Terry: Foot Prints in the Sand (Second Edition)

By Pauline Gibson

The book follows the main protagonist quest for his true identity in post-War Britain as a dual heritage man living in London.
The story begins in 1955 when 26-year-old Terry is trying to fit into a world which is not totally ready for the life he is striving for when his girlfriend—Julia—lets him down gently to please her disproving parents. However, the let-down leads Terry to his first contact with the black community when he meets young Jamaican Bob Pinto. Bob, who is new to Britain, introduces Terry to a world outside of his own.
After Terry learns that he is soon to be a father by someone else, he is faced with some difficult choices; return to London to his love in London or give up his child.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Jun 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9781665590457

Pauline Gibson

Pauline Gibson s is a London author who has a keen interest in history, She developed a curiosity about the pre-Windush, generation after meeting people who lived through those years. She started of studying Social Work, before discovering her passion for historical fiction. She has been credited for articles written to the Weekly Post and also book called Legacy, which captured the experiences of the Wind Rush Generation. Her love of all those historical led her to a Creative Writing Course, which earned her a Creative Writing Degree (BA. .Hon). Today, she lives in London and is currently working in education. Outside of this, she is constantly investing genealogy

Book preview

2021 Pauline Gibson. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 06/28/2021

ISBN: 978-1-6655-9044-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-9045-7 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CHAPTER 1 To Be or Not to Be

CHAPTER 2 Birds of a Feather

CHAPTER 3 Tall, Dark Stranger

CHAPTER 4 Cupid Stupid

CHAPTER 5 Meeting Beryl

CHAPTER 6 The Real Thing

CHAPTER 7 A Pocketful of Roses

CHAPTER 8 Obstinate

CHAPTER 9 My Son’s Keeper

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to thank everyone who helped me explore these characters: David Bartholomew, Dawn Gobourne, Roy Kerridge and Errol Richards.

Most of all I would like to thank Terry and Johnny for the contributions they made to the community.

Thank you also to the editor—James Beckles—for supporting this project.

Dedicated to Vera Watkins and all the forgotten carers

CHAPTER 1

To Be or Not to Be

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Terry stared at his reflection in the mirror in a way he had never confronted his own self before. From where he stood at the chipped-off edge of the bathroom door, he could see a person he had never seen before—a good-looking, happy chap he had never known. Terry had looked in the mirror that hung on the back of the wardrobe so many times, but he had never truly lived inside the person who lived inside his body.

Terry! called out Terry’s mother, Vera.

Yes, Mum, responded Terry.

The whiff of his breakfast came floating up the stairs. He tried to ignore the tantalising smell of bacon and eggs which rushed under the gap in the doorway.

Terry glanced at the wrinkles in the cracked lino for the last time, the floor where he and his brother used to fight to be the best-dressed person in Tottenham. He could not remember how many times the wrinkled lino had settled the dispute and how both boys fell about laughing, afterwards.

Terry! his mother demanded. How many times do I have to call you?

Before he went downstairs, Terry splashed some oil into his hair. His mother hated it. She could not understand why he had to put that stuff in his hair. Good old Vera Watkins knew nothing about the hair of the two black children she had fostered before the Great Depression. Terry reflected on his mother’s accusing look when he first used the oil for and it sunk into her pillowcase.

I don’t know what will get this thing out, but it is good, she said, flapping out the cases. Just won’t wash out.

As Terry tiptoed down the stairs, he knew his mother would be waiting for him. They had an argument night before, but she had to accept that he was getting married today. He hoped she had finally come around.

Where are you going? Looking like a dog’s dinner? she asked. Vera sat there with her dogs, Slim and Creep, running about her. They were eating out of a bowl she held out to them.

I am getting married, he said softly.

Terry! she emoted, digging her cigarette into her ashtray. Terry, sit down. We need to talk!

There is nothing to talk about, mum. You’ve said everything you could possibly cough up last night.

His stepdad, Stan, chucked a bucket of coal into the fire. His brother, Johnny, sat in the corner with a newspaper almost covering his face. As the coal began to crackle and pop in the fireplace, Terry looked over his mother