No Way to Say Goodbye - Anna McPartlin [6]
“Nothing.”
“Are you maudlin?” Penny narrowed her eyes and adopted the pose of interrogator.
“No,” Mary said.
“Liar. Still, at least it wasn’t Radiohead. I swear I’d have left.”
Mary smiled. “I’m fine.” She topped up Penny’s glass.
“Good. I can’t do depressing tonight,” Penny said, as she slumped into a chair. She wrinkled her nose as Mary disappeared into the kitchen. “What’s that smell?”
“Shit in sunshine,” Mary said, returning. She handed Penny a plate of brown bread and smoked salmon. She had mouthed “shit” rather than saying it aloud – she had stopped swearing soon after she became a mother.
“Dyeing your hair?”
Mary nodded.
“Nice job.” Penny put her feet up on the sofa and made herself comfortable, with the plate on her lap.
Mary disappeared into the kitchen again.
“Hey!” Penny shouted.
“Yeah?”
“Mossy mentioned that Lucy Thomas was in next door earlier.”
Mary came back with some chilli nuts, which she placed on the table. “Oh, yeah?” she said.
Penny knew her too well to be fooled by her nonchalance. “I wonder if you’re due a new neighbour.” She smiled as she sipped and began to read the blurb on the DVD box.
Meanwhile Mary struggled with the curtains. “No way,” she mumbled, more to herself than to her friend. “She’s probably just checking the house for flooding.”
Penny was grinning. “She’s come all the way from Mallow to check for flooding? Yeah, that must be it.”
Mary looked out of the window at the boat that had docked earlier that week, slapping against the pier wall. “What’s it like in town?”
“Wet, windy, ghostly.” Penny was reading the back of the DVD with an expression of confusion on her face. “‘A prisoner of his dysfunctional family’s broken dreams in tiny Endora, Gilbert (Depp)’ – I love him! – ‘serves as breadwinner and caretaker for his mother and siblings following his father’s suicide, his older brother’s defection… Momma (Darlene Cates)’ – who’s she? – ‘is a morbidly obese shut-in’ – Oh, my God! – ‘who hasn’t left the house in seven years and her children include retarded Arnie…’ Wait a minute – DiCaprio’s retarded? You are taking the piss!”
Mary couldn’t help but enjoy Penny’s disgust. “Ivan said it was funny in parts,” she said.
“Funny? Yeah, it really sounds hilarious!” And then it dawned on Penny. “Jesus, it was filmed in 1993! DiCaprio’s retarded and his balls hadn’t even dropped! What am I supposed to do with this?” She was holding the DVD in the air like a demonstrator in a supermarket.
“I don’t know – what would you have done with it if DiCaprio wasn’t retarded and his balls had dropped?” Mary grinned.
“Good point,” Penny agreed. “Still, this does not sound remotely shallow.” She sighed, laying the DVD on the coffee-table.
“Are you OK?” Mary asked, concerned. She seemed OK but she was a master in the art of masking. Mary had often thought what a great actor she would have made, but Penny had joined an acting class one summer and hated it, calling those around her a bunch of jumped-up talent-free tossers. Then she had made what could only have been described as a grand exit. Now she was smiling but Mary sensed a problem. Maybe the dream was about Penny.
“I’m fine. It’s just the endless rain,” Penny lied. She wasn’t ready to admit that she and Adam had ended their relationship, first because she wanted to forget but also because she wasn’t sure that either of them would be able to stick to their guns. After all, they had broken up many times before. “Just put the film on and pass the bottle.”
Mary was suspicious but she didn’t say anything. When Penny was ready to share her problem, she’d be there to listen. She knew what it was like to have people stick their noses in.
They were halfway through the film and Penny was finishing off the wine. Mary seemed to be enjoying the sad tale. Crispin Glover as the undertaker made her laugh and Darlene Cates