 | 48 Chapter 11: 14 years oldOnwards with his learning at school, a new girl started, who had come from New Zealand. She was different. For a start she wore knee high white leather boots, wow. She spoke different as well. With his paper money in his back pocket, the child asked the new girl out, to go to the pictures. "Love to" said the new girl, "but you will have to get permission from my parents first". These parents are funny things. Pamela Green was the new girl's name and the child made a date to see her parents to get permission to take her out.
Dressed in his best attire (clothes) the child duly arrived at Pamela's house in Freehold Street. After knocking on the door it was opened by her father. "Come in" said the father. The father showed the child into the parlour (back room). "Take a seat and we will all have a bit of tea" said the father. The poor child was horrified. In the room was the mother, father, grandfather, grandmother and brother. The best china tea set was out, along with little three cornered sandwiches, with different fillings and little fairy cakes to follow. Normally the child would have liked this but he knew what was coming. With a cup of tea in one hand and a cucumber sandwich in the other he was to face the third degree by all of the family!!! "Where do you live?" said the mother. The questions started to come thick and fast by all the family. "What are your intentions to my daughter?" said the father. How could the child answer with the truth, because the intentions were far from honourable. Thinking of all the right things to say the child gave his answers. After the third degree was over (tea), the father said "Please wait in the front room while we all talk things over". The child waited in the front room thinking where was that hole he could fall into. After a while the father came into the room and said "The family have decided that you may see Pamela, but there is no future in it as we are moving back to new Zealand". With this answer the child thought he might be better moving to the Arctic to escape. The child only wanted to take Pamela to the pictures, not get married. The other proviso was that the child could only go for walks with their daughter. Pamela was also told to say goodnight to the child as she was not allowed out after 8:30. So outside Pamela and the child went to say goodnight (but it was down the entry in the dark, so it did not end too badly for the child???). But it did, the father only a week later said there was no prospect in seeing his daughter as they were definitely moving back to New Zealand. Oh well !!! | |
