Nice Day For A White Wedding. A. Michael L.

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ allowing her square gaze to settle on her daughter, goading her. ‘Get knocked up. Or tell him you’re knocked up. That’ll hurry him along.’

      ‘Never worked for you,’ Chelsea said, her lips a thin line.

      Carly said nothing, lit up a cigarette and exhaled loudly. Jez paused briefly, then laughed, shaking his head.

      ‘How about it, love, then? Shall we get hitched to make Chelsea here happy?’

      Carly rolled her eyes, but quirked a lip. ‘Quiet, you, the telly’s on.’

      Chelsea looked down at Kai sitting on her lap, burbling away, and she stared at her mother, the ash from her cigarette tapped onto a small dish resting on the arm of the chair. Chelsea cleared her throat and rolled her eyes. Getting no response, she heaved her youngest brother onto her hip, and stood to open the window.

      ‘It’s cold, don’t open that!’

      Chelsea felt herself regress instantly. ‘He’s got fucking asthma, Mum! You call yourself a parent?’

      Carly glared at her, hackles raised. ‘Only out of necessity.’ She turned back to the screen, and Chelsea stood frozen, her baby brother in her arms.

      ‘When can we meet your boyfriend?’ Jermaine sang the word, teasing her. He’d always aimed to lighten the mood, even as a little kid he’d run around and dance and sing to stop them fighting. Chelsea smiled at him, wanting to say he could come to London, that he could stay with her and meet Kit then. Maybe he could stay over the summer and –

      ‘You’re not.’

      Carly’s voice was cruel with laughter as she looked at Jermaine, explaining loudly and simply, ‘You see, baby, your sister’s ashamed of us. She don’t want her posh boyfriend seeing her chavvy family. She’s too good for us now.’

      Jermaine frowned, looking to Chelsea for confirmation. She shook her head and twirled her fingertips at her temple, mouthing ‘crazy’. He half-smiled, but she felt like he was looking at her with new eyes.

      ‘How about some birthday cake?’ Chelsea stood, handing Kai over to Jez. ‘I’ll see if Ty wants some.’

      She pounded up the stairs, knocking three times on the door, then pausing before another two quick taps. Their secret code as kids. She heard a brief grumble in response and slowly opened the door. The site was a tip as usual, but she focused on Tyler, leaning out of the window with a cigarette.

      ‘Gimme one of them, will you?’ She waded through the room to jostle beside him at the windowsill. He produced the pack wordlessly, lighter inside the packet.

      ‘So…how’s things?’ Chelsea breathed out a smoke circle, a skill she’d perfected at sixteen and never lost. She only smoked at home now.

      ‘Same as always, fucking shit.’

      ‘I know.’

      He pursed his lips, breathing out against the cool air and she simply looked at her brother. He was seventeen. There’d been a big enough age gap between them as kids but she’d always been his confidante. And then she left.

      He’d been a good-looking kid, Tyler, never really smiled but he had that cheeky way about him. Now his skin was bad, his fingernails were yellow and he seemed to glare from hollow eye sockets.

      ‘How’s work? Thought any more about college?’

      He gave her a blank look. ‘Don’t start that bullshit again. I know your life is so fucking wonderful, but I’m not going to study.’

      ‘Okay,’ she shrugged, ‘but what about an apprenticeship or something?’

      He was weakening a little, she could tell, that same way of shifting his weight from side to side when he wanted a hug or a word of encouragement, but didn’t want to explain himself or seem weak. Some things didn’t change. She nudged his shoulder gently.

      ‘There’s a ’pprenticeship goin’ at the garage. My old teacher, McKinnon, he always liked me, it’s his brother’s place. Said he’d put in a good word for me but I gotta pass a maths test.’

      ‘Can you do it?’

      Tyler huffed, shrugging half-heartedly.

      ‘Is it that it’s too difficult, or you’re letting your dickhead mates fuck with your future?’

      Tyler scowled at her. ‘They’re my mates! We spent years in school. It’s crap and pointless.’

      ‘As pointless as working in the chippy for the rest of your life?’

      ‘You’re a broken fucking record, Jesus!’

      Chelsea took a deep breath to give herself the patience to proceed. She knew she’d have to go carefully.

      ‘Babe, it’s the only way. What else you gonna do? Sell a bit of weed on the side and get nicked, like everyone else?’ She tried to stop herself rambling. ‘An apprenticeship could set you up! You’d be qualified, you could always learn more and specialise – work on Ferraris one day or something! Can you imagine?’

      Tyler looked at her with a strange mixture of exasperation and affection. ‘You’re such a bloody dreamer. I think it’d be nice to work down at the garage and you start going on about Ferraris. Have you ever seen a fucking Ferrari drive into Mike’s garage?’

      ‘If it did, it’d come out in parts,’ she laughed, and watched as his lips tilted up briefly.

      ‘So pass the test, what’s the problem?’

      ‘Mum says it don’t pay enough. Starting salary’s less than the chippy.’

      Chelsea growled a little, stubbing out the fag on the windowsill and turning to her little brother. ‘Tell her you spoke to a careers person at the youth centre and he’s found a way to get you more money for working there, a subsidy or a grant or something,’ she exhaled. ‘I’ll pay the difference into your account.’

      Tyler looked at her, surprised and wary.

      ‘That’s not money for you to go boozing. It’s so you can get ahead and Mum can’t stop you. And don’t you fucking breathe a word to her.’

      ‘But Chels—’

      ‘You pass the test, you get on the programme, and I’ll even out the money. But you drop out and you don’t bother, I’m not helping you with shit. Got it?’

      He nodded sombrely and she caught his eye, holding out her hand.

      ‘Deal?’

      Tyler nodded and shook her hand. She took the chance to pull him in for a hug.

      ‘Good choice, dickhead. Now come downstairs for some birthday cake before I kill Mum.’

      Tyler went to follow her, then paused. ‘Chels, you know Dad’s been asking about you. They think he’ll be out soon.’

      ‘And then he’ll do something stupid and be back in again,’ СКАЧАТЬ