Down The Line (ePub)

While in Spain Joe and Helen enrol with a casting agency, resulting in Joe being given the lead part in an advert to be filmed in Barcelona. Occasionally they fly back to Scotland and reacquaint themselves with all that is wrong with Scotland and in particular the catholic religion
For Joe and Helen life is never easy. With the residue of the money from the sale of their house they buy what is in essence a great parcel of land in a nice area. The land is clearly a solid investment and one in which they are convinced will yield them a great return until the recession really kicks in and (pardon the pun) the walls come tumbling down
The cost of living in the South of Spain becomes prohibitive forcing Joe and Helen to seek out other forms of income
One such form is for Helen to become president of the urbanisation. In this way, Helen will become acutely aware of what is and isn't for sale in the urbanisation. For a while they trundle on; however through all of this they meet a tall dark stranger who promises the world. In between times they meet up with the myriad of personalities the area attracts. In the world of Joe and Helen life is never dull. Most of the long term aliens come with baggage. Alcoholics, thieves, con men, paedophiles, drug peddlers are all around and all frequenting the same bars.
Amazingly despite all the distractions Joe and Helen remain true to one another and grounded. With funds depleting rapidly Joe and Helen resort to doing everything from cleaning; to repair works and in doing so somehow survive. To add to their problems the Spanish contingent in their urbanisation decide to get nasty at which point the gloves come off and the real trouble begins. The biggest problem for Joe is his identity and it's this recurring issue that on the one hand keeps him out of trouble and on the other hand compromises his position and his self esteem
With regards to their neighbours Joe and Helen soon realise that despite their wealth and stature many of them show their real colours by becoming nasty and deceitful bullying human beings who will quite literally stop at nothing to oust Helen. With their backs to the wall Joe and Helen have little alternative to counter attack all the while aware that one false move could spell disaster for both. Verbal and physical abuse becomes common place and while Joe is physically more than capable of handling them: metaphorically speaking his hands are tied behind his back.