Faith - Lesley Pearse [67]
She held out the flowers and the box of sweets. ‘I’ll go right now if you don’t believe me, Mum. It was because of him that I left, and he was the reason I didn’t feel able to get in touch. But I got to thinking that it wasn’t right not to know how you are, that’s all.’
June hesitated, then begrudgingly said she’d better come in, but she flounced off towards the kitchen as if this offer was only because she wasn’t prepared to stand at the front door.
Laura followed and to her horror found the once beautiful kitchen was a complete shambles. The table in the middle was strewn with dirty plates, the sink held even more, and the tiled floor was so dirty it was clear it hadn’t been washed for weeks.
June sat down and immediately lit up a cigarette, and the smell of it and the mess took Laura straight back to their days in Shepherds Bush. She automatically began stacking up the dirty plates and wondered how long some of them had been on the table. ‘So when did he die and of what?’ she asked.
‘Back in November, of a heart attack,’ June said curtly. ‘Since then I’ve hardly slept, I feel lousy, and it hasn’t helped that people keep coming here and wanting what’s mine.’
‘Who has been here?’
‘Oh, his sons, his sister and his niece, not to mention the woman he was carrying on with.’
Laura had hoped against hope that Vincent wouldn’t be in today, but however much she disliked and feared him she was shocked that he was dead. It was clear from the chaos that June couldn’t cope, and judging by Meggie’s surly attitude, she was no help. Yet although Laura felt concern, she couldn’t help but feel this was like a re-run of the old days, and that once again her mother was burdening her with problems that were not of her making. Had she looked ill or very tired Laura might have felt real sympathy, but someone who could get up and do their hair and makeup could certainly wash the dishes.
She looked round and saw Meggie was standing insolently in the doorway, arms folded. ‘Help me clear up, Meggie,’ she said. ‘And while we do it Mum can tell me everything.’
‘I’m not sodding well clearing up,’ Meggie snarled. ‘Why should I? I give her three quid a week for my keep and Sundays is me only day off.’
‘What a charitable soul you turned out to be,’ Laura said sarcastically. ‘If you can’t or won’t help around the house you should go and live in a hotel. But you won’t get one of those for three quid a week.’
Meggie turned on her heel and disappeared. ‘Is she always like that?’ Laura asked her mother. ‘She used to be so sweet and helpful.’
‘She’s been a cow since she was about fourteen. She seems to hate me and everyone else. She left school the minute she turned fifteen and now she seems to think it’s my fault she only got to work in a baker’s.’
Laura put the kettle on, and continued clearing the table. ‘You’d better explain everything to me,’ she said.
By the time Laura had washed and dried up, made tea and was sitting down with her mother at the table, she had learned that her parents got divorced three years ago, while her father was still in prison. ‘I got pregnant again, soon after,’ June said gloomily. ‘I didn’t want it, I was too bloody old for another baby, but Vince thought it was wonderful and married me. Well, I lost it at six months and it made me go a bit funny. Next thing I know he’s going out till all hours of the night, and he’s got another woman.’
Laura made sounds of sympathy for it was sad for anyone to lose a baby, even if they said they didn’t want it. But she could imagine that what June meant by going a bit ‘funny’ was that she’d stopped looking after the home and herself. Vincent had always been fussy, and no doubt he came to regret marrying her. Laura didn’t think a man in his sixties ought to be still playing around with other women, but maybe June drove him to it.
‘Who was the other woman?’ she asked.
‘Some stuck-up cow from Chiswick. She had the cheek to come to Vince’s funeral! She had no shame, she talked to all his friends and relatives like she were the