‘Oh, nothing.’
‘I hope you’re not saying I’m like Lila.’ She looks quitepanicked at the thought, and I immediately start backtracking.
‘No, no, of course you’re not. You call a spade a spade,that’s all. But there’s nothing wrong with that.’
She shrugs. ‘I just believe in being honest. Sometimeshearing the truth about yourself can be helpful. Like who wants to go aroundwith spinach stuck to their teeth? You want to know, right?’
‘True.’
‘But no way am I like... uh-oh. Motormouth’son her way back. Oops, there she wobbles. She almost sat down on that man’sknee there.’
I chuckle. ‘I think she’s funny. Quite entertaining,really.’
Madison grunts. ‘Inverysmall doses.’
We leave the pub a while later so that Madison can meet Jackoff his train, and Lila and I head for the bus station.
‘So are you looking forward to Saturday?’ I ask her as shewalks along the kerb, giggling, arms outstretched like she’s on a tightrope.
‘Saturday?’
‘The wedding? It is Saturday, isn’t it?’
She turns and I have to pull her onto the pavement beforeshe overbalances and steps in front of a car. ‘Yeah. I think I might cancel it,though.’
‘Sorry?’
‘Do I want to be with the same man forever?’ She flings herarms out. ‘How boring willthatbe?’
‘I suppose it depends on how you feel about the man,’ I sayslowly, hoping her doubts are due to the bucket of alcohol that’s now coursingthrough her system and making her behave very weirdly indeed.
‘Yeah, but even so.’ She shakes her head. ‘Anyway, nevermind about that. I want to celebrate my singleness...single-hood... is that a word?... while Istill can.’ She turns and grabs my arm. ‘Come on. We’re going for a dip.’
‘What?’ I squeak in alarm.
She points at the brick wall running alongside the open-airswimming pool, now closed for the winter months. ‘I’m sweating in this coat. Ineed to cool down.’
‘But it’s closed, Lila.’
‘Of course it’s not,’ she argues crossly. ‘It’s always open.And I’m going innow!’
To my alarm, she tosses me her bag, which I just manage tocatch, then she clambers onto a bench by the bus stop, stepping precariously uponto the back of it and reaching for the top of the wall.
‘Lila, for goodness’ sake get down, or you’ll fall and hurtyourself.’
CHAPTER EIGHT
‘Oh, shut up, party pooper,’ shouts Lila. And withthat, she hauls herself up the wall, gets one leg over and balances there onher stomach for a moment, laughing helplessly. I throw down our bags and climbup on the bench, praying I can grab her before she rolls right off.
But next second, she does just that.
She disappears with a shriek and I hear a sickening thud asshe lands on the other side.
‘Shit!’ I murmur, perched on the bench, glancing around forhelp. But the street is empty. ‘Right. Here goes.’ Climbing onto the back ofthe bench, I haul myself onto the top of the wall and peer down. To my hugerelief, Lila is lying flat on her back on the grass, in fits of laughter, anddoesn’t seem to be hurt. But how the hell am I going to get her back over thewall in one piece?
But before the thought has even had time to formulate in mymind, Lila’s on the move again, hauling herself awkwardly to her feet andstaggering off towards the pool, pulling her top off as she goes, clearly obliviousof the massive tarpaulin that’s covering it.
Alarmed, I practically hurl myself off the wall. ‘Lila, stop!The side of the pool might be slippery. You need to be –’
