Book 2, Chapter 33

"Jenny darling, you're on your way!" There was around of applause at the cry from Jenny's father and she gave a curtsy.

Nobody in the room had known until the television programme just how good Jenny would look on film. The film had been edited to portray Jenny as the dream come true for every girl who entered a modelling school. Sarah wasn't shown as a victim but as a young woman making mistakes but learning and coming through the trials a stronger and wiser woman - every bit as credible as the reporter whose project sparked the exposé. The men were caught on camera several times in compromising situations but would only deny any willingness to be interviewed when confronted directly. They were in real trouble as, although I doubt they could be convicted of any crime on the evidence offered here, the programme left no doubt to the viewer that they were drug dealers and dangerous, abusive sexual predators of underage girls. They could only sue the BBC, run or await arrest by the police, which surely must come after Sarah's onscreen challenge. I naïvely imagined the scumbags hastily packing their cases.

Sarah and I said our goodbyes on the phone with promises to keep in touch and I got back to the party.

"You're going to be a great mother one day Venus," said Jenny.

"Oh no! You look fashion model great on screen yet already you tell me that even though I'm only 18 I look 'Mumsy'"

"No, it's seeing you on the television that emphasised for me how you show that joy thing when you like something or a particular someone."

"So I'm not Mumsy, just like my mother Joy?"

"No! Joy joy, not Joy Joy the name of you mother!

"Clear as mud!"

"I breathed a sigh of relief at the end," was Litara's summation. "I'd not seen the final footage and was afraid that it you would show you as being too young to carry my documentary series. You are my baby sister and this film showed you in any number of crazy situations from catwalk pratfalls to dancing queen to blushing bride yet somehow you openly enjoy them all without coming over all giddy or naïve. That's impressive! It also showed you seeing through Sarah's self-protective front to the pain she'd gone through and that you were immediately ready to protect her. What I want to know is what happened to the wallflower costume you wore until last year?"

"Are you really afraid that you've chosen the wrong person for your project Sis? I'll pull out if you want."

"God, no. This programme shows even more that you are the right person for my documentaries, my nervousness was just from knowing that film makers have agendas that shape the image of a person they they want to project and I didn't know what this one would bring out in you."

"Just so long as you don't take me for someone with hidden depths Sis. I really am this shallow!"

"Who's shallow?" asked the giant enfolding both Litara and me. "My lovely daughters are my pearls not my tinsel. Now come and sit with your Mum and Grandma for a bit so I can get some peace."

It was midnight before the party broke up and only at the end did we admit that it was a party at all. Laying in bed back home going over the evening I thought the best parties are the impromptu ones and that explained why this one went so well. I was particularly pleased with how Aunt Sophie's daughter Beth got on with my friends seeming to have matured so much in the short time since I'd had to take her to Doctor Carter for a pregnancy and STD check. No reason why she wouldn't seem more mature of course as she was further along than me in sexual development…… that's when I heard the noise coming from Mum and Dad's bedroom and broke into tears at what I didn't have before finally drifting off to sleep.

Only at 9 am after my morning run did I take tea up to mum and dad's bedroom, carefully knocking before I entered. "Time to get up sleepyheads, there are devilled kidneys for breakfast but only if you are down for 9:30."

Back downstairs I laid the table and prepared breakfast with my headphones on listening to one of John's mixed dance tapes. I was well into a quickstep when Latira tapped me on the shoulder.

"Where are the lovebirds then? You'd think they would be past it by now or at least a bit quieter."

"I don't know what you're talking about and the fact that I had to sweep up plaster in the lounge that had fallen from the ceiling under their bed is a complete coincidence."

"Actually it's all your fault," Litara stated to sum up the situation concerning rejuvenated parents. "At the start of last week you were in their, or at least in Mum's eyes, primarily a juvenile source of worry but after watching Panorama and listening to so many people talking to and about you the line has been crossed and they now see you as a responsible adult."

"Wonderful! No more complaints about my clothes, the hours I keep and how I should be careful to make the right impression."

"Yes, and with luck it will last until you set sail for Madeira and points south. It won't last in the long run of course as this is just a stage until Mum starts nagging you for grandchildren and, according to my friends further down the line, in the stage after that mothers are continually pointing out what a mess you are making of your career, your marriage, your home and raising your children. It is known technically as being a daughter doomed for ever to hear your mother's voice in your head!"

"You shouldn't talk about your mother like that ," came my Da's voice as he entered the kitchen. "It might be true but it's part of your Welsh heritage. Now where are these devilled kidneys you promised."

Over breakfast arrangements were firmed up for a family expedition to Bristol. First it was planned to go sightseeing along the river Severn waterfront area through the city centre and then drive up to the new shopping mall at Cribb's Causeway about 5 miles to the north. I can't deny that Mum does drive me to distraction at times but it was her, Sophie and Grandma Tina that put the idea of a family day out together at the party - maybe the programme made them particularly aware that there wouldn't be too many future opportunities for large family get-togethers. Much though the sunshine said it was summer the calendar said it was a brisk April day and we dressed accordingly. Even in Cardiff the ever-so-practical pashmina had died the fashion death by 2001 but Litara showed me that by re-cycling it as a big scarf we could still enjoy the warm benefits.

It was tempting to a use Bill's magic bus but eleven family members plus Serena would have been too much for it so we headed over the Severn Bridge as a three car convoy and by noon were gazing at the work being done on the SS Great Britain. Bill it appeared had some sort of special dispensation to allow us to see the progress being made inside what was in effect to become a glass-roofed museum built around the largest ship of its time in the world.

"Is this your work Bill?" I asked.

"No, I have connections that got us in but I really just wanted to give encouragement by sharing this with you. To show how what was once an innovative commercial vessel became a wreck in the Falklands then a tourist attraction for Bristol but soon, as the centrepiece of a new museum, it will draw visitors from everywhere for them to learn about a wider world with more history than they ever imagined. So no, the project isn't my doing but it is being done by people who care about a future beyond the end of the tax year. Without them your children wouldn't be able to see this ship at all in 25 years because it was falling apart from rust."

I looked across at Serena and replied to Bill, "I suppose I'm a bit like this ship. If it weren't for Serena and my other friends I could have ended a wreck, ignorant of who I was, just like my late great-uncle Juan in the Dominican Republic. On the other hand, although my friends saw something in me when they came to my rescue they had no idea that just months later I'd be appearing on television and preparing to circumnavigate Dumblebit ."