21 October 2021

Sioned is still sleeping it off

Sioned is still on the sofa next day,

"For goodness' sake, get up and do something!"

and her mother complains, “It’s midday!   For goodness’ sake, get up and do something, will you?”   

"Everyone has days off!"

“What am I – a maid?” Sioned demands, “Everyone has days off!”   Eileen announces that she cannot have a day off today, as DJ has phoned to say he cannot come.   He did not specify why, but it comes as no surprise to Eileen, as without Fflam to help him, he has run himself into the ground.

"Partying instead of pulling your weight!"

“And you’re partying instead of pulling your weight,” she continues, “DJ won’t be here at all if we’re not careful – and what will we do then?”   

"It's not my fault if you won't buy a new dog"

Sioned answers that it is not her fault if her mother will not buy a new dog;  she knows that things are difficult, but that everything will be fine.

“I don’t know why DJ is staying away – he’ll be back tomorrow,” she predicts, and her mother hopes so as they have no chance of coping without him, especially if Sioned keep ending up in this state.   

Sd simply wants some more sleep

Sioned’s answer to this is to pull the blanket over her head.

Britt searches for salt

Britt is searching in the cupboard of the flat in the hope of finding some salt, which has run out in the chippy.   She is not pleased to see Garry, 

"Out of salt in a chippy!"

growling, “Out of salt in a chippy!   I don’t know how that happened.”   She has left Aaron looking after the shop, but it is Britt who Garry wants to speak to.

“Can you pay your rent early this month?” he asks, “A bit of cash-flow, nothing more.”   

"I've got bills to pay, Garry"

Britt has bills to pay, and wonders what she will tell those people, but he points out she would be doing a favour, 

"For me, your little brother"

“For me, your little brother,” and she will see what she can do.

Ffion is back from North Wales

Ffion arrives back at Cysgod y Glyn, which is in no tidier state than when she left.   She takes off her coat and gets a glass of water.   

Arwen has definitely changed

Jinx comes in, accompanied by Arwen, who is much bigger and markedly different from the last time we saw her on 5 May last year.   She says she had permission from school to come home to see her mother.

"Too important to discuss in front of Uncle Jinx"

Ffion tells her they need to discuss something important;  “Too important to discuss in front of Uncle Jinx, which causes him some concern.   “Go to your room, and I’ll be with you in a minute.”   

Arwen goes to her room

Arwen reluctantly does so.

"The doctors can't work out what's wrong with Mam"

Jinx wonders if there is something he should know;  “We’ve had a couple of horrendous days – the doctors still can’t work out what’s wrong with Mam,” says Ffion, “Nesta’s in a real state and everyone’s stressed.”   

"Sit down and put your feet up"

Jinx is upset to hear this, and recommends that she should sit down and put her feet up;  “Spend some time with your daughter – and I’ll make dinner.”

Ffion is heading straight back north

He is surprised when she announces, “I’m not going to be here tonight – the school has given me some time off to help Nesta.   I’ve only come back to grab some clothes.”   

"You're going back up there?"

He cannot believe that she is going back to North Wales, and that she does not know how long it will be for.

"I don't know how I'm going to tell Arwen"

“I don’t know how I’m going to tell her,” says Ffion as she heads for Arwen’s room, “Clear some of this mess up for me, will you, please?”   Jinx is now looking very concerned.

Tyler has been offered some more work

With the APD accounts on the laptop, Jason is waiting for the arrival of Tyler, who thanks him for the offer of some more work, 

"Where am I going today?"

and asks where he will be going today.   Jason informs him, “You’re not going anywhere – you’re staying here.   

"You're going to do some paperwork"

“You’re going to log these invoices, and make sure that the VAT is right on every one, while I’m out costing jobs.   Division of labour!”

"I thought I was labouring"

Tyler was under the impression he was labouring, 

"It's just maths and you were a teacher"

but is reminded that it is just maths and he is (or rather was) a teacher;  “It will take you no time at all – right, I have to go.   

"15% discount to F Thomas and Son"

“One other thing, give a 15% discount to F Thomas and Son – write that down.”   

Jason leaves, ignoring Tyler's protests

Tyler is not at all happy about this.

"Thanks for taking me home last night"

Sioned arrives, very shamefaced, in the shop flat and is welcomed by Mathew.   “Thanks for taking me home last night,” she tells him, “I want to talk to DJ.”   

"DJ's not here"

He replies that DJ is not there.

"I feel terrible about what I said last night"

“I feel terrible about what I said last night,” she goes on, and he agrees that it was perhaps a bit over the top.   “I know,” she continues, with embarrassment, 

"Male stripper – pathetic dog!"

“Male stripper – mediocre chef in a pub – pathetic dog!”

"I'm sure DJ will forgive you, Sioned"

Mathew is sure that DJ will forgive her, and she confirms that he sent her a really nice text last night.   She gets up and decides to leave, warning Mathew not to tell DJ she came, as she feels too ashamed.

"You're not going anywhere, good girl!"

Mathew calls her back;  “You’re not going anywhere, good girl!   

"A cup of tea and a chat is what you need"

A cup of tea and a chat – that’s what you need.”

Tyler apparently does not understand percentages

Tyler is looking at the laptop with a puzzled expression, apparently incapable of calculating 15%;  

"Haven't you got windows to clean?"

Eifion comes in, demanding, “What are you doing here?   Haven’t you got windows to clean?”

"What do you want?"

“Does it look like it?   What you want?” Tyler snarls, 

"The pay Jason owes me"

and of course Eifion wants the money that Jason has not paid him.   

"That's nothing to do with me"

“That’s nothing to do with me,” Tyler points out, but Eifion saw Jason give him the money.   “I worked for him,” Tyler explains.

Eifion does not care about that but insists that Jason owes him that money;  Tyler wants nothing to do with it, as he is in hot water already.   

"What do you want to know?"

“Oh dear, Jason won’t be happy, but there’s help at hand – what do you want to know?” says Eifion.

“How do you work out what 15% of £7,850 is?” wails Tyler (whose Maths GCSE, taken only a year or two ago, seems to have been forgotten).   

"Can't you do percentages?"

Eifion is amused that he cannot do percentages, and promises to help him – if he will go to the till and pay what Jason owes him.

Tyler does not fall for that one

At least, Tyler has the intelligence not to do so, although Eifion insists that no one will know;  

"Do you want Jason to find out you're an idiot?"

“Do you want Jason to find out he’s got an idiot doing his sums?   I don’t think he’ll be very happy.”   

He does not know how he will get out of this

Tyler replies that he will work it out by himself, and advises Eifion that it is time he left.

Colin is surprised that Britt is going to pay Garry the rent early;  

"What's that bank number?"

she is checking to see if they can afford it.   “What’s that blinking bank number?” 

"The date we first slept together"

and he remembers that it is a combination of her date of birth and the date they slept together for the first time.   

"Look how much rent we've paid over the years"

“Look how much rent we’ve paid him over the years!” she exclaims.

"Close to being able to buy this place"

Colin tells her, “Imagine if we’d saved some of that money – we’d be close to being able to buy this place and the chip shop.”   

"Colin Evans, you're a genius!"

Britt tells him that he is a genius, something with which he wholeheartedly agrees.

"She hasn't taken it well"

Jinx is obediently clearing away the rubbish into a black sack when Ffion comes back in, reporting, “She hasn’t taken it well!” and he does not blame her.   

"I've sold a lot of it on Uncle Jinx"

“But I think I’ve persuaded her,” Ffion continues, “I’ve sold a lot of it on Uncle Jinx.”

"Did you ask Uncle Jinx for his opinion?"

He enquires, “Did you ask Uncle Jinx for his opinion?   You can't just assume that I can babysit, OK?   Especially if you don’t know how long you’ll be away.   A few days is one thing, but this isn’t fair on her – or me.”

"You're not going to refuse?"

Ffion fears that he is refusing, and he says that he had plans;  “I’m so sorry, Jinx – I didn’t think?”   

"Yes, that's obvious!"

He regards that as obvious, 

"I know you think I'm a bad mother"

but she begs him, “I know you may think I’m a bad mother . . .”   

"I don't think that at all"

He denies that he thinks that, but she pleads that she needs his help.

Garry manages to drop his load . . .

Garry staggers round the corner towards the garage with three boxes, which he manages to drop;  Britt hurries out of the chippy to lend a hand, 

. . . and rejects Eifion's offer of help

as does Eifion, who is emerging from the Deri.   

Britt approaches

Britt addresses him;  Garry, come here,” but he refuses, 

"I have to do these things myself, Britt!"

insisting that he has to do these things himself.

She says that she has not got the rent;  

She explains her plan . . .

“But I’ve got an idea that’s going to solve your financial problems!”   He urges her to keep her voice down, and wants to know what this idea is.   “Colin and I want to buy the chip shop.”

. . . which he regards as ridiculous

He laughs at the very suggestion;  “No way – have you lost the plot?” he demands, but she says it makes sense – he will get his money, they will get to own their own shop – and they will keep things in the family.   He is quite adamant, “It’s not going to happen, Britt!   

"Sell one of the few places that makes me money?"

“Getting me to sell one of the few places that makes me money?   I don’t want to know – right?   And how would you and Colin afford the mortgage?   It’s a stupid idea!”

“We’ll see about that!” she replies, and stalks off back to the chip shop, 

Garry continues on his way

leaving him to awkwardly pick up his boxes and limp towards the garage.

Sioned is frightened

Sioned continues, “The more I think about last night, the more frightened I get.”   

"Rhys was an idiot!"

Mathew tells her not to worry, as everyone had too much to drink, and Rhys was an idiot for what he wrote in that game.

"I'm ashamed of the way I behaved"

“Don’t make excuses for me – I’m ashamed of the way I behaved, and the way I belittled DJ,” she groans.   Mathew understands that she is still angry with DJ after what he did to her;  

"I'm at fault as well, Sioned"

he concedes that he is at fault as well, for pushing them together too quickly.

"This is my fault, and no-one else's!"

She will not accept this, insisting, “This is my fault, and no-one else’s!”   

"Don't be so hard on yourself"

He tells her not to be so hard on herself, and that last night was a reflex action to make sure she does not get hurt again – she was just defending herself.

“All that makes sense, apart from one thing – you don’t know me, Math – I don’t want to get hurt, but that’s not what frightens me most.   

What frightens me is that I'll hurt DJ!"

“What frightens me is that I’ll hurt DJ!   I can’t trust myself not to seek revenge against him – to hurt him, even.   That’s what frightens me.”

Jason discovers that nothing has happened

Jason returns to APD and asks how it went with the invoices;  when he sees that everything is exactly how he left it, he changes the question to, “Have you even started?”   

"I'm not good at maths"

Tyler apologises that he is not very good at maths, and tried to tell him before he left.

"How do you keep track of the window cleaning accounts?"

Jason wonders how he manages to keep track of the window cleaning accounts, but is told that it is all cash in hand.   “If you want to run a business, you need to be able to do sums and accounts.   

"Well, that was a wasted afternoon!"

“Well, that was a wasted afternoon!” Jason concludes, and Tyler walks out.

Ffion has packed some more bags and has said goodbye to Arwen, 

Arwen is decidedly not happy

who does not look at all pleased about this situation.   Jinx asks if Val is going to be all right, but Ffion does not know, and neither does anyone else, what is wrong with her mother.

"Take as long as you need, Ffion"

Jinx assures her, “As long as the school is happy, take as long as you need.”   

"Don't go, Mam!"

However, Arwen pleads with her not to go, but Ffion has already explained to her why she has to.   

"Come and give me a cwtch"

Arwen refuses to have a cwtch with her mother, 

Arwen flounces off

but Arwen goes back to her room, and Jinx says, “Leave her to me, Ffion – you’d better be going now.   Safe journey, and give my love to Val, OK?”   

"Thanks again, Jinx"

Again she thanks him, and begins her long journey.

"Sorry I was insensitive"

Jason follows Tyler back to number 7, apologises for being insensitive, and is told that he did not give Tyler a chance to explain.   

"What if you came to work for us as a labourer?"

“Right, what you have got is strength – and you’re hard-working, which is more than I can say for Eifion!” says Jason, “What if you came to work for us as a labourer?   You could still carry on with your window cleaning round, 

"We could pay you through the company's books"

“but we could pay you through the company’s books, so it’s all legit.   How much sense does that make to you?”

Tyler likes the sound of this

Tyler accepts this offer and is warned, “Don’t celebrate too much tonight, because I want to win by 8:30am.   I would celebrate with you, 

"Some of us have paperwork to do"

“but some of us have paperwork to do – see you tomorrow.”

"You should have discussed it with me!"

Colin is not pleased;  “You should have discussed it with me before saying anything to Garry!”   Britt argues that it was his idea, and it is important that they should ‘strike while the iron’s hot’.   

"Do you really want to throw your money away?"

She reminds him she called him a genius;  “Come on, Col, do you really want to throw your money away, renting all your life?   Isn’t it better to put our money towards bricks and mortar?   At least, it will give us something to pass on – I don’t want you to look back with regrets.   I sweated for Garry, and what do I have to show for it?”

"You do own half the Deri"

Colin points out that she owns half the Deri, but she is insistent, “This might be our only opportunity – we can’t hold back now, all right?   

"Let's go for it – what do you say?"

“Let’s go for it – are you with me?”

Colin has been won over

Colin has been persuaded, 

"The King and Queen of Y Sosban Chips!"

and she describes them as, “The King and Queen of ‘Y Sosban Chips’!”

"I'm trying to be a better person, Math"

Sioned continues, “I’m trying to be a better person, Math, but it’s not easy.   When I think about the way I treated Ed – all the disgusting things I did to him – I don’t want to go back there.   But it’s in me, isn’t it?”

"You're not a monster – you're lovely"

He answers that is not the person she is now – she is not a monster – she is lovely.   

"Until Ed, I never had to face it"

“Until Ed, I never had to face who I was, but I did a lot of thinking in prison,” she says, “I realised only bad things were happening in my life – and I wanted good things to happen.   

"I needed to be a better person"

“I decided that I needed to be a better person – and I tried my best.   I was there for Huwi, I was there for Mam when we lost Jim, I protected Penrhewl.

"Something good happened – DJ!"

“And it worked – because what happened next?   Something good – DJ.   But that’s the thing, isn’t it?   When you’re a nice person, people think you’re weak – they walk all over you, just like DJ did to me.”

"It was a complicated situation"

Mathew points out that was a complicated situation;  

"Not for me – I loved him!"

“Not for me – I loved him!” Sioned exclaims, “All my life, anyone who has hurt me has regretted it.   I’m determined that’s not going to happen with DJ – I won’t let it happen!   

"I still love him, Math!"

 “I still love him, Math!”

"Well, that solves the problem, then"

Mathew says that solves the problem, and when DJ hears it, things will be fine.   

"He's not going to hear – it's too much of a risk!"

“He’s not going to hear it,” she declares, “For the reasons I just said  – it’s too much of a risk!   This way, no-one gets hurt – not me or DJ.   

"I've never loved anyone so much"

“I’ve never loved anyone so much, but there’s nothing I can do about it now.   I have to protect him – 

"Promise you'll never tell him – or anyone else"

and that’s why you have to promise you’ll never tell DJ – or anyone else – about this.”   

Mathew nods his agreement

Mathew nods his agreement to this.

But then we find out . . .

The camera moves to show us 

. . . someone has been listening to all this

that DJ has in fact been listening to this conversation from just round the corner at the top of the stairs.