Planet Poultry: Where Dreams Come True

By Angela Gascoigne

Planet Poultry tells the story of five friends who work together in a chicken processing factory in the North East of England. Each of them is struggling with their own personal dilemas but living in the hope that things can only get better. One day, something monumental happens that changes their lives forever... In this gritty story, we come face to face with real-life issues such as: domestic violence, addiction, depression and the heart-rending tick of the biological clock. Yet there is also an injection of humour and warmth which is certain to keep the reader enthralled and feeling great empathy for these realistic characters who could so easily be their very own neighbours or friends. Whilst reading Planet Poultry, we are taught some valuable lessons: the importance of good friends; to always have hope and never give up because we never know what lies round the corner; and, most importantly, that revenge is a dish best served cold!

• Language: English
• Publisher: AUK Authors
• Release date: May 27, 2014
• ISBN: 9781783331512

Book preview

Angela.

Chapter 1

The chunky whisky tumbler came smashing down on Norman’s head. Shards of glass splintered onto the carpet. A stream of thick, dark blood ran down into his closed eye and onto his deathly white face, as his back slid down the wall before he finally sat motionless on the floor.

No sensation of pain remained, only the pleasure of happy memories filled his head. His unconscious mind drifted away in a dream-like state.

Inside Norman’s head, he was swimming in the depths of a clear, blue pool. The sun was beating down and palm trees surrounded the area. Laughter echoed in his ears and he was enveloped in warmth and joy.

Norman was nineteen again, happy and carefree, enjoying a holiday in Lanzarote with his two best friends, Billy Carlisle and Lorna Mills. They laughed uncontrollably as Norman’s huge Bermuda shorts slid down his legs when he climbed out of the pool. So, you think that’s funny do you? I’ll show you funny! he shouted.

Lorna screamed hysterically as he picked her up in his arms and threw her into the pool, almost drowning her. His milky white skin showed the first signs of burning - even after endless layers of sun block - and his fair hair had been bleached almost white.

They’d saved forever for this holiday. It was a once in a lifetime experience as far as they were concerned. All three of them had grown up together. They’d lived on the same street all their lives and been in the same class at school. Of course they’d had other friends too, but the bond between those three had been unbreakable.

None of them had done particularly well in the exam and employment department. Lorna worked as a part-time checkout girl and Billy had a job in a video shop. Norman had started work in Planet Poultry, a local chicken factory, as soon as he left school at sixteen - as did many of the local kids. Most didn’t stick it for long though and left as soon as they found something better or started college.

Norman despised it at first. The smell of raw flesh never seemed to come out of his clothes no matter how many times they were washed. But eventually, he was transferred to the packaging department which made the job a whole lot better and there was always plenty of overtime which made it possible to save for special things.

Billy and Lorna eventually got together as a couple. There was no jealousy on Norman’s behalf. He loved them both like sister and brother and he couldn’t have been happier for them.

Norman wished them all the luck in the world as they headed off to France on a working holiday. They never returned. They married and made a life for themselves and eventually moved to Australia where they settled and raised four children.

Norman’s dream was to save enough money to move over there too, together with his two best friends and their new family, and start a better life.

One day it was going to happen. He just knew it.

Mr Barker. Norman. The voice seemed to approach from a distance before coming closer. Norman. Could you open your eyes for me?

Norman opened his eyes slowly. Everything appeared bright and blurry until a young nurse came into focus, a concerned look on her face. You’ve been unconscious for a good while, Mr Barker. We were beginning to get very worried about you, she said. How do you feel?

Err...fine. I mean, I don’t know. What’s going on? Where am I? Norman couldn’t work out for the life of him how one minute he was in Lanzorote and the next he was lying in a hospital bed with a head that hurt like hell.

You’ve had an accident. You fell off a ladder. You took a very nasty bang to the head but we’ve patched you up. Eight stitches and slight concussion but you should be fine to go home tomorrow, the nurse explained. It was a good thing your wife popped home at lunch time for her purse. Who knows what could have happened otherwise. You might have been lying there all day. She’s waiting in the corridor now. She’s eager to see you. Shall I bring her in?

It was all too much for Norman to take in. He strained his memory for clues. Ladders, Marina coming home from work...what a load of crap, he thought as it suddenly came back to him exactly what had happened. Nurse! he said urgently. Don’t let her in. Please. I don’t want to see her. I don’t feel up to it.

The nurse looked surprised but nodded all the same and left the ward. Norman could hear Marina’s raised voice in the corridor. What do you mean he doesn’t want to see me?

Norman covered his ears and closed his eyes in a bid to block her out. Eventually, her footsteps could be heard fading into the distance.

The taxi pulled into Holly Gardens, a small cul-de-sac of newly built, semi-detached houses. It came to a stop outside number thirteen. Norman sat motionless in the back seat for a while, fiddling uncomfortably with the small brown envelope in his hand: Care Instructions for Head Injury Patients.

He looked towards the house that felt nothing like a home anymore. There was no sign of life from what he could see. He wondered if she was in there. The neighbours were home alright. He could see their bedroom curtains twitching just as they had on so many other occasions when Marina had enjoyed fighting with him in the garden or street.

The wooden gate creaked open and he headed for the front door, clutching the blood stained sweatshirt he’d been wearing when he arrived at the hospital the day before.

The house was quiet but as Norman walked into the kitchen, there she was, standing at the kitchen sink peeling potatoes. She looked a sight. Her short bleached hair looked as though it hadn’t seen shampoo or a hairbrush for a week. The baggy pink T-shirt that she wore over her jogging pants belonged in the bin. He could smell the stale sweat a mile off. What had happened to her? What had gone so wrong to result in this? Her once curvy figure could now only be described as obese. Did she have no self-respect?

Norman felt light-headed. He threw his things onto the kitchen table and sat down. The chair made a loud scraping noise on the floor, but even then she didn’t turn around. In fact, Marina didn’t acknowledge him for the rest of the day. She stomped around the house slamming doors. She even cooked for herself and sat down to eat without offering him so much as a bite. A man straight out of hospital - a man put in hospital by her.

Norman’s head throbbed, he felt physically sick and his insides churned with anxiety. The painkillers the hospital had prescribed him hadn’t even taken the edge off the pain. The best option, he thought, was to have a long soak in a hot bath before curling up in bed. Maybe in the morning his head wouldn’t hurt as much and he’d be able to think straight.

But once he was lying in bed, although exhausted, he couldn’t sleep. He was full of anger towards Marina. She attacked him, could have killed him, and then behaved as though he were the one in the wrong!

But the days of him feeling upset and sad about the way she had treated him were gone. It only made him furious now. He wanted out. He just didn’t know how because man or not, Norman was frightened to death of that woman, that monster. He didn’t know what she’d be capable of if he tried to throw her out, although he had a good idea.

There was no way in the world he was going to walk away from his house, his little palace that he’d paid for out of his own hard-earned money. She didn’t have a hope in hell of getting her evil hands on it.

Chapter 2

Kerry’s eyes lit up as she saw Norman walk into the staff canteen for lunch. He’d been missing from work for a whole week and even though it was now lunch time, she hadn’t seen him on the factory floor all morning. He was keeping a low profile and she had no idea why.

A thirty year old divorcee, Kerry had moved back to her homeland of Newcastle from Torquay two years earlier after the break-up of her marriage.

Theirs had been a whirlwind romance. They had met at a drink fuelled beach party in the height of Summer. There had been over a hundred people there, most of whom lived in Torquay or the surrounding areas.

People surfing the huge white waves, the smell of barbecued food and sun lotion in the air, loud music and bodies sprawled on the sand - every one of them making the most of the freak, one off week of tropical weather before Autumn arrived.

The attraction between Kerry and Liam had been instant and purely physical. The next day, they hunted out the nearest registry office, and by the time they’d known each other for exactly two weeks, they were husband and wife. They couldn’t care less about responsibility. They were living for the day and if it ended it ended, it was no big deal.

And end it did, six months into the marriage.

There was no pain or guilt on either side when the time came. They’d had a great time. They’d spent six months living on sex, takeaways and alcohol, but the party lifestyle couldn’t go on forever and they both knew that was all there would ever be between them. Fun. So they parted as friends and friends they remained.

Once back in Newcastle, Kerry accepted the first job she was offered - a full-time position on the factory floor of Planet Poultry. Initially, she never thought she’d be able to stick it out with the thought of all those poor chickens and turkeys being hung up by their feet before being mechanically plucked, gutted, cleaned and packaged ready for the supermarket.

Soon she realised that she’d have to harden towards the job, or else she’d go insane. Cruel as it seemed, those birds were bred for food. People needed to eat and she needed to work and that was that.

On Kerry’s first week, it was Norman Barker who was nominated to show her the ropes, from kitting her out with her huge, white overalls, her wellies and hairnet, to accompanying her to the canteen for tea breaks and lunch. It can be a little bit daunting when you first start, I know - row upon row of funny looking people working like robots, Norman said.

That’s exactly what it’s like, Kerry laughed nervously.

This place is a lot smaller than some other factories, but it’s still scary for a new member of staff. We’re lucky to be in the packaging department where all the worst jobs have already been taken care of. Seeing the bewildered look on Kerry’s face, Norman added, Don’t worry, I’ll keep you right and I’ll introduce you to a group of really nice people who work on this department too.

Kerry settled in really well and Norman was so kind, patient and friendly that she loved him right from the start. Any opportunity she got, she would be right at Norman’s side and any excuse to make conversation with him, she would use. She made no secret of the fact that she fancied him like mad. She was well aware that he had a partner, but she’d heard enough rumours about Marina to know Norman was far too good for a woman like that.

Kerry never gave up telling Norman how she felt about him but he was loyal to Marina, even after everything she’d put him through. He would simply say: You and me, we’re just friends, Kerry. That’s as far as it goes. You need to get on with your life. There can never be any future for us.

Norman’s words cut like a knife every time. He had no idea how deep Kerry’s feelings for him went or, if he did, he didn’t seem to care. She only had to see his face or hear his voice to feel a warm glow inside. She’d wait forever for him if that’s what