41 292
Not Near London
41
A spasm passed over his
mother’s face but his
father ignored him, tossing
back the fine claret. He
still wore his suit-and-tie
at home, as if about to
go off to work. Offered
early retirement by the
corporation, times being
hard, massive redundancy
payment, obese pension,
now glued to the garden,
different types of roses,
keeping trim on the tennis
court, the odd fart when
he serves but otherwise
acting the spring chicken.
‘We’re gonna have to
pay for your pension and
meanwhile starve,’ Jasper
has said several times
to his face over the last
couple of years.
Terence has kept his vinyls
and they include
Barclay
James Harvest
and
Procol
Harum
: he played them
after thecranberrysponge,
looking pleased as punch,
almost boogying when
Jasper turned the volume
up and mimicked a DJ.
Terencewaswell tipsy from
the wine, but that was OK.
When Geraldine told her
how they’d named Jasper
after his birthday month’s
gemstone, Terence said,
‘Not at all, it was because
he came out green with
red spots.’ Suzie found
this genuinely funny and
got the giggles, with
Terence beaming away. So
the visit had ended well.
This success made Suzie
feel paradoxically more
grown-up, although she
was relieved to get away,
even so.
‘I was trying to give him
a heart attack,’ Jasper
commented, afterwards.
‘Never works.’
The snow was a good
excuse for leaving early.
The snow, the ice on the
tracks. And there was so