Page 97 of Mercury Rising
Never mind fruit, Madeline would probably be able to cut the air with her knife, it was so tense.
Instead, she placed it down carefully and looked at him.
“I am truly sorry, Mercury,” she said. “I’m your mother and I love you, no matter what you think. I just panicked. I couldn’t bear to think that there was even the remotest possibility that you would fall in love with someone like your father.”
He stood across the kitchen from her.
“I know,” he said. “But there wasn’t even the slightest chance. Nick is a good man.”
“Have you heard from him?”
Mercury shook his head. He couldn’t bring himself to admit it out loud.
“Oh, darling.”
That was too much. He collapsed into her arms as the tears claimed him once more. She held on to him as tightly as she had throughout his childhood.
Eventually the storm passed and he stepped back, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.
“You should probably check your mail,” she said.
“What?”
“On the side, there. Don’t shout at me, it was M Morrison.”
The problem with having almost the same name as his mother was it gave her carte blanche to open all the mail that came in. As a teenager he’d subscribed to a gay fetish catalogue just to make her jump. It had worked.
A pile of junk mail was in front of him. Yet one envelope on top was written in a childish scrawl. He pulled it open to find a card inside.
Dear Mercury
We would like to invite you to Bodhi House on Saturday. We have a special announcement to make.
Lots of love all the kids (Hassan wrote this)
He smiled.
“What announcement?” Madeline asked.
“You could pretend you didn’t read it.”
“Come on, what announcement?”
“It can only be one thing. They’ve saved the house.”
She came over to him. “Thanks in no small part to you, my love. Shit, it’s today. What are you going to wear?”
He placed the card carefully down.
“I’m not going.”
“What?”
“I can’t.”
“You bloody well can.”
The meek act hadn’t lasted long.
