The Chain (A Catherine Diary) - Stamfield. Complete

Chapter 32

32

'I'm just gonna go to the toilet', Carla said heading to the downstairs toilet room. I nodded, even though she wouldn't have seen me do so. To my left was the kitchen, which seemed to be the hub of the barbecue, women bustling back and forth with trays of food, delivering them to the back garden, with Gemma's mum the engine inside the kitchen, throwing directions at her many friends, whilst maintaining a sense of decorum.

I headed to the back door, which was effectively a large concertina door, which lead firstly to a conservatory and then to a large back garden, which was decked with garden furniture and family members chatting and stuffing their faces. It was mostly men and young people outside. It was a more comfortable setting for me, than helping out in the kitchen.

The first thing that hit me as I stepped outside was the smell of freshly cooked meat, from the barbecue. Gemma's dad and a few other men were hovering over a tailor made barbecue stand, with smoke from the meat dancing around them. With the garden being the perfect sun spot and the extra warmth of the barbecue heat mixed with the amount of people, it had almost felt like stepping off a plane in a holiday destination, with the high humidity.

I scanned the garden, saw three boys a little younger than me, pointing over to where I was standing and exchanging humorous comments to each other. I felt slightly self conscious and attempted a quick and not so subtle glance at my clothing.

A hand touched my shoulder from behind and I jumped slightly.

'Over there', Carla said pointing to the girls in the corner.

Jane saw us and waved us over.

'How come everyone's early?', I asked when we approached them. As well as Jane and Pat, there were two other girls from our hockey team there to. We greeted each other in our varied ways, some more tactile than others.