An Unsuitable Mother. Sheelagh Kelly

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ sopping wet, and her sphincter fluttering, she laid down her cutlery and, trying to appear calm, exclaimed, ‘Please excuse me, I’ll just have to visit the lavatory!’ And, to her mother and father’s bemusement, she rushed from the table.

      Leaving a dripping trail, she fled first to her room, and dragged a pack of sanitary towels from the back of a cupboard. Armed with these, and still leaking, she scurried to the bathroom, where she stripped off her wet dress and underwear, the corset posing all manner of irritation, then she tried to stem the flow with a towel, but in moments it too was swamped and chafing. Giving in to panic, she began to shake. Oh my God, she should have come clean months ago! It was going to be so much more of a shock to them now. She could well imagine the intensity of their recrimination. Even the rehearsal made her break down and cry.

      ‘What on earth are you doing?’ called her mother a good twenty minutes later, making Nell jump. ‘Your meal’s gone cold – and your father wants to be in there!’ With no response, she pounded up the stairs to mutter a warning. ‘I hope you’re not being extravagant with that toilet paper, else you can start buying your own.’ With a roll having doubled in price, she had issued this alert before. Ignored and aggravated, she banged on the door. ‘Eleanor! Answer me.’

      Under this constant harassment, Nell had no option.

      Thelma heard the bolt being drawn, and stood back, ready to announce, ‘Oh, there you are!’ But as the door opened a crack and she squinted through it, there stood her daughter, surrounded by sodden bath towels and things, and clutching a damp dress over her nakedness. Thelma gasped. Reflected in her mother’s horrified gaze, only truly in that moment did Nell realise the enormity of this.

      Lost for words, Thelma could do nothing but gape at her for many seconds. Whatever had happened to be prepared? Nothing could have prepared her for this! Finally, though, one of them had to speak. With Nell in tears, it was left to her mother to breathe, ‘Who was it?’

      Nell struggled with the lump in her throat. ‘I’m so sorry, Mother …’

      Thelma came to life then, was caught up in a paroxysm of loathing as she stabbed a finger at Nell’s room. ‘Get in there, and take your disgusting mess with you! And get something on!’ Then, turning tail, she stamped downstairs.

      Finding it hard to bend, Nell gathered the debris that lay around her, staggered with it to her room, there dropping it to grab the first thing to hand, a dressing gown, at the same time hearing her father’s bilious, ‘What!’

      ‘She’s in labour now!’ moaned Thelma, loud enough for their daughter to hear.

      ‘And you said nothing, woman?’

      The boom of his cannon fire was met by the shriek of her high explosive. ‘I didn’t know! If I had do you think she’d still be standing there?’

      ‘Keep your voice down, woman, do you want the whole street to hear?’

      ‘They won’t have to hear!’ screeched Thelma. ‘They only have to look at her – and please stop calling me woman!’

      Nell sobbed, and gripped the edges of the dressing gown around her enlarged form as they continued to bombard each other.

      ‘If it’s that obvious why didn’t you confront her before?’

      ‘It wasn’t obvious – I had no idea! And why didn’t you?’

      ‘You’re the blasted mother, you should know about these things – anyway, this is doing not the slightest good. Get her down here, I want to speak to her!’

      ‘I told you, she’s in labour, she’s … dribbling all over the place! The bathroom’s awash with – look, it’s no good arguing, we’ll have to fetch Doctor Greenhow!’

      ‘She’s not going to have it right this minute, is she?’ snarled Wilfred. ‘I want to talk to her first, find out who’s responsible!’ And he pushed Thelma aside and hared up to Nell’s room, barging in without knocking.

      ‘I’m sorry Fa –’

      ‘Who was it?’ he demanded. ‘And why have you waited until now? Where can we get in touch with his parents?’

      ‘He’s dead!’ wept a shivering Nell. ‘He was killed after we –’

      ‘Slut!’ Wilfred Spottiswood brought his fingers hard across her face.

      Nell reeled, but the shock of it stopped her crying and she stared at him in disbelief, her lips parting to offer soft reproach. ‘We were going to be married …’ As evidence, she offered the ring on its chain that hung from her neck.

      ‘Well, you’re not now, are you?’ flung her father, trying to swipe it from her.

      But Nell reared away to protect the treasured ring, tearfully begging him to comprehend that, ‘We loved each other!’

      ‘You don’t know what love is!’ sneered Wilfred, growing nastier by the second. ‘You brazen little cat, you certainly know nothing about respect! If you’d none for yourself you could at least have had some for your parents!’

      Bill’s wedding ring still in her fist, tears streaking her cheeks, Nell grasped the dressing gown around her contracting trunk, and begged them both, ‘Please try to understand –’

      ‘Try as I might, I’ll never understand!’ interrupted her mother, her face contorted with disbelief. ‘It’s always been apparent you’ve no care for your parents’ reputation, but how could you walk around for so long with … that in you, and not be cowed by shame? As if you’re actually proud of being labelled a scrubber!’

      ‘I’m not!’ protested Nell in self-defence. ‘We would’ve been married by now if Bill hadn’t sacrificed his life for another.’ And her face crumpled in more tears.

      ‘Bill?’ yelled Mother. ‘Oh, it’s all coming out now, the lies you must have told! Well, he’s certainly left us all in the lurch, hasn’t he? But he’s not the only one – how could you be so completely and utterly selfish? As if there isn’t enough for us to worry about with a war on!’

      Nell wanted to plead again for her mother to empathise, but knew now that she never would, could never have never felt the same depth of passion that she herself felt for her man. Shaking with emotion, daring now to peer through the scalding veil of tears at her father with his glittering eyes and his sour, discontented face, she knew that even the merest attempt to explain would be useless. Besides, she was robbed of the will by another stronger pain in her lower back, as if a giant hand was gripping and squeezing it.

      Seeing her wince, Thelma advised quickly, ‘We’ve got to get her out of here before she has it!’

      ‘Is it going to be born now?’ groaned Nell.

      ‘You stupid girl, what did you think was happening? What did you think would be the consequence of your sordid – oh, we’ll argue about this later. Wilfred, I just want her out!’

      Of similar mind, Wilfred let fly at his daughter. ‘Don’t think I’ve finished with you, not by a long chalk!’ And, charging for the stairs, he added over his shoulder, ‘I’ll go and fetch the doctor!’

      Disdaining coat СКАЧАТЬ