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“Me? Yes, of course.” Lynne set the teacup and saucer in front of Leah. “I mean, I’m a little stressed about this situation. Your father is very angry. Don’t talk to him about it, if you can help it.”
“What situation?” Leah asked, bewildered.
“Your situation.”
Leah blinked in confusion. “Dad’s angry about my situation?”
“Yes, well, cavorting around with a man, in public. Being photographed. David Kaplan doesn’t like seeing pictures of his daughter all over the internet. Of course he’s angry with you.”
Leah took a sip of tea with shaking hands. There was nothing she could say to that. This was exactly how her parents had reacted when she’d informed them that her marriage was over. It was her fault. If she’d been more affectionate. More obedient – like she could possibly have been more obedient. If she’d given him children. Then they would still be married. The injustice of it all stung her. “I think I need a lie down, if that’s okay.”
“Of course. We’ve put you in the green room.”
“Green room?”
“Up the stairs, third door on the left.”
Leah dragged herself upstairs. Third door on the left. Jesus. When her mother said green room, she wasn’t wrong. Everything was green. The curtains, the walls, the bed spread, the cloth on the bedside table, the lampshade. She nearly tripped on the suitcases her father had put just inside the door as she made her way to the bed. She collapsed onto it, pulling a pillow to her chest and curling into a ball. She expected that she would lie there for hours, staring sightlessly out the window to the rooftop of the neighboring house. But as she lay there, her mind numb, her eyes drifted closed and she slipped into sleep.
Her mother peeked into the room around dinner time to let her know it was ready.
“I feel a bit sick, Mum,” Leah said quietly, lying with her back to the door. She heard Lynne step carefully across the room to the bed. Tried not to flinch when she felt her mother’s hand on her forehead.
“Well, you don’t have a temperature.”
Heartsick. That’s what she was. “I just need a rest.”
“Okay. I’ll put your dinner in the fridge and you can have it later.”
???
Leah woke fairly early the next morning, after a restless night. She sat up in bed, pushing her hair back. Her limbs felt weighted. As she got to her feet, she felt like she was walking through a heavy fog. She didn’t feel any better after a shower, but her stomach rumbled. At least she was hungry. And eating would give her something to do.
She came downstairs to the smell of bacon and eggs frying, which made her stomach growl again. “Hi, Mum. That smells great.”
“Good morning, darling. I thought you might like a hot breakfast, since you didn’t have your dinner.”
“That’s lovely, thank you. I’ll make the coffee. Where’s Dad?”
“Work.”
“At this hour?” It wasn’t quite seven o’clock.
Her mother didn’t look at her as she answered, “He said he had some things to catch up on.”
Since David worked as the assistant manager of the local bank branch, there wasn’t really much overflow that required an early morning start. Leah guessed his early departure was about her, so she didn’t push it. She felt a little guilty, at first. But then she thought, fuck him. If he felt the need to work overtime just because she was in the house, that was his problem. So she made the coffee and had breakfast with her mum.
“What are your plans for the day?”
“I haven’t really got any,” Leah replied as she stacked the breakfast dishes into the dishwasher.
“Oh, you can come with me, if you like. I have some errands to run.”
“Okay.” It’s not like she had anything better to do.
The errands turned out to be a lot of running around for the church congregation. First, Lynne had to collect some clothes from Mrs Mathers, a cranky old woman who was very rude to her. She dropped the clothes off at the opportunity shop, before heading to the pharmacy. There, she collected three lots of medication and delivered them. Next, she stopped in at Mr Gannon’s to do his dishes and get his lunch ready. Leah and Lynne ate their lunch in the car, before doing a round of similar errands for the rest of the afternoon.
David arrived home from work just after six o’clock. He didn’t speak a word to his wife or daughter. He went upstairs to get changed, then went straight out to his shed in the back garden. He came back in at seven and took his customary seat at the head of the table, which Leah had already set. This was a routine from her childhood that she was very familiar with. Lynne set the dinner plates on the table. Homemade meat pie, vegetables and mash. Once they were all seated, he held his hands out. Leah briefly considered rebellion but flicked a glance at her mother. Sitting across from her, her head bowed, her hand in David’s. With a small sigh, Leah slipped her hands into her parent’s, bowing her head while her father said grace. It felt weird. But dinner felt weirder. They ate in complete silence. Had it always been like this? Surely not. The atmosphere was oppressive.
