The Bright Side (30 page)

Melissa rolled her head about on her shoulders, neither nodding nor shaking
.

“There was a huge row, a real top-of-the-lungs job. Just Gerry and Robert – I kept out of it. But still, I was the one who took all the flak. He blamed me, Robert, for invading his privacy, that was the way he put it, and most of all for getting his dad involved. It wasn’t long after that when he started talking about moving out. And that was when the trouble really started.
”

“Yeah, I remember you telling me about it.
”

I was taken aback. I’d almost forgotten that she wasn’t a total stranger
.

“It just seemed too soon,” I said, recovering quickly. “He was only out of school; he wasn’t even nineteen. He’d got a job in a call centre by then – a
call
centre
, you can imagine how proud I was – so he wasn’t entirely broke, but he had no idea about budgeting or anything like that. And practical things, he was hopeless at, just hopeless. He had trouble changing a light-bulb. He couldn’t work a washing machine, he certainly couldn’t cook. I’d tried to teach him a few things, but he wasn’t interested; I’d get as far as ‘Peel an onion’ and he’d be off. I was sure the whole thing would be a disaster. And, of course, when I pointed this out I was the worst in the world.
”

“It
wasn’t
a
disaster,
though.
He
managed,
didn’t
he?” “Well,
he
managed
,
yeah,
but
…
Look,
I
suppose
the
real
reason
I
didn’t
want
him
to
move
out
is
because
I
knew
that would
make
it
even
harder
for
the
pair
of
us
to
get
back
on good
terms.
Gerry
said
it
would
work
out
just
the
opposite, that
he’d
get
a
dose
of
reality
and
realise
how
much
I’d
done for
him
at
home,
blah,
blah,
blah.
Gerry
was
wrong.
I
was right.
Once
he
moved
out,
things
went
from
bad
to
much, much
worse.
And
quickly
too.
He
never
called
me,
never. And
when
I
called
him,
he
used
to
just
sigh
down
the
phone at
me,
like
he
couldn’t
believe
what
an
idiot
I
was.
”

“Did
you
visit
him
much?
In
…
where
was
it?” “Portobello.
I
did
at
the
start.
The
place
was
a
tip,
as
I
knew
it
would
be.
I
wouldn’t
have
thought
it
was
possible that
Robert
could
have
found
a
house-mate
who
was
even lazier
than
himself,
but
he
managed.
Derek
something-or- other,
worked
in
the
call
centre.
He
could
barely
make
a
cup of
tea.
At
least
Robert
knew
how
that
miracle
was
achieved. He
had
an
awful
girlfriend
around
then
too,
worse
than Jemima
even.
I
can’t
remember
her
name,
but
she
was hideous,
all
tattoos
and
piercings
and
ripped
stockings.
I asked
her
what
she
did
for
a
living
once
and
she
said, ‘Drummer’,
just
the
one
word.
I
said,
‘Bummer’.
”

I waited for Melissa to say something supportive or at least smile at my joke, but she didn’t
.

“I stopped going over there in the end,” I went on. “There was no point, he barely spoke to me. Sighed a lot, as usual but no real sentences. Gerry used to go on his own sometimes, you know, take Robert out for a pint.
”

“PINT!” Niall yelped. I jumped a foot
.

“Yes!” Melissa said, as if the boy had just suggested a cure for cancer. “That’s right. Pint!
”

“Next thing you know,” I said, getting back on track, “Chrissy’s talking about moving out. Anything he could do, she could do better. I did blame him for that, I must say. I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t help it.
”

Melissa nodded. “Have you any idea why, though? Why he was being like that?
”

“I used to think it was because his acting hadn’t taken off and he was just frustrated. But when he got the part in
The O’Mahonys
, he all but thumbed his nose and stuck out his tongue at me. I said he’d never get anywhere and look at him now kind of thing. Then he went right back to treating me like dirt.
”

I fell silent. My problems with Robert had always sounded intensely dramatic in my head. Now that I was talking about them out loud, they seemed so dreary
.

“
Did
you say he’d never get anywhere?” Melissa asked. “No! Well, I warned him that it was an unstable business
.

Lots of times.
”

“Hmmm. And you’ve got
no
idea why things went wrong? Not a clue?
”

My back went up again. “No. Why?
”

“Well … you don’t think maybe … you were being a bit of a nag?
”

I blinked in surprise. “
Me
? A nag? No. Why? What do you mean? A
nag
?
”

“Maybe not. I’m just guessing. It sounds to me like you did a lot of complaining, that’s all. Didn’t like his friend Steven –
”

“You called him a tosser yourself!
”

“I’m not saying he wasn’t one.” She gave me a challenging look, then continued. “You didn’t like his friend Steven, you didn’t like his girlfriend, didn’t like his haircuts or his music and all that rubbish, didn’t like his choice of career –
”

“It was hardly a career, working in a call-centre!” “I meant acting.
”

“Oh.” I could think of nothing else to add
.

“You didn’t like his flat, didn’t like his flat-
mate
, didn’t –” “All right, I get it,” I said. “I think you’re wrong.
”

She stared at me. I stared back
.

“Okay,” she said amiably. “So I’m wrong.” “Okay then.
”

“Fine.
”

“Good.
”

We sat in silence for a few moments. I wondered if Melissa was thinking what I was thinking – were we on the cusp of a proper row? Was all the progress we’d made about to be undone? For my part, I was determined that it would not be
.

“Still,” she said then. “All’s well that ends well, eh?” “I don’t follow you.
”

“I mean, he’s all right now, isn’t he? With you?
”

“
No
,” I said. “God, no. Friday morning, over the Jemima thing, he was effing and blinding at me like he was getting paid for it.
”

“Oh. But he turned up yesterday, didn’t he? He seemed very concerned, I thought.
”

I had to be careful here. “I was glad to see him. And yes, he did seem concerned. So maybe there’s hope.
”

Belatedly, Melissa seemed to join me in realising that we were uncomfortably close to talking about our own fledgling reconciliation. I was greatly relieved when Niall threw down the tattered remains of his colouring book and announced that he wanted to hear a story
.

“A story?” Melissa said. “I don’t know. Have we got any storybooks?
”

“Yes!” Niall cried. “LOADS!
”

“And who’s going to read this story? Mummy or Auntie Jackie?
”

“It’s been a while since I read a story,” I said nervously. I didn’t know if I was talking to the child or his mother
.

Niall stared from one of us to the other for a few seconds, then fixed his gaze on me
.

“YOU read it,” he said and pointed at me like that bloke from the army recruitment posters
.

The tale Niall chose, after ten minutes of deliberation, was
The
Three
Little
Pigs
. He handed me the storybook (which was a replacement for another volume that he’d flicked through, then thrown against the wall) and sat down at my feet. I smiled down at him and he frowned back. Just for a moment, he reminded me of Gordon Ramsay
.

“
The
Three
Little
Pigs
,” I began. “I KNOW,” Niall fumed.

I
glanced
at
Melissa.
She
gave
me
a
little
y
ou’ll-be-fine
nod. “
Once
upon
a
time
,”
I
read,
“
there
was
a
mother
pig
who
had three
little
pigs.
The
three
little
pigs
grew
so
big
that
their
mother
said
to
them,
‘You
are
too
big
to
live
here
any
longer.
You
must
go
and build
houses
for
yourselves.
But
take
care
that
the
wolf
does
not catch
you.’
”