THREE: THE BARBEQUE
“Ok. Diamond will take £246.83 in full and final settlement of the account this week.”
“Oh that’s good. Yes, we’ll pay that this week, won’t we Jim?”
“Yeah. Terry – are you round tomorrow at all? I’ll get to the bank and get the cash out.”
“Well, no, with it being Bank Holiday, we’re off to Blackpool.”
“Oh, ok then. Deirdre, how much cash have you got on you?”
“Just £50.”
“Listen, I’ll tell you what. I can call back on Monday night. We’ve been asked to come out this Monday to catch more in – it’s a experiment Diamond are running.”
“Do you think it’ll work?”
“No. But because it is Bank Holiday, we get a bit more in commission.”
“Thing is, we might be out on Monday. I know what. I’ll slip to the bank now, get a couple of hundred out. We can use your £50. Where do you go in the next half an hour Tel?”
Terry gave details about the next half dozen addresses.
“Here’s my mobile also – if I don’t see you at any of these addresses, ring me and we can meet up. Fetch your book, and we can sort things out.”
An hour later, Jim was sat back in the lounge, £246.83 lighter but with a grin on his face. Terry had been telling him some jokes while the final payment was made and all the paperwork had been brought up to date.
Again, Terry reminded Jim about these great deals Diamond did, which were ideal for holidays, bits of work round the house, consolidating debt. Jim was interested. Even moreso when Terry was able to show Jim some of the high street interest rates on loans compared to the one Diamond had on offer. There was just under 1.5% difference, and Jim was assured that he would easily get the £2500 he wanted.
“Deirdre – it looks a great deal. I don’t want to say yes or no, but at least we know we’ll get Diamond to lend us what we want.”
“Well, yes. I didn’t realise the difference between the banks and ours to be so small. It’s about as broad as long. We’ll have a think about it.”
“In the meantime, I have an appointment to see the bank manager tomorrow morning about a possible loan.”
“That’s good.”
“But, let’s just sit back and enjoy the weekend. Don’t forget we are up at Matt’s house tomorrow.”
“Yes, I’m looking forward to that.”
Saturday was a little cloudy when it started. The temperature had come down a couple of degrees, but it was still very, very nice, warm, bright.
Jim shaved and showered early, put on his shirt and trousers, and together with Deirdre, they went into town to see the bank manager.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning. Lovely day.”
“Yes, isn’t it just. Wasted on being inside like this, but there you have it.”
“Never mind, you can have Monday off!”
“Trust you to come out with that Deirdre!”
“That’s my wife for you!”
“Right, ok. What can I do for you?”
“What are the chances of getting a loan?”
“Unsecured?”
“Yes.”
“What for?”
“We want to put some new windows in.”
“They leaked like mad last winter.”
“Yeah, that was a really wet winter as well, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah. Jim ended up with a chest infection.”
“Did you? Rough. Right, let me see. I’ll just fetch up your account.”
Jim and Deirdre didn’t like this part. Up until starting work, all they had coming in were benefits. Their outgoings outnumbered the incomings massively. And this is what their young bank clerk friend would soon find. They had better tell him about their employment.
“We’re working now Dean.”
“Oh, that’s good. Doing what?”
“I’m a Security Driver, Deirdre cleans.”
“Full time or part time?”
“I’m full time, Deirdre is part time.”
“Right ok, then. Looking at your account, it doesn’t look we can do much for you at the moment. But this is because I have had to look at your last 6 months. I can see your wages coming in for the last few months, but just before this, it was quite erratic. The bank will be able to look at your application better in the New Year. Say, about April.”
“Is there nothing you can do for us? We could do with the windows putting in by latest October. Preferably September.”
“At the moment no. Who is your mortgage with?”
Dean had a look at the possibility of getting a secured loan on the house. It was still not possible.
Deirdre was looking down, but not desperate. Could they possibly put up with another winter of leaking windows, Jim getting another chest infection? The windows would also lose the heat. If Jim got a chest infection, that would mean him taking time off work with sick leave. Sick leave didn’t give them as much as his wages, and that was if he qualified. Could they afford not to get those windows sorted?
She shook her head.
“What is it Deirdre?”
“Just thinking about the windows Jim. I think we really need them doing this year. I’m sorry Dean, just a train of thought.”
“Hey, I can understand it. Just wish the bank can do more for you. But I don’t think it will be until April when they can look at your application again. I’m sorry.”
“It’s ok Dean. We’ll get it sorted.”
Jim was driving up to Matt’s house, after calling at the supermarket to buy some salad and white wine.
“What are you thinking about Deirdre?”
“Well, we could go online and see what we can find.”
“Yes, that’s true. I get the feeling it will be the same no matter where we go. We’ve been through this before, and got nowhere.”
“I know. I’ll have a look though, fill in a form or two.”
“Hey! Hiya! Hey Deirdre, come on in. You know Janice, don’t you?”
“”Hello Janice. How are you?”
“Doing ok. Come on through.”
“Hello Jim! Hello Deirdre!”
“Oh hiya Terry. What are you doing here?”
“”Oh Blackpool got called off, and our Matt told me that he was throwing the barbi, so we came here. This is my wife Stella.”
“Hello Stella. Nice to meet you.”
“Is that for us Jim?”
“Yeah Matt – there you go.”
“Thanks mate – hey Janice, bit more green for you.”
“Come on through Deirdre. Make yourself at home.”
“How do you know Terry?”
“Oh, we’re in-laws. Terry is Matt’s brother.”
“Talk about a small world!”
“How do you mean?”
“Oh, just been to the bank to try to get a loan for some new windows. We know Terry because we had an account with Diamond. We told him that we were after some new windows, and he told us about some new product Diamond are doing.”
“How did it go at the bank?”
“Got turned down.”
“Oh poppet, I’m sorry. Maybe Terry can sort something out for you.”
“That’s what we are thinking about. We could really do with getting some new windows because Jim got a chest infection last year, because the windows we have were leaking in the rain, got draughty. With him working now, we can’t afford for him to go on the sick.”
“Oh that’s awful. Can’t the bank do anything for you?”
“No, not until April at the earliest.”
“That’s rough. So what are you going to do?”
“Well, we’ll see what’s what for online loans, and then ...”
“Listen honey, be careful. We did that, and ended up with a right shark. Do your research.”
“I will, thanks. Hey, let’s get the wine poured.”
The barbeque was being a success. Beer flowed, kids played, neighbours joined, right into the early hours of the next morning.