realized that moving into the section house was definitely what she needed. She really didn’t want to live at home any longer. Now that she’d completed and returned the forms for a room it was time to broach the subject with her parents.
She realized sadly that she had come to feel rather alienated from them. They had not approved of her joining the Metropolitan Police Force, although they had been proud at her passing-out parade at Hendon Police College. Her parents were always warm and loving and Jane knew she had nothing to complain about, certainly not when she thought of the squalor and neglect she had witnessed at the squat. She knew deep down her parents wanted her to be more like Pam, but the reality was that she and Pam were as different as chalk and cheese.
