The Badger Biscuit Tin

The Last Week of Summer

"Jessica, time to wake up," Rachel called gently.
It couldn't possibly be morning already, surely this was far too early.
"Ughhh, can I just have 5 more hours?" Jessica replied sleepily.
"I need to go to work now, it's Lian who is going to be looking after you today," her mother informed her.
"But it's so early," Jessica complained.
"Jessica, I said wake up," Rachel repeated.
Jessica opened her eyes again in shock, realizing she'd fallen straight back asleep while her mum was talking.
"Josh is being slow today as well," she frowned. "A week away from here..."
Jessica closed her eyes for just a second, holding her head up with her hand, just a few more minutes and she would be fine.
"Jessica?" her mother repeated.
She opened her eyes and shook her head. "Sorry, Mum, what was that last bit?"
"I said, a week away from here and you've both completely fallen from any sense of routine," Rachel told her.
"Routine," Jessica repeated, nodding. Maybe if she looked like she was paying attention then she could go back to sleep...
"Did you two get any sleep while you were at the camp?" she asked incredulously.
Jessica thought about it. On the first day they stayed up until really, really late eating s'mores... and the second, and the third... The fourth day was hotdogs for a midnight snack and they definitely told spooky stories and went for a swim after that. What did they even do on the fifth day? Then Saturday was the party and Sunday they went home.
"You fell asleep at four o'clock yesterday afternoon. And you're still tired? That's quite concerning," Rachel frowned, looking at her daughter. "And while you were getting next to no sleep all week, did you eat regular healthy meals?"
Nope- just sweets, sweets and more sweets. Plus hot dogs and chips at odd times of the day- and ice cream. As well as all of Ariana's giant box of truffles between the four of them.
"Judging by your expression, no," she sighed. "I asked Miss Dale, the leader I was talking to, if they had a proper structure with set bedtimes since eleven is clearly still too young to be responsible for that."
"Alice let us go to bed at six in the morning on the last night," Jessica yawned.
Rachel sighed, thinking. "You're not usually like this, neither is Joshua. I'll ring Lian and see if he can walk over here, if not I'll just have to take you to their place and you can go back to sleep on the air mattresses. But I want you to get back to your normal routine by Wednesday," she told Jessica, giving her two days.
When her mother returned, Jessica was fast asleep again.
"Jessica," her mother said, shaking her awake.
"What is it?"
"Lian will be here in around fifteen minutes, I have to leave in twenty. I hope neither of you are getting sick, with any luck these are just the temporary effects of a lack of sleep and no routine," she sighed. "I'll leave you to sleep now and say goodbye to Josh. I'm going to try to be home as early as possible tonight and you can tell me all about your camp experience," Rachel told her daughter who was barely listening.
When Jessica awoke properly a while later, beams of sunlight were shining through the curtains and she could hear movement and conversation from the people in flats upstairs and downstairs.
"Lian!" she exclaimed when she entered the main area of the apartment.
"Good to see you finally up," her uncle's husband grinned. Lian was like an uncle... but it would be weird calling him Uncle Lian because when they were little he was just Uncle Thomas's boyfriend, who had been an uncle their whole lives. Lian's full name was Sasillian, a name apparently completely made up by his weird parents, but Lian preferred to be called by his nickname.
"Lian was just about to find me some breakfast," said Josh from the sofa.
"Your mum was extremely clear this morning, you can only eat balanced meals that include fruit, vegetables, protein and complex carbohydrates," Lian laughed. "She's not happy that you supposedly ate junk food all of last week."
"We didn't tell her that," Jessica said indignantly.
"You think she couldn't work it out?" Lian replied, looking in the cupboard. "Hiding things from either of them means a lot more than just not telling."
"How is Uncle Tom?" asked Joshua.
"Same as always, stressed and overworked," Lian rolled his eyes. "Oh, our car broke down on Friday so we're going to need a new one, luckily I was able to walk here this morning and your mum could give Thomas a lift to work."
"Didn't you just get a new car?" Jessica questioned.
"Yes, unfortunately it didn't last too long and we couldn't afford the good insurance plan," Lian sighed. "So, what do you two want to do today?"
"Can we go out somewhere?" Joshua asked.
"Where?"
"Anywhere," said Josh.
"We could go for a walk and see if there's anything interesting to do," Lian suggested.
"And then after we get back, you could teach me how to paint," Josh suggested hopefully.
"That'll work," Lian said agreeably.
"So, which direction do you want to head?" he asked them when they escaped the towering apartment.
"We could walk through the park," Jessica suggested. Being stuck in an apartment on the outskirts of the city had made Jessica crave natural spaces, despite just getting back from the forest at summer camp.
"Maybe there'll be deer," Joshua added.
"I don't think many deer live in London," Lian frowned.
"Dogs and cats though," said Jessica.
"Spotting animals is free, why not then," Lian told the twins. Thomas and Sasillian didn't have a lot of money. Jessica knew her family weren't exactly rich either, but her mum didn't have to pay a lot of rent money, unlike Uncle Tom.
"Ooh, Lian, can we have a go on this?" Josh said, running over to a ferris wheel in the middle of the grass.
"How much is it?" he asked quietly as they approached the big sign. "Do you need to be twelve?" he guessed, working to distinguish the number on the UNDER 12S GO FREE notice.
"It says that under 12s can go free if they're with a paying adult," Jessica explained. Lian was dyslexic and so far could only read some simple things sometimes. Uncle Tom and her mum were determined to teach him eventually, but it was taking a long time. They had explained to the twins that Lian's school and family were not very nice and had left him to struggle until he was old enough to drop out, which Jessica thought was very unfair.
"And how much is it for one adult?"
"£2," Joshua told him.
"That's fine, we can do it since you'd both be free," Lian agreed.
"Hi, one adult and two kids," Lian told the person running the ferris wheel.
"That'll be £6," he said.
"I... er..." Lian said.
"But the sign says if you're under 12 you go free," Jessica argued.
"And are you 12?" he shot back with a voice dripping with sarcasm.
"They're 11, they're both tall for their age," Lian sighed, realizing the problem wasn't reading comprehension.
The man stared at them for a minute and Jessica was sure he wasn't letting them through. According to her mum, Jessica was the average height for a thirteen-year-old, which made her feel very grown up most of the time, but was annoying when people didn't believe she was really eleven.
"Fine," he conceded eventually.
"Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of bed today," Josh muttered as they walked towards the ferris wheel.
After they were home, Josh showed Lian to their art supplies and they sat at the kitchen table, newspaper spread across it to avoid spillages.
"Flat brushes are better for acrylics," Lian told them, looking at the round edged brushes they had. "Whenever we're at our house, I'll get you two a couple of cheap canvases and you can try my paints."
"What are acrylics?" Jessica asked.
"These," Sasillian told her, gesturing to the paints in pots. "Acrylics are like plastic when they dry, they're hard and create bright colours. Watercolors are weaker and are like painting with water- like the name- is it spelled the same or just pronounced that way?"
"Yep, spelled that way," Jessica informed him.
"That's good, I like that," Lian replied.
He stood up and headed towards the window behind the table to open it because the paints smelled quite strong.
"Watch, watch, don't put that much paint on at once," Lian told Joshua as he watched him dip the brush thickly in paint and dab it onto the paper. "If you make a mistake it'll be quicker to dry and easier to paint over if you use less paint at a time."
Jessica continued to add strokes of green paint to her page of art.
"What is it?" Lian asked curiously, peering over her shoulder.
In all honesty, she wasn't really sure. "Well, I started by doing flowers in a field, but then I thought the green paint would make a cool snake, like from Harry Potter- but it turned out more of a blob than a snake," Jessica frowned, holding the paper up and twisting it sideways to see it from a new angle.
"Art is all about experimenting. One of my favorite things to do is grab a canvas and just let my mind wander and see what I paint," Lian told them.
Jessica nodded, deciding that abstract art wasn't really her thing. The flower-snake-blob was fun at the time but now she wished she had a real picture at the end.
"We should clean up soon," Lian suggested, standing up. "I think we should do some cooking, make your mum and Thomas something as well for when they get home."
"What are we having for dinner?" Joshua asked.
"What would you like?" replied Lian.
"Well, you know what we'd like," Jessica told him, "a pizza delivery."
"Ha, ha, very funny," Sasillian said sarcastically, "your mum would love that."
"So, we can have anything, but only boring foods?" Josh grumbled.
"I never said you could have anything," Lian argued, lifting the paints and crumpling up the newspaper. "But it doesn't need to be boring either. What about curry with vegetables and rice?"
"Do we know how to make that?" asked Jessica.
"If you read the recipe out then I'll make it," Lian suggested.
"Only if we can watch a movie at the same time," Joshua said at once.
"Fine," Lian conceded. "Movie on the TV, you read the recipe, Jessica keeps me right on the ingredient labels, I prepare and cook. Deal?"
Deal," the twins said, reaching across the table to high-five him.
An hour and a half, one curry and one movie later and the front door of their flat opened.
"Hi Mum, hi Uncle Thomas," Jessica waved over.
"We made a curry," Josh added excitedly.
"I'm so glad to see you both in brighter spirits," their mother told them. "Thank you so much for looking after them, Lian."
"No problem at all, Rachel," Lian assured her, moving towards the door to greet his husband with a kiss.
"I'm so sorry we're so late, my secretary Tiffany had some trouble with her work and I didn't want to leave her before everything was sorted," she sighed, sitting down on the sofa and unfastening her fancy heeled shoes.
"It's fine, Mum, we had so much fun with Lian," Jessica told her.
"I'm glad you had fun today because we'll be off to somewhere a little bit different tomorrow," Tom told the twins.
"Where?" Josh asked curiously.
"We're going to Grandma and Grandad's house," Uncle Tom explained.
Grandma and Grandad were Mum and Uncle Thomas's mum and dad. They went to visit them about once a month, maybe more if there was a reason- like a birthday- or less if there wasn't, but their mum said that visiting grandparents was always the responsible and kind thing to do. Jessica liked going somewhere different and seeing a real actual house with a garden, but Grandma and Grandad were different from the rest of her family.
"It'll be me and Uncle Tom," Lian told them.
"Yes, I'm working again," their mum clarified. "Anyway, tell us about your summer camp, we haven't had a lot of time to talk since you two returned."
"Rachel, are you hungry?" Lian cut in quickly. "We have some curry left over. Tom, you too if you want it."
"Thank you, Lian," their mother and uncle said quietly in unison, "that would be wonderful."
"You are so weird," Josh rolled his eyes at them from his seat on the floor.
"Why do you always do that?" Jessica asked them.
"We don't mean to copy each other," Thomas told them, looking at his sister in surprise.
"Sometimes we happen to look for the same words at the same time," said Rachel wonderingly as she stood to grab a plate of food and bring it to the dining table.
"I thought only twins could do that?" Jessica questioned.
"Are you sure you weren't twins?" Sasillian joked to his husband and sister-in-law.
"My first memory is of Thomas being brought home for the first time. Otherwise I would definitely look for birth records," Rachel informed him, sitting down to eat.
"What were you like when you were our age?" Joshua asked, turning around to face them in the dining area of the room.
"We would have study sessions together in the evenings where I tutored Tom, teaching him everything I'd learned in high school," her mum reminisced.
"But that's the boring part of school!" Jessica told them incredulously.
"I was eight when she was eleven," Uncle Tom said as they ate. "I loved those lessons but they made the first-year classes a lot more boring when I actually started as I still remembered all of the information."
"Why are we always talking about school?" Josh complained. "It's the summer holidays!"
"I'm so sorry, back to your camp stories," Rachel said immediately, realizing they'd gotten off track.
The next morning, they set off in the car to Grandma and Grandad's house who lived about half an hour away. Their mum had taken the train to work as she'd lent their car to Uncle Thomas and Sasillian.
"What do you think of Grandma and Grandad?" Jessica asked Lian curiously as they drove through a small residential area.
"Well... they're fine people," Lian answered cautiously. "I don't know them too well but they've always been... kind."
"They're a little..." Josh began, looking for the right word.
"Boring," Jessica finished for him. "Or polite, maybe."
"Your mum is polite, is that a bad thing?" Tom asked them as he drove.
"But she's not always boring," Jessica replied.
"Neither are they," Uncle Thomas argued.
"Please don't make us play chess with them again," Joshua begged. "Anything but the chess."
Lian laughed. "They do like their educational games."
"They always go on about how they want us to be as successful as Mum and Uncle Tom," Jessica complained. "Not everyone is going to be them."
"You can be successful and absolutely nothing at all like me or your mum at the same time," Uncle Tom assured her. "You and Josh will take different paths to us and that's what all of us want for you- a job as fitted to your skillset as ours are."
"What do you two want to be when you're older?" Lian asked them.
"I want to be an artist like you," Josh said immediately.
"That's great, Jessica, what about you?" Lian replied.
Jessica thought about it. Nothing at all sciency, something fun, maybe a job where she'd get to travel or meet interesting people, and of course make loads and loads of money.
"I'm not sure yet," she told him.
They reached a medium-sized house in a residential estate, parking on the side of the street instead of the driveway for reasons that Jessica never understood. Both her mum and Uncle Tom did that every time they came. They walked up the beige cobbled driveway where Uncle Tom knocked on the door and Grandad answered it. He was a tall man with dark brown hair, Jessica knew from old pictures it had looked kind of like Uncle Tom's although now Grandad's was much greyer and thinner.
"Hello, it's wonderful to see you," Grandad told the group, embracing his son in a hug. "Joshua, Jessica, you're both getting so big."
The twins laughed awkwardly. What do you say to that? Jessica wasn't that different from any other 11 year old, only a tiny bit taller and chubbier than most of her friends.
"Hi," Jessica said awkwardly. There was something about her grandparents that made Jessica feel like she needed to stand a little straighter and think before she spoke.
"It's great to see you all," her grandmother smiled, she moved to hug Uncle Tom and then her two grandchildren. Grandma was tall and nearly as thin as Jessica's mum, but with sleek hair dyed to its original dark blonde and face furrowed with wrinkles.
"Hi- hello, it's wonderf- gr- good to meet you again, Dr Garrett," Lian said nervously, turning Grandad's hug into a weird half-handshake.
Joshua stared at Lian- Jessica couldn't blame him, Uncle Tom was always the awkward one, it was weird to see Lian so uncomfortable and out of his depth.
"Are you all right?" Grandma asked Josh, noticing his stare.
"Yeah, fine," Josh said, nodding earnestly.
"Come and sit down," Grandma replied, leading them through the front door to the open-plan hallway and sitting room. Their house was very fancy, two light beige-grey sofas facing each other with a large coffee table in the middle. Everything sparkled clean, even the old yellowed books on the shelves. Jessica looked at the pictures on the mantelpiece, there were ones of her and Joshua from school picture day- those annoying school photographers who always find a way to make everyone do the stupidest poses, like leaning on a table or crossing arms below the school crest. There were also school photos of her mum and Uncle Tom. Mum must've been seven or eight and wore a blue uniform and a black Alice band, she had a radiant smile that made her look like a child model in an advert for primary school. Next along the line was a picture of her mum and uncle at a small table, staring intently at a sheet of paper. After a few seconds, her grandmother noticed her staring.
"I remember how much time they spent at that table," Grandma said, picking up the faded photograph. "Your mummy decided at the age of three that she would become some kind of scientist- not only wanted to be, mind you, she let us know that she absolutely would be- by five years old she told me and your grandfather in no uncertain terms that she had decided to become a pediatrician. After that, it took her twenty years."
"I can't imagine knowing what I want to be in twenty years," Jessica responded.
"No ideas at all yet?" Grandma looked directly into her eyes.
"Not really... I guess I like English so maybe something where I can write," she shrugged.
"I didn't know what I wanted to be and ended up studying for a job I had no desire to do. My parents insisted that it was the right decision for me," Grandma told her.
"So you're saying I shouldn't worry about figuring out stuff yet," Jessica replied, absentmindedly kicking the edge of the chair.
"Figuring things out," she corrected her grammar. "And no, to the contrary I think that you should start trying right now and go from there, as it may lead you to what you want. I met your grandad during my studies and was happy to marry him and stay at home to raise our children while he worked."
"Do you not wish you'd done some subject that you wanted to do?" asked Jessica, wondering how Grandma lived through such a boring life of being told what to do and who to be.
"I raised two very successful children," explained Grandma, not answering the question.
Jessica nodded to convey understanding that she didn't exactly feel. She really didn't want to grow up and look back at all that she'd done- only to name her children as the one thing to be proud of. If she ever had them, Jessica knew she'd love them but that wouldn't feel the same as actually succeeding at something herself.
"Are you able to stay for lunch, Tom?" Grandma asked her uncle.
"Yes, ah- of course, we have no other plans for the day," he replied quickly.
"I'll go and set the table," Grandma announced.
"Would you like any help?" Uncle Thomas offered immediately.
"No, thank you. You catch up with your father and I'll let you know when it's time," Grandma replied shortly.
"Are you sure? I can set the table if you need," Tom insisted.
"That's all right, you just sit here, thank you for the offer," she declined politely.
Jessica moved across the sofa closer to her brother to join in the conversation her uncles, grandfather and twin were having.
Lunch in the kitchen was plain tomato soup with roast chicken slices and salad on the side- not the ideal meal to be eating on top of a white tablecloth. Jessica didn't know what her grandparents would say if she spilled any of the red liquid but she didn't want to find out, so she took it extra slowly and carefully, trying to eat in the elegant-looking way her mum always managed. She was sitting between Uncle Tom and Josh, the latter looking just as bored as she felt.
"The weather was lovely last week," her grandfather commented from across the table, sipping his plain hot water in a mug.
"The kids were at summer camp for it, they made good use of the sunshine," Uncle Tom replied, looking down at his bowl.
"Oh, summer camp? What did you learn?" Grandma turned to the twins.
"It was mostly outdoors, wilderness survival skills and all of that," Josh replied, exaggerating their games of rounders.
"We had to learn how to cook on a forest fire," Jessica added, thinking of the s'mores.
"Oh, that's very interesting," Grandad replied as Uncle Tom stared at them in confusion, knowing what they'd really done at camp. He didn't say anything but appeared thoroughly baffled.
"Learning to pitch a tent, self defense, a little bit of martial arts and archery, single handedly building a raft on the river... you know, basic stuff," Josh improvised, shrugging his shoulders.
"That's reasonably impressive for your age," Grandma told them, raising her eyebrows. "No wonder you're both so advanced, what with a mother like yours."
"Jessica and Joshua are great at so many things through their own hard work," Uncle Thomas interjected.
"They're very talented," Lian added, speaking for the first time.
"Yes, yes, of course," Grandad nodded. "They're going to do such great things when they're older."
Jessica continued to eat her soup awkwardly. She poked her brother, noticing Josh staring straight at Grandad and nodding as if he was very clearly pretending to listen to the conversation.
"How smart is our new Prime Minister Coleridge?" Grandma said, changing the subject. "Her policies will benefit every citizen in the long run and she made an excellent introductory speech."
Jessica didn't know a lot about politicians or elections but she knew enough to see that her mum was very unhappy with the new leader.
"She's- ah- an interesting choice," Uncle Thomas replied in surprise. "Rachel, Lian and I all voted for a different option but... each to their own," he said carefully, clearly at a loss for words.
"Tom," Grandma began in a concerned tone, "you know that you don't always have to copy what Rachel does- you can carve your own path sometimes, now that you're older and wiser."
Jessica didn't know why Grandma had such a problem. Uncle Tom and her mum were best friends, were friends not supposed to do things together? Jessica couldn't imagine her and Josh working in the same place and eating the same food and seeing each other every single day when they were old enough to live by themselves, but if she had a best friend that was just like her, all of that sounded fun.
"Sometimes it's better to be a little less dependent on each-other," Grandad added softly. "Especially now that you have a husband to worry about."
Lian shrank down in his seat, unmistakably wanting no part in this conversation.
"Rachel and I are perfectly happy confiding in each-other," Uncle Tom told them, looking down and not meeting their eyes. "Thank you both for your concern but we're much better working as a team."
"Well, I'm sure she knows what's best for her family," Grandad told him, glancing over at the twins. "Anyway, how are you doing, Tom?"
"Well... it's allergy season, our brand new car broke down last week with minimal insurance cover, and our cat has finally learned to hiss," Tom replied, grimacing. "Other than that... ah... great."
Jessica stifled a laugh. Uncle Tom really didn't like Bob, the ginger and white cat that Lian had rescued. Animals shed fur, moved in odd ways without warning, and worst of all- Bob's favorite pastime was scrumpling paper (just like Uncle Tom's precious notes) into balls. The cuteness of the cat had won Jessica and Joshua's affection immediately but their uncle was not convinced and tried to avoid getting too close to his pet. The twins had asked their mum for an animal in their own house but Rachel adamantly refused, telling them that whenever they were old and living somewhere else that they could adopt one by themselves.
"Your car broke down?" Grandma questioned him. "Don't you think you should get that fixed very soon?"
"Well... we're- ah- in the process," Uncle Tom told them, flustered.
Jessica didn't think that was true.
"How are you, Dr Garrett?" Lian enquired, trying to distract the attention from his husband.
"We're both perfectly fine," Grandma told him politely. "We travelled to Spain last week, it was very pleasant."
Jessica tried to imagine Grandma and Grandad relaxing on a hot Spanish beach, lounging on those long, flat chairs holding some fancy colorful drink and getting a tan and she had to stifle another laugh.
When lunch was over, Grandma and Grandad offered them some fruit slices, which Jessica politely declined. Her and Josh wanted to explore the garden but after a silent argument over who should have to ask permission, they decided they would just stay in their seats and wait for the hot car ride home. Eventually they said their goodbyes and walked back down the driveway.
It was a few days before school was due to start and Jessica was in her room organizing the new stationery her mum had bought her in the shop that day, when Josh came through her door.
"Jess," he whispered.
"It's Jessica," she grumbled.
"Come here, I was listening through the wall- and just come," he gestured towards his room. The paper thin walls in their apartment were annoying most of the time but the thinnest wall- between Josh's room and the main area- was the perfect spot to eavesdrop on some interesting conversations.
"I just don't know," her mother said from the kitchen, presumably with a mug of hot water in front of her. "They're still so young..."
"Doesn't that make it more of a safety concern if they don't, then?" Uncle Tom replied, probably sitting opposite their mum at the kitchen table like they always did.
"What's this about?" Jessica whispered to her twin, kneeling on one of his storage boxes to get closer to the wall.
"Phones," he grinned.
"But what about the lack of security on the actual device? They could connect to anyone in any part of the world- there are some horrible people out there," Mum said worriedly.
"I know, I know," Uncle Tom agreed.
"I just don't know if I feel comfortable letting them go to such a big school without a way to contact one of us in an emergency," Rachel said thoughtfully.
"There's our argument," Jessica whispered to her twin. "Convince Mum that London is so dangerous that we can't go out without some form of communication."
"Do we really want phones if they're gonna look through them though?" Josh reminded her.
"Have you met Mum? She has no idea how they work or what they do, Mum's boss actually hired a secretary to do her computer work for her at work," Jessica pointed out.
"I just want them to be safe," Mum sighed.
"It seems like more of a safety risk to not have some way for them to contact us," Uncle Thomas replied. "They're getting older, what if they decide to run off somewhere on their own?"
They couldn't quite make out the next words said in their mum's worried tone.
"I could handle things on my own," Jessica mumbled indignantly.
"I'd be better than you," Josh told her competitively. "You cried at camp."
"Your team couldn't get to the forest without help," she argued.
"That's settled then," their mum told her brother.
"Hang on, what's settled?" Jessica hissed.
"I couldn't hear because you were talking," Josh snapped.
"No- it was definitely your fault," she argued back.