All About 'Abigail's Party' Page #3

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- Ice and lemon?

- Er, yes, please.

- Great.

- It's a nice drink, gin and tonic, isn't it?

- Yes, it is.

Refreshing.

Sometimes, I drink lager and lime.

Say I'm in a pub with my husband, I'll drink that.

But I prefer this!

- Can I wash my hands, please?

- One second, Tone, while I make Sue's drink.

- Ooh, sorry. Sue, this is Tony.

- My husband.

(BOTH) How do you do?

- Did you push it all right?

- Yeah.

Battery was flat.

- Sue.

- Thank you.

- Cheers.

- Cheers.

Now, Tony, hands. Come through.

This is our downstairs toilet. OK?

Ta.

- Do you work?

- No, no, I don't.

- I'm a nurse.

- Oh.

- At St Mary's in Walthamstow.

- Oh, yes.

- Beverly says your daughter's having a party.

- That's right, yes.

- Has it started yet?

- Yes, it has.

- All right, Tone?

- Yes, thank you.

Come through.

- Drink's on there. Like to sit down?

- Ta.

Now, then, Sue. Let's see.

- Would you like a cigarette, Sue?

- No, thank you.

- Sure?

- Yes, thanks.

Perhaps you'll have one later on. OK?

And I know Angela doesn't want one.

- Everybody OK?

- (ALL) Yes, thank you.

Great!

(MUSIC STARTS)

Aye aye! It's started, Sue!

- Yes, they've got the record player going.

- Yes.

- They're going to have fun, aren't they?

- Sounds like it!

- I hope so.

- How old is your daughter?

- 15.

- What's she look like? I might have seen her.

Oh, well, she's quite tall

and she's got fair hair, quite long fair hair.

She hasn't got a pink streak in her hair, has she?

Yes.

Yeah, that's Abigail, Ange.

And she wears those jeans with the patches on

and safety pins

going down the side of a scruffy bottom.

- And plumbers' overalls.

- Plumbers' overalls. She makes me die!

I saw her, she was standing

outside your gate with a friend.

And you've seen her as well,

getting off that motorbike.

Yeah.

- How many are coming to the party?

- About 15, isn't it, Sue?

Well, it was 15, then it went up to 20,

and last night I gathered it was 25.

- It's creeping up, Sue.

- I've told her that's the limit.

- Well, I think that's enough. Don't you?

- Definitely, Sue.

But this is it with teenagers.

OK, they tell you 25, but a friend invites a friend.

That friend invites another friend,

until you end up with about 70 or 80.

Now this is it. This is the danger.

I saw a couple of people arriving.

Yes, it was nice of them to help you with the car.

Not them. Two coloured chaps

and a girl roared up in a Capri.

Oh, really.

There were only half a dozen there

when I left - when I was asked to leave!

This is it, they don't

want Mum sitting there, do they?

No, not when they get to 15!

When I was 15, I really wanted a party of my own.

And my dad, he'd never let me.

You see, he was worried about people

pinching things and things getting broken.

- Have you locked your silver away, Sue?

- No, I haven't got any. Well, not much.

But I have put a few things upstairs,

in case of accidents.

Yes, it's better to, isn't it?

'Cause it can easily happen.

Don't get me wrong, Sue. I wasn't meaning

that any of Abigail's friends are thieves.

Please don't think that.

But you don't know who you get at a party.

- Let's face it, people are light-fingered.

- Yes.

- Did you leave your carpets down, Sue?

- Yes.

- Have you got fitted carpets?

- Yes.

Yes, we've got fitted carpets.

The MacDonalds left them all.

They were inclusive in the price of the house.

- Oh.

- And we were very lucky,

'cause we got the price of the house down

from 22,000

- to 21,000.

- Oh, really?

I don't know what we'll do

about our carpets when we have a party.

- We're having a party soon, aren't we?

- House warming.

- Yes. You'll have to come.

- Thank you.

With fitted carpets you don't know what to do

for the best, particularly with teenagers,

because, let's face it,

they're not as careful as we would be.

Know what I mean? They don't think.

A drink in one hand, a cigarette in the other.

They're dancing and the next thing,

it's cigarette on your carpet and stubbed out.

- Did you get that beer, Sue?

- Yes, four of those big tins and some pomagne.

- That's nice, isn't it?

- Yes, it is.

Yes. It's funny,

at that age we used to drink Bulmer's cider.

We used to say,

"A glass of cider and she's anybody's!"

I got very drunk on champagne at our wedding.

- D'you remember?

- Yeah.

- Gives you a terrible headache, champagne.

- Yes, in the morning.

Shocking.

- Did you get any spirits, Sue?

- No, I didn't.

Very wise. They're so expensive, aren't they?

Let's face it, if they want spirits

they can bring their own.

Particularly the older boys,

'cause they're working, aren't they?

There will be older boys at the party, won't there?

- Oh, yes. A few, anyway.

- Yeah.

Let's face it, Ange, when you're 15, you don't

want to go out with a bloke who's 15, do you?

They're babies, aren't they?

I mean, when I was 15,

I was going out with a bloke who was 21.

Hey, Sue, how's Abigail getting on

with that bloke, by the way?

- I'm not sure. I daren't ask.

- Yeah.

Mind, I reckon you're better to let her go out

with as many blokes as she wants to at that age

rather than stick to one. Do you agree, Ange?

- Yes. How many boyfriends has she got?

- I don't know.

- I don't think she knows herself, really.

- Footloose and fancy free!

Actually, Sue, I was just thinking.

It might be a good idea if a bit later on

Laurence and Tony popped down there.

Now, I don't mean to go in Sue, no.

Just to check everything's OK and put

your mind at rest. Don't you agree, Ange?

Yes, it's a good idea. You don't mind, do you?

- No.

- It's very nice of you, but not necessary.

- Your husband's away, is he?

- No, we've split up, actually.

- Are you separated or divorced?

- Divorced.

- When did you get divorced?

- Three years ago.

Oh, that's given you time

to sort of get used to it, hasn't it?

We've been married nearly three years.

Three years in September, isn't it?

- We've been married three years.

- That's funny.

We were all getting married about the same time

as you were getting divorced.

- What a coincidence.

- Yes!

- Where is he now? Do you know?

- Yes, he lives quite near here.

- Oh, that's nice. Do you keep in touch?

- Yes.

- He pops over to see the kids.

- Every Sunday.

- Does he?

- For lunch.

- Oh, lovely. Is he coming tomorrow?

- Yes, I expect so.

That's nice, for the kids.

Yeah.

Let's face it, Sue, whatever you say about him,

he is their father.

Yes.

You all right, Tone?

Yes, thank you.

- What did your husband do?

- He's an architect.

That's a good job, isn't it?

- It's a good job, architecture.

- Well paid.

- It can be. It's quite a long training though.

- Yes.

- Has David married again, Sue?

- Yes.

Oh, well, it's a good job

that he's got a... good job, then.

I mean if he's got two families to support.

- Have they got any children, Sue?

- No.

She wants some, so they're trying, but they

don't seem to have had any success so far.

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