The Pole Renovacy Chapter 6

Chapter 6 Since May had given him the cookery book, Tad would have a go at learning to cook! Pancakes looked easy – and the ingredients were cheap. And he was impressively good at flipping them! It was fun, too. He’d almost forgotten that simple things could be fun. “Wow,” May said when she saw them on the plate, eyes wide with surprise.
“Hey, it was nothing,” Tad said, doing the cool dude act. But secretly, he was really pleased with himself. “All thanks to the book you gave me for Christmas.” May had gone to school in a passably good mood. Ice was playing happily with his red car. Tad settled down with the cookery book to try and learn another recipe. The house was beginning to look like a cosy little home, and since he’d painted it, washed the bedding properly and bought new loose covers for the settee and armchair, it no longer smelt either. Maybe they’d turned a corner. He flipped through the pages. Ratatouille looked fairly simple, and they grew all the ingredients themselves. He’d start with that. Maybe they could think about getting chickens. Tad went outside to see where he’d put them if they did. As he pulled his jacket on, he felt the outline of his phone in its pocket. So that was where it was! He fished it out and looked at it. He really didn’t miss being able to use it. The endless messages when Star was getting worse, and there was no good news to give in reply. And afterwards, the inability to get away from well-meaning (maybe) but interfering (definitely) people. Especially Alicia Harbottle! Hid grip tightened painfully on his phone as he thought of her.
“Wouldn’t it be better if..?” “Shouldn’t you be doing..?” “Have you thought of..?” “I think the best thing would be..?”
And, worst of all, when she started on, “How can you afford..?” “Wouldn’t the children be better off..?”
With someone else. That was what she meant. When May turned up at school in the same clothes for five days in a row and her hair unwashed, he’d seen the Bad Parent look very clearly on her face. They’d moved before she could act on her (unfounded) suspicions. And deleting her from his contacts had felt sooo good! “Yep, this looks like a normal family,” Tad thought that evening. He was boning up on DIY skills – paying other people to do things for him just wasn’t an option! Ice and May were playing peek-a-boo, with much giggling, in the ten minutes left before Ice’s bedtime. May had done her homework with no protests and no nagging. The place was clean and tidy.
“It’s a new year. And this feels like a new start.” Tad had dropped May off at the stadium – the school had been given free tickets for the match, and she’d gone with her friends – and headed for the laundromat, to kill two birds with one trip.
“Hi, I’m Lenny. Your kid’s cute – don’t worry, mate.” Ice had looked up at Lenny, clasped his leg and begun babbling to him about his red car. Tad had peeled him off, apologising, but Lenny had just laughed.
It was quite nice to chat to another bloke – way better than bumping into May’s teacher! He’d relaxed too soon. The door opened, and in she came! Ice recognised her and ran over with such enthusiasm that she had to catch him as he nearly fell flat on his face. Ice promptly clung to her and started talking about his red car again!
Still, she couldn’t complain about May not doing her homework this time. And he was getting all the notes – about the match, about May’s school trip. His threat had worked. He broke off his chat with Lenny and went to retrieve Ice, who was still clinging to Miss Chandler like she was his new best friend.
“It’s okay, I don’t mind.”
No, but I do, Tad thought. Though he hadn’t minded Ice chatting to Lenny.
“Actually, I’m glad I bumped into you. I wanted to say how much better May was doing at school, and how well she’s doing her homework.” She peeled Ice off and put him down, smiling at them both before she went to deal with her washing. Tad checked his own machine and then decided he might as well be civil in return.
“Thanks for telling me that about May. Is there anything she needs a bit of extra input with? I think she’s cracked the decomposition in subtraction now, but you’d know better than me about that.”
It had been a bit of a struggle, but they’d got there – once Tad had turned it into money and shown her how it worked. “Imagine there are only tens and ones and no other coins at all…”
Hang on, she’d got that bad parent look on her face again. What now? “Since you mention it, I think May was upset…”
“Upset? By what?”
Had someone been bullying her? Maybe it wasn’t a Bad Parent Look. Maybe it was genuine concern for May.
“Umm…that she couldn’t see her mother over Christmas. She said to me that Mummy couldn’t be there…” It hit Tad like a runaway train. Just when he’d been thinking they were getting somewhere, May let him in for this! He had two choices – explain to her that Star was dead, or get angry. Angry was way easier and safer.
“My family affairs are none of your business,” he hissed – he didn’t want to freak Lenny out, or Ice. “Can you just concentrate on educating my child please? That’s what you’re paid to do.”
He was going to have to do his washing on a school day, when there was no danger of running into Miss stick-her-nose-in Chandler. Out of the frying pan and into the fire! What was he going to do though? Why was May pretending Star was still alive? And how did he talk to her about it? He was still cross with her for letting him in for such a hurtful comment. He just didn’t know where or how to start. And three weeks later he was still no wiser as to how to handle things. He needed Star! He was coping with Ice, but bringing up a girl was obviously totally different.
He flipped open the lid of the dumpster and braced himself for what lay ahead. This wasn’t doing his clothes much good. Perhaps it was just as well he didn’t have either the time or the freedom to go to the gym any more. “You stink,” May said, with more truth than politeness. “And this is so embarrassing. I don’t know what to say to people when they ask what you do.”
The fact that Ice was in his arms helped Tad keep his temper; and he was glad of that afterwards. What he’d wanted to say wouldn’t have helped anything. His tone was still a bit terse though.
“Why don’t you tell them that I’m an artist?"
Add that to the lies you’re already telling, he thought. I used to be one once, but I'm not now.
“And you don’t suppose that I enjoy this, do you? Being filthy and smelly? But it pays our bills.”
They went home in silence.

The Pole Renovacy Chapter 5

Chapter 5

This is based on Hi-de-Hi’s gift to me from the Holiday Gift Exchange. House here: https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9351043 And family here: https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9351042 “We need to talk.” Mindful of how upset Ice had been the last time he’d been cross with May, Tad had gone outside with his daughter. “Well? Can you explain why you’ve lied to me for so long about your homework? I met your teacher in the Laundromat.” Tad took a deep breath and strove for reasonableness.
“You know I’d be happy to help you if you were stuck. And you could have done it at the library if you needed to look at a book or use the computers there…”
But May just glared at him, a small mutinous child.
“I didn’t want to do it,” she said eventually. “Why should I do it? Everyone just tells me what I should do all the time…”
“Well, you have to do your homework, Tad said tersely. “And from now on, you’re going to do it. And I want every note that comes from school, okay? Or I’ll…”
He paused, trying to think of something that would get through to her.
“I’ll come into your classroom at the end of every day and ask Miss Chandler myself if you’ve had any notes today. In my running shorts,” he added, as May still seemed unmoved. “I’ll bring the notes home! I’ll bring the notes home! All of them!” It wasn’t going to be a very good Christmas. Tad might as well face the fact. There were a couple more weeks or so of school to go – term ended late this year – and then May would be on holiday. It wasn’t just the slight lack of money, though he was making some money, mostly from dumpster diving, cleaning things up and selling them on to the second-hand store.
No, it was that this year, neither he nor May knew how to do Christmas. It wasn’t the same without Star. And Ice was too young to care. What could he do to make things just a bit better for them both? Inspiration struck as Tad was making the bed the next day. To May’s surprise – and his shame – the bedcover had turned out to be blue under all the dirt. No wonder it had smelt! The bedding looked much better, but the bed itself was still a mess. And he’d painted their sleeping area, but everywhere else was as dingy as ever. Maybe if he brightened the place up a bit for Christmas, it would make the holiday more pleasant? There was nothing to do in the garden at the moment. He and May had cleared it all up, and he’d also repaired all the fencing. Ice was getting more adventurous, and he needed a definite barrier round the garden – to let him know where he could and couldn’t go! The paint on the walls looked great. Unfortunately, the ceiling now looked dreadful. And he really should have painted the ceiling first… And now the ancient and totally non-functioning ducting looked dreadful. He could probably sell that for scrap. But taking it out would mess up his newly-painted ceiling…May actually found all this quite funny, and liked to see what he’d done each day when she came home from school. One thing with having such a small house, it didn’t take long to paint things. Ice just took it all in his stride. The ducting did fetch money. Tad spent some of it on new lighting – and was smart enough this time to put it in before doing the touch-ups. But the nice new paintwork made the appliances look dreadful…Tad worked it out, and yes he could get this done before Christmas too. “What colour should I paint them?”
“Orange,” May said definitely. “Orange would look cheerful.” Orange it was then – and she was right. Orange did look cheerful. The rest of the money from the ducting and the sale of the old fireplace/stove went on a new and safer fireplace. Tad hadn’t liked the old one at all. He’d been nervous every time it was lit. Tad had given May a little money to buy Christmas present with. She’d bought Ice a little red car, that he already loved – and something for him as well. She’d bought a cookery book. Second hand, but a nice clean copy nevertheless. He’d taken her to the second-hand bookshop a couple of times now.
“Do you like it?” she asked anxiously. “I love it,” Tad said, hugging her. “And it’s going to be really useful. I still have lots of things to learn about cooking.” He went over to put the book away in the bookshelves he’d built from bits he’d found in the junkyard. The same junkyard had supplied the bricks for the hearth. That second-hand bookshop had also been where he’d bought the books – May’s Christmas present from him. That and new clothes for all of them. Second-hand new clothes, admittedly, but they were all nice enough. Tad knew not to attempt a Christmas dinner. Instead, they’d had a huge treat – pizza! And now he brought out a dessert as well.
“Did you make this pie?” May sounded awestruck.
“No,” Tad said, laughing. “I bought it. I thought that as it was Christmas, we should have a pudding. Do you want to get the bowls out?”
“Ooh yes,” said May, with more enthusiasm than she’d shown for ages.
It hadn’t been an amazing Christmas. It was never going to have been that. But it hadn’t been a total disaster either. Tad was content with that.

The Pole Renovacy, chapter 4

Chapter 4

This is based on Hi-de-Hi’s gift to me from the Holiday Gift Exchange. House here: https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9351043 And family here: https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9351042 Where else could they go that was free? The library was an obvious solution, and May had always loved reading. But to Tad’s disappointment, instead of losing herself in a book like she used to, May headed for the toys instead.
“Don’t say anything,” Tad told himself through gritted teeth, and decided that Ice, at least, could sit down with a book, seeing as they were At The Library. Was May trying to make a point? Tad wondered. They’d had to sell her books, along with so much else. She was talking to herself softly.
“You’re a nice blue brick. Where shall we put you?” in that faintly irritating babyish voice she adopted so often now. Okay, very irritating babyish voice. And after the library, they were heading somewhere else for free. Somewhere for finding free stuff. Mind you, it smelt pretty bad… And so did Tad by the time he had finished. May made her feelings very clear! The library was close enough to school for May to meet Tad there after the final bell had gone. She headed straight for the blocks again.
“Don’t you have any homework?” Tad asked.
“Nope,” May answered airily. “We did it all in class.” “What’s your teacher like?”
“Miss Chandler? She’s quite nice, but strict.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting her when there’s a parents’ evening. I’m surprised there hasn’t been one yet.”
“Oh, they have them much later in the year here. I ‘splained about your phone not working and she said she’d send a note on paper when it was going to happen.”
Fair enough, Tad thought – different school, different timetable for events. Tad’s cooking skills still weren’t great – to say the least – but he’d grown these salad ingredients himself. And at least he couldn’t burn a salad! “How was school today?”
“Okay,” May sighed.
“Any homework?”
“Er, no, it was a field trip day.”
“Did you enjoy it?”
“It was okay.”
They finished the meal in silence. Tad missed Star so much – even when she was so ill, she never lost her knack of getting May to chatter about things. All he seemed to get out of her was these terse answers. The bills were red again, but at least he could pay them this time without having to sell anything. Not that there was really anything left to sell. If they were going to have any “new” furniture, or anything else, he needed to go dumpster diving again. He’d walk down to the school with Ice and meet May and they’d go together. Tad had the feeling that May didn’t really like going to the scrapyard, but he needed her to keep an eye on Ice. So she’d just have to put up with it. They were well into late autumn now, and Tad wanted to do some more tidying up before winter came. He’d dragooned a reluctant May into helping him, pointing out that as she didn’t have any homework – again! He did want to talk to that teacher of hers – she might as well do some house-and-garden work instead. It was pricy, but it had to be done. Tad had been hand-washing the essentials through the summer, and drying them outside, but the bedding was beyond him. He’d done the sheets from time to time, but not very well. And the bedcover did smell dusty – it hadn’t been so bad when they’d had those open doors, but now the house was more-or-less airtight, the smell was a lot more noticeable. May had gone out on a nature ramble with some friends from school so it was just Ice he had to keep happy. And that wasn’t hard. Someone else came in and Ice, who had lost none of his friendly, outgoing nature, despite all the changes in their lives, headed over to greet her. Tad followed, apologising slightly for his son. “It’s okay! I like children. They’re my bread and butter in fact – I teach at the primary school here in town.” Tad read the between-the-lines translation: I’m an okay person to have round your son.
“He’s so cheerful! When’s he due to start school?”
“He’s only three. A little while yet before he starts school. My daughter’s already there though.” If she was a teacher, maybe she’d heard about May and he could pump her gently for some feedback. “Her name’s May. May Pole. And I’m Tad.” “You’re May’s father." Her expression changed subtly. “I’m Bindi Chandler, May’s class teacher. I was sorry that you couldn’t make the parent-teacher evening or fix up an alternative appointment.” “What parents’ evening? There hasn’t been one yet.” Tad was a bit annoyed at the way she’d obviously demoted him to uncommitted parent status. Of course he would have gone to a parents’ evening. He wished he wasn’t in his tracksuit, but looked a bit more professional instead. Her next words were just as much of a shock as well. “What do you mean, May hasn’t been doing her homework? She hasn’t had any. In fact I was looking forward to meeting you and asking about that…” Okay, maybe he emphasised the “was” a bit too much, but her words and attitude had caught Tad on the raw. He was doing his best by the children, but it was hard… Miss Chandler picked up on the “was”, and Tad could see her fighting to retain her professionalism. Her voice became very cool, calm and detached.
“Maybe if May’s mother had a word with her? I know May said she doesn’t live with you any more, but…” Tad couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. And couldn’t cope with the hurt of it either. Thankfully, at that moment the timer pinged on the dryer. He kept his mouth firmly closed and contented himself with turning on his heel and walking away. What had May been playing at? What was wrong with her?