30 December 2021

"There's no cereal left, Brynmor"

The atmosphere is rather frosty in Maes-y-Deri, with Brynmor commenting that Kath is up early;  she says that there is no cereal left, but there are bacon and eggs.   

"We must have a chat"

He will have a coffee first and she insists that they should have a chat..

"I don't want to discuss Berwyn"

“Listen, I don’t want to discuss Berwyn,” he says, but she insists that she just wants to apologise, 

"Look, I can't carry on like this"

because she cannot carry on like this, frightened to open her mouth in case he thinks she is going to say something about Berwyn.

“I said I wouldn’t – and I won’t,” she assures him, “Mark and I had no right to go through your things in the lock-up – and that’s it.”   

"What's wrong with you two?"

Mark comes in, looking for his phone and detects the tension between them;  he asks what is wrong with them.   

"I'm going to the shop"

Kath suddenly decides that she has to go to the shop, and invites Brynmor to go with her, but he declines.   

"I've sold another ten raffle tickets"

Mark says that he has sold another ten raffle tickets, 

"Well done, Mark"

and Brynmor congratulates him, without much feeling.

The DI is still snooping

The DI is looking at the camera image once again, then looks at his phone, as if working out what to do next.   

He receives no answer . . .

He dials a number, but there is no reply, 

. . . so considers his next move

so he abandons the call.

"How are you after your big date with Jinx?"

Jason greets Eifion at APD;  “How are you after your big date with Jinx?” he enquires, and is told to shut up.   Anita is surprised that they are falling out already, and Jason goes out, carrying a wheelbarrow.

"Will you put the kettle on, Eifion?"

When she asks if he will put on the kettle, 

"I want to get on without anyone interfering!"

Eifion tells her that she will have to do it herself, as he is also on his way out;  “I just want to get on with my day without anyone interfering!” he grumbles, “You arranged for Jinx to meet me – 

"Were you trying to make a fool of me?"

“were you trying to make a fool of me?   He thought it was a date – that I was after him – so keep your nose out, will you?”   

Anita has slipped up again

Anita had not predicted that.

"Remember you have to behave, Aaron"

In the chip shop flat, Britt tells Aaron that he is going to have to behave, and listen to what their visitor says.   “You agreed to do this, remember?   So it’s important that you play a proper part in the process.   

"You don't want to end up where Chester went"

“It’s your last chance – you don’t want to end up where Chester went.”   

"All right – I know, Mam!"

He angrily replies that he knows all this, and then the buzzer sounds.   “Best behaviour now,” she says, as she admits the officer.

"Are you doing anything today?"

As Mark is preparing for the grand raffle for the electric bike, he asks Brynmor if he is doing anything today.   

"I don't know yet"

He does not know the answer to that, and does not know what event it is that Mark is preparing for.   

"I want to make a big show of it"

“I want to make a big show of it – New Year and all,” Mark continues, and Brynmor thinks that he is making himself a lot of work, but Mark prefers to call it using a bit of initiative.   “That’s what is needed in business, isn’t it?”   Brynmor wonders if Garry would do as much, 

"A bit of support would be nice"

but Mark complains that a bit of support will be nice, and walks out of the house.

He cannot keep away from that flat

Once more the DI is in the Deri flat, this time looking at one of Seren’s 4th birthday cards, where he is discovered by Cassie;  she thought she heard someone, and he says that he is sorry to scare her.   

"What are you doing here?"

“What are you doing here?” she demands, “Dani and the children are staying with her friend over the New Year.”

He comes up with a ridiculous excuse

He comes up with what she regards as a lame excuse;  “The other night when I was sitting here with Dani, she smelled lovely – 

"We taked about perfume"

“this is rather embarrassing, but we talked about perfume.”

"So you came here to steal perfume?"

“Have you come here to steal perfume?” growls Cassie, adding, “Of course not – you’re a policeman.”   He maintains that Dani said that she was almost running out, 

"I couldn't remember the name"

and he wanted to buy her some more, but could not remember the name.   

"And you didn't think of asking her?"

“You didn’t think of asking her, then?” Cassie remarks suspiciously.

“I thought while she was away, I would find out, you know – having thought about it, it does sound ridiculous.   I had better go.”   

"Oh, yeah?   Pull the other one!"

Cassie does not believe a word of this.

Aaron is told of the benefits of migration

In the chip shop flat, Aaron is being informed that the number of migrants in rural Carmarthenshire is very small;  “And none of these organisations could survive without migrants.”   

"That's interesting"

Aaron sounds as if this is news to him, and would like a copy of the information so that he can read it later.

They move on to his attitude towards gay people

“You’ve got it all there,” the police officer explains, “Why don’t we move on to discuss your attitude towards gay people?”   

"Would you like a cup of tea?"

Britt hurries into the room to ask if Officer Thomas would like a cup of tea, and is told to call him David.

“Look at this list,” he goes on, “Tell me what you think are the three main reasons people give for excusing homophobic attitudes.”   Britt interrupts again to offer him some biscuits – posh ones with chocolate.

"I was in a relationship with a woman"

He wonders if she is all right, and Britt continues, “The thing is – I think you should know – but it was a while ago, before I married Colin, I was in a relationship with a woman.   

"Things didn't end well"

“Things didn’t end well – she’s in jail now for murder.   I can’t help but think that Aaron’s negative attitude towards gay people might have come from that – and that he’s trying to protect his mother.   Now I’m not a psychologist, but I know he’s a good boy deep down.”

"We could talk about that now"

Officer Thomas wonders if they have discussed this with each other, and they agree that they have not.   He thinks it might be a good idea if they talked about it now, 

"Perhaps you could bring the biscuits"

and suggests that she could bring the biscuits.

"Your favourite – full of sugar"

Kath is back from the shop and has bought some cereal for Brynmor;  “Your favourite – full of sugar.   

"To prove I'm serious about the apology"

“I just want to prove that I’m serious about the apology earlier.”   He comments that she also wants to give him diabetes, and she asks which he wants;  “The cereal or the apology?”

"I think it's time I was honest with you"

“Listen – you’ve been honest with me, and I think perhaps it’s time I was honest with you as well,” he says, 

and Kath sits down.   “Were you going through my stuff partly because you wanted answers, you wanted to get to know me better?”

"I suppose that's what it was"

She supposes that is what it was;  “I adore you, Brynmor, but it hurts to think that there are things you don’t want to share with me.”  

He insists that he does want to tell her but he cannot lose her.

"If I tell you the truth, I could lose you for ever"

“If I tell you the truth about Berwyn, I could lose you for ever,” he groans, 

"What do you mean, Brynmor?"

but she cannot understand his reasoning.   

"Because it was my fault he died"

“Because it was my fault he died,” Brynmor explains.

"Any questions, you have my number"

The officer is about to leave, and reminds Aaron that he should just ask if he has any questions.   

"Thanks for everything"

“Thanks for everything,” Aaron tells him, and his mother says that it was very interesting.   They have the details of next session, with experts in the subjects they have been discussing.   

"I hope I won't be seeing you again"

He is hopeful that they will not see him again.

"He said a lot of things that make sense"

When he has gone, Aaron tells his mother, “He said a lot of things that make sense.”

Brynmor tells Kath about Berwyn

“We looked exactly the same – we played tricks on the teachers at school, the deacons in the chapel all the time,” recalls Brynmor, “I was the little devil – he was special – a lovely boy – thoughtful.   

"He had just got married"

“We were 20 years old, and he had just got married – he had his whole life ahead of him.   He was a better person than me, right down to his bones.   It’s true – he was the one who would have changed the world.”

"Well, you've changed my world"

Kath points out that he has changed her world, 

"Whatever happened was my fault"

and he goes on. “My father always said, whatever happened – a fight on a rugby field or outside a pub, whatever it was, whatever mess we found ourselves in, it would be my fault, not Berwyn’s – and he was right.”

"There is never one devil and one angel"

Kath gives him the benefit of her experience;  “I’ve raised two children – there is never one devil and one angel – everyone’s somewhere in the middle.”

"I'd been drinking all afternoon"

Brynmor disagrees with this;  “We’d arranged to pick Dad up from the council on the night of a game between Wales and England.   Of course, Berwyn and I were in the rugby club, and I’d been drinking all afternoon.”

"And Berwyn was sober?"

Kath imagines that Berwyn was sober;  “I tried to persuade him that Dad could get a taxi, or a lift, but no – we had given our word, so he stayed sober and went to get Dad, as we had agreed.   

"He never arrived"

“Berwyn never arrived – some articulated lorry came round the corner in the middle of the road, and he had nowhere to go.

"When the phone in the club rang, I knew"

“And do you know what?   I had this turn in the club that night, terrible pains in my chest – when the phone in the club rang, I knew.   I still miss that feeling, you know, that there is someone with me who understands without having to say a word.”

"This happened over 50 years ago"

Kath suggests that she can be that for him, if he will let her, but he asks, “What if I lost you as well?”   She stresses that all this happened over 50 years ago;  “We don’t know what’s over the horizon – you can’t live with that fear – with that kind of guilt.”

"My parents blamed me"

He goes on that his parents blamed him;  “They never said so, but I knew – we never talked about him.”   She realises that is why he has not talked about his brother since that time, but he argues that it would only remind him that the best one has gone, and it was all his fault.   

COVID forbids touching

Kath reaches out her hand across the table, and he extends his as well.

"No, something cheaper than champagne"

Mark is going through his plans for the raffle;  Cassie writes, “Pork pies and champagne,” but he wants something cheaper than champagne.   

"Do you think this is a sensible idea?"

“Do you think this is a sensible idea at the start of a New Year?” she queries, “Half the village will have given up alcohol!”   

"If anything goes wrong, it will be your fault!"

He is adamant that you cannot have an occasion like this without wine;  “If anything goes wrong with this raffle, it will be your fault!” he snarls, 

"And I want you to clean the bike"

“And I want you to clean the bike – I want it shiny and then we can put it outside so it sparkles in the sun.”   

"I'm doing the food and drink!"

She makes it very clear that she will be doing only the food and champagne – or cheap bubbles.

Mark is sure that he will have enough on his plate looking after the VIP;  

"We need someone special"

“We need someone special to pick the winner out of the hat.”   As he leaves the pub, Cassie again insists that she is not cleaning the bike.

Wilko tries to slip past Cassie . . .

Then she sees Wilko, who has strolled in 

. . . and up the stairs

and is heading for the stairs to the flat;  

"Where do you think you're going?"

she shouts, “Where do you think you’re going?   You can give that to Dani when she gets home,” so he obediently walks out again.

"One in seven NHS staff are migrants"

Britt is telling Colin some of the facts that they learned;  “Did you know that one in seven people who work in the NHS are here because of migration?”   

"Makes you think, doesn't it?"

Colin says that it makes you think, and Britt is pleased that Aaron listened to everything and was very polite.

"I'm going to study this stuff"

He is now going to study the literature that he was given, and Britt is looking forward to the New Year, 

"It's going to be a fresh start for us all"

which will be a fresh start for all of them.

Kath intends to display the photo of Berwyn . . .

Kath has made up her mind, “I’m going to take that wedding photo out of the box and put it in a tidy frame, then it will be going up on the wall.”   

. . . but Brynmor is not in favour of that

Brynmor is not in favour of that, 

"He deserves to be remembered"

but is reminded, “He was your brother and deserves to be remembered.”   

"Yes, you're probably right"

He acknowledges that she may be right.

"What happened to his wife?"

Kath wonders what happened to his brother’s wife, “A widow at 20 years of age.”   Brynmor replies that she remarried, 

"Listen – it was not your fault, Brynmor"

and Kath again insists that it was not his fault.   

"Have you made up, then?"

Mark comes in, hoping they have made up, and Brynmor will make a start on lunch.

"What are we going to sell next?"

“What are we going to sell next?” Mark asks his mother, but she informs him that nothing else is going to be sold.   

"Whatever makes Brynmor happy"

Whatever makes Brynmor happy – that is what they will do.

"I could help, if you like, Mark"

Brynmor volunteers to help if Mark needs any assistance with the raffle, and Kath suggests that he could help on the stall.   

"I just need to find a celebrity now"

Mark just needs to find a celebrity now.

"I'd better leave it until tomorrrow"

Aaron is on the phone, talking in English, “I’d better leave it until tomorrow, when everyone’s fussing over New Year stuff – you know what they’re like.”   

He picks up some electrical accessory

He picks up an item of electrical equipment from the table as he says, “Is it OK for me to crash over at your place?   I can do one more night, knowing it’s my last – 

"I'm leaving this hell-hole for good!"

“I’m telling you now, as of tomorrow, I’m leaving this hell-hole for good!”

"I'm going to arrange a New Year's surprise"

Then he announces to his mother, “I’m going to arrange a New Year’s surprise for you and Dad – so don’t spoil things – 

This intrigues Britt

“exciting, isn’t it?”

He rips up a leaflet on 'Racism'

He turns and tears in half a leaflet, ‘What is Racism?’