Parcel for You - Part 58

 

The following morning, Spencer woke up alone and found himself aggrieved by the sight of Cedric vacuuming the stairs again. He pushed past him towards the kitchen where Vanessa was already eating breakfast.

 

‘You got up before me this morning?’ he said in a dejected voice.

 

‘Yes, sorry Spencer, I couldn’t sleep. I don’t know what’s wrong with me at the moment. Things have been playing on my mind. Annie says it’s my age. Cedric seems to get up before both of us.’

 

‘He’s programmed like that. I really don’t think the stairs need vacuuming again this morning do you? He doesn’t seem to be able to think for himself like I do.’

 

Vanessa shrugged as she hugged her coffee cup in her hands. ‘He made me breakfast. It’s a good thing actually because I’ve got to go and pick Mother up in half an hour and take her for her hospital appointment.’

 

‘Oh what’s wrong with her?’

 

‘Nothing serious, just some blood tests. She’s been getting very tired recently. I might get her a cleaner, just someone to pop in once a week and take the pressure off.’

 

Spencer suddenly had an idea and instantly became excited about it. ‘Oh,’ he said, his eyes darting left and right.

 

‘What?’

 

‘I’ve just thought of something that’s all. I think I can solve all our problems, Vanessa..’

 

‘All our problems, how?’ she laughed.

 

Spencer lowered his voice, ‘We could give Cedric to June. He could live with her and cook for her, keep the house clean and then he wouldn’t have to stay here with us but we’d still be friends with him and June would be looked after. It’s the perfect solution!’

 

Vanessa screwed up her face and took in another mouthful of scrambled egg. ‘Mmm, I don’t know, Spencer.’

 

‘I thought you wanted him gone?’

 

‘I did..but I’m warming to him and there’s something about him that I think would make Mum feel uncomfortable.’

 

Spencer scratched his head as if puzzled and sat back in his seat. ‘I want you to think about it. If she’s struggling on her own in the house then it would be unfair to deprive her of this opportunity.’

 

Vanessa stared at her husband. It occurred to her that he was getting a bit too good at negotiation, or was it even manipulation? She shook her head thoughtfully and finished up her breakfast. ‘I’ve got to go. I’ll be back by mid to late afternoon. Keep an eye on Cedric, don’t let him work too hard will you.’

 

Cedric was in the hallway, gathering up the lead of the vacuum cleaner and circling it around the handles so he could pack it neatly away beneath the stairs. He was in Vanessa’s way but he didn’t move. ‘Excuse me Cedric,’ she said awkwardly.

 

He looked at her and for a second, his eyes appeared to uncross and held her in focus but he didn’t budge. Vanessa waited, she didn’t want to raise her voice or upset him because she was unsure of how he’d respond. She turned her back towards him and shimmied past in the gap between him and the wall. 

 

Maybe I should give him to Mum, she thought as she shut the front door. She imagined what June would do in that position, probably whack him with an umbrella to get him to move out of the way. 

 

With Vanessa out of the house, Spencer decided that he had to speak to Cedric about the division of household chores. He reminded himself that he was the husband, the man of the house and therefore he should be in charge of how things are managed.

 

Cedric was curled up on a chair in the kitchen, holding his milk frother which he was switching on and off with rhythmical timing. 

 

‘Hey mate,’ Spencer said but he was completely ignored. ‘I just wanted to talk to you about the cooking and cleaning, you see…this is my home and I want you to be more like a guest than a member of staff so I was thinking, for now, I’ll cook and wash up and you can do the vacuuming and empty the bins.’

 

Cedric froze for a moment then slowly shook his head. ‘I’m the husband,’ he said defiantly.

 

‘No, I’m the husband in this house. I don’t mind if you want to show me some of your recipes and…tricks but I am cooking from now on because that’s what things were like before you came to live here.’

 

Cedric smiled and then got up and shot out of the front door, slamming it behind him. Spencer caught sight of the top of his head as he walked off down the street in the same direction that he’d gone in the day before. He was tempted to dash out and follow him but there was something about his manner that Spencer didn’t want to be seen with. 

 

He hoped that he wouldn’t return as he switched on the laptop and began to research how to defeat a love rival, how to get rid of an unwanted house guest, how to regain power over somebody who assumes the upper hand. It was a can of worms, a minefield of information and opinions and none of it really helped very much, except possibly the bit about spoiling your beloved with gifts and gestures.

 

The morning passed by and he did a bit of dusting and went into the garden to see Charlie who was still sleeping in the neighbour’s greenhouse, refusing to enter the house. A half past two he began to feel quite hopeful that Vanessa would return before Cedric and he could tell her all about how the new house guest had gone out by himself and how he was a liability.

 

However, just after three, Cedric returned with a bunch of flowers and various items stuffed into his top causing his torso to bulge out in different sized lumps and protrusions. He knocked on the door and seemed in a great hurry as Spencer held open the door for him, striding into the kitchen and lifting his top so that all the groceries spilled out onto the table.

 

There was a pot of cream, some tomatoes and expensive looking cheese, some fresh herbs and portobello mushrooms. ‘Get out,’ he said to Spencer as he began to get pots and pans out of the cupboards.

 

Spencer was out of his depth now. He wasn’t sure what the consequences would be if he stood his ground and refused to leave. Slowly he backed out and stood in the hall thinking. He suddenly experienced a desire to turn back time, to return to the moment when he invited Cedric to come and stay with him to get him off the streets. He played out in his imagination, what he would have done differently, leaving him behind, wishing him well.

 

Regret was something he’d only learned about when he was researching human emotions. He’d felt something close to jealousy and now he was experiencing regret, the desire to go back combined with the choke of not being able to.

 

Vanessa’s car pulled up outside and he could hear her chatting to her mother as they got out and walked towards the house. He decided he would definitely tell Vanessa about Cedric’s behaviour, probably after June had left.

 

‘Oh, I’ve been so looking forward to seeing you and Cedric, my boys…and I’ve heard all about his cooking!’ June said as she squeezed Spencer’s arm, ‘I can smell something nice now. Is he in the kitchen already?’

 

‘Yes he’s through there, go and see him. I’m sure he’d love to see you.’ Spencer waited until Vanessa was close to him and then whispered, ‘I need to speak to you.’

 

‘Okay, what about?’

 

‘Him!’

 

Vanessa rolled her eyes. ‘Later,’ she said.

 

Spencer stayed in the lounge while Vanessa and her mother fussed around Cedric, cooing over his culinary skills, June’s voice rising to a shriek every now and then. He waited with his head in his hands, biding his time, rehearsing what he was going to say to Vanessa. Perhaps he would give her an ultimatum; either Cedric leaves or he does.

 

June stayed for dinner and the fawning continued. ‘Oh, isn’t he wonderful, Vanessa. Just think if Spencer hadn’t rescued him off the streets then would never have got to taste this wonderful Italian food. I don’t suppose he’s told you where he learnt to cook like this..’

 

‘No, he doesn’t speak as such, Mum, at least not to me.’

 

‘I suppose you can’t have everything in a man.’

 

Spencer sat in silence, sulking as the two women ignored him. Occasionally Cedric would glance at him with a slight look of triumph. Somehow he simultaneously managed to project an image of both power and helplessness which appeared to be irresistible to both women.

 

After dinner, Cedric took care of the clearing up and Vanessa drove her mother home. Spencer was primed, ready to take Vanessa into a private space and tell her everything about Cedric, hopeful that his story would be believed. He saw the headlights of her car outside and stood by the front door but she didn’t get out. He waited and waited, even opening the front door a crack but Vanessa was still in the driver's seat, scrolling through her phone, not looking up for a second.

 

Several minutes went by and when she eventually entered the house, she had a very worried expression on her face.

 

‘Vanessa, can we talk now? I need to tell you something about Cedric..’

 

Vanessa held his gaze and then grabbed his wrist. ‘I know,’ she whispered, ‘I’ve just had a message from Annie.’

 

‘From Annie?’

 

‘Yes,’ Vanessa dragged him upstairs, still whispering and looking very distressed as they entered their bedroom and she shut the door behind them.

 

‘Annie’s not in the country is she?’

 

‘No but she follows our local Facebook pages,’ Vanessa typed something into her phone and passed it to Spencer.

 

There was a post about a cross-eyes man shoplifting valuable groceries from Waitrose, stealing a bunch of flowers from outside the local petrol station and doing something inappropriate in the local park.