Ordinary Matter by Laura Elvery

Author:Laura Elvery
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Queensland Press
Published: 2020-08-18T02:21:28+00:00

Better Nature

2009 | Ada E. Yonath | Chemistry

Prize motivation: ‘for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome’

we went to the good Japanese restaurant in Camden Town. The waiter took my coat with such care and gentleness that I wondered if he knew I was pregnant. Clearly absurd since I was barely showing – still, gentleness had a way of making me cry. Of exhausting me. The restaurant looked less impressive than the last time I’d been there, six months earlier with my colleagues from the lab, celebrating the occasion of Olga’s boyfriend getting his indefinite leave to remain approved. My mother wouldn’t like the closeness of the tables, would be paranoid about people eavesdropping. The violet downlights and dull black faux-leather banquettes now gave me the vibe of an airport bar. Which all reminded me: my mother and father had flown from Queensland to London to take me home.

I stopped inside the front door. ‘Is this going to be okay?’ I asked.

Mum and Dad sort of ran into my back – an accidental slapstick routine. Dad unwound his scarf and got tangled in it. The handsome, youthful waiter holding our menus glanced away. He was being a good sport.

‘It’s perfect,’ I answered myself. I mouthed Oh, god then Thank you at the poor man.

We sat, and I ordered quickly for everyone. I couldn’t bear to watch while my parents made the waiter answer their questions about daikon and how the hotpots worked. I added that we’d need a couple of forks. Immediately, I felt uncharitable. A total bitch. I tipped over to my mother next to me on the banquette and kissed her on the cheek.

‘The snow!’ Mum said, beaming. ‘We looked out of the hotel window at about four o’clock and saw this beautiful whooshing outside. Is it normal for March?’

‘I don’t think so,’ I said.

‘Ah, we must be lucky,’ Dad said.

I had long ago realised that Dad – who grew up in a nothing town with ordinary routines and quiet work and not much to look forward to – had experienced an entire life that must have felt triumphant, and very joyful. If I became a school teacher after all this had blown over, which was most likely, I might lead a quiet life too. Julian would paint landscapes in some country town, standing on a ridge with a palette and a jar of water. But even I could see – three seconds after having it – this bucolic fantasy for what it was, and I stifled a chuckle.

‘Nothing,’ I said, when they stared. ‘Sorry. Just thinking.’

I fiddled with the lacquered chopsticks, sending them back and forth through my fingers. When the food arrived, I dug ravenously into a bowl of udon.

‘Absolutely delicious, Maddy,’ Dad said. ‘Thank you.’

‘Oh. Yes.’ I said. ‘This is my shout.’

Mum scoffed. ‘Absolutely not.’

‘I insist. After all I’ve put you through.’

Dad cleared his throat and speared a piece of tempura sweet potato with his fork. ‘What do you think ... how will you tell Joanna? Have you spoken to her lately?’

I knew what he was doing.

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