Jimmy Feathers (Part 2)

Jimmy Feathers (Part 2)(Kristin Dockar) Jimmy Feathers (Part 2)
Jimmy Feathers sat on a bench overlooking Margate Bay. It was 2 years since he had left the East End of London and moved back to Kent to be with his mum, May. He needed her help deal with his alcoholic brother Billy.
Jimmy wasn’t much given to introspection but today he was reflecting on all that had happened over the last couple of years. The vast skies, so beloved of J.W. M. Turner, and the rolling sea whipped up by the wind, made him feel calm which was a rare state for him to be in. But he also knew the calm was due to a massive feeling of relief. Once again he surveyed the grey leaden sky and listened to the wind that howled across the town. He thought of his Cancer diagnosis. The shock of being diagnosed with testicular cancer at the age of thirty-five. He had, undergone surgery, and was just starting to recover when everything had kicked off with Billy.
But yesterday his consultant had given him the ‘all clear’ and he felt that he had been given his life back.
Considering all that he and his brother had been through, the brothers looked well after the turbulence of the last couple of years. Jimmy had always been into fitness and encouraged Billy into the gym to help his recovery. Billy had taken this advice and went to the gym twice a week. He also went for a run along the sea front every day. In truth, he had replaced the addiction to alcohol with an addiction to fitness. But he faithfully attended his AA meetings.
The boys, as their mum still called them, were more content since being back in their hometown. They certainly hadn’t turned out to be the sons May had hoped for. She never expected one to be a thug and the other to be an alcoholic but she loved them still.
So here there were, men in their late thirties now. Jimmy still handsome with the look of George Clooney, and Billy just looking like his older brother.
Earlier in the day they had been sitting together having breakfast. Jimmy announced he had a date and was going to bring her home later.
Billy and May looked at him in amazement. He had been living like a monk.
‘What’s she like?’ asked his mum.
‘Oh, gorgeous. Long, silky reddish hair, long lashes. That sort of thing’.
Billy raised an eyebrow.
‘What is it, a dog, haha?’ and then said he was off for a run.
‘See you all later’.
May looked at her son: ‘You’re not getting a dog really, are you?’
Jimmy grinned. ‘See ya mum’.
Now as he sat looking at the sea, he smiled to himself. He was remembering his teenage dream which had been to go on a luxury cruise, to have a cabin that reflected his status as a rich man. What made him almost laugh aloud now was that at the age of thirty-seven he didn’t even have a passport.
While he sat there thinking, something on the beach caught his eye. A woman was shouting and running about. She was barely dressed. As he watched her pulling on jeans and then a jumper, he realised he recognised her.
‘Oh my God, it’s Sadie’.
He jumped up and ran down some steps onto the beach. The woman was still shouting into the air.
‘Sadie?’
This stopped her dead and she turned and looked at Jimmy. Not in a friendly way.
‘What you staring at? Can’t you see I’ve been robbed?’
‘Nice to see you too’ replied Jimmy ‘What’s happened?’
‘Some tosser’s stole my bag. I’m due an interview at the convenience store over there. Partied a bit last night, met up with Alfie, you’ll remember him. Seems like he stole my bag’.
‘Well, that wouldn’t be a surprise. Why are you still having anything to do with him? Come on walk over with me. I’ll get you a coffee’.
‘And toast’ Saide said cunningly.
‘Same old Sadie. Yes, and toast, Come on’.
Years ago, Jimmy and Sadie had been a thing. But their chaotic lifestyles just didn’t allow for a proper relationship. Jimmy knew Sadie had moved about a great deal, going from one disastrous situation to another but he hadn’t heard anything of her for the last three years. He looked at her and saw the same pretty face, madly coloured hair, streaked red and black but a much heavier frame.
‘You still on the drugs Sadie?’
She glared at him. ‘No’.
They walked over to a café and Jimmy ordered two coffees and toast for Sadie.
Sadie looked at Jimmy carefully and began to talk.
‘So, Jimmy, how you been?’ she asked with mock civility.
‘Oh, you know. Been looking after Billy. He’s off the booze, been two years now. Taken up fitness. Me, I’ve had some health problems but all OK now’.
They looked at each other in mock horror and both cackled with laughter.
‘What about you Sadie? How’s it been?’
‘I’ve been looking into my background. You remember I was adopted as a child. Well, I learnt my birth mother was a heroin addict, dead at 27, and I had a moment. I thought that’s going to happen to me if I don’t stop. I found her grave, and Jimmy, it was a pauper’s grave, there wasn’t even enough money to bury her properly. She’s in the ground with four other coffins. I’m not saying I’ve turned my life around but I am trying to work things out and move forward a bit’.
‘Where are you living now Sadie?’
‘Just up the road, in a bed sit. It’s ok for now’.
‘But why Margate?’
‘I was moved here for my own safety. I got mixed up with the wrong ones and had to run’.
Jimmy sighed. ‘You don’t learn do you Sadie. Best get off to your interview. Want to meet up after the interview. I’m getting me a new dog.’
‘Ok. See you in a bit. The job’ only for 15 hours so I can keep my benefits. But it’s a step forward’.
Jimmy walked back over to the bench and continued to look across over the bay. Strange to meet Sadie again after all this time. There was no spark there now but he did like her. He recognised her vulnerability and could admit to himself, that he had also exploited that a bit. Perhaps he could help her now.
‘I should set myself up as a care agency, that’s all I do now’. But he did recognise how satisfying that was, and he knew he’d lived a selfish life. Sorting Billy out was one of the best things he’d ever done’.
After about 20 minutes, Sadie came out of the shop and walked over to him.
‘I got the job. Five mornings, 3 hours a day. Exactly right for now. Just filling the shelves and if that works out, going on the till’.
‘Good for you Sadie. Right, let’s see about this dog. I’ve always wanted a dog, and saw the puppies in the pet shop. Just had to wait for all the vet checks to be done. See how responsible I’ve become’.
They both laughed and Sadie linked arms with Jimmy as they walked along.
‘Could be some work there for you if you’re into dog walking’.
Sadie looked at Jimmy sceptically but said ‘What’s the hourly rate?’
Jimmy stopped and looked at her.
‘God, you never change Sadie. Always on the make. Let’s say £10 an hour’.
As they approached the pet shop, Jimmy turned and said quietly,
‘I wouldn’t mind having a friend down here. I’ve been quite lonely. ‘
‘I know what you mean Jimmy’.
They walked into the pet shop together grinning at each other.