Deasil Street7.3

Bernice may have been getting her act together, but at number 5 next-door life was continuing as per usual. Alfred Hennrick arose at his usual hour.

He went through the morning rituals the same as he ever did. Ate breakfast alone at his big dining table. Didn’t fight over the bathroom.

But at about 11am he had a visitor. A representative of the company for whom he usually did work for wanted to pay him more, if he agreed to work solely for them. He agreed there and then. Why not? More money was more money.

It wasn’t as if he had anyone to discuss life changing decisions with.

His new employment brief came through by late afternoon, and he started work right away. Why not? His work was his life. As he began a new piece of code, it crossed his mind he was lonely. Warren was fun when he was around, but wasn’t on his wavelength. He wanted a friend.

Belladonna was making far more progress than Alfred in getting the life she wanted. She was now driving Jerix the cat about every day. It felt safe inside the car, and she was enjoying exploring Appaloosa for the first time since moving there. Perhaps it was because it still felt like an enclosed space? Whatever the reason, she was out of the house.

Trinity also gave her sister a bit of a makeover. She cut and restyled her hair, bought her a new dress… she hoped that little things like this would give her twin the confidence to make even more progress. Maybe even go for a drink in a bar with her one evening.

Her sister’s phobia of the outdoors and ‘bad people’ had been on her mind non-stop. She was the Balanced Stone. A high earning thief dating the Poet, who ran everything criminal in Appaloosa and beyond. She couldn’t reform herself even if she wanted to, it would mean losing Edward.

At number 3, Aimee was at her wits end. She had literally run out of places to apply for jobs. The last rejection was from the canteen at the local stables, it was heartbreaking.

Malika suggested she look at things from another angle. Instead of cooking people food, why not teach them to cook? She could film herself in their kitchen and put it on the internet. Aimee was astounded, it could work.

Aimee started with a dish that wasn’t for beginners, but wasn’t too hard. It would get people interested. Malika volunteered to be camerawoman and had great fun sticking her face in front of the camera to explain what her mum was doing.

Aimee finished it off with Malika eating the dish and telling the camera what she thought of it. Then she posted it on youtube. If it got some hits, and the next video did too.. Then she would consider setting up her own website and putting ads on to generate revenue.

But after that afternoon of fun with her mum, Malika returned upstairs to her room to do her homework. She might once have rung Megan to hang out, or Annette… but they had grown apart since Megan had aged up into a teen.