12 May 2016

Gwern is on his way home from school

Gwyneth has just picked Gwern up from school for the last time when Gethin chases after her;  “You’ll be settled in by the time he joins you at the end of term,” he tells her.   

"It's difficult leaving him!"

She knows that it is only a few weeks, but she is finding it difficult, leaving him.

"You know Mam loves you, don't you?"

Gwyneth tells Gwern, “You know Mam loves you, don’t you?”

He runs along the pavement, shouting, “Love you too!”

Iolo comes to lend a hand

Iolo arrives at Y Felin, where there are piles of boxes everywhere;  Siôn would like him to go through a few things, in case he wants to keep them.

Britt waits for the verdict

Britt waits for the governors’ meeting to end;  

"I don't think he should be expelled"

Ffion passes and assures her, “I’m sure they wont be much longer.   I don’t have a clue how the meeting is going – personally, I don’t think he should be expelled.”   Britt hopes that the governors think likewise.

Courtney is not used to hangovers

Courtney is feeling the effects of the night before, and Eifion remembers, 

"I was sick as a dog"

“I got drunk on whisky when I was your age – I was sick as a dog and couldn’t touch the stuff for years!”

"Do you have to?"

She urges him to stop, as he is turning her rather fragile stomach.

“Thanks for phoning school for me – I couldn’t face going in,” she tells him, then pleads, 

"You won't tell Dad, will you?"

“You won’t tell Dad, will you?   Eifion assures her that he does not have to know about the vodka, but it would be better if she told him she was seeing Mathew.

“He’d only make a fuss!” she insists, 

"He'll make a bigger fuss if someone else tells him!"

but he warns her that her Dad would make a bigger fuss if someone else tells him.

"Is that me in that photo?"

Iolo is looking at an old photo, and wondering if that is him;  “Unless we brought the wrong boy home with us from France!” Siôn answers.   

Iolo reminisces

Then he tells Gwyneth, “He was a bit of a handful when he was five!”   

It is all getting too much for Gwyneth

He sees that Gwyneth has been crying and asks if Gwern was upset.

"Have a cup of tea"

“He was fine – it was me in pieces,” she sniffs, 

A comforting hug from Siôn 

and Siôn hugs her.

Britt is becoming impatient, but then Gaynor emerges from the meeting and takes Britt into her office.   

"He'll get a final written warning"

“Chester won’t be expelled, but it’s only fair he receives a final written warning.   The school will not accept this sort of behaviour in future, and it is his last chance at Ysgol y Mynach.”

"There's a lot of tension under the surface"

Britt is relieved by this, but Gaynor is not finished;  “It’s not the first time Chester has got himself into trouble.   It’s obvious, watching him, that there’s a lot of tension under the surface – he should talk to the school counsellor.   He needs help, or he’ll leave this school a very angry young man.”

"Are you saying there's something wrong with him?"

Britt asks, “Are you trying to say there’s something wrong with him?   Has anything else happened?   Gaynor is reluctant to mention it, but discloses that there has been trouble between Chester and Tomos – 

"He was fighting a couple of weeks ago"

fighting, a couple of weeks ago.   

"I'll sort Chester out!"

Britt realises what has happened and rushes out, telling Gaynor, “Don’t organise anything with the counsellor – I’ll sort Chester out!”

"That was a bit on the heavy side!"

Siôn and Iolo bring a heavy box of books downstairs;  as his father goes back up to unscrew a cupboard from the wall, 

"How are you really feeling?"

Iolo asks Gwyneth if she is all right.   

"Part of me doesn't want to go"

She tells him, “It was so hard, leaving Gwern – he was so brave this morning – part of me really doesn’t want to go!”

Iolo agrees that he does not want her or Siôn to go;  

"I don't know what I'll do without Dad!"

“Dad has always been there for me – I don’t know what I’ll do without him – in my state!”

"I'm all over the place!"

Courtney admits to Eifion, “I’m all over the place – I’ve been telling myself that I’m fine, but I’m not!   I feel guilty I have not been in touch with her, but I really don’t want to.”   

"It was her decision to leave"

He reminds her that Angela was the one who decided to leave, and there is nothing to say they cannot be friends again sometime in the future.

“Why don’t you send her a message now – to say you’ll be in touch when you’re ready,” he suggests, 

Courtney sends a quick text to her Mam

and she does so.   “She may not answer immediately,” he adds, 

"That was quick!

but at that moment the text tone sounds.

But it is not good news

She is devastated to see that it is in fact a text from Mathew;  “He’s dumped me!” she wails.

Iolo is amused by the multicoloured spreadsheet

Siôn has compiled a spreadsheet of everything that needs to be done, and finds that a bag of rubbish is still to go to the dump.   There is a knock at the door and Siôn assumes the removals men have arrived early.

"It's about Chester!"

However it is Britt, who apologises, “Sorry to disturb you – I know you’re busy.   It’s about Chester!”   Gwyneth and Iolo decide to take the rubbish to the dump.

"What would you do?"

“I had to talk to someone!” Britt continues, “He hasn’t been expelled, but I’ve just realised how much of a liar my son is!   He’s lied about Ffion, lied about you, now about Garry hitting him, but it was a boy in school!   What would you do?   How would you handle him?”

"Chester is a mystery"

Siôn replies, “I’m not the right person to ask about Chester – he is a mystery, I don’t know what more I can say.”   Britt wonders why she went there in the first place, tells him to forget about it and leaves.

"She ought to say goodbye to (the alleged) Tad-Cu"

Ffion arrives home from school, intending to take Arwen to say goodbye to Siôn, but she is having a nap;  “She is his grand-daughter, after all!” Ffion says.

"He's not being expelled"

Gaynor comes in to tell Ffion that Chester is not going to be expelled;  

"He has enough problems with that family of his"

“I’m glad – he has enough problems with that family of his,” she responds.

"Shall I talk to Mathew?"

Eifion offers to talk to Mathew, but Courtney does not want this.   “I feel like such a fool,” she admits, but Eifion replies that he is the fool, not realising how special Courtney is.   

Then there is a text from Angela . . .

A text from Angela arrives, and she shows it to him.

. . . which Eifion reads

“She understands perfectly – that’s great!” exclaims Eifion, then adds, “Do you want to hear a secret?   When your mother was ‘ill’, do you know what I did to deal with it?   

"I handed out more parking tickets!"

“I made sure I gave people more parking tickets – even a few who didn’t deserve them!”   

"Eifion, that's awful!"

Courtney describes this as awful.

“It was a way of taking my mind off things,” he tells her, “Concentrate on work.   I know you feel terrible – and I’m sorry if I sound like your Dad – but the best way to get over it is concentrate on your exams – keep your mind busy and forget about Mathew.   There will be lots of boys queueing up to go out with you – and your Mam will wait until you’re ready.”

Chester's face is contorted with rage

In the flat, Chester is viciously ripping pages from a file and throwing them to the floor, but he stops abruptly 

"Oi!   Pick them up – now!"

when Britt’s voice thunders, “Oi!   Pick them up – now!   I’ll write a letter saying you’ve lost your file.”   He replies that school is stupid.

Britt tells him, “You’ve got another chance!   You don’t know how lucky you are!   

"Why did you lie about Garry hitting you?"

“Why did you lie about Garry hitting you?”   

"I didn't!"

He denies that he did.

“Haven’t you had enough of lying?” she demands;  he tries to leave, but she stops him.   

A motherly hug

He looks at her pathetically, and she hugs him.

Y Felin is virtually empty now, as the van has been loaded up;  Ffion, Arwen and Gaynor arrive to bid Siôn and Gwyneth goodbye.   

Little Arwen cannot quite face it

When Ffion prompts Arwen, “What have you got to say to Grand-dad?” she goes all shy, and Ffion has to say it for her, “Ta-ta, Tad-cu!”

Chester makes excuses

“I was afraid you’d be angry with me about Ffion – that’s why I lied about Garry,” whimpers Chester.   

Britt points out he started it all

Britt reminds him that if he had not lied about Ffion in the first place, none of this would have happened, and warns him that he cannot point the finger at people when things go wrong.   He alleges that he has learned his lesson.

"Go back to school – to keep your mother happy"

“Will you go back to school tomorrow?   You can’t stay at home.   You’ve got a lot in that head of yours, don’t waste it.   Please, give it a go – to keep your mother happy, what do you say?”   He nods, without conviction.

Siôn is overcome with emotion . . .

Y Felin is empty, except for the one box of photos;  Siôn sits on the floor and looks through it, in tears.   

. . . as is Gwyneth

Gwyneth enters, also crying;  “I’ve been so selfish, putting everyone through this – Gwern and Garry, Iolo and you!” she wails.

"I thought that is what you wanted"

He thought that this was what she wanted, but she replies, 

"But is it what you want?"

“But is it what you want?   If it is, fine – but if it isn’t, we don’t have to go.”   He looks at the box of photos and then back at her, gets up and rushes out of the house.

“Sorry, boys – put everything back – we’re not going!   I’ll sort it out with your boss!”

Disgruntled comments can be heard outside

As he walks back in, an angry voice can be heard outside, “You’re joking!   We’ve only just finished loading!   What’s wrong with you?”

Gwyneth asks, “Are you sure?” and he resolutely states that this is where they belong.   They hug each other – and laugh.