Watching. Jeff Edwards
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think you’d better leave it all to him, and I’ll come and give him a hand. I’m dying to see what this looks like when it’s all put together.’
Samson returned early on Saturday morning, just as Jade was finishing breakfast, which she had to eat while standing at the kitchen sink, as there was no room at the table.
Together they cleaned out Jade’s bedroom, removing the furniture, placing it on the footpath outside.
‘What are you going to do with these pieces?’ asked Samson.
‘I’ll just leave them. They’ll disappear soon enough.’
‘They certainly will,’ agreed Samson, as he knocked on his own front door.
Lucy looked out, and Samson indicated the furniture, ‘Get the kids to help you take it inside.’
‘Come on, kids. We have work to do,’ called Lucy.
Five minutes later, when Robert arrived, the footpath was clear again.
When Jade led Robert inside, he was astounded at the amount of work he had volunteered for. ‘I think I can hear the army calling to me. I have to report back to camp.’
‘You’re not getting out of it that easily,’ said Jade, grabbing him by the arm. ‘Let’s get to work.’
On closer inspection, it was found that the carpenter, who created the bed, had rightly envisioned the problems of moving the furniture from place to place. Each part was created with joints that connected with each other piece, and it took no time at all to fit the bed together.
Jade was staggered at its size. It took up most of the floor space in the bedroom, and soared to within a bare inch of the ceiling, and, with its mattress and hangings in place, was an absolute wonder.
Robert and Samson then set together to erect the dressing table, which they just managed to fit on the wall opposite the bed. However, that was as far as they could go. There was barely room to move between the two pieces of furniture and definitely no room for the wardrobe.
‘Well what do we do now?’ asked Jade. ‘I’ve still got the wardrobe to go somewhere.’
They stood in the doorway of the bedroom, looking around, ‘Well it’s certainly not going to fit in here. There isn’t enough room to even nail it to the ceiling.’
‘Well I have to put my clothes somewhere, and my old wardrobe has gone.’
Robert looked around, ‘Well I suppose it will have to go in the hall. It’s the only place left.’
‘Will it fit?’ asked Jade.
‘There’s only one way to find out,’ said Samson. ‘Let’s build it.’
When the wardrobe was finished, it took up half the width of the hallway. If the doors were opened, the hallway was impassable, but that was a problem that Jade was prepared to live with, as was the inconvenience of having to stand in the hall while selecting what clothes to wear. ‘It’ll do until I can buy a palace.’
Perhaps not the best situation, but Jade was extremely pleased with her two-pound purchase.
That evening, Robert, Jade and Rani returned for another evening of jazz at the Golden Stag. As they were sipping their beers, and enjoying the music, the barman approached them.
‘Some of the girls have been looking for you, Jade. They were afraid that they might miss you, so they left these with me, to pass on to you,’ he said, as he handed her several envelopes.
Each envelope had a girl’s name on the front, and contained a small sum of money.
‘Is this sort of thing going to become a regular thing?’ asked the barman.
Jade looked at the envelopes. ‘Yes. I think it might.’
‘Then I better make sure I make room for them, in my safe. I don’t want those pimps sneaking behind the bar and walking off with all the girls’ hard-earned money.’
‘I’ll make it worth your while.’
‘No need. It’ll be good for business. They come in here, and they’ll spend their money in here.’
‘Thanks. I know the girls will appreciate it.’
It soon became apparent that the working girls, who lined the street outside the Golden Stag, thought Jade’s idea of a beneficial fund was a good one. It was a way of being able to put some money aside that their parasitic pimps couldn’t touch.
The money began to come to Jade at an increasing rate. Only small amounts from each woman, but the total amount grew quickly. Most was simply passed to Jade in envelopes, with a girl’s name written on it. The girls handed them to Jade as she walked into the pub, or were left with the landlord, who delivered them to her.
Instead of spending the evening relaxing, drinking, and listening to good music, Jade now found herself deep in the journal, detailing deposits, and making payments to the girls who could not work. The volume of money coming in far exceeded the amounts being returned, so a sizable bank of funds was quickly accumulated.
Jade had wondered how best to handle the excess amounts, and, after consulting a few of the girls, and gaining their permission, she paid half into a safe investment account, realising a small but secure interest, and the balance she invested with Walter Groom, as venture capital, with his new company. These funds were at risk, but promised large rates of interest, if the company fared well.
The girls were especially pleased, when, after six months, they were given a detailed financial report, showing how their money had grown. For most of them, it was the first time in their lives that they had actually possessed money to spend, and, for most of them, it was too much. They gathered around Jade, demanding their money, eager to spend it as quickly as possible, after all, Christmas was just around the corner.
With the money tied up, Jade had no way of making good from the liquid funds available.
Realising that there was no other way out of the dilemma, she withdrew her own funds, and made good the withdrawals. For someone like Jade, who had never had to worry about where her spending money was coming from, the experience was a sobering one. From then on, Jade determined that there would be stricter conditions placed upon the funds allocated to her.
Many of the girls thought the restrictions on the withdrawal of funds was a way of stealing their money, and a large number refused to bring their money to her, but there were enough with confidence in her to ensure that the business would not collapse. The girls who remained benefited greatly, even though they could only see the money on paper. These were the more pragmatic ones — the girls who could see that money invested meant a possible life after the misery of their days on the street. Money that they would have in the future. Money to raise a family on, if not in style, then at least not in abject poverty.
* * *
Robert had been away again, and had returned after another six-month stint travelling around Europe. He sat listening absently to the music, as he sipped his beer.
Jade kissed him on the cheek. ‘Where are you?’ she asked.
‘What?’
‘Well you’re certainly not sitting here with me at the moment.’ She laughed.
‘Just which country are you in?’
‘I’m worried about several countries.’
‘Germany?’
‘And Italy.’
‘You don’t like Mr Hitler.’
‘I saw firsthand what they were capable of, when they helped out in Spain. They were far too efficient, and they’ve grown in strength