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“No, I didn’t. I’m not buying you take away food.”
“You never buy us any food, girlie, you’d rather see us starve,” my dad heckled from his chair, already on his third cigarette since I’d arrived.
I looked at my mum’s girth and then back to my dad with a raised eyebrow. I stood facing them both, with my arms folded.
“I’m not buying you a single thing until you give me back my fifty grand,” I spat the words out. It was my go-to words to bring them back in line. My dad blanched at the words, too drunk the last time to remember me saying them before. He never remembered what he’d said from one day to the next. It caused him issues when he tried to enter pubs he’d been banned from.
“You need to let that go, Adaline, it was a long time ago, you’re never getting that money back,” my mum said, trying to give me her stern look. It came across as a grimace like she was passing wind. I knew I would never see another penny from them, but I hated that they wanted me to spend more money.
“I’ll never let it go, my own parents stealing from their only child. It’s disgraceful.”
“Why are you here, if you hold so much venom for the past?” My mum asked.
“Just checking you’re not dead, I’ll be on my way,” I said, hauling my handbag further up my shoulder.
“Could you lend us a tenner? I have a sure bet on the four o’clock. My mate at the betting shop gave me a tip,” my dad asked holding his hand out.
He was pleading. It was a rare moment he didn’t have a cigarette in his mouth. Half of me wanted to get my purse out and give him the money. He was an addict in so many ways, they both were. When I denied them their fix, it broke my heart. I had to resist, I couldn’t fix them.
“No dad, I can’t lend you any money,” I said dropping my voice, lacking any confidence when I told him. His face fell for a moment, and then the sneer was back.
“You’re a waste of space, get on your way, girlie,” he said and raised the volume on the TV ending our interaction for another fortnight.
“Well, this has been fun, I’ll see you in two weeks.”
I trudged out the house and took my bike to cycle home.
Callum
I kissed Adaline almost two weeks ago, it felt like an eternity. Living next door to her enriched my life. I’d bought half a dozen cookery books to make her different meals each evening. I loved searching the local market for the ingredients. Her fridge and mine had healthy food filled on every shelf, giving her no reason to eat anything processed. I’d started a herb garden in my mini greenhouse at my end of the veranda. Adaline watered the plants each evening while I cooked us dinner. Elliott and Steph wanted to know why I hadn’t been to their place for dinner but I couldn’t face the questions. It would only take a few questions for them to work out I liked Adaline and not just as a friend. It would take Steph, three and a half seconds to work it out. I sold them the story that I wanted to fix up the flat and invite them around for dinner instead. The flat was finished, and so was the kitchen at the community centre.
This left me with two issues, it was time to invite Elliott and Steph for dinner. It also meant that I needed a new project for Scottie. The project I had in mind was to update Adaline’s shop. She kept telling me she had no intention of opening the shop, but she had piles of stacked magazines in order only known to her. She had her dreams, and I wanted to help make them come true. The plan would be to ambush her at dinner this evening. Elliott and Steph were coming and Scottie and his girlfriend, Felicity. I banked on safety in numbers. Hopefully, Adaline wouldn’t refuse. I didn’t want her money, which was the reason she had refused so far.
I missed her sitting on the beach when I came out of the sea after my swim this morning. She claimed to have work to do and refused point blank to go with me today. I pouted and cajoled, but nothing would work. At six in the morning, her hair was a beautiful mess, piled high on her head. She wore the top half of a pyjama set, the pale pink tartan shirt was big and fell off one shoulder. I neatened her shirt, doing up the buttons to her neck and kissed her forehead, issuing instructions for her to go back to bed after she told me she’d not gone to bed until three in the morning. She was scouting for a magazine for an old customer of hers. To her, the money would mean a year off from paying any bills. I’d hoped my rent would be the solution, but I didn’t ask too much about her finances. I’d already been on the receiving end of a glare when I asked one too many questions in the first week we had dinner.
Adaline was adamant she would make her way all by herself. I admired her for it, but didn’t understand where it came from that she wouldn’t accept any help. I’d chosen sausage casserole as our dinner this evening, I could put it all in the slow cooker. Leaving me time to chat rather than cook.
“Felicity, sit next to me,” Scottie said patting the seat next to him. I thought this an odd remark, surely his girlfriend would want to sit next to him. Adaline sat opposite Felicity, and I sat next to her. This meant that Steph and Elliott sat opposite each other. We’d enjoyed a few bottles of wine while we grazed on cold starters of antipasti. Felicity regaled us with her stories in retail, she worked in a large department store in the city’s shopping mall. We were in fits of laughter as she described the rude customer’s requests. Adaline was enthralled with Felicity, quickly bonding over their mutual love of handbags. I served up the casserole, leaving the warmed pot in the middle of the table for everyone to help themselves if they wanted more.
“Are you having fun?” I asked Adaline, dipping my head to her ear. She smiled and nodded with a mouthful of mashed potatoes.
I piled food onto my plate while Felicity quizzed Adaline on her work. It took a while for Adaline to answer each question. Scottie kept squeezing Felicity’s knee, and she rephrased her question each time.
“Do you think you’ll open a shop for customers?” Scottie asked once the table had fallen silent.
“I don’t think it’s in any fit state to let the public wander around. I don’t think the floorboards are safe for a start. I’m fairly sure I saw a mouse running across the floor while a stray cat watched from the countertop.”
The group laughed, Elliott especially found this funny. Steph shuddered.
“We have the same problem. I don’t know where the cat comes from, but it has no interest in the mice that are running around our garage. Elliott thinks it's hilarious when I shriek on my way to the car. He watches on while I do an Irish jig on the spot when the mouse runs over my foot.”
“It’s my favourite morning ritual, I’m sometimes late for work just to hang around long enough to see the event,” Elliott said.
“You’re the boss, it’s not like anyone will tell you off,” Adaline said.
“Yeah, but I don’t want to abuse the position, I have the owner to answer to,” Elliott said and looked at me. I shook my head, but Scottie noticed and squinted his eyes for a moment. The look on his face said we would discuss the comment later on.
“Callum, why don’t we fix the shop? We can continue my carpentry education now the community centre is finished.”
