“Is That What We Are, Friends?”

James was having a minor panic attack. Not only was he going to see Jessica again, but she’d invited him to her house. She asked him if he could take a look at her phone as it was running slowly and while he did that she’d make them some lunch.

All this sounded quite plausible, she had mentioned when they met before that her phone was playing up. What he couldn’t figure out was what it was she wanted from him. He doubted she simply wanted to be his friend, he presumed a woman like her must have loads of friends. And he doubted even more that she wanted to be his girlfriend. His doubts didn’t stop him from dreaming though, he even allowed himself a slither of hope.

He’d tried hard to convince Jessica to meet him somewhere but she’d insisted on driving over and collecting him because he was doing her a favour. This was the cause of his panic. If the drive through the run-down estate didn’t make her turn around and drive straight home then the sight of his house probably would. Even by the standards of the estate his home was in bad condition. At ten-forty-five, fifteen minutes before she was due to pick him up, James was in his bedroom, checking his hair for the fifth time in as many minutes. His room was at the back of the house so he couldn’t see the street and thus her car arriving. He was about to go and wait outside for her, so he didn’t have to cope with the embarrassment of her seeing the inside of his house, and worse, meeting his father and stepmother when the doorbell rang.

“Oh please god no,” he said aloud.

“Hi, erm, I’m here to pick up James, is he here?” Said Jessica.

The man, who she presumed was his father, stood there filling the width of the doorway with his bulk was about five feet six and wore dirty blue jeans and a white t-shirt with so many stains on it Jessica thought it a wonder the man hadn’t been condemned as a walking environmental health risk. He hadn’t shaved for about a week by the look of him and she thought it likely he hadn’t been near a bathroom in that time either, which would account for the smell emanating from him. The fact she could smell him at all was a wonder given the stench of cannabis smoke that wafted from inside the house. The overall effect was enough to make Jessica gag, quite literally, she had to cover up her reaction with a faux cough.

“You what?” the man said, screwing his face up.

“You must be James’ father? I’m Jessica, James’ friend, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said and held her hand out.

The man looked at her with glazed bloodshot eyes, then peered over her shoulder at her car.

“DAVE…WHO IS IT?” Screamed a shrill voice from inside the house.

“SOME BIRD ‘ERE FOR JIM.”

A second later a woman came out into the hallway and stood behind the man. She was as tall, well over six feet, and had a curious mix of skinny arms and legs, a long skinny neck but a round almost obese midriff, which she’d thought it best to display to the world by wearing a crop top.

She joined the man in standing there scowling at the visitor on their doorstep before saying, “What do you want with our Jim?”

“As I said, he’s my friend and we’re going out to lunch…”

“Well that’s bollocks for a start, Jim ain’t got no friends,” said the man.

“He might have mentioned me, we got stuck in a lift together recently.”

“He told me about the lift but didn’t mention anything about you.”

“Oh, okay, well if you could just let James know I’m here please?”

His father and stepmother were completely blocking her view into the hallway so Jessica didn’t see James as he walked up behind them.

“Dad, can I get past please?”

His father looked over his shoulder, “What you up to boy?”

“I’m not up to anything, can I get past please?”

His father didn’t move.

After an awkward few seconds where father and son stood scowling at each other, the stepmother took a step back and made a slight gap which James squeezed through. Then he shot up the path like a scolded cat with Jessica clip-clopping behind him in her heels trying to catch up.

“DON’T FORGET THE RENT IS DUE BOY, DON’T MAKE ME WAIT,” his father shouted after him.

Once in the car, they didn’t speak until his house and the estate were well behind them.

“I’m sorry,” he said, with his head hung low.

“Why? You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“My father wasn’t very nice to you.”

“Did I catch him on a bad day or is he always like that?”

“That’s as nice as he gets.”

Jessica wondered if his father beat James, but she knew better than to ask the question.

“How much rent do you pay him?”

“Eight hundred a month.”

“Eight hun...James, how much do you take home after tax?”

“Just over a thousand, sometimes a little more if there’s overtime.”

“So he leaves you with only a few hundred pounds a month?”

“Uh-huh. And I have to buy all my own food and clothes and stuff out of that.”

“Does your father or stepmother work?”

“No, they just sit at home and get stoned all day.”

“I see.”

There was another silence while Jessica composed herself, she didn’t want James to see the anger rising inside her.

“James, if things ever get too much for you at home and you need somewhere to go you can always come to me, we’re friends and…”

“Is that what we are, friends?”

“I’d like to think so, yes.”

“Okay,” he said and stared out of the window for the rest of the journey.