Page 58 of Marley
I ended up raiding my mum’s cupboards for all my old favourites, making myself a tinned corned beef and tomato sandwich. I layered each of the four slices of bread with salad cream and added a bag of Walkers cheese and onion crisps to the mix. I grabbed a bag of pickled onion monster munch, a breakaway, a blue riband, and a packet of McVities dark chocolate digestives. I carried my stash over to the dining table, moving endless vases of flowers out of the way so that I could sit down. When I got back to put milk in my tea, I spotted a packet of penguins in the fridge and grabbed one of them, just in case I was still hungry after my man-sized snack. I turned back to the table with my tea and almost jumped out of my skin when I saw my dad standing in the doorway, watching me.
“You hungry, boy?” He asked me in his gruff voice.
“Starving.”
“Don’t they feed you at these interviews you do? Looks like you ain’t been fed for a week.”
“Yeah, but it’s not proper food like this. I feel like I’m six again when I open mum’s cupboards. They’re always full of my favourites. You wanna cup of tea? Kettles just boiled”
“Yeah, go on then.” He replied while pulling out a chair and sitting himself down opposite where I’d set out my picnic on the table. He too rearranged the florist shop going on all over the house.
When I headed back to the table with his drink, he was shoving a half of one of my sandwiches into his mouth.
“What the fuck you got in there, crisps?” He asked through a mouthful of food.
“Yeah, cheese and onion.”
He smiled and shook his head. “You’re as bad as your sister. She always puts crisps in her sarnies.”
“Yeah, I know. It was me that introduced her to that culinary delight.” I admitted before taking a bite of my sandwich.
“How’s she doing?” I asked him.
He lets out a long breath and shakes his head again. “She’s not left her room all week, son. She scares me, I gotta tell ya. She’s needs to get over him and move the fuck on.” He was quiet for a few seconds, so I offered him another half of my sandwich, which he took.
“It’s not just her though, Dad. He hasn’t moved on either, and he obviously wants to let her know how sorry he is.” I gestured with my chin to all the flowers.
“It’s getting on for four fucking years. They were kids. What the fuck is wrong with the pair of them?” My dad questioned, ignoring the fact that I’d just mentioned how sorry Maca was.
“I don’t know, Dad. Apparently love can have all sorts of effects on people.”
“Well, it’s affected them two all right. I ought to bang their fucking heads together. Perhaps that would knock some sense into the pair of them, and then hopefully, we’ll all get some peace.”
I watched as he broke a chocolate biscuit in half and dunked it into his tea. “You not got a bird?” he asked.
“You’re joking, right? After seeing how fucked up things are with my sister and best mate? No thanks. I’ll keep on fucking then forgetting them for a few more years yet, if it’s all the same to you?”
“As long as you’re being careful, son.”
“Always Dad, always. My dick never gets wet, it’s always wearing an overcoat.” I reassured him.
“That’s good to hear ... good to hear.” He pushes up from the table and stands. “Clear up your mess, else your mother’ll go mad in the morning. How long you here for?”
“I’m on a flight out of Gatwick first thing.”
I stand and move around the table, where my dad pulls me in for a blokey type of cuddle.
“You need to sort things out with your sister, and you need to come home and show your face around here a bit more often, son. I know you’re a big star these days, but you’re still our little boy and we miss you.”
This was so unlike my dad. He never said shit like that and I fought to swallow down the big ol’ lump that I had in my throat.
“I know, Dad, but it’s been hard, ya know. What with work and Georgia not wanting to talk to me, and I feel bad—so fucking guilty for all the shit I’ve caused her and Maca— but I will sort it, I promise. It’s why I’ve come home tonight. She’s gonna have to talk to me before I leave. I’m not giving her a choice.”
He nods his head and pats me across the back with his big hand. “I understand, son, but just so you know, despite all the bullshit that’s gone on with your sister and that dickhead thing you and your bushy eye browed mate did in France, I’m proud of you, boy, very proud.”
I fought to control the wobble of my chin and didn’t even bother battling the two fat tears that rolled down my cheeks.
“You hear me? Me and your mother, we’re both very proud of what you’ve achieved.”
