Page 64 of Daydreamer
“I’m sorry, Mum,” Felix said, his voice thick with anger ashe put his bottle of beer down on the side. “Fun as this had been I can’t stay any longer and put up with this.” Bianca’s face set with determination as she looked between her husband and her son.
“Oh no, please, darling,” she said. “Luca, we talked about this.” There was a real bite in her voice that I’d never heard before and she was staring daggers at her husband, who just shrugged a shoulder.
“Calm down, both of you,” he said. “You always were too sensitive, Felix.”
“Please stay, darling,” Bianca said in a pleading tone. Felix hesitated then gave a tight nod and picked his beer up again. Bianca gave him a shaky smile. “Right, well come through in five minutes. Liddy and I are just finishing setting the table.” Liddy had been the Morettis’ cook for many years.
Once Bianca had swept out of the room again, Mum took a step towards Luca, putting her own drink down before she spoke.
“I’ve looked after a lot of children in my time,” Mum said, and all eyes turned to her in surprise at her slightly random statement.
Luca smirked. “Ah, do go on, Hetty. I’m sure this will be a fascinating anecdote.”
Mum returned his smile, totally unperturbed by his condescending tone.
“Well, what I was going to say was that I’ve looked after many, many children, and your son was certainlynotan oversensitive child. In fact, he was one of the most resilient and determined children I’d ever come across.”
“We’ll have to agree to disagree there,” Luca said. “But as he’smyson I think I’m a bit more qualified to comment as I know him significantly better than the hired help.”
Hetty’s eyebrows went up. “Oh right. So how does Felix like his tea?”
“What the hell has tea got to do with anything?”
“Hmm, favourite food, then? Or what was his best-loved toy as a child? What was his first fight over? What is his worst childhood memory?”
“Is this some sort of bullshit test?” Luca scoffed, his face going bright red with anger.
Mum held up her fingers one by one as she listed off the answers. “Milk, one sugar. My chicken pie. Mr Cristos – a furry monkey he took everywhere until you caught him with it on a rare family trip out. I think it was actually a business lunch where you and your colleagues were all supposed to bring family. You said Mr Cristos was a “bloody embarrassment” and chucked him in the bin before leaving the house. Luckily I was prepared to fish him out again, wash him and then replace him in Felix’s bed before he got home. But the poor child spent the entire day thinking his most precious possession was gone forever. And you screamed at him for over an hour when you got home from the lunch because he’d cried. He wasfive.”
“I–I–I…” Luca spluttered. “He couldn’t drag that mangled old thing all over the place. It was embarrassing.”
“Luca,” Mum said in a low voice. Luca flinched at her use of his first name. I’d never heard Mum call him anything but Mr Moretti. “He. Was.Five.”
“This is all ancient history. Who cares what?—?”
“I havenotfinished,” Mum said and to my surprise, Luca’s mouth snapped shut. She held up a fourth finger. “Felix’s first fight was with one of his posh boarding school chums who called my son a ‘token townie’ and my daughter a ‘weird little freak’. Yoursensitiveson broke that boy’s nose. We had to have a long chat about anger management and not solving things with your fists or flying into a rage at the drop of a hat. It’s something Felix had to unlearn. Somethingsomeonehad been modelling at home for him from the start.”
“I don’t know what you’re implying but?—”
“His worst childhood memory.” Mum held up a fifth finger and then paused. Bianca, who had been in the kitchen, was now standing in the doorway, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. Felix glanced at his mum, then moved to Mum and laid his hand on her arm.
“Hetty, that’s enough now,” he said softly, then lowered his voice even further. “Mum can’t…” he trailed off. Mum looked at Bianca and then gave Felix a sharp nod of agreement.
“Well, maybe we can bloody well eat if we’ve finished going over ancient history,” said Luca.
“Right, yes! Let’s go through,” Bianca said in a falsely bright tone.
The tension hanging in the air was almost unbearable. I wasn’t sure how Felix survived it as a child. I’d never felt so angry in my life. The white-hot rage building inside me towards Felix’s father was actually a little scary. Containing it was becoming more and more of a challenge. Felix must have noticed because on the way through to the dining room he leaned into me.
“Are you okay?” he whispered. Yes, that’s right, this man who’d just been put down and attacked by his father for the last half hour was asking me ifIwas okay. I took his hand in mine, gripping it firmly.
“I’m fine,” I replied in a low, tight voice. “But your dad is a total dickhead.”
He smiled down at me, flashing his white teeth against that tanned skin. “I’ve noticed.” His smile dropped as we finally made it to the dining room door. “Best to not rise to it, though. For Mum.” Of course, he’d want to protect his mother. I’d never really appreciated how fragile Bianca was until now or howmuch of a strain that must put on Felix. I gave him a stiff nod, resolving to tamp down the rage and not give in to the strong desire to punch Luca in his smug, condescending face.
Unfortunately, I didn’t realise how much worse Luca could get. I didn’t brace nearly enough. The next hit, whispered slyly to Felix on the way into dinner, but in a stage-whisper meant for everyone to hear, was directed at me. That I could handle.
“Would’ve thought you’d manage to keep hold of the help’s kid, boy,” Luca said through a smirk. “But then, even batting well below your weight, you still can’t hold their interest, can you?”
