The Aftermath Of You

Chapter Forty One

Arriving two days later with a cup of hot black tea Granny Smith said subtly, "You know this won't bring him back, don't you?"

"This isn't about Jack!" Toni muttered back angrily. "It's not always about Jack! I have a sore throat, for God's sake!"

The door creaked open, preventing Toni from seeing the doubtful look that Granny Smith was giving her.

"Hey, Shinbone."

Danny stood apologetically in the doorway, holding a large bowl of PISS soup (one of his inventions: potato, ice, spinach and steak blended into a smooth chowder). A tall redhead walked in behind him, bending her head to fit through the door. "You remember my date?"

"Hm," Toni grunted. His nameless date could go to hell as far as she was concerned.

Danny placed the soup on her bedside table. "Try to eat all of your Piss." And then he started laughing at his own joke despite himself.

"Thank you, Danny." she said with a forced smile.

"I also wanted to give you a heads up," he whispered. "Your mother's on the warpath."

He left soon after.  Which Toni was thankful for.  The three standing at the end of her bed were like a trio of priests delivering the last rites. Toni was in the middle of her first spoonful of soup when her mother stormed in.

"Get out of bed. Come on you, lazy brat. Get out!" Lulu screamed.

"I can't," Toni tried to explain. "I've got a sore throat." She gummed the spoon helplessly.

"A sore throat, my ass!" Lulu roared. "Imagine what all of my friends will think if they hear that you're lying around like a worthless, jobless bum. Get. Out. Of. Bed."

Lulu dragged at the duvet manically, her eyes bloodshot with anger.

Toni stared at her for a few unblinking seconds, wondering if Lulu had learnt how to be a mother off the back of a box of Weetbix. "Oh ... whatever, Mother." With a sigh she put her soup down, rolled over and pretended to drift back to sleep.

Lulu's mouth clamped closed, her blue eyes turned into sharp slits and she marched out of the door, hoping that her icy exit would be noticed by her invalid daughter. Lulu was fond of giving people the silent treatment, and if she didn't get what she wanted then she would make the life of the person concerned as miserable as possible for as long as it took until they buckled. Although this time, silence was exactly what her daughter wanted. Toni opened one eye cautiously as the front door slammed, and waited for the next round.

*

The next day Lulu stormed in again. "If you don't get out of bed right now I'll take all of your mats to the dump," she shouted angrily. Out of the corner of her eye, Toni could see her dad sloping past. "George. George! Get in here!"

George entered miserably.

"Your daughter won't get out of bed, and find a job."

George started in fear; when his wife didn't get her own way the world turned black: not charcoal black where you can see the light somewhere in the distance but pitch black like the ink in a calligraphic pen. Lulu walked with a heavy step, and lines of distaste and discontent marred her forehead, anger clung thickly to the air, like humidity, making it hard for mere passersby to breathe.

"Oh!" George said in abject frustration, clutching his head as he wracked his brains for anything to say so to enable Lulu. Toni knew her dad wasn't a heartless or cruel man, not at all; he just knew what side his bread was buttered on. When he didn't defend his wife unconditionally then the darkness would linger in his household for far too long. If his happiness meant sacrificing his daughter's needs and wishes, then so be it.