Page 10 of The One Plus One
‘I’m not tapping her for money, Marty. I thought she might want to help her only grandchildren.’
‘They’re not her only grandchildren any more. Elena had a little boy.’
Tanzie stood very still.
‘I didn’t even know she was pregnant.’
‘Yeah, I meant to tell you.’
Tanzie had a baby cousin. And she hadn’t even known. Norman flopped down at her feet. He looked at her with his big brown eyes, then rolled over slowly with a groan, as if it was really, really hard work just lying on the floor. He kept looking at her, waiting for her to rub his tummy, but she was trying too hard to listen.
‘Well…what if we sell the Rolls?’
‘I can’t sell the Rolls. I’m going to start the weddings business up again.’
‘It’s been rusting in our garage for the best part of two years.’
‘I know. And I’ll come and get it. I just haven’t got anywhere to store it safely up here.’
The voices had that edge now. Their conversations often ended up like that. They would start off with Mum being all nice and then something would happen so that they both got really clipped and tense with each other. She heard Mum take a deep breath. ‘Can you at least think about it, Marty? She really wants to go to this place. Really, really wants to go. When the maths teacher spoke to her, her whole face lit up like I haven’t seen since –’
‘Since I left.’
‘I didn’t mean it like that.’
‘So it’s all my fault.’
‘No, it’s not all your fault, Marty. But I’m not going to sit here and pretend that you going has been a barrel of laughs for them. Tanzie doesn’t understand why you don’t visit her. She doesn’t understand why she hardly gets to see you any more.’
‘I can’t afford the fares, Jess. You know that. There’s no point you going on and on at me. I’ve been ill.’
‘I know you’ve been ill.’
‘She can come and see me anytime. I told you. Send them both at half-term.’
‘I can’t. They’re too young to travel all that way alone. And I can’t afford the fares for all of us.’
‘And I suppose that’s my fault too.’
‘Oh, for Christ’s sake.’
Tanzie dug her nails into the soft parts of her hands. Norman kept looking at her, waiting.
‘I don’t want to argue with you, Marty,’ Mum said, and her voice was low and careful, like when a teacher is trying to explain something to you that you should already know. ‘I just want you to think about whether there is any way at all you could contribute to this. It would change Tanzie’s life. It would mean she never has to struggle in the way that…we struggle.’
‘You can’t say that.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Don’t you watch the news, Jess? All the graduates are out of work. It doesn’t matter what education you get.She’s still going to have to fight. She’s still going to struggle.’ He paused. ‘No. There’s no point us going further into hock just for this. Of course these schools are going to tell you it’s all special, and she’s special, and her life chances are going to be amazing if she goes, et cetera, et cetera. That’s what they do.’
Mum didn’t say anything.
‘No, if she’s bright like they say she is, she’ll make her own way. She’ll have to go to McArthur’s like everyone else.’
‘Like the little bastards who spend all their time working out how to bash Nicky’s face in. And the girls who wear four inches of makeup and won’t do PE in case they break a nail. She won’t fit in there, Marty. She just won’t.’
‘Now you sound like a snob.’
