Pieces of My Heart (13 page)

While Ali looked out of the window, in a world of her own, Sarah asked me what was for tea.

‘We’re having stew tonight. Actually, Charlie’s invited a guest.’

‘Who?’

‘Her name is Nadia. He’s been on a few dates with her and he wants us to meet her.’

‘What happened to the other one?’

‘According to Charlie, poor Agata was too fat and boring for him.’

‘Where’s this new one from?’

‘Poland. Apparently she’s Agata’s cousin.’

‘Is she old and wrinkly like Lily?’

‘I don’t think so – she’s four years younger than me.’

‘What? That’s gross. How could someone that age sleep with an old man like Charlie?’

‘Who said anything about sleeping together?’

‘Come on, Mum, Charlie isn’t looking for a chess partner.’ Sarah rolled her eyes.

‘Your grandfather is lonely. He wants a bit of companionship, that’s all.’

‘So you don’t mind that she’s younger than you?’

‘I’m not thrilled about it, but she seems to make him happy and so far she’s kept him out of trouble.’

When we arrived home, Charlie was dressed in his best suit and sitting beside him on the couch was a woman who appeared a lot younger than me. She was very pretty, but she was wearing really bright pink lipstick and a lot of blue eye-liner, even though her eyes were brown, which gave her a very seventies look. She was dressed in what should have been a conservative navy skirt suit, but it was exceedingly tight and, with no shirt underneath the jacket, her bra was on view and her boobs were popping out. I tried not to look as shocked as I felt. Where did Charlie find these women? Why couldn’t he just meet a nice little old lady, who liked needlework and knitting, and stop bringing home these younger women who looked like they’d rather go clubbing than knit jumpers?

Charlie jumped up and introduced us. Nadia stood up and shook our hands. She was tall and slim. I held my stomach in and vowed to make more of an effort with my appearance. I was wearing jeans and a jumper of Paul’s that made me look bigger than I was, although on the upside, it hid my winter tummy.

‘It’s nice to meet you,’ I said.

‘I am happy to be here. You daddy fery nice man,’ said Nadia, winking at Charlie.

‘Yes, he is.’

‘You have fery nice house.’

‘Thank you. And where do you live?’

‘In bad house with bad peoples.’ She looked sad.

‘Don’t worry, pet, we’ll soon sort that out,’ said Charlie, handing her a tissue. Then, gazing at me, he said, ‘Poor Nadia has ended up in a house with a group of thugs. She’s only been here a few weeks and yesterday she woke up and all her savings were gone. Robbed.’

‘Who are these people? Did you go to the police?’ I asked.

Nadia’s head snapped up. ‘No police. They hate Polish peoples. Police no help me.’

‘Well, could you move in with Agata? Isn’t she your cousin?’

‘Agata haff no rooms. She haff six peoples living in her house. I all alone. So, so lonely.’

‘Now, now, it’s all going to be fine,’ said Charlie, as Nadia sobbed into his shoulder. His face only reached her boobs: she was at least a foot taller than him and she was wearing really high heels. ‘You can move in here until you get sorted out.’

What the hell was he saying? Had he completely lost his marbles?

‘Hold on, Charlie, that’s not really an option. I’m sure Nadia has other friends she can stay with.’ The house was crowded enough as it was. I had to stop this.

Nadia threw her arms around me. ‘Oh, Ava, you such good woman. You safe me.’

I peeled myself away. ‘No, Nadia, I’m sorry, I really can’t have you to stay.’

‘It’s only for a little while,’ Charlie said. ‘Come on, Ava, a few days, a week at the most, just until the poor girl gets sorted.’

Paul arrived home. ‘Hello,’ he said, extending a hand to Nadia.

‘Nadia, this is Paul, my son-in-law,’ Charlie said. ‘Nadia here is homeless and I told her she could stay for a few days, if it’s all right with you.’

Seeing easier prey, Nadia pushed me aside and flung herself into Paul’s arms. ‘Thank you so much, Paul. You safe my life,’ she said, kissing his face as Paul looked at me with an expression that said, ‘What the hell is going on?’

‘I go to toilet. I back in minute,’ Nadia said, and rushed out of the room before I could retract Charlie’s offer.

‘Jesus, Charlie, have you lost your mind? Inviting a stranger to live in our house without even discussing it with me?’ I was furious.

‘She’s a wonderful lady,’ Charlie said. ‘And she needs our help.’

‘There is no way she’s moving in here.’

Charlie looked to Paul for help. ‘Paul, you’re not going to leave poor Nadia on the streets. You of all people know how dangerous it is out there.’

Paul shuffled from one foot to the other. ‘Well, Charlie, it does seem a bit impulsive. How long have you known her?’

‘Three weeks.’

‘Has she nowhere else she can stay?’

‘No. All her money was stolen and she’s only been in Ireland a few weeks so she hasn’t any friends.’

‘I see,’ Paul said.

‘She could be a psychopath, murderer, con-woman,’ I said, and wanted to add ‘prostitute’ but held back in front of the girls.

‘She’s a beautiful person,’ Charlie said. ‘Not just a cracker to look at, she has a big heart.’

‘She is very good-looking,’ Sarah agreed.

‘Great figure,’ Ali added.

‘I’m sorry, she can’t stay and that’s final.’ I was fed up with Charlie turning the house into a circus.

‘I think I’m in love,’ Charlie announced.

‘
What?
’

‘You heard me. And she’ll only be here until she gets back on her feet.’

‘Paul, talk sense into him.’

‘Well, now, Charlie, Ava has a point. This woman is a virtual stranger. There are lots of women who come to Ireland looking to prey on vulnerable older men. You need to be careful.’

Charlie’s face got very flushed. ‘Nadia is a good person who’s down on her luck. What happened to the Irish being a welcoming nation? What happened to A Hundred Thousand Welcomes to All who Come to Our Shores?’

‘We’re not the bloody tourist board,’ I hissed. Before I could vent any more of my anger, Nadia rushed back into the room.

‘Oh, Charlie, you are hero for me.’ She kissed him passionately in front of all of us.

I spun around to get Paul to help remove this woman from our house and found him staring at her legs. I thumped him on the shoulder.

‘What?’

‘Do something.’

‘What do you suggest?’

‘Call the police and have her arrested instead of staring at her legs.’

‘On what charges?’

‘I don’t know – breaking and entering.’

‘Your father invited her here.’

‘Coercion.’

‘He doesn’t look intimidated to me,’ Paul said, as he watched Charlie kissing this stranger.

‘Seducing him under false pretences.’

‘That’s not actually against the law.’

I sat down in the chair beside the door and buried my head in my hands.

‘This is cool.’ Sarah giggled. ‘Charlie’s girlfriend is younger than Mum. We’re like those people on
Ricki Lake
.’

14

Nadia moved in the next day with all her possessions. Three large suitcases were dragged through the house into Charlie’s room. He swore to me that it was only a short-term solution and he’d find her a new place to live as soon as possible. Clearly the suit she’d worn the day before was a disguise because, from the moment she officially moved in, the miniskirts and boob tubes were out in abundance. I caught Paul staring at her cleavage on several occasions.

She was overtly sexy and it made me very uncomfortable.

‘You’d think she’d put a shirt on,’ I huffed, as she strutted about the house in a denim miniskirt and a vest top that left little to the imagination.

Paul shrugged. ‘I dunno, looks fine to me.’

‘She’s like mutton dressed up as lamb.’

‘If the mutton has the body of a lamb she can get away with it.’

‘Shouldn’t something be left to the imagination?’

‘It’s not as if she’s walking around in her underwear.’

I looked down at my black polo neck and black trousers. Was I a frump? Had I let myself go? I was in pretty good shape – sure I had a bit of a flabby stomach and chunky thighs, but what mother didn’t?

‘What do you think of what I’m wearing?’ I asked my husband.

‘Very smart,’ he answered.

‘What exactly does “smart” mean?’

‘It means smart.’

‘But not sexy?’

‘It’s a jumper and trousers,’ he retorted.

‘Do you think Nadia looks sexy?’

‘Uhm … no.’ He hesitated. ‘I think she looks available.’

‘What do I look?’

‘Married.’

‘Frumpy.’

‘That’s not what I said.’

‘Yeah, but it’s what you meant.’

‘No, it isn’t. I wouldn’t want you walking around in miniskirts.’

‘Why? Do you think my legs are too chunky?’

‘No. You’re a bit old for them.’

‘I’m forty-two, not seventy.’

‘You’re the one who said Nadia looked cheap.’

‘And you said she had a great body and looked fine. Obviously I’m too fat to wear short skirts.’

‘Ava, you’re not fat.’

‘That’s it. No more desserts for me.’

‘You’re not fat.’

‘I’ve put on a few pounds.’

‘You look good to me.’

‘She’s only four years younger than me and has no lumps and bumps. She’s so toned,’ I complained.

‘You’ve had two children.’

‘Aha, so you do think I’m lumpy.’

‘I never said that!’

‘Do you think she’s a prostitute?’ I asked, deciding to get off the subject of toned bodies as I munched a KitKat.

‘No. But I wouldn’t be surprised if she starts asking Charlie to “lend” her money.’

‘So you don’t think she’s in love.’

Paul laughed. ‘I give it a month. She’ll try to get as much money as she can out of him and then leave.’

‘Jesus, Paul, this is really serious. What if Charlie starts giving her his savings? He has quite a bit of money left from the sale of the house, but it’s his pension.’

‘We have to make sure that doesn’t happen. The good thing about having Nadia living here is that we can keep an eye on the situation. Don’t worry, I’m watching her.’

‘Is that why you stare at her boobs all the time?’

‘They’re hard to miss.’

‘Try looking up.’

I wasn’t sure how Nadia stayed so slim: she quite literally ate us out of house and home. Every time I walked into the kitchen she was eating. I was complaining about it one day when Ali said she’d like to start cooking.

I was pleased that she wanted to do something other than study and that she was showing an interest in food, so I encouraged her. The next thing I knew, Ali was spending hours going through all my cookbooks looking for recipes to try out. I came home one evening to find she had made creamy chicken korma and chocolate brownies for dinner.

‘Wow, Ali, this is a fantastic spread. Put your feet up and enjoy it,’ I said.

‘Actually I had a bowl of the chicken while the brownies were in the oven. I need to catch up on my homework now – the cooking took longer than I thought. I’ll take a brownie up with me.’

‘Can you not sit with us for even twenty minutes?’ I pleaded. This was the most animated I’d seen her in ages.

‘No, Mum, I have to work.’

‘Well, thank you fery much for this luffly food,’ Nadia said.

‘Yes, pet, it smells wonderful,’ Charlie added.

‘Yum!’ Sarah said, her mouth full of korma.

Ali smiled. ‘Enjoy!’

Maybe things were looking up.

That Saturday I had a big party to organize so I asked Charlie if he’d do the grocery shopping for me. Ali said she wanted to go with him because she had some new recipes she wanted to try out and needed ingredients. Sarah was tagging along too because Bobby was rugby training and she was bored. Paul was working and Nadia was at a job interview.

‘What’s her interview for, Charlie?’ I asked, wondering what kind of job Nadia was aiming for.

‘A nightclub.’

‘Doing what?’

‘Dancing.’

‘They’re going to pay her to dance?’

‘She’s very agile,’ Charlie said, grinning.

‘Oh, my God, Charlie’s girlfriend’s a pole dancer!’ shrieked Sarah. ‘Can this family get any weirder?’

‘Is that true?’ I asked, horrified.

Charlie, looking as proud as he had on my wedding day, nodded. ‘Yes, it is.’

‘But that’s practically prostitution,’ I gasped.

‘Don’t be so ridiculous. The girls nowadays just swing about on the pole and make up to five hundred euros a night. The men aren’t allowed touch them. It’s all very proper.’

‘How do you know this? Please tell me you don’t hang out in pole-dancing clubs.’

‘Nadia told me. She said if she gets the job, she’ll be a millionaire in no time.’

‘Is it legal?’

‘Of course it is.’

‘Pole dancing is cool now, Mum,’ Sarah piped up. ‘All the celebrities do it to keep fit.’

‘Do you burn loads of calories?’ Ali asked.

‘Loads. Maybe we could get a pole in the house,’ Sarah suggested. ‘Nadia could give us lessons.’

‘Has everyone gone mad?’ I shouted. ‘There will be no poles or dancing or any of that carry-on in my house.’

I gave Charlie the shopping list and stormed out the door. For the zillionth time in my life I wished I had a sibling to help me look after him. My mother had begun to haemorrhage shortly after she had given birth to me and had to have a hysterectomy. With Charlie’s only living relative, Daisy, stuck in an old folks’ home suffering from Alzheimer’s, I was all he had. I would have given anything for a sibling to share the madness with. I had been determined when Ali was born that I’d have one for her. I envied the girls sometimes. They had each other to talk to when Paul and I drove them mad.

When I got home later, Sarah was lying on the couch watching TV.

‘Hi,’ I said, flopping down in the armchair beside her.

‘God, Mum, you look wrecked. Tough day at the office?’

‘You could say that,’ I said, smiling. ‘Thirty over-excited seven-year-old girls at a
Hannah Montana
theme party. I’m badly in need of a glass of wine. Where is everyone else?’