Chapter Six (Part One)


“Do you mind if I borrow a brush?” Caroline asked, sitting down on Jennifer’s bed while the young brunette opened her wardrobe trying to find something suitable to wear. Her first instinct was just to put on one of her long night-shirts since she would be getting naked again almost as soon as she got to the restaurant and she was sure that Sarah’s grandmother, who had been a Sidney’s dancer herself and was very proud of the two subsequent generations of them that she had spawned would not be prudish if she seemed a little under-dressed but then she remembered that they would be having a meal afterwards, presumably in the restaurant itself if only on a quiet corner, so she wanted to make a bit of an effort. There was no need to dress as smartly as she had when she had gone with her parents but she wanted to feel good about how she looked while hanging out with her friends. In the end, she opted to put on a loose Summer dress very similar to the one Caroline had arrived in and take a bag with her white crop-top and the black jeans that she always thought made her butt look great! She also packed a small makeup bag.

“Do you want to borrow anything for later?” she asked Caroline as she handed her the hair-brush off her desk. “I don’t think we’re quite the same size but I might be able to find something?”

“Maybe some white leggings?” Caroline suggested. “Something I can wear under this?” She picked her dress up off the floor where it had lain since she had taken it off before the recording. “And I hope you won’t mind if I borrow some makeup?” Rummaging in a drawer, Jennifer managed to find some stretchy white yoga pants that would hopefully cling to Caroline’s less pronounced curves as well as they clung to her own.

Thinking they would go well with both outfits and help to put her in the right mood, Jennifer decided to wear her Sidney boots for the outing too and it was not long before both girls were respectably dressed and looking just like any other pair of preteens on a warm Summer’s day. It was only when they were all dressed and ready to go that it occurred to Jennifer that she should have checked with her mum first, not only if was alright to go out for the rest of the day but whether she would be willing to drive her and her friend to Sarah’s grandmother’s house. She was grateful that the two women had met before, when they had both been dining at Sidney’s, so there was not likely to be any issue with her mum wondering if the older lady could be trusted.

Luckily, when they got downstairs her mum was more than happy to give them a ride and was very happy to hear about the little adventure they had planned.

“You have your phones with you, right?” she smiled as the three of them headed out towards the car. “Make sure you send me some pictures of yourselves in your costumes!” Jennifer promised that they would. Just as they were getting in, Caroline hesitated, her hand on the door handle.

“Something wrong?” Jennifer asked.

“No,” Caroline giggled, “but it just occurred to me… This isn’t some trick you’ve cooked up to get me on the menu tonight, is it? If you really want to eat me, you only have to ask nicely!”

“Hmm, tempting offer!” Jennifer teased, “But no, I promise you this is just a modelling job. No need to read the forms they give you too closely before you sign them ‘though,” she winked, “and I’m sure those plans to rename the mermaid lagoon to the lobster tank were just an April fool!” She giggled again and Caroline stuck out her tongue, getting into the car. Soon they were on their way to the address Sarah had given them.

“Hey you made it!” Sarah beamed, answering the door before they had quite reached it. “I saw you getting out the car.” she explained as she gave Jennifer a hug. “Who’s this cutie?” she asked with a grin, turning towards Caroline. The younger blonde introduced herself and was given a hug too, quickly followed by a second one as Sarah’s grandmother came to the door.

“Lovely to see you again, dear!” she gushed as she embraced Jennifer.

“And you, Mrs…?” Jennifer realised that she didn’t know the kind lady’s name.

“Oh please,” the lady smiled warmly, “call me Liz! Come on in, I’ve got something fun to show you!” She showed them into the living room and Sarah sat down in the middle of the sofa, inviting her guests to sit either side of her. Sarah’s grandfather was sat in an armchair but stood up when the girls came in to shake their hands, introducing himself as Sam. “So, what would you like to see first?” Liz asked, standing next to the 75” TV on the wall pushing a pink memory stick into one of the slots of the side. She returned to her own arm chair and picked up the remote, trying to get to the relevant part of the menu to show the content of the stick. “Oh dear, can you do it?” she chuckled good-naturedly at her own technical inability and passed the remote to Sarah.

Happy to help out and as excited to see this content as Jennifer and Caroline were, even if she had seen more of it before a few years earlier, Sarah opened the menu. It showed a number of thumb-nail images, most of which were labelled with girls’ names and a date and, from what Jennifer could tell from the thumb-nails, were recordings of Sidney’s dance performances, but there was one that stood out as different.

“What’s that one?” she asked, leaning forward and pointing at the screen. “Bottom right?” The thumbnail showed some sort of crowd scene where lots of people were holding placards. The description read “BBC News 10/08/26”

“Ooh that’s my claim to fame!” Liz chuckled. “The time I was on national television! I don’t know how much research you’ve done into the history of Sidney’s as a business?” she asked, not wanting to patronise her granddaughter’s friend if she already knew what she was about to explain.

“Some,” Jennifer explained, “but not really a whole lot. I’ve more been focussing on Sidney herself as she’s what my project is supposed to be about.”

“Oh that’s perfectly okay!” Liz smiled, getting comfortable in her armchair. “Well because the UK parliament didn’t sit over the Summer back then, there were issues with getting all the relevant legislation passed in time for the first Sidney’s here to open on her birthday but they did manage to get some kind of emergency ruling through which allowed for girls who were already registered as meat in America to be imported to be cooked here. It wasn’t until September that actual British girls were allowed to get cooked.”

“Oh that’s interesting!” Jennifer tilted her head, intrigued. “What was your involvement? How did you end up on the news?”

“Ah!” Liz chuckled. “Well, you have to remember that the idea of eating girls was still quite a controversial idea back then. When it was announced that the first plane-load of meat-girls was going to be landing, word got out that some people were planning on holding a protest at the airport.”

“A protest?” Caroline exclaimed incredulously. “What were they hoping to achieve? Did they think the girls would just get back on the plane and go home?”

“From what I remember,” Liz chuckled ruefully, “some people thought they could rescue the girls and offer them some sort of asylum. They couldn’t get their heads around the idea that this was what the girls wanted!” All three of the young girls shook their heads. The world had changed so much in fifty years. “Anyway, a big counter-protest was arranged and all three of us begged our parents to be allowed to go. The news was there covering it, of course, and I got interviewed!”

“Ooh!” Jennifer exclaimed. “I’d love to see that! If you don’t mind?”

“Of course!” Liz beamed proudly. “Sarah, honey? Would you do the honours?” Sarah obliged and the thumbnail filled the screen for a second or so before being replaced with the image of a grey-haired man sat behind a desk in the studio, the BBC news logo in the bottom left-hand corner.

“...until the New Year.” the man finished whatever sentence he had been in the middle of when the recording was started. “And now we go to Shazia with a report about the conflicting demonstrations which have broken out in the car-park of Birmingham International Airport in response to the arrival of the first batch of girl legally classified as livestock to be served at the first of what promises to be many UK branches of the Roebuck Incorporated owned chain, Sidney’s Family Restaurant.”