Cathy Hopkins - [Mates, Dates 07] (12 page)

‘But what makes you
think I’m stressed?’ I asked.

‘You’re still holding
your hand over your mouth. You
can
relax with me you know, the brace
doesn’t bother me.’ Then he smiled. ‘Except that is, when you fasten it to my
left shoulder.’

I tried putting my
hand down, but he was right, I couldn’t relax. I couldn’t help but be aware of
my metal mouth.

‘So what character?’
he asked.

My mind had gone
blank. ‘Dunno,’ I said.

‘OK. Who are your top
favourite characters in films then?’

I wanted to distract
him. I felt really awkward. He was sitting so close and doing that lovely thing
that some boys do - looking into your eyes and then at your mouth, then back at
your eyes. Only I couldn’t enjoy the sensation as I was so aware of how
unattractive my mouth was. ‘Don’t you ever think about anything else besides
movies?’ I asked through closed lips.

He looked hurt for a
moment. ‘Yeah. Sorry. Was I being boring?’ ‘No. Just

‘No, sorry… I know I
can go on,’ he said leaning back slightly and crossing his arms over his chest.
‘I tend to get carried away. So. What would you like to talk about?’

I felt a sinking
feeling in my stomach. I’ve blown it, I thought. I’ve cut him off when he was
in full flow about his major passion in life. I’ve made him feel ill at ease. I
can tell by his body language and the way he’s crossed his arms, like closing
off from me. I read somewhere that people do that when they feel uncomfortable.
Maybe the girls were right when they said that I don’t give boys a chance to
show the true side of themselves. Right. That’s it, I thought. I have to change
and be able to hold a conversation about films without being intimidated by my
lack of knowledge or else he’s going to get bored with me. And I have to learn
not to be inhibited about my teeth.

‘No, sorry. I
am
interested in films just…’ I glanced at my watch, ‘Just… oh dentists. Look at
the time, look I’d better…’

‘Er,
dentists
?’
Luke said, laughing. ‘What have they got to do with anything?’

‘It’s my new swear
word,’ I said. ‘Look. Sorry, but I’d better go. Mum thinks I’ve only gone to
class so, if I’m any later, she’ll worry.’

‘And we don’t want
your dad to suspect you’re out with me until we’ve got to the bottom of why my
family is a no-go zone.’

‘Exactly,’ I said
standing up, ‘but he won’t know that I’m out late. He’s away at the moment, on
location in Bristol. He’s filming a two parter for the BBC there.’

‘Cool.’ Luke stood up
and helped me put on my jacket. ‘Let me pay for the drinks, then we’ll go.’

While he was away at
the counter, I took a look around the cafe and spotted Jade Wilcocks and Mary
O’Connor from our class at a table on the far side. Jade caught my eye and
waved me over.

‘Hey, Nesta,’ she said
when I went to join them.

‘Hey.’

‘Is that the divine
brother I keep hearing about?’ asked Jade, jutting her chin in Luke’s
direction.

I shook my head. ‘No.
His name’s Luke. Why would you think he’s my brother?’

‘Looks a bit like the
guy I saw Lucy with in Hampstead once in the summer,’ said Mary, ‘and I knew
she was seeing your brother off and on so…’

Then it hit me. That
had to be it! The reason why Dad wanted me to stay away from Luke. Lucy had
been right. It was a love thing. It was
obvious
. Izzie was right too,
Luke did look a bit like Tony. Mary was right in mistaking them for each other.
Which explained why Dad didn’t want me to see Luke any more. Dad had clearly
had a love affair with Luke’s mum. Luke
was
my brother!

‘Are you OK?’ asked
Mary. ‘You look a bit faint all of a sudden.’

‘Umf…’ I said.
Ohmigod. I’d snogged my own brother. And given him ten out of ten. Told Lucy
that he was an ace kisser.

Now what, I asked
myself as Luke came over to join us. My brain was about to explode.

‘Luke,’ I said. ‘Sorry
got to go.’

‘Yeah. I’ll give you a
lift…’

‘No. Can’t see you any
more. Sorry.’

Luke looked around the
cafe. ‘Did I just miss something?
Why
can’t you see me any more?’

‘Because you’re my
brother!’ I blurted out.

‘You just said he
wasn’t,’ said Jade, who seemed to be enjoying every moment.

I headed for the door.
‘Well he is,’ I called over my shoulder. ‘Sorry, Luke.’

And with that, I ran
out of the cafe. As soon as I was outside, I dialled Dad’s mobile.

Oops!

Contents
-
Prev
/
Next

‘Where’s Mum?’ I asked
as soon as I got home.

‘Having an early
night. She’s doing the morning shift tomorrow,’ said Tony, who was slouched on
one of the sofas in front of the telly in the sitting room. He was watching the
sci-fi channel, currently his favourite.

I raced down the
corridor into Mum’s room, but the lights were out and I could see she was in
bed.

‘Mum,’ I whispered in
case she was still awake. No response, so I gently closed the door and went
back to the living room.

‘Tony…’

‘Shhhhhhhh,’ he said
and turned up the volume on the remote.

‘I need to…’

‘
Nesta
. Don’t
be annoying.’

‘It’s
really
important…’

Tony’s eyes didn’t
leave the screen. ‘So is this. Talk to me after. It’s a
crucial
moment.’

‘Can’t you record it?
I really need to talk to you.’

Tony turned up the
volume even higher. ‘
Later
. Now
shut
up.’

He was starting to
look cross, so I thought I’d better be quiet or else he’d get me back when I
was watching
The Simpsons
or something that I like. Plus, I know how
it feels when you’re really stuck into a programme and someone comes in and
starts talking away as though the telly’s not even on. It’s Dad usually.

I went to look on the
kitchen notice board to see if Mum had put Dad’s number up there. No. Nothing.
Only taxis, pizza places and plumbers. This is really bad, I thought. No one
seems to realise, this is an emergency and I can’t get hold of my own father.

Finally,
finally
,
Tony’s programme ended and he turned to me and leaned forward. ‘OK. You’ve got
two minutes before the next episode starts. What’s so important?’

‘Luke. I think he’s
our brother. I need to talk to Dad.’

Tony fell back on the
sofa laughing. ‘Right. Yeah. Everyone’s our brother, everyone’s our sister. In
fact, the world…’ he began to sing, ‘is just a great big family…’

 
‘No, I’m serious Tone… Our half-brother.
I think Dad had an affair with Luke’s mum, then Mr De Biasi came along and
pushed Dad out of the way and now they hate each other.’

‘Are you on
drugs
?’

‘No.’

When Tony saw that I
wasn’t laughing, he tried to make his face go straight. ‘OK. Just what exactly
makes you think this?’

‘It’s obvious, Tony.
Think about it. Dad doesn’t want me to see Luke. He blanches when I mention
that I’ve met Luke’s dad…’

‘Exactly,’ said Tony.
‘I was there. He went weird when you mentioned Luke’s dad. Not his mum. Don’t
you think if he’d had this great affair with Mrs De Biasi that there might be
some kind of reaction when you mentioned her?’

That stopped me for a
moment. ‘Yeah. No. The fight was with Mr De Biasi as he was the one who took
Mrs De Biasi away from Dad. Maybe. Anyway. I need to speak to Dad.’

‘He’s in Bristol
somewhere.’

‘I
know
,
dingbat. But where’s his number? He always leaves his contact number.’

‘Mum will have it.’

‘Mum’s asleep,’ I
said.

‘Good, as it’s
probably not a good idea to call Dad out of the blue and tell him that you know
about his secret
lurve
child.’

‘It’s not funny,
Tony.’

‘It is.’

‘Isn’t.’

‘Is. You’re mad to
think that about Luke. Lost the plot. Away with the fairies. Barking. Woof.
Woof.’

‘Don’t be horrible.
What am I going to do?’

‘You’ll just have to
wait, Nesta.’ He flicked the volume back up for the next episode of his
programme and stretched out again. ‘Call him in the morning. In the meantime,
get us a Coke will you?’

I threw a cushion at
him, then got up to go to the kitchen. Sometimes I think Tony thinks I’m
nothing more than his private slave. Two brothers? I don’t know if I could
cope.

I didn’t sleep well
that night. I dreamed that Dad was having supper with Marlon Brando. Both of them
had braces on their teeth and kept singing that song that goes something like,
‘We are familee, look at all my brothers and me…’ All sung in a thick Italian
accent.

As I staggered into
the bathroom the next morning, I contemplated as to whether to ask Mum about
Luke. It might come as a blow to her. She might not know anything about Dad
having a secret child. I’d ask Dad to do the right thing and tell her himself.
Yes, I thought. That would be best.

Mum and Tony were both
already in the kitchen having coffee and chatting when I went to grab some
breakfast. I gave Tony a filthy look and turned to Mum. ‘I need to talk to Dad.
Can I have his number in Bristol?’

‘Sure,’ she said.
‘It’s on the pad next to the bed in my room. Give him my love, won’t you.’

When I found the
number, I sat on Muni’s bed and dialled.

A female voice
answered. ‘Hello, Hogarth Hotel.’

‘Can I speak to Mr
Costello, please?’

The phone went quiet
for a moment, then I heard a ringing, then the receptionist came back on again.
‘I’m afraid there’s no reply,’ she said. ‘Would you like to leave a message?’

‘No thanks,’ I said,
then put the phone down. My heart was thumping and I realised that I hadn’t
really thought about what I was going to say and needed to plan how to put it.
Like, hey, Dad about your secret son? I don’t think so.

I was about to try his
mobile when Mum came into the room and sat on the bed beside me. She was trying
not to, but I could tell she was having a hard time not laughing.

‘Nesta,’ she said.
‘Tony’s just been telling me what you think about this boy Luke that you’ve
met. Um, listen love, I can’t let you go into school with this on your mind.
He’s not your brother, I can tell you that much. As I said on Sunday, your dad
does have some history with Luke’s dad and… he should have told you what it was
all about himself.’

‘Well, you tell me…’

Mum hesitated for a
moment, then shook her head. ‘Let your dad tell you when he gets back at the
weekend. I’ll have a word with him. I promise he’ll tell you the whole story
and, in the meantime, I can assure you that what he’ll have to say is
not
that Luke is your brother or his son.’

‘Promise?’

‘Promise.’

‘Because I
have
kissed him you know.’

I could see that Mum
was struggling not to laugh and I could hear Tony sniggering in the corridor
behind the door.

‘Did you tell Dad he’s
been a very naughty boy and we know all about his love child?’ he called
through.

‘You shut up, Tony pig
face,’ I called back.

He opened the door and
leaned in. ‘You’ve been watching too many soaps, Nesta. Now the
real
truth is that Mrs De Biasi is actually a transexual, but when she was a man,
she fathered Lucy behind Mr Lovering’s back. TJ is an alien and Izzie, well, we
all know that she’s had three babies and is trying to hide them from her
mother. And Izzie’s mum, well, she’s actually a lesbian who’s afraid to admit
it and Mr Foster is on drugs but trying to reform.’

I went to throw one of
the pillows from Mum’s bed at Tony, but Mum stopped my arm. ‘Now
stop
it, both of you. Enough of this nonsense. Nesta, you’ve got an over vivid
imagination. Tony stop winding her up. And
both
of you, off to school
NOW.’

I got up and pushed
past Tony, but not without sticking my tongue out at him and standing on his
right foot with all my weight.

‘Owwwww,’ he cried.
‘Muuuuum.’