disgusting, wicked, wrong. My poor mother, driven to her desperate action by Dad’s infidelity, and now her memory trashed, as though she never existed.
If it hadn’t been for the fact that Icarus was waiting for me I would certainly have gone home. But as I said before, I have realised that life goes on and Sandy’s party was waiting for me. It was at a trendy café called Christine’s, a big place and full of bikers because Sandy is in a gang. The Admiral offered to walk in with me, but I knew that would be embarrassing, so I walked in on my own and awaited at the bar. There was no sign of Icarus.
After a short time Joe bounced out of the shadows and came up to the bar with his wallet. ‘You decided to come!’ he said, breathless from disco dancing.
‘Two drinks please,’ he said to the barman.
‘What kind of drinks?’ came the reply.
‘We’ll have two wines,’ said Joe, after looking at me in the manner of a gallant cowboy growing concerned. Then he moved me off into the body of the room and we sat at a table and shouted.
‘Are you all right?’ he asked.
‘Don’t I look it?’ I said.
‘You look lovely . . . but pale.’
There was a pause, then: ‘What’s your favourite film?’ he said, out of all congruaty.
‘ E.T. ,’ I replied shakily.
‘No way,’ he said, ‘I had to have the day off school after I saw that.’
Then the DJ started playing ‘Walk Like an Egyptian’ by The Bangles and Joe did a little Egyptian dance in his chair, with his arms above his head, and swivelled his eyes like the singer. But I felt too sad to join in, and so he stopped and grew embarrassed.
‘Um, just tell me if you’re not all right Sue and we’ll go somewhere quieter,’ said Joe.
I looked in my hand mirror and realised that I looked like nothing on earth. My make-up was smudged, my hair was matted, and the shock of Dad and Ivana seemed to have actually altered my temperature.
‘Where’s Icarus?’ I asked him, and once again it wasn’t my voice, my voice was somewhere in hiding.
‘Icarus?’ said Joe. ‘I don’t think he’s coming.’
I stared at him with no breath.
‘He’s going out with Michael you see and they’ve had some sort of bust-up.’
‘But he—’ and without tactics in place for Joe’s feelings, the truth came out. ‘But he asked me to meet him here,’ I said. ‘He never cancelled me.’
‘Oh dear, I’m sorry,’ said Joe, although truthfully, he did not look that sorry. ‘Would you like to dance?’
So there I was, dancing with Joe, and Icarus nowhere. All the hope and expectation of earlier was gone, and nothing was left. A vision of the back sleeve of my first book floated down to me out of the darkness. As Joe danced wildly about, I saw it clearly. It read:
‘Her mother gone, her heart broken, her life in taters. What next for Hampshire-born Sue?’
Then, just as I was about to ask Joe if he would take me home I spotted Icarus on the far side of the floor. He was smooching a girl with long-or-burn hair.
‘That’s not Michael,’ I said. And then the room began to spin as they walked over towards us, catching us up in their dazzle. He was beyond a man, and she – she was a nymph. I felt weak. Her hair shone, her shoulders shone, her shins shone. She looked like the fairies had been up all night buffing her. I could see my own reflection in the gleam of her chestnut hair.
‘Hi Sue,’ said Icarus ‘this is—’
‘Loudolle, Loudolle Shoot,’ she said.
That’s all I remember until early this morning, when I woke up in Aunt Coral’s pink-tasselled bed, with an horrendous cold, having fainted at the party. Apparently Joe had called out Aunt Coral, and the Bentley had been used as an ambulance. Everyone was brilliant. Even Dad and Ivana hovered till this morning before they pushed off on holiday, but I didn’t want to see them.
After breakfast I was transferred back here to the Grey Room and Aunt Coral placed a notepad and pen by my bed. There
If it hadn’t been for the fact that Icarus was waiting for me I would certainly have gone home. But as I said before, I have realised that life goes on and Sandy’s party was waiting for me. It was at a trendy café called Christine’s, a big place and full of bikers because Sandy is in a gang. The Admiral offered to walk in with me, but I knew that would be embarrassing, so I walked in on my own and awaited at the bar. There was no sign of Icarus.
After a short time Joe bounced out of the shadows and came up to the bar with his wallet. ‘You decided to come!’ he said, breathless from disco dancing.
‘Two drinks please,’ he said to the barman.
‘What kind of drinks?’ came the reply.
‘We’ll have two wines,’ said Joe, after looking at me in the manner of a gallant cowboy growing concerned. Then he moved me off into the body of the room and we sat at a table and shouted.
‘Are you all right?’ he asked.
‘Don’t I look it?’ I said.
‘You look lovely . . . but pale.’
There was a pause, then: ‘What’s your favourite film?’ he said, out of all congruaty.
‘ E.T. ,’ I replied shakily.
‘No way,’ he said, ‘I had to have the day off school after I saw that.’
Then the DJ started playing ‘Walk Like an Egyptian’ by The Bangles and Joe did a little Egyptian dance in his chair, with his arms above his head, and swivelled his eyes like the singer. But I felt too sad to join in, and so he stopped and grew embarrassed.
‘Um, just tell me if you’re not all right Sue and we’ll go somewhere quieter,’ said Joe.
I looked in my hand mirror and realised that I looked like nothing on earth. My make-up was smudged, my hair was matted, and the shock of Dad and Ivana seemed to have actually altered my temperature.
‘Where’s Icarus?’ I asked him, and once again it wasn’t my voice, my voice was somewhere in hiding.
‘Icarus?’ said Joe. ‘I don’t think he’s coming.’
I stared at him with no breath.
‘He’s going out with Michael you see and they’ve had some sort of bust-up.’
‘But he—’ and without tactics in place for Joe’s feelings, the truth came out. ‘But he asked me to meet him here,’ I said. ‘He never cancelled me.’
‘Oh dear, I’m sorry,’ said Joe, although truthfully, he did not look that sorry. ‘Would you like to dance?’
So there I was, dancing with Joe, and Icarus nowhere. All the hope and expectation of earlier was gone, and nothing was left. A vision of the back sleeve of my first book floated down to me out of the darkness. As Joe danced wildly about, I saw it clearly. It read:
‘Her mother gone, her heart broken, her life in taters. What next for Hampshire-born Sue?’
Then, just as I was about to ask Joe if he would take me home I spotted Icarus on the far side of the floor. He was smooching a girl with long-or-burn hair.
‘That’s not Michael,’ I said. And then the room began to spin as they walked over towards us, catching us up in their dazzle. He was beyond a man, and she – she was a nymph. I felt weak. Her hair shone, her shoulders shone, her shins shone. She looked like the fairies had been up all night buffing her. I could see my own reflection in the gleam of her chestnut hair.
‘Hi Sue,’ said Icarus ‘this is—’
‘Loudolle, Loudolle Shoot,’ she said.
That’s all I remember until early this morning, when I woke up in Aunt Coral’s pink-tasselled bed, with an horrendous cold, having fainted at the party. Apparently Joe had called out Aunt Coral, and the Bentley had been used as an ambulance. Everyone was brilliant. Even Dad and Ivana hovered till this morning before they pushed off on holiday, but I didn’t want to see them.
After breakfast I was transferred back here to the Grey Room and Aunt Coral placed a notepad and pen by my bed. There
Similar Books
