Otherhood by William Sutcliffe

Author:William Sutcliffe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2019-09-04T16:00:00+00:00

you don’t know anything about anything

‘Great news!’ exclaimed Gillian. ‘I’ve found a Jew!’

It was not yet nine in the morning. Gillian was still in her dressing-gown. Daniel had not even drunk his morning coffee.

‘Er . . .’ This was too much to take in. He didn’t know what to say; he didn’t know where to look.

‘I’ve been making some calls, and the last piece of the jigsaw just fell into place.’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I don’t think I want to.’

‘What kind of a way is that to talk to your mother?’

‘It’s the way I always talk to you.’

‘And that makes it better?’

‘Just have some breakfast, Mum. The cereal’s in there.’

‘I can’t. I’m too excited.’

‘Don’t, then.’

‘Don’t you want to know why I’m excited?’

‘No.’

‘You don’t want to know why?’

‘No.’

‘How can you not want to know why?’

‘Easily.’

‘That’s very rude.’

‘It’s not rude, I’m just telling you I don’t want to know. You want me to lie?’

‘There’s a difference between common courtesy and lying.’

‘Well I must be badly brought up, then.’

‘Always my fault. Everything’s always my fault.’

‘Toast. Why don’t you have toast? There’s juice in the fridge.’

‘It’s a mother’s lot, isn’t it? We’re the butt of everything.’

‘Just sit down, Mum. I’ll do the toast.’

‘Here I am, I’ve travelled hundreds of miles to see you –’

‘Honey? Jam?’

‘Marmite. Thinly spread. Margarine, not butter. Crossing the whole country from top to bottom, just to see you, not begrudging it for a moment, just pleased to be able to finally see my son who chose to run off to this God-forsaken iceberg –’

‘Tea or coffee?’

‘Tea. Earl Grey. Lemon, not milk. And I walk into the room –’

‘I still don’t have any lemons.’

‘Ha!’

‘What do you mean, "Ha!"?’

‘I’ll just have milk.’

‘Why are you saying it like that?’

‘Like what?’

‘As if it’s some huge sacrifice. I’m the one making the breakfast.’

‘It is a sacrifice. I don’t like it with milk. And what I’m saying is, I walk into the room, excited, not because I’ve done something for me, oh no, this is nothing to do with me; I’m not telling you about something I’ve done or bought, I’m not excited for me, I’m excited for you.’

‘Yoghurt?’

‘WILL YOU LET ME FINISH! It’s for you. That’s what I’m saying. Something I’ve done for you. A project which has taken no little effort, and I come in here to tell you what it is and you won’t even listen to me.’

‘Yoghurt?’

‘Are you listening?’

’Strawberry, raspberry or pear?’

‘I WON’T BE IGNORED. I WILL NOT BE IGNORED. I’ll have raspberry.’

‘I don’t want to hear. You’ve found a Jewish girl. You want me to date her. I’m not interested. Full stop.’

‘How can you be so arrogant?’

‘I’m wrong then. You’re excited because you like my flat? Because you’ve read a good book? Because Arsenal won yesterday?’

‘Will you stop this!’

‘Stop what?’

‘Putting words into my mouth.’

‘I haven’t put any words into your mouth.’

‘I just want you to hear me out. For two minutes. Please. Sit down. You remember the Swimers, don’t you? Joan and Ivan?’

‘No.’

‘On the corner. They had a shih-tzu that bit you when you were six.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.