Page 53 of Common People

‘Food’s all blindin’!’ said Joe from across the patio. ‘Even the veggie stuff I’m forced to eat.’

Max filled his plate high with a little bit of everything, although he would definitely be back for seconds, and maybethirds. Charlie returned with a can of beer for each of them, before Max settled in with everyone else to enjoy his food. It had been a stressful, emotional week, and it felt good to be sitting in the sunshine in Anita’s lovely garden, with friends, eating some delicious Indian food. Max felt himself relaxing. He had long chats with Hope, Joe, and he even had a reasonably normal conversation with Bethan, which hinted at the possibility of them being able to be just friends for the time being.

Since his conversation with Jane, Max had been thinking about taking some time and going away for a month or so. He would need to speak with work, to see if they would be open to letting him take a sabbatical, but if they would, maybe it was just what he needed. Truth be told, there wasn’t much keeping him in London at that moment. He had Common People, but after the Clapham Half, taking some time away wouldn’t be the end of the world. He had the sandwich shop, but once it was open, Robbie could manage that without him for a while. His job would still be there once he got back, and things with Bethan were currently on hold, so spending a month travelling might be just what he needed to have a good think about what might come next. Perhaps some distance and space might give him the clarity of mind to make some big decisions.

The afternoon slowly crept into early evening, and most of the food had been eaten, and people were focusing more on drinking and talking. With some of the food being quite spicy, Max had found the cold beer had really been going down well. Charlie was clearly drunk, and with Hope, Joe and Anita not drinking alcohol at all, they were beginning to slowly wind the night down before any more alcohol was consumed. Max was feeling a little drunk himself, and he knew he needed to stop.

Max had just returned from the toilet, when he saw Charlie talking with a clearly uncomfortable looking Bethan. Max didn’t hesitate for a moment, spurred on by alcohol and the needto protect Bethan, he marched across like a knight in shining armour to protect his damsel in distress. At least that’s what he thought in his mind.

‘You all right?’ he asked Bethan straight away.

Bethan looked at Max, and he could see straight away that she wasn’t OK. She may have been good at masking, the conversation about her ADHD came back to him, but he could see the look in her eyes. She wanted out of that conversation, whatever it was about.

‘Yeah, fine,’ she replied.

‘I was just talking about a bloody boyfriend, that’s all, and she got all weird about it,’ said Charlie. ‘I just wanted to know—’

‘Maybe just leave it alone, yeah?’ said Max.

‘Max, I don’t need you—’ said Bethan, but Charlie immediately interrupted her.

‘A simple question, Bethan, that’s all. I wasn’t asking you to bloody well recite the works of Shakespeare,’ said Charlie, aggressively. ‘What’s the problem?’

‘Not a problem,’ said Bethan. ‘I’m going to leave the conversation now.’

‘Yeah, fine, whatever, walk away,’ said Charlie, before he took a sip of his beer.

‘Don’t be a dickhead, Charlie,’ said Max, taking a step toward him. ‘Just leave her alone.’

‘Oh, what, you’re her bodyguard now, are you, Chunder Boy? Just because you want to fuck her.’

‘What did you say?’ said Max, feeling a sudden burst of anger towards Charlie.

‘Stop it,’ said Bethan, stepping back in again. ‘He’s not worth it, Max. He’s drunk.’

‘What’s happening?’ said Eve, suddenly appearing on the scene.

‘Oh, here she is,’ slurred Charlie. ‘Can’t keep her Irish feckin’ nose out of it.’

‘Oh, shut up, you big baby,’ replied Eve.

‘I was just asking Bethan about her relationship status, that’s all, and she got all fucking weird about it.’

‘She probably didn’t want to answer your daft feckin’ questions,’ said Eve.

‘Can we all just leave it alone, and move on, please,’ said Bethan firmly, and for a moment it seemed that the conversation was over. Everyone began taking small steps away from the situation, leaving it behind because no-one wanted to make it any worse. They’d all had a few drinks, tempers had flared, but at the end of the day, they were in run club together, and they were there to support each other. Max had taken a step towards the house, when he heard Charlie say, under his breath.

‘Probably a shit fuck anyway.’

‘What did you say?’ said Max, turning to face Charlie, who smiled at him.

‘Come on, Max, mate. Just a bit of bants.’

‘What did you fucking say?’

Charlie laughed, and Max felt Bethan coming towards him, Eve had stopped, and he felt a similar anger as he had when he had Barry by the arm in the graveyard. He was tired of people taking and taking, of feeling like there was nothing he could control in his life. He was tired of people like Charlie, who swanned through life, being awful and making disgusting comments under the guise of “just a bit of bants”. Bethan had been through so much, felt so much pain, and she shouldn’t have to deal with dickheads like Charlie, making rude derogatory comments about her, just because they were feeling insecure about themselves.

Max faced Charlie, and in one moment he shoved him backwards, and Charlie fell, but in an attempt to stay upright,he staggered sideways and into the table of food. In a second, Charlie had fallen into the food, the table had gone backwards and everything on it was soon on the floor, with a shocked Charlie next to it, covered in bits of Anita’s Indian feast.