Scrap 49

SCRAP 49
‘Let me in, Ivy, I’m getting soaked out here in the rain.’ Bettina has arrived at the canteen just before 6am in time to get everything ready for when they open at seven, but the back door is locked and she has not yet been trusted with a key. She knows that Ivy is inside because the lights are on, so she knocks as loudly as she can and keeps calling out. Eventually a dishevelled Ivy turns the key to let her in, and Bettina almost falls flat on her face tripping over the doorstep.
Ivy seems flushed and out of breath as Bettina removes her coat and shakes the rain off, muttering to herself about the awful weather. She is shocked to see a man step out from the store room, buckling up the belt on his jeans. ‘Ivy, you haven’t……’ Bettina’s face turns bright pink. Brett laughs at her embarrassment, ‘don’t worry love, there’s plenty left for you.’ She marches off to the toilet and locks the door behind her. Good grief, the woman is old enough to be his grandmother. Do they have no shame?
When she eventually emerges from the safety of the cubicle, Bettina sees that Brett has left, thank goodness, and Ivy is spreading margarine onto slices of white bread as if nothing has happened. The radio is playing loudly so she gets started on the morning chores in silence. The local news is being read out and the two women listen. There are the usual snippets of information then an item regarding the hold-up on the M2 the night before. Apparently a lorry wheel hit a car, killing the passenger and severely injuring the driver of a Lincoln Continental car. The American couple were starting the last leg of their European tour before returning to the States. They say the motorway was closed for six hours, causing chaos. Ivy wonders if any of the local lads were caught up in the jam which followed. No wonder there are no lorries in the queue yet.
The drivers drift in over the next hour or so, Ivy opens up early to save them waiting in the rain. There is much talk of the accident on the M2, which has caused many delays with deliveries. Ivy says she feels sorry for the Americans. She was friendly with many American servicemen during the war and feels some sort of affinity with them. Bettina is not surprised to learn of Ivy’s wartime romances, especially after what she witnessed this morning.
Frank is loading crates of oranges onto his trailer when Harry Tobin drives up in his Land Rover. ‘Morning Frank,’ says Harry, through the open window, ‘Ken Chapman said you might be able to get hold of a wheel and tyre for my Scammel trailer.’ Frank jumps down from the trailer and puts his head in through the window. The rain has stopped but he is a bit deaf and needs to get close to hear. ‘I may have one,’ he agrees, ‘how soon do you want it?’ Harry tells him that someone stole a wheel from Ginger’s trailer and the soppy twit didn’t notice until he got back to the yard and found that the tyre next to the missing one had been stripped of its tread trying to cope with the extra load. Typical of him to drive out the yard without checking the vehicle. ‘Seems there has been a spate of wheel thefts of late,’ Harry continues. Frank says he will bring one round to his yard once he has finished loading.
Scotty has not returned from his deliveries so Frank doesn’t bother going to the canteen. Instead he drives to his lock-up in town, loads up a spare wheel and takes it to Harry Tobin. Ginger is still at the yard, washing down the tractor unit. His son is fast asleep across the engine cover. ‘I was lucky to miss that accident,’ he says as Frank saunters over to inspect the damage. ‘It must have happened only minutes after I passed by. We had a narrow squeak though when someone cut us up. I had to tread on the brakes for all I was worth. The boy nearly hit the dashboard; he was a bit shaken up.’
‘I saw the car being loaded onto a truck as I came past,’ says Frank, ‘it was in a bit of a state. They say it ended up on its roof. Poor sods, bet they didn’t know what hit them.’
Harry inspects the wheel and tyre, pronounces it fit and pays Frank in cash for it. ‘Thanks for this Frank; you can’t get this size too easily nowadays. I’m thinking of getting rid of that old trailer and buying one of those Tilts. It’s about time I brought the fleet up to date.’
‘I hear you’ve got Beanpole working for you again,’ says Frank, ‘you gonna sign him up for his licence?’ Harry leads Frank away out of Ginger’s earshot. ‘I said I’ll do what I can for him, you know,’ he says, in a low voice. ‘I don’t suppose anyone will check anyway. There must be thousands of blokes getting signed up who shouldn’t be; what difference will one more make?’ Reluctantly, Frank has to agree, though he is still smarting at having to pay Ken Chapman in order to get his own licence. ‘How do you get on with Ginger?’ he asks. Harry looks to the skies and shakes his head, ‘he’s not my favourite person at the moment, as you can guess, but he’s alright and he does have a family to feed. You just have to be careful what you say to him.’
Frank bids him goodbye and drives back to his flat, via the corner shop, where he buys essentials for a good fry-up, which is just what he needs before getting his head down.
The moment she hears his key in the lock, the landlady, who lives in the ground floor flat, darts into the hall. ‘There was a woman here asking after you,’ she says, ‘I hope you’re not bringing trouble to my house.’ Frank assures her that he will do no such thing, but he is not happy that his sister has discovered his whereabouts. ‘She left a message,’ says the landlady, ‘says the wedding is fixed for Saturday and she wants you there at twelve sharp. But remember I told you, no pets and no kids, and she is obviously pregnant.’ Frank explains that Norah is his sister and she will not be moving in with him. Also he has no intention of attending her nuptials, but he doesn’t tell the landlady that.