Mona in Three Acts by Griet Op de Beeck

Author:Griet Op de Beeck [Beeck, Griet Op de]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781542005449
Published: 2019-11-11T16:00:00+00:00

15

Even though the street stinks of urine-soaked doorways, and there’s a lot of noise outside day and night, their house is really nice. It’s a narrow little place where every wall is crooked, with wooden beams on the ceiling, an old tiled floor, and at the back a little courtyard, shaded by the neighbor’s tree. And what they’ve made of it, all those odds and ends they’ve effortlessly brought together to produce an interior with character. I don’t come often, but I enjoy being here when I do.

“The playpen or the crib?” Alexander asks.

“The playpen. I can do less damage to that, I suspect.”

“It’s a calculated risk,” my brother says, passing me the box with a grin. “If you break it, you’ll have to buy us another, one we don’t have to assemble ourselves.”

“You know how clumsy I am, don’t you? I only promised I’d try.”

“Well, you’re more capable than you think.” Charlie laughs. She’s radiant, even though her belly has gradually turned into a basketball. She clutches it as she sits down, as if the child might fall otherwise.

“Are they still bringing up my great failing as a son?”

“Oh no, it’s not that bad,” I lie. It’s better to keep to yourself admissions that don’t help the other person. “Is it bothering you?”

“Yes,” Charlie replies, kissing his neck. “I try to make it clear to him that he has a right to his own life. He should set boundaries, he won’t harm anyone by doing that, but I don’t think he understands.” Her words sound as caring as they are assertive.

“They’re still our parents, though, eh?” I say.

“In my world,” says Charlie, “that’s a title you have to earn.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do I really have to explain it?”

Yes, I think, but I don’t dare say it. Charlie’s older than us, and sometimes it feels as though she’s started a whole new second life and has already learned everything from her first one.

She seems to pick up on my uncertainty. “Tell me, then. What do you think when you look back on your childhood?”

“Well, it wasn’t always great, but Alexander and I came through it reasonably OK, didn’t we?” I laugh. “I do worry about Anne-Sophie, but well, she’s at a difficult age, she—”

“Don’t start talking about Anne-Sophie. What did you struggle with?”

“Oh, well, I got through everything, so there’s no point sitting in the corner crying about what—”

“What was difficult for you? Dare to say it for once, Mona. You can, you know, it’s just us.” Charlie rubs her belly and looks at me with gentle eyes.

“Our real mother, well, she could be very strict. She wasn’t your typical maternal figure, let’s say.” I glance at Alexander. He was younger when she died, and he was also her favorite. He’s staring at the instruction booklet. “And well, then she died and then we got Marie.” Charlie says nothing and looks at me, encouraging me to go on. “Marie’s a little unusual, of course, you have to watch your step

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