Page 56 of Dancing Fools and All That Jazz

After many hours, we finally make the train from London to Manchester, and I help Fay into one of the few seats not pre-booked where Cath and Bonnie agree to sit in the aisle to look after her.

Max folds her wheelchair and places it in the nearby luggage area.

There are no other seats, so we squeeze our way through to the buffet car where I stand with Asha, Ruby, and Max.

Ruby and Max talk quietly to each other all the way and Asha and I have a conversation about what it is like being a mama.

Asha’s phone rings and as she sees who is calling, she points at the screen frantically, answering in a loud voice, ‘ Janine . How are you?’

She waves for me to come closer and puts the phone between us so I can hear Janine’s voice.

‘Asha, I…’ Janine’s voice stops.

‘It is OK, Janine. It is good to hear from you. We missed you in Paris. We are sorry to hear about your mother.’

When Janine says nothing, Asha tries again.

‘We came second. In the competition. We beat Sheila’s group. They came third. Janine, are you OK?’

‘Yes. I am now. It’s been a bad few weeks.’

Again, Janine goes very quiet.

‘Janine, here’s Ingrida.’

Asha pushes the phone to me and makes a big face for me to say something. She leans right into me to listen.

‘Hello, Janine. I am also very sorry to hear about your mama. It is very sad news. I remember when my mama passed away only a few years back.’

‘Really?’

‘ Ja . It was very sad.’

‘Oh, you know how I feel then… I mean, I know my mum was not well, but it all happened so quickly…’ She goes quiet again.

‘Do you have anyone stay at home with you?’ I ask.

‘Yes, my sister came home. Eventually. She is helping me sort out the house. It got into a bit of a state…’

‘That is good news that your sister is helping you,’ Asha says into the phone.

‘Yes. Angela’s been very supportive. Helped me clear up and put things in order. It’s why I am phoning.’

Asha looks at me and raises her eyebrows.

‘Go on,’ she says.

I think to myself perhaps Janine will say she is very sorry about our Paris money, but I do not think she will say she has our money to give back to us. I listen with much care when she speaks.

‘We… well, we cleared the house and then I found it. I found the slip. It was with all the others. I had not checked any of them. Just bought them and stored them. I forgot about them. But Angela checked and, well… there it was.’

I do not understand, but Asha pulls the phone close to her head and says, ‘Which slip?’

I do not hear Janine and can only see Asha as she puts a hand to her mouth and her eyes go very wide.

‘Janine, are you sure? I mean, are you absolutely sure?’

I wait and watch Asha’s face as she listens.

‘Oh, my word, I do not know what to say.’

Asha’s eyes they shine, and she flaps her hand and mouth to me the words, ‘Tell you in a minute’.

Ruby taps me on the shoulder.

‘What’s going on? Is that Janine Asha’s talking to?’

I nod and put my finger to my lips.

Asha says, ‘Yes,’ and ‘No,’ and nods many times as she stares out of the window. Finally, she finishes her call. She puts her phone in her bag and squeezes her eyes shut very tight. Then she opens them wide and jumps up and down. She pulls Ruby and me across to hold hands.

‘What? What the hell is it, Asha?’ Ruby, she smiles as we watch Asha leap up and down as she takes our hands with hers.

‘You are not going to believe this.’

‘Try us.’

‘Janine has found the winning lottery ticket. The one that is about to expire. It is ours. We have won.’

‘What?’

‘We have won.’ Asha shouts at the top of her voice and the other passengers look round to see who makes this noise.

Ruby puts her hands on Asha’s shoulders. ‘Shh. Now, slowly, calmly, quietly… tell us what you mean. Start at the beginning.’

‘OK, OK. I am just so excited.’ Asha takes a deep breath and pulls us both close to her.

‘Janine said she had got into debt. Something about a betting app. She borrowed the Paris money, thinking she would be able to win it all back in time to book our flights and hotel, but everything got out of hand. She basically lost the plot. Could not bring herself to tell us and at the same time she was being hounded by debt collectors. Anyway, her mother died, and I think she shut herself away until the police turned up and managed to contact her sister. Her sister has been helping her sort out her affairs and they came across all the lottery tickets stuffed into a jar and left unchecked. It was Janine’s sister who discovered one of them was the winning ticket from almost six months ago and she is helping Janine claim the money for our syndicate. ’

‘This is like fairy tale,’ I say.

‘Bloody hell. How much have we won?’

Ruby has a very loud voice and other passengers again look at us.

Max he is also listening, and he say, ‘Ladies, let’s keep this to ourselves, shall we?’

Asha nods and whispers, ‘Two million pounds.’

‘What? Fuc— I mean, frigging hell!’

‘That’s the total, but obviously it needs to be shared out between all Clarissa’s dance ladies. Everyone was in the syndicate, not just the Expression dancers. I was trying to work it out. I think Janine said there were eighteen of us…’

‘Eighteen – two million. So how much? My brain’s just frozen.’

Max uses his phone to do the calculation. ‘That would amount to one hundred and eleven thousand pounds each, more or less.’

Ruby whistles loudly.

‘Amazing.’ Max smiles. ‘Congratulations.’

‘I cannot take this in. Is it true we have won this much money? It does not seem possible.’ I look from Ruby’s face to Asha to Max.

‘What else did Janine say?’ Ruby asks.

‘We have to go and meet the lottery rep with our syndicate agreement and then they will pay out. Janine’s sister has set up the meeting for tomorrow.’

‘We need to tell the others. Although, hold that thought.’ Ruby frowns. ‘Let’s check this is for real first. Janine hasn’t been the world’s most reliable person to date. Oh my God. One hundred and eleven thousand pounds. It’s incredible.’

‘Definitely worth a celebration. What’re we all drinking?’ Max asks. ‘Bearing in mind this is a train buffet.’

‘Gin and tonic tinnie for me.’ Ruby laughs.

‘Sparkling water,’ Asha and I say at the same time.

‘And crisps,’ Asha adds.

We all laugh and smile. It is a good feeling.

We agree we will not say a word to the other ladies about the money until we are sure it is true but I am hoping it will be true so I can pay some to Kazimieras so he will stop harassing us and go home and I can also buy the children good presents and maybe even a new ring for myself.

*

Neil is waiting for me when my taxi finally arrives home after I have delivered Fay to her flat.

Fay kindly paid the full fare. This was big relief, as I did not have enough money.

I wanted to say to Fay, soon we will all have a lot of money for taxis and nice things, but I do not say anything as I promised Ruby and Asha we would wait.

Neil, Grace, Theo, and Lizzy all rush to the door to greet me. My heart is very full as the children put their arms around me and cry, ‘Guy-da, you’re home. We missed you.’

I have only little presents for the children. I kept the snacks Fay got for me at Euston Station. They do not seem to care I do not have expensive gifts and they are very happy to each have their own small packet of biscuits. They eat as I make a cup of tea and Neil, he hug me from behind.

‘How was Paris?’

‘Many things happen. It was full of incident I think is right saying.’

‘I guessed as much. Saw some of the commotion on the news.’

‘ Ja , we are famous. But I think the other dance group, they have more fame with big exposure.’

Neil laughs and squeezes me around my waist, but I take his arm away and turn to look at him.

‘We need to talk, ja? ’

‘We do. When the children are in bed.’

When I have kissed them all goodnight, I find Neil pacing the floor in our lounge and I sit down on the sofa and wait for him to talk.

‘Ingrida, I don’t know where to start. I haven’t been exactly honest with you…’

I do not know why but I find I am close to tears, and he comes to sit down next to me and takes my hand in his. He look so sad and shake his head many times before taking deep breath.

I cannot stop myself as the words burst from my mouth, ‘Neil, you are going to tell me you do not love me?’

‘What? No. I mean, yes, of course I love you.’ He leans in to kiss me gently on the lips before saying, ‘But I should have told you, I have money problems… a lot of them. Look, there’s no easy way to say it, but my business has gone bankrupt.’

‘ Bankrotējis ? Ne. But you will be able to find new job?’

‘Maybe, I mean I owe a lot of money… the house, I didn’t keep up the insurance payments and when Maya died, well the mortgage wasn’t paid off.

It started back in the pandemic when I got all those extra medical supplies to sell but I hadn’t realised much of it wasn’t up to scratch.

Then I borrowed more against the house thinking I could sell the items on eventually…

Anyhow, the bottom line is I have a room full of stuff upstairs that I cannot sell and we’re going to have to move out of this house in order to pay all the business debts.

I can’t tell you how sorry I am… Ingrida, you’re smiling? ’

‘ Ja. I was worried it was serious problem not just money.’

‘Well, money problems are serious. Especially if we have to sell the house. There’s not enough equity to buy somewhere else and I don’t imagine finding a rental will be easy for a known bankrupt.’

‘Was it Kazimieras who came to the house to make threats?’

‘Who?’

‘My uncle, Kazimieras Valenko. Ne? ’

‘Your uncle? What? No. Who’s he when he’s at home?’

‘He is not nice man. He say I take his money when my mama died, but it is not true and now he has track me down and he want me to give him money…’

‘He’ll have to get in line.’

‘So, if it was not Kazimieras, who did come here with threats?’

‘Bailiffs. They took the car and served an ultimatum for the balance of payment. I’m so sorry to have put you in this position, Ingrida. You wanted a home, security, and a reliable husband. I’ve completely failed you.’

‘So, these are the things you hide from me? You have no money, your business it go kapút , you have secret room full of things you cannot sell… and you did not tell me any of this because…? Why, Neil? Why did you not tell me?’

‘I didn’t want to frighten you away. I thought if you knew all this, you wouldn’t marry me. After everything you’ve been through, you need stability. I’m sorry. I’ve let you down.’

I sit back and look at Neil who has put his head in his hands.

‘How much money you owe?’

‘I hardly dare say it but it’s just over one hundred thousand pounds.’

I shake my head.

‘I know. It’s terrible. What? Why are you smiling? Ingrida, we cannot pay it…’

‘I think we can sort something out.’ I kiss him on the lips. ‘First, no more secrets, ja? I do not like secrets between us.’

‘No. No more secrets. Oh Ingrida, I don’t deserve someone as loving and gracious as you.’

I stroke the worried lines on his forehead.

‘I too have a secret but only one and it is a good secret, but we must wait until tomorrow. For now, I want you to know I did not marry you for your money or your house or security. Nothing is secure in this life. I marry you because I grow in love with you and I love your children.’

Neil, his eyes shine like Ruby’s eyes shine when she speak of Max and my heart, it feel very full. We embrace and go up to bed without clearing up the kitchen or setting up for breakfast.