The Home by Karen Osman

Author:Karen Osman [Osman, Karen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781786699190
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Published: 2018-09-03T16:00:00+00:00

30

Evelyn

Evelyn was pleased. She’d won two rounds of bingo and the barman had given her a drink on the house. That was a good night, in her book. Bingo was every Tuesday and Saturday, and Evelyn rarely missed it. She liked the feel of the bingo card in her hand, the rhyming slang of the bingo caller – Two fat ladies, eighty-eight! – and that tingling anticipation as she crossed out her numbers. Saturday tended to be busier than Tuesday, which meant fewer chances to win, but she still enjoyed it. If it was raining, she took the bus as it was a good thirty-minute walk, but if the weather was bearable, she walked and she normally picked up Brenda, who lived down the road.

Evelyn hadn’t told her about meeting Angela, or that she even had a child at all, for that matter. It was a strange feeling because, for all their jibes and sarcasm with each other, she was her closest friend, based on a lifetime of shared love of TV soaps and bingo, disdain for the middle classes and the unwavering belief that they were the victims of Margaret Thatcher’s Britain. They could spend hours talking about the news and gossip of the day, usually picked up from the daily papers.

They had been friends for years and they used to be neighbours. However, Brenda had recently managed to persuade the council to put her on a nicer estate in a ground-floor flat, due to her arthritis, although Brenda seemed to manage to get about just fine when she wanted to. Still, when her friend had shown Evelyn around her new place, Evelyn had to admit, with the small garden terrace, it had been nice sitting outside and having a cup of tea.

She’d wanted to say something then to Brenda about her birth daughter but what would she say? Evelyn wouldn’t have known where to start. Besides it didn’t look like it was going to go much further so what was the point in dredging it all up? No, it was better to get back to focusing on her own life.

She had gone to see Alan to put in yet another claim to the council for a better flat, but so far nothing had come of it. At this rate, she might have to develop arthritis as well, thought Evelyn. Wasn’t it just the other day that her legs were playing up? Yet, all thoughts of aches and pains were forgotten as Evelyn contentedly strolled home after dropping Brenda off, the envelope full of prize money safely in her handbag. It was dark and Evelyn was looking forward to getting home and reading the magazines Doreen had dropped off earlier. They had decided long ago to buy different ones each month and then swap them as a means of saving money.

Hornsey Lane was always noisy with traffic, but still, she felt rather than heard someone behind her: brisk footsteps that echoed her own. She quickened her pace, clutching her handbag harder under her arm.

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