Cwmderi Diary 2016: 8 July 2016

Dani is tidying up

Dani is tidying up when she comes across two of Chester’s pictures;

Chester's 'existential' drawings

she shows them to Garry, but he comments, “That’s what fifteen-year-old boys are like are like – existential – they like to dabble with the dark side.

"Didn't you go through a Goth stage?"

“Didn’t you go through a Goth stage?”

Dani considers that he is not taking this seriously, but he tells her, “If you’re so worried, why did you send his mother off with ‘lover boy’?”

"He needs a man he can trust!"

She insists that Chester does not need his mother, but rather a man who he can trust to help him through this stuff.

"Worrying will give you wrinkles!"

“All this worrying will give you wrinkles!” he says.

Tyler is home from school

Iolo is ironing when Tyler returns from a hard day’s teaching, and tells him the table at Cwm Delhi is booked for six.

Tyler does not know what he is talking about

Tyler looks at him blankly, and says he does not want to go. “But it was your idea – a pint and a curry,” protests Iolo; Tyler cannot remember doing that.

A message from Dani

His phone rings, and he has to go and see Dani at the Deri.

"We have things to discuss"

“I was looking forward to spending time with you – we have things to discuss,” pleads Iolo, but Tyler leaves.

"My tongue feels like a shagpile carpet!"

Dol arrives back at Maes-y-Deri, together with Debbie, complaining, “My tongue feels like a shagpile carpet – I need a cup of tea!” Apparently, she has been to Ponty to bury ‘Smooth Operator’; she explains to Vicky,

Burying a dog?

“A Labradoodle - the loveliest one you’ve ever seen. Gorgeous – poor old thing!” Vicky enquires if there is no phone signal at Ponty.

Vicky texts Anita

She sends a text to Anita, to inform her that Dol is back.

“I shall be seeing Anita soon, at Clwb Cloncan, (chat club)” says Dol,

"Bring the tea to me in the bath"

“Bring up my cup of tea to the bathroom!”

"The club should be less formal"

Anita is at the Deri when she receives it. Ffion considers that the club should have a less formal structure; “It’s just a chance to practise the language.”

"I'm worried about Chester"

Tyler walks in and grumpily demands if this is important; Dani is worried about Chester and wants to know how he is getting on at school. He informs her, “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but Gaynor had a meeting with him this morning, and he is being monitored. If Gaynor was concerned, she would have contacted Britt.”

"Can we relax and enjoy the weekend?"

Garry hopes this has set her mind at rest; “Happy now? Can we relax and enjoy the weekend?”

Siôn is once more taking it easy

Siôn is asleep on the sofa when a text tone wakes him;

The video of a vase of flowers being smashed

he has been sent a video, of a vase of flowers in Bethania being dropped on the floor, where it smashes. Anxious, he grabs his jacket and leaves the house.

"Have I done something to upset you?"

Iolo joins Tyler at the Deri bar; “What’s wrong? Have I done something to upset you?” he asks, but Tyler urges him to stop fussing. He does not want a pint, and does not even want to be there. Iolo protests, “But you invited me here!”

"We don't have to spend every minute together!"

“We don’t have to spend every minute together!” moans Tyler.

"They're monitoring Chester"

Dani is concerned that the school is monitoring Chester, but Garry argues that they do that to a lot of kids, and that Chester is fine.

Garry receives the video

Then he receives a text, the same video that was sent to Siôn, and rushes out of the Deri.

An arsonist at work

At Bethania, in the vestry, a lighter sets fire to a funeral order of service, and it is dropped into a bin.

"You got the message too?"

Outside, Siôn and Garry approach the chapel; “You got the message too?” asks Garry, and Siôn wants to know what he is up to.

They enter Bethania

They walk in and are greeted by the sight of Chester in the pulpit, holding a lighter and the petrol can.

"They burn in hell!"

“You know what happens to people who lie?” he pronounces, “They burn in hell!”

"Put them down, and we can talk"

Garry and Siôn look at each other, then urge Chester to put those things down, so they can talk.

"You've had loads of chances!"

“No! You’ve had loads of chances,” Chester replies, I want to hear you say it – that you knew the gun was there! I heard you and Dani talking – you both knew it was there. That gun nearly killed Mam – just say it was your fault!”

"You were the one waving the gun around!"

Garry protests that it was Chester waving the gun around, but he is insistent, “I want to hear you say this is all your fault!

"If it weren't for you, there wouldn't have been a gun!"

“If it weren’t for you, there would not have been a gun, Mam wouldn’t have been in a coma for weeks, I wouldn’t have been arrested and gone to stay with Ffion. It was all your fault, Garry!”

"All right – the gun was my fault!"

Garry admits that the gun in the chapel was his fault,

"Put the petrol down!"

and Siôn urges Chester to put down the petrol can, so he turns his attention to Siôn.

"Tell the truth like a good Christian!"

“What about you? Come on, Siôn, take responsibility for your actions, Siôn; you always preach to others – you’re right all the time – tell the truth like a good Christian!”

"I wish I could turn the clock back"

Siôn admits he wishes he could turn the clock back, but there are some things that cannot be fixed. He pleads with Chester to come down from the pulpit before things go too far; “You’re right – Garry and I let you down, but there’s a way back from all this, so think about your Mam and give me the petrol.”

In the struggle, Garry is doused in petrol

Garry, who has been moving stealthily towards the pulpit, shouts, “I’ve had enough of this!” and lunges towards Chester. In the ensuing struggle, petrol is splashed over Garry,

"Look what you've done!"

and he exclaims, “Look what you’ve done!”

"Give it to me, please, Chester!"

Chester looks at the lighter, and Garry is scared; “Chester, give it to me – please, Chester – what do you want? Tell me what you want!”

"What's so important, then?"

In the Deri, Dol finds Anita, and demands what is so important. Anita tells her that while she has been away, she had drink with Sam, and one thing led to another.

Anita tells of a whirlwind romance . . .

“It turns out we’ve both liked each other for a while! Life’s too short when you get to our age, so I wanted to tell you before you heard from someone else.”

. . . and Dol is unimpressed

Dol, although glowering at her, says nothing.

"What can we talk about today?"

Clwb Cloncan begins with Ffion suggesting they change the format, and asks for ideas about what they can talk about.

"What's the Welsh for 'Betrayal'?"

Dol speaks up; “What’s the Welsh for ‘betrayal’?”

"He's been behaving weirdly"

Iolo tells Dani that Tyler has been acting weirdly for several days,

"Perhaps the stress of teaching?"

and Dani puts it down to the stress of teaching. “He is tired of me,” says Iolo, “I thought we were meant to be together, but he does not feel the same.

"I bet he finishes with me before the end of term!"

“I bet he finishes with me before the end of term!”

Dol explains what 'really gets her goat'

Dol is getting personal; “What really hurts is that they thought I couldn’t be happy for two mates who found each other late in life – so much so that they pretended they haven’t been seeing each other for months. That’s what really hurt! I was happy for you and Sam – but now, you can burn in . . .” she appeals to Ffion for the right Welsh word. It is ‘uffern’ – hell.

"You stuck-up old cow!"

Dol finishes her sentence with, “You stuck-up old cow!”

"We can forget it – you've made your point"

In the chapel, Siôn asks, “How is this going to end, Chester? If you come down now from there, we can forget all of this, it will be over – you’ve made your point.”

Chester is very emotional

Chester is almost in tears.

Garry promises that they can sort all this out; Chester’s response is, “Do you seriously expect me to trust you after everything?”

"Go on then – use that lighter!"

Garry’s mood changes, as he snarls, “Go on then – use that lighter! If he wants to feel sorry for himself, he might as well finish the job! Come on, that’s what you want, isn’t it?”

"Look – fire in the vestry!"

Siôn suddenly notices flames in the vestry, and Garry at first intends to try and tackle the blaze, remembering when Brandon died,

"You're soaked with petrol!"

but Siôn points out he is soaked in petrol. Instead, Garry stumbles outside to raise the alarm, while Siôn continues to plead with Chester.

"Sorry I spoiled the club"

Outside the Deri, Anita apologises for spoiling the club,

Smoke emitting from the vestry

then they notice smoke coming from the vestry door,

Anita phones for the fire service

and Anita phones for the fire service. Ffion rushes towards Bethania as Garry emerges;

Garry comes out of the chapel

he warns them that Chester and Siôn are still inside

"Go, and leave me here!"

Chester urges Siôn to go, but he will not leave alone. Chester is scared of the consequences of his actions, but Siôn warns him they cannot be avoided;

"I've let you down, Chester – I'm sorry!"

“That’s why you wanted me to come over, wasn’t it? Because I wronged you and your mother. I’ve let you down, Chester, I’ve let everyone down, and God. I’m sorry!” He sinks to the floor, overcome by smoke. Chester puts down the petrol can, and tries to help Siôn.