Ray met me from work. He had gotten into the habit of turning up at the golf club ten minutes or so before I knocked off and walking me home. Needless to say I was giddy as a kipper every time. Having a boyfriend was new and wildly exciting and having a boyfriend who does boyfriend things like walk me home from work was straight out of my teenage dreams.
Waitressing it turns out was hard work. I was on my feet for hours at a time dealing with middle aged golfers who are wealthy and think I am on the menu. I quickly learned men are fools and to take full advantage of this. Gotta get them tips. The dress code in the restaurant was black and to look presentable. Within the first week the other girls taught me to hike me skirts up, put on a little make up and most importantly a smile. Let the creeps who were invariably away from their wives for a few days feel like they were in with a chance and the tips would fly out of their wallets.
And they were right. Usually I don’t wear any make up but I put some eyeliner on and the tinted lip balm I wore when I first met Ray just to give myself a little lift. I was more chatty with the male customers and asked them about their games. I honestly couldn’t give a shit about gold, I find it tedious. They were happy to tell me all about it. Playing dumb helped a lot too I found. Being exotic looking appealed to some, not so much to others. I worked whatever angle I had then went into the kitchen and made finger down throat barfing gestures with the other girls. They were mostly students too, and Nora who worked there all year round and could carry her own body weight in plates without getting a hair out of place and looked at me like I was a waste of space.
By the time I had been working there a fortnight I had gone from getting a handful of change left on the table to getting twenty quid a couple of times.
I loved it when Ray came to walk me home when I had been working a late shift. I would be tired from doing a ballet class or running earlier in the day and then doing dinner service in the evening dealing with drunk, rowdy golfers. Ray would appear just before my shift finished with some kind of golden glow around him. The boss liked him as it meant she didn’t have to get me a taxi home which she did for any staff who needed to get home late at night. I would be filled with nervous excitement for about an hour before my shift ended because I knew I’d be seeing him soon. She poured him a beer and he seated himself at the bar and took a long draught as I dealt with my last customers.
When we got outside I took both his hands and kissed him. His lips were wet from the beer, a taste I’ve never been able to acquire. We walked along the edge of the golf course towards my grandparents house, hand in hand. We chattered aimlessly. It was a beautiful late afternoon. I smelled greasy like a kitchen but he told me he didn’t care. I didn’t care either. I got my first pay cheque that day.
After we had walked about half a mile I took the rucksack I had been carrying off my shoulder. I unzipped it and sat down on a rickety green bench. Ray paused and sat down too.
I took a carrier bag out of the rucksack and sat it in my lap. ‘Listen, Ray,’ I began tentatively. ‘I know we’ve only been going out for a little while and I hope this doesn’t make me look.. Well.. intense or something. But I got paid today and I got something for you.’
He looked at me, his brow slightly furrowed. I handed him the carrier bag. It had the logo of a local sports shop on it.
‘Khalilah, what are ye doin spending your money on me?’ he said, as I laid the bag in his lap.
‘Take it,’ I said. ‘You might hate them.’
He furrowed his brow even deeper at me and started investigating the bag. He pulled a box from inside it. ‘Khalilah..’ he said, a warning note in his voice.
‘Open it,’ I urged.
He removed the lid and inside was a pair of pristine football boots that the assistant in the shop assured me all the top players wore and were the best you could get.
He looked up at me, annoyed. ‘Jaysus Khalilah, these are expensive!’
‘Ray, talking about money is vulgar.’
‘But-’
‘Hush.’ I admonished him, putting a finger over his lips. ‘Look, I know it’s a lot, but I’ve got a job now. I’ve been getting good tips. I wouldn’t have got them if I couldn’t afford them.’ I looked him right in his green eyes. ‘I wanted you to have them. Ray, I know how hard you work and how hungry you are to succeed. I see that passion in you. It’s in me too. I know what it feels like. It keeps you awake at night. It gets you out of bed in the morning. I want you to succeed Ray, and if these boots help then I’ll get them for you. It’s up to you to do the rest, but I believe in you.’
‘Fuckin hell Khalilah,’ he muttered. He put his hand over mine. He didn’t say anything for a moment. ‘I just..’
‘Oh!’ i said suddenly, ‘Don’t tell anyone you got them from me. I’m supposed to be saving for university. If granddad found out I blew my first wage packet on a boy I just met he’d flip several shits.’
Ray stood up and pulled me up with him. He put his arms around me and held me closely without speaking. I could hear his heart beating. ‘No one’s ever done anything like that for me before,’ he said quietly.
I nuzzled my nose into his neck. ‘It made me happy to do it,’ I told him, truthfully. ‘Just play your best football in them.’