The Hungry Ghosts by Anne Berry

Author:Anne Berry [Berry, Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Myrtle—1974

I cannot believe it. Ralph has insisted that Alice accompany us to the Rotary Club dinner tonight. The dinner is being held at the Country Club, located between Aberdeen and Deep Water Bay. Ralph is the guest of honour and will be making a speech. The event will be packed with important people.Alice will be a liability. I tell Ralph as much, but he will not listen to reason.

‘I want her there,’ is his reply to me.‘I want her to hear my speech. I want her to tell me what she thinks.’

I do not like to shatter Ralph’s illusions about Alice entirely. I do not want to describe her moronic attitude, prevalent for over a year now, as well he knows. Nor do I wish to remind my husband that our daughter has dropped out of school, that she spends her days loafing about the house, looking like a tramp.We both have eyes to see and ears to hear. Alice is incapable of uttering a single intelligent word at present. These undeniable facts all evidence the likelihood that our daughter will think very little of her father’s speech, if anything at all. But Ralph seems to be blinkered when it comes to Alice. And as I have just seen her emerge from the bathroom, in some ill-fitting garment, so loose she might as well have pulled on a bin bag, it looks as if it’s all settled.

‘Ralph, I think we should be going,’ I say, as my husband paces in the corridor outside Alice’s door like a fawning spaniel.

‘I’m just waiting for Alice,’ he replies, as if she is the guest of honour tonight!

So, because I cannot trust myself a moment longer not to say something I will regret, I dash into the bedroom to give my appearance a final check. The dress, floor-length, royal-blue chiffon with a beaded bodice, my most recent acquisition from the Swan Emporium in Central, looks fabulous. I am wearing my lapis lazuli and gold necklace with matching earrings. My hair, though swept up into its usual bun, is worn in a softer style, with tendrils permitted to escape and frame my face.My make-up is perhaps a touch stronger than I normally like it, with silver-blue eyeshadow, plenty of mascara and rouge, and poppy-red lipstick. But in the evenings a little extra goes a long way. As I think this, I have no idea just how far it will be expected to go tonight. I give a dab of perfume to my temples, take a tissue from the box on my dressing table and blot my lipstick lightly with it. I am looking at the imprint of my red mouth on the pale-pink tissue, when I hear Ralph summon me. I hurry out of our bedroom, briefing Ah Dang on our late return as I pass her standing in the dining-room doorway. I note with some displeasure that her white tunic looks a little creased, and make a mental note to speak to her about it later.

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