Jillian lives in a flat in London but it is very expensive, so she shares the flat she lives in with two other girls, Christina and Philippa. They share the expenses too. One week Jillian gives the money that pays for the food and Christina and Philippa pay for the cleaning and the rent. The newt week Jillian gives the money that pays for the cleaning and Christina and Philippa pay for the rent and the food. The third week, Jillian pays the rent and the other two give the money that pays for the cleaning and the food. And they are all very happy.
Another time when they share expenses is when they have a party. So they all pay for the drink they give their friends, the food they all eat and for the work Mrs Brass does.
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The three girls decided to give a party one evening last winter. An hour before it was going to start, Philippa was looking through a pile of cds that lay on the living-room carpet. Christina was cleaning her teeth in the bathroom with Philippa’s new toothpaste. And Jillian was running from room to room shouting: “Has anybody seen my blouse? The one that went into the glue?”
There was the noise of a plate breaking in the kitchen, and Mrs Brass put her head round the door. “That’s the second one I’ve broken, Miss Grey. Every time you say something that makes me think of the launderette, I drop something.”
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At that moment, Philippa switched the cd-player on and the noise that filled the living-room sent Mrs Brass back into the kitchen.
“Do they call that music?” she said loudly as she dried another plate. Then she looked again at Philippa dancing in the middle of the living-room carpet. “Silly young things, throwing themselves about on th
e carpet I’ve just cleaned,” said Mrs Brass in a loud voice, but Philippa didn’t hear what she said.
But the music that was making Philippa dance was filling Mrs Brass’s head, too. So while Philippa stopped dancing for a moment to listen to the cd, it was the Mrs Brass who began to turn and shake her shoulders to the music behind the kitchen door.
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“What’s that cd?” Jillian asked, fastening the buttons of her blouse and put another one on.
“It’s that pop group that was on the television last week,” she said. “Look.”
Jillian read the label on the cd and laughed loudly. “Beat the floor with Benny Brass”, she read. Then Christina came in.
“That was Benny Brass that was playing, wasn’t it?” she said. “But why are you laughing, Jill”
“Don’t you know? Mrs Brass calls her husband Benny. “Now, be quiet you two. She’ll be annoyed if she hears what we’re saying”. As she spoke, Mrs Brass came out of the kitchen with some glasses and bottles and put them on a table that stood between the cd-player and the fireplace.
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But as she did so, she knocked Jillian’s hand that held the cd, and it flew into the fire. Christina tried to get it, but she was too late. For a moment, nobody spoke, then Mrs Brass put a hand up to her red face, saying “oh dear, it isn’t my day, is it? It’s a good thing it was a little pop cd”. And she went back to the kitchen.
“That’s the cd I bought this morning”, philippa said. “It was Benny Brass.”
“Yes,” said Jillian slowly. “But did Mrs Brass know?”
“You mean you think she heard us laughing at Benny Brass,” Christina asked, “and then knocked the cd into the fire deliberately?”
“I’m not sure,” Jillian said in a low voice. “It’s not easy to know what she thinks. She often says things she doesn’t mean.”
Mrs Brass came out of the kitchen with her coat on. “I’m going now,” she said. “The cups that are on the kitchen table are for the coffee. Have a nice party.” And she went.
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Later in the evening when the three girls were dancing with their boyfriends, the door bell rang. “Oh, answer it for me, Martin,” Jillian said, “while I see what the coffee’s doing.”
Martin came back a moment later with Mrs Brass. She gave Jillian something that was in a paper packet. “I have been worrying about that cd that fell into the fire,” she said. “Will you take this one I bought this afternoon?”
“But that’s much better. It’s the latest cd,” said Philippa, “and ours that fell into the fire was only an old one.”
“What’s its name?” Christina asked. “Look at the label.”
Jillian took the cd and read, “Benny Brass goes to a party. “So she knew all the time. And you like pop music. Come on everybody. We’ll drink to Benny Brass. Have a drink, Mrs Brass.”
“To Benny Brass who makes good music”, said the men.
“And to Mrs Brass who cleans for us.” answered the three girls. And they all drank.
“Thank you,” Mrs Brass said. “But now I must get back to my Benny. Good night.”
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Voix: English voice
Source: inconnue
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