IOU (MF, rom. slow) [1/6]

I.O.U.

Chapter 1

There's nothing quite like the familiar feeling you get when you're 
travelling home.  Ellie always found it easy to tell when she was 
nearing home.  The roads became narrower, the weather colder and the 
countryside wilder.  After three years in the south she had become 
accustomed to a gentler way of living.  No one hurried or rushed to do 
anything; they strolled along speaking slowly in their soft drawled 
accents.  The countryside consisted of curved rolling hills covered 
with neat multicoloured square fields that gave it the appearance of a 
partly downloaded picture.  The roads were wide and spacious, the M5 
and M6 three lanes wide and cutting as smoothly through the countryside 
as a hot spoon through ice cream.  Maybe it was the warmer weather, 
which was evidenced by the plentiful palm trees and vineyards, which 
made it seem almost like a different country, definitely a different 
culture.

The further north she drove the more the changes became obvious.  The 
countryside became more vertical and unyielding.  The fields were no 
longer neat squares but haphazard shapes forced to fit the lie of the 
land.  The brooding outline of the Pennines and the bleakness of the 
moors crowded along the horizon.  The A1 was squeezed for the majority 
of the way into two cramped lanes and compelled to twist and turn to 
the dictates of the land.

When she stopped for petrol, people were speaking in the familiar 
hurried accents of the north, clipping their words and talking on top 
of each other, urgently waving their hands to emphasise their point.  
The air was colder and fresher, with a sharp edge to it.  She took a 
deep breath and felt it burn down into her lungs.  She was close to 
home.  She felt the tingle of excitement that can only be caused by 
returning to the place you grew up.

 She began to recognise the names on the signs and soon she was driving 
down roads that she knew so well she could predict every curve and dip.
She swung round the last roundabout and through the double bends to see 
the familiar view of her town.

Middleton was a mixed hodgepodge of houses huddled on a hilltop, like a 
group of school kids watching a fight, with the half built housing 
estate and the industrial park the new kids hovering on the edges.  
Unfortunately the victim in the centre was the railway, once the 
lifeblood of the local economy until it had been beaten down by 
government cuts and recessions, eventually dying out altogether nearly 
twenty years ago.  The old engine sheds, tattered reminders of the 
past, were now home to various small businesses, which struggled 
valiantly to succeed.  In some ways they had been fortunate since the 
railways had been the first of the north's industries to die.  By the 
time the shipyards and coal mines had also been closed Middleton had 
already started to revive with the help of numerous grants and aid 
schemes.  Ellie could hardly remember the day the engine sheds closed 
although there was an annual fete to remind everyone.

She followed the familiar route through the streets, noting small 
changes along the way, and pulled into the driveway of her parent's 
house.  Before she had even had chance to put on the handbrake, her 
door was yanked open and her two best friends were pulling her out of 
the car.  She was smothered by a big hug from them both and knew she 
was definitely home.

"Do you know how long we've been waiting for you?"  asked Beth, a big 
grin on her face.  "Lizzy here insisted we would be late so we've been 
sitting in her car for the past hour.  With only one tape to listen to.
And do you know what that was?"

"Abba!"  laughed Ellie.

"Exactly.  I thought I was going to go insane."

"You just don't have any musical appreciation," Lizzy said, trying to 
sound indignant.  "Abba are one of the pioneers of modern pop music 
and..."

"Oh no, I don't believe you're still saying that.  Three years at 
Cambridge and you haven't changed at all."

"Yes I have.  I've got a degree.  So now I'm officially a computer geek 
with the qualification to prove it.  Anyway you can't talk.  You've 
hardly changed, either."

"I'm an inch taller and I am now qualified to use the English language 
and watch TV."

"And it took three years for you two to prove you could do that.  I 
don't know, kids today.  They've never had it so good," laughed Beth, 
rolling her eyes.

"Be quiet grandma and help me get unpacked.  You wouldn't believe how 
much junk I've managed to pick up in the last three years.  Hey why 
were you lot sitting in the car?  Surely you weren't too scared to 
spend an hour with my parents."  For the first time since she had 
arrived her friends stopped grinning.

"Um, they're not here Ellie," Lizzy said.

"They went off on a cruise, up the Nile I think," Beth added.

"Oh.  It's a good job I've got a key then, isn't it."  Ellie smiled 
brightly, trying not to show how hurt she was.  Her friends knew her 
too well to be fooled but they also knew better than to offer sympathy.

"Fish it out then and lets get on.  We've got plans," Beth said, 
smiling again.  "We have to celebrate the three of us being back 
together."

"So what's the plan?"

"We thought we'd wait until tomorrow to go into Newcastle and see how 
many of the old gang you remember.  Tonight we're going to dump your 
clutter, whip round to Lizzy's to pick up a specially prepared take out 
with all our favourites, then we're going to all crash at my place, 
just like we used to."

"You mean sloppy videos, popcorn, chocolate and gossip all night." 

"You bet!"

"Well what are we waiting for.  Grab a box."

                               * * *

Some hours later Ellie was drowsily sprawled on Beth's bedroom floor 
thinking once again how lucky she was to have two such good friends.  
>From the first day of school when they had discovered they all had the 
same name they had been fast friends.  She dreaded to think how lonely 
she would have been otherwise.  She had been an unwelcome surprise to 
her parents, who had presumed that when her mother entered the 
menopause they no longer needed contraception.  They had taken care of 
her physical needs generously but had seen no reason to alter their 
retirement plans.  All of Ellie's happiest times had been spent either 
in Beth's cluttered council house, fighting and playing with her four 
brothers, or in Lizzy's flat, helping to prepare food for the take 
away.

Both Beth and Lizzy had to work the next morning so Carl, Beth's 
younger brother gave Ellie a lift back to her empty house.  Dreading 
the sterile silence, especially after the chaotic noisiness of Beth's 
house, Ellie made him come in and have a cup of tea.  He had grown 
since she had last seen him and started to fill out.

"How tall are you now Carl?  You're taller than me so you must be 
somewhere around six foot."

"Six one last time I was measured.  I've been taller than Beth for 
about two years, and of course I've been taller than Lizzy since I was 
about fourteen, but I've been looking forward to being able to look 
down on you.  Thought I'd never get there."

"Well don't get too cocky.  I can still remember helping to bathe you."

"Do you?  Well anytime you want to refresh your memories you're welcome 
to scrub my back."  Ellie laughed at him, slightly surprised to realise 
he was flirting with her.

"Do you remember when we used to baby-sit you?"  she asked.

"Of course.  Talk about child labour, you three used to make me wait on
you hand and foot."

"That's not how I remember it.  We used to have to bribe you to do the 
slightest little thing.  Some of the things you asked for were 
ridiculous and you always wanted them in writing.  Do you remember when 
you wanted me to teach you how to do handstands and you ended up 
putting your foot through the window?."

"How could I forget?  Mum was furious and because you took the blame 
you made me run around after you all for the rest of the week."

"So you did.  You made a pretty good slave once we trained you."

"Thank you, I think."  He hesitated for a moment, turning slightly 
pink.  "I don't suppose you remember this bribe do you?"  He handed her 
a tattered square of paper.  On the front in faded red crayon were 
printed the letters IOU.

Memories came flooding back.  They had been sitting around one 
evening, experimenting with make-up and talking about boys as usual.  
They were having an intense discussion about how to tell when to have 
sex while they painted their nails.  Carl had been helping out with 
cotton wool and getting drinks.  As serious as only as only a 
twelve-year-old can be he had announced that he didn't think he would 
ever have sex.  Trying not to laugh at him they had discovered that he 
had tried to kiss a girl and she had pushed him away.  It had been 
enough to convince him that he would never have a girlfriend.  As 
seriously as they could they had assured him that they would never let 
that happen. Ellie clearly remembered personally guaranteeing that he 
would have sex by the time he was eighteen, and him solemnly replying: 

'Can I have that in writing'

Opening the square of paper she saw her own teenage writing, with all 
the unnecessary loops and curls she had thought looked so grown up: 'I 
promise that if Carl Robinson hasn't had sex by the time he is eighteen 
I will go to bed with him.  Signed Elizabeth Hawkins.'