Saturday Book Club -Fear No Foe -chapter 19
Fear No Foe
chapter 19
When Shay got back to his apartment, the first thing he did was to phone his Mom, Kenny and Kelly to tell them the news. They were all really happy that he was coming back to England, his Mom and Kenny hadn’t seen him in over a year and were looking forward to him coming back. Kelly was really happy as well, she was glad that he was coming back and had got another title fight.
Shay told them he would be back in Britain by the end of the month; Kelly asked him “So do I need to look for somewhere else to live then?” Shay laughed and replied “No Kell, I’m probably only going to be back for 6 months, so if you want I’d love you to stay with us in the house.” Kelly asked “Us? Is Paddy stopping here as well?”
Shay replied “No Kell he’s stopping at a hotel, Isabella my dance instructor is stopping with us”.
Kelly paused for a second and then said “O.k. so are you and Isabella together then?” Shay then paused and replied “Well kind of, we have got quite close over the last year, but she’s a bit too possessive for me. She insisted on coming to see where I come from”.
Kelly then asked “Well wouldn’t it be better if I moved out so you and Isabella could be here on your own?” Shay just said “Kell you’ve been living at my place for over a year, it’s your home now and I want my best mate round me when I come back”. Kelly said “Well o.k. as long as you are sure?” Shay replied “Kelly I’m more than sure, see you in a month’s time”.
Shay’s training had been cut down by Paddy for the last month he was in New York, Paddy just wanted Shay to keep himself fit and there real training would start 3 months before the title fight.
Dexter had arranged with Kenny that Paddy was going to use Case’s Gym while they were in England to train Shay.
At the end on the month Shay flew back home with Dexter, Paddy wasn’t coming over for another month when Shay would be full on with his training.
When Shay got through customs at Birmingham airport, Kelly was waiting to give him a lift home, Kelly was shocked when only Dexter and Shay came out.
Kelly asked Shay “Where’s Isabella then Shay?”
Shay smiled and shook his head and replied “She aint coming Kell, don’t ask it’s a long story”.
Kelly said “O.k. it’s a shame I was looking forward to meeting her, anyway give us a hug, it’s good to see you”.
Shay gave Kelly a big hug and said “It’s good to see you as well Kell, will you take me round to my Mom’s house”.
Kelly smiled and said “Yes of course I will” she then asked Dexter if he wanted a lift?
Dexter smiled and replied “No thanks Kell, here’s my lift”, Samantha had just pulled up in her brand new Aston Martin.
As Dexter was getting in he called over to Shay and said “Right son, be at my office tomorrow. I’ll go through all the details with you”. Shay replied “Alright Dext see you tomorrow”, and got into Kelly’s car.
When they got to Shay’s Mom’s house his Mom was waiting at the door to greet them. Shay ran up his Mom’s path like a little boy who’d missed his Mommy and gave her a big hug and a kiss.
Shay’s Mom hugged him tightly and said “Welcome home son, I’ve missed you so much”. Shay replied with a tear in his eye “It’s good to be home Mom, I’ve missed you as well, how you been?”
Shay’s Mom smiled and said “I’m fine son, now come in out the cold both of you”.
They went inside and Shay could smell that his Mom had made him one of his favorite meals. He said “Are you cooking coddle Mom?”
His Mom replied “Yes son, I haven’t made one in a while, but thought I’d welcome you home with one of your favorites, it will be ready in a few minutes”.
Shay and Kelly sat down in the living room and his Mom came in with his Irish broth full of sausages and vegetables, with two thick slices of crusty bread on the side of the tray. Shay tucked in like he hadn’t been fed before, Kelly and his Mom just sat there both laughing at how fast he was eating. Kelly and Shay’s Mom had a small bowel of it, but Shay finished his massive bowel a long time before them.
He looked up at his Mom with a very satisfied face and said “Mom it’s good to be back home, that was lovely, Marc De Paul’s got nothing on you”.
Kelly and Shay spent the rest of the day at his Moms as he told them about his year in New York, when they got back to Shay’s house the jet lag had started to kick in, so Shay called it a night and slept in his own bed for the first time in a year.
He got up the next day, he got dressed and went down stairs, Kelly had got up before him and made him a full English breakfast. All the time Shay was in New York he could never really enjoy their massive portions of food as he was always training and watching his weight. He thanked Kelly for the breakfast and got stuck into the plate of sausage bacon eggs and tomatoes. Kelly asked him what time he was going to see Dexter?
Shay replied “I’m going to go in a bit, but first I’m going to go and put some flowers on my Dad’s grave”.
Kelly smiled at him and asked if he wanted her to come to the grave with him before she went to the restaurant?
Shay looked at Kelly smiled and replied “No Kell, I just want to go on my own, but thank you for offering”.
As Shay finished off his breakfast he asked Kelly how the restaurant was doing.
Kelly said “Yeah it’s busier than ever, we had a bit of a problem a few months ago, but it worked out good for us”.
Shay asked in a shocked voice “Problems? What problems? How come you never told me?”
Kelly replied “Shay you were in New York, there was nothing you could have done, and anyway it worked out really well”.
Shay asked “So what was the problem then?”
Kelly told him that someone had told the papers that Marc De Paul wasn’t French and was really a half English and half Irish lad from Newtown who used to hang out with a gang causing trouble in the area.
Shay then asked her what happened next.
Kelly took a sip of here tea and continued “Well there was a big peace in the Birmingham post about it, then I asked them to come round to talk to me and Mark about it. When they did I span the story how hard it was for Mark growing up in Newtown and how he had gone to college and worked in restaurants in London and France to learn how to become a chef. Then I told them with your help he opened Marc De Paul’s and he didn’t think anyone would come to a restaurant if they knew it was a kid from Newtown cooking the food”.
Shay then asked “So what did the papers do next?”
Kelly smiled and replied “They gave us a 2 page spread all about Mark and his struggle to become a chef, since that we have never been busier”.
Shay looked at Kelly smiled and said “See I knew it was a good idea to get you running th