“Yes, Mrs Haverthwaite,” Daniel replied. He pushed his feet into the slippers he wears inside the house and began his regular routine; giving her bedroom a quick tidy, dust and vacuum, cleaning the bathroom, dusting the landing, vacuuming the carpet, polishing the brass doorknobs, sweeping the stairs, mopping and drying the hallway and kitchen floor, before dusting the sitting and dining rooms and running the vacuum cleaner over the carpets and rugs and finally plumping up all the cushions on the sofa and armchairs. Additional chores are usually listed on a note and stuck to the fridge and being a Tuesday, there’s a large stack of ironing to do. Mrs Haverthwaite checks in on him and seems surprised that he’s started the ironing so soon. “You’re very swift,” she commented as he quickly ironed a bedsheet.

“I volunteered in the laundry when I was on remand,” Daniel replied. “This pile of ironing is nothing compared to the stack I had inside,” he added.

“I hate to ask Daniel but since you’re my employee… why did you go to prison?”

“I was with the wrong people at the wrong time,” he told her, before explaining in more detail. Daniel had got into a car with some ‘friends’, but had no idea the car was stolen or that some of the others were carrying knives. After a police chase, the car was crashed but a scuffle ensued between the suspects and arresting officers. If they weren’t wearing stab vests it would have been a murder charge. All the time, Daniel was curled up in the car, clutching his skull and cursing himself for getting into the car. It was only when the others had been cuffed and contained did the police find Daniel and he was arrested too. Due to the seriousness of the offense, all five were put on remand until the trial and despite Daniel not being part of the car theft or the scuffle, he was found guilty by joint enterprise. Luckily he was given a three-month retrospective sentence, three hundred hours of community service, and two years probation. The others faced sentences between eighteen and thirty months inside.

“So you just accepted a lift in good faith and all hell broke loose?” Mrs Haverthwaite supposed. Daniel nodded. “There are motions in place to put an end to joint enterprise… so many innocent bystanders have had their lives ruined just because they were present when something bad happened.”

“Oh Mrs Haverthwaite… you’re a diamond… do you know that?!” Daniel cooed. “Most people surmise my account as I was with a knife gang in a stolen car and was involved in an assault.”

“I know you were not involved Daniel… you have an honest face and at my age, one knows honesty when one sees it.”

“Thank you.” he smiled. “I’d better get on with this otherwise I’ll never get it done.”

“Yes sorry… I’m keeping you,” she said. Daniel pressed the iron on the sheet and ran it the full length of the ironing board before shuffling the sheet over a little and swiftly ironing the next section. Eventually, Daniel finished the ironing and asked Mrs Haverthwaite if there was anything else he could do. “You can take the weight off your feet and have a cup of tea with me.” Mrs Haverthwaite replied.

“OK.” Daniel smiled. She pulled out a chair and Daniel sat, smoothing his apron over his lap. She made a pot of tea, poured him a cup, and slid it to him. “Thank you.”

“You’re more than welcome Daniel.” Mrs Haverthwaite replied. “You’ve worked ever so hard today… much harder than Jolanta ever did,” she told him. “…and that’s not to say that Jolanta was a shirker. She worked hard too, albeit begrudgingly.”

“Well, I’m happy for the opportunity… finding work is hard for someone like me.”

“I can imagine,” she replied.

They chatted about all sorts of things, mostly focused on Daniel; where he grew up, was schooled, his family, and friends. “…although I don’t really have many friends these days.” he glumly added. “The trustworthy ones have distanced themselves from me and I’ve distanced myself from the others.”

“Very wise.” Mrs Haverthwaite said, before offering him another cup of tea.

“No.. thank you.” Daniel replied. “I’d best get changed and get going,” he said.

“Are your clothes dry?”

“They should be,” he said as he stood. “I don’t fancy walking home in this.” he jovially added.