The Aftermath Of You

Chapter Forty Two

"Spine. Spiney." A voice was hissing in her ear. "How are you going, Spine?" Danny was perched by her bed.

Toni smiled weakly. "Not too good."

He sat silently watching her. "So Ratatouille died."

She nodded her head mutely.

"One of the guys I work with says that ducklings need lots of grit ... looks like we didn't feed him enough."

Toni stared at the ceiling for a while. "Life is like doing the moon walk, Danny, with every step forward I end up further and further back."

"Nice quote ... a Toni Handcock original?"

"Yeah. How's Lucy?"

"Wouldn't have a clue. We aren't dating anymore."

"Fight?"

"Not really. She lives in a campervan that has "Roaming Home" written on it or something like that. She has to slouch right over to fit in the door. And she's determined to never capitulate to capitalism and buy a proper house. I don't know if Jayden would like spending his teenage years growing up in a tiny campervan."

"I never liked her," Toni admitted. "She's not the right woman for you."

He sat smiling in silence, watching the sun out the window sinking slowly behind the mountains. "When do you think you'll be feeling better?"

Never. Never again. I'm going to stay here until I moonwalk right back to the womb. "I don't know," she said. "My throat hurts a lot."

He nodded thoughtfully. "Of course. Some people have sore throats for weeks. I just asked because Jayden has been quite upset not having dinner with you. You know what he's like. He likes routine, the poor little thing." He paused for a bit before saying, "But there's nothing you can do. We'll just have to wait till you get better."

Toni stepped gingerly out of bed, the next morning. Her head ached from lying down for so long and her legs felt weak like jelly as she made her way downstairs.

She walked smack into her grandmother who was taking the stairs with an energetic abandon, a cup of black tea in her hand and a defiant look in her eyes, ready to push all kinds of things down Toni's throat. "Oh!" she cried when she caught sight of her frail granddaughter hobbling towards her. "Well, you must be feeling better!"

Toni smiled. "Yes, a little." But it wasn't recovery that had got her out of bed. "I've got to get my novel back from the Devil so I can edit it. It's nearly finished you know. They're going to get married and live happily ever after."

The two women turned down the stairs together and head towards Toni's lounge. Stopping in the doorway, Toni stared around, aghast. "Where on earth is everything?"

"Your mother sold it all," Granny Smith said with a funny expression on her face.

"Oh for God's sake; it's like an open home!" Toni cried. She rushed to find the portable phone and dialled her mother's number. "Bring me back my novel, you old bag."

"Alright then, but I've already read it to my book club."

"What?" Toni cried in horror. "How could you?"

"How could I? What about everything you've done to me? You still owe me money from when you were in high school. Three hundred and thirty dollars. I know because I've got it all written down right here."