Volta by Nikki Dudley

Author:Nikki Dudley
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781912430567
Publisher: Aurora Metro Books
Published: 2021-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 28

BRIONY

Briony had the laptop balancing on her knees when her mum burst into the room. ‘What is it?’ She shut the lid. She never usually burst into rooms. Her mum was far too polite to be so abrupt. Something had to be burning or war had just broken out.

‘Did you do this?’ Her mum held up shreds of paper. When she dropped them onto the end of the bed, Briony recognised photos. Family photos. They had been in shoeboxes under her mum’s bed.

‘Why would I do that?’ Briony asked, pushing the laptop aside and shuffling closer. She picked up some fragments and let them flutter back down onto the bedspread. She could see parts of faces, floating arms and legs, flashes of different clothing, smiles and tops of heads.

Her mum cocked her head at her, as though she were seeing her in the street and didn’t quite recognise her. ‘Bri, there’s only us two here… How could it be…?’ Her mum paused, gripping the end of the bed with shaky hands, ‘Anyone else?’ she breathed out, remembering she didn’t like confrontation.

‘Maybe you did it?’ Briony suggested.

Briony saw her mum’s face redden slightly, an eruption threatening to spew out and burn them once and for all. Briony had been waiting so many years for it, almost prayed she’d finally let it out. Instead, her mum bowed her head and took a deep breath. ‘Bri, these were pictures of all of us… Jason. How could you?’

Briony sprang towards her mum, making her jump back. Her mum slammed into the edge of the open door behind her and nearly crumpled. She massaged her back with a wince and attempted to stay upright.

‘You blame me for everything, don’t you?’ Briony hissed.

There was a long moment of silence. Maybe her mum was finally going to say something truthful or maybe she was wondering if she was quicker. Her eyes kept darting towards the doorway behind like her eyes were arms of a clock constantly ticking, counting down… to what?

‘I don’t blame you, honey. I don’t know where this venom comes from,’ her mum said eventually, her mouth barely moving. It seemed that the less air she disturbed, the less angry it would make Briony.

Briony sighed. ‘Venom,’ she mumbled, shaking her head.

‘What?’ Her mum asked, almost sounding innocent.

‘The venom has been in this family ever since that day. Maybe before that… Let’s just stop trying to pretend that’s not the case.’ She sat back onto the bed and grabbed fragments of the photographs. She squashed them in her fists. They felt razor-sharp in places but didn’t cut her. Even though the memories were like rusty old razors across her skin, the actual photographs were harmless.

‘Shall I call SJ?’ Her mum was staring at Briony’s hands, her eyebrows getting closer and closer together.

‘Why? What will he do?’ Briony snapped.

‘Um, I don’t know. Talk to you?’ Her mum’s voice was high and desperate as if she had been screaming into a pillow for hours. Maybe that was how she dealt with things.

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