Scrap CH TWO part 45

CH TWO 45
Danny Casey has been away ‘on business’ for six days but nobody questions him on his return and he offers no information. He has, however, put on several pounds in weight due to his high intake of Guinness whilst in conference with his associates. Rosa knows better than to mention his expanding waistline but his jeans are looking very strained as he climbs up into the magnet crane to begin work for the day. She has more important things on her mind as she steers the unit and trailer out the gates and onto the track which leads to the main road. Baby Jason is asleep in the carrycot on the floor as usual and Orla is getting ready to go out with her son on some mysterious mission which is being keeping secret even from her.
As she drives further and further from the yard, the stress begins to lift and she turns on the radio for company. Oh dear, it’s Country and Western again but even that is better than the sound of bickering or worse still the sound of silent brooding. She is worried about Jason: he has been more and more withdrawn these last few months and their mother believes it is due to the difficult relationship which has developed between him and Danny. He isn’t the easiest of men to get along with but Rosa feels there is more to it than that.
The engine noise sooths Rosa and soon she is humming along to the radio and concentrating on the road. Driving she can deal with, people are far more complicated.
Orla insists on handing a mug of tea up to her son-in-law before telling him she is going out with Jason and will not be back for a while. Danny takes the peace offering, nods to the pair and turns back to his task of loading the crushing machine, a job in which he takes great satisfaction.
After twenty minutes or so Jason leaves the main road and turns onto the rutted track which leads down to the disused quarry. An almost new 24ft caravan has been sited some 60ft behind the high chain link fence. He stops at the gates, gets out and unlocks the padlock, removes the new chain and swings the gates open. He drives over the threshold and stops the truck, turns off the engine and smiles at his mother. ‘Welcome to my kingdom,’ he announces proudly, ‘twenty eight acres or thereabouts and one temporary home with all modern conveniences. The water was connected yesterday and the electricity should be on by now, so come inside and take a look.
They climb the steps and Jason unlocks the caravan door, goes inside and takes off his muddy boots. Orla frowns as she feels obliged to remove her shoes also even though he has never shown the same courtesy in her home. They take a tour of the two bedrooms; bathroom, kitchen and dinette then go through to the large living room and sit by the big picture window which overlooks the yard. ‘So this is where you’ve been spending all your spare time,’ says Orla as her eyes take in the spotless interior with its modern fittings. Jason tries a light switch and is delighted to see that it works; the connection must have been made as planned. He opens the front of one of the built-in cupboards to reveal a colour television, which is more than Orla has at her house. He switches it on and the test card comes up on the screen. ‘It works too,’ he says, ‘they think of everything these days; it’s almost like moving into a new bungalow, don’t you agree Ma?’
Orla is wondering where her son has found the money to pay for all this but decides not to ask; he is probably mortgaged to the hilt and she hopes he can afford to make the repayments because he won’t be getting any help from her. Since Danny’s arrival her spending ability has been drastically reduced but she will not let on to anyone because pride will not allow it. ‘It’s wonderful,’ she says, ‘congratulations son and I hope it works out for you but where will you make your money? These gravel pits were worked out years ago and I don’t see what you can use the land for.’
Jason takes some papers out from one of the drawers and beckons his mother to the dinette table where he spreads the plans out before her. ‘This here I’m going to line with clay which will be brought in from where they are digging out footings for all the new houses going up. Once it has filled with rain water and settled I’ll stock it with fish and people will pay to come and catch them. The beauty of it is that once they are finished for the day all the fish go back into the lake and they start again from scratch the next day. It’s money for nothing because the contractors have to pay me for the privilege of tipping the spoil in the first place.’
Orla studies the plans and nods her approval; ‘what are you going to do with the rest of the land?’ She asks, indicating the large areas up to 30ft deep from where all the usable gravel has been worked out. ‘It will be offered to the local council for landfill,’ says Jason, ‘genius isn’t it? I buy a hole in the ground and get paid to let someone else fill it. I’ve already spoken to the council and they are all for it so there won’t be any problem getting planning permission.’
A GPO van pulls up outside and the driver gets out. Jason struggles into his boots and greets him. So he can afford a telephone too, thinks Orla, lucky him. She puts her shoes on and steps out into the sunlight. The engineer is already preparing to climb the newly installed telegraph pole and Jason says it will take him about an hour to get the job done so he will show her round the property and leave him to do the job. He babbles away as they saunter along, but Orla is only half listening: there’s something her son is not telling her and she can’t decide whether or not she wants to know what it is. Sometimes it’s best to let sleeping dogs lie.