166 292
JayMerill
166
and Aggie came in. What
was she doing home at this
hour, I wondered? Hell,
it was like an invasion.
First one then another
of them. No peace. She
came into the kitchen and
I escaped with my coffee
mug, giving her the largest
smile I could manage,
as I darted past her into
the hallway. She hadn’t
been in ten minutes when
Flake came in and joined
her. They started rattling
pots and pans about as
though they were doing a
big fry up and the burning
fat smell that reached me
moments later confirmed
this was the case. I looked
at my watch. It was around
lunchtime but usually
nobody in the house ate
lunch, or at least they
didn’t eat lunch on the
premises. None of them
came home during the
afternoon as a rule. So,
what a pain.
I was forced to stay in my
room as long as Aggie and
Flake were hanging about
downstairs as I didn’t want
to have to pass them. I
didn’t feel like speaking.
Some days were like that.
I didn’t even feel like
doing the smile a second
time. So I lay in bed with
the duvet pulled up as I
couldn’t think of anything
else to do. Eventually I
fell asleep and dreamed
an
unpleasant
and
unsettling dream which
featured Cherry naked
and laughing at me with
my family behind the
hedge, and me ten years
old again and doing my
ungainly dancing, and
then Ciaran entering the
frame as he was now –
twenty eight that is to say
– and saying something
corny to Cherry that I