Hell's Music by Willegen Therese von

Author:Willegen, Therese von [Willegen, Therese von]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Lyrical Press, Inc.
Published: 2011-08-30T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

Merry Miss-mess

Christmas Day saw Emily and Rae spending time with their mother, which was possibly more painful than having to deal with being separated from Simon, as well as his fans’ blatant fascination.

Uncle Reinhardt had collected them and driven them through to his home in Panorama on the northern outskirts of the city. Both Rae and Emily kept quiet during the trip out to Panorama. Reinhardt’s taste of music–Bok van Blerk and the likes of Steve Hofmeyer–horrid Afrikaans mainstream, had Emily and Rae sharing mingled looks of horror.

Neither had wanted to attend the family lunch, but had not seen any polite way in which they could refuse. They had spoken quietly about it beforehand, knowing what lay ahead: a third degree for the pair, Rae for having left home and Emily because of her connection to a man who was considered a one step above the Devil as far as their family was concerned.

“I hate Panorama,” Rae muttered as she helped Emily with the covered salad dish they’d had to bring along.

“Just bite your tongue and let’s see if we can get out of here without incurring too much damage,” Emily replied.

She’d been able to persuade her sister to dress in something other than black, but that had taken a massive amount of bribery, involving asking Simon for golden circle tickets for an upcoming metal fest, which she hadn’t wanted to do. Now her sister looked far more presentable, though her roots were showing and she refused to do anything about her chipped black nail polish. Emily had wanted to tell Rae she wasn’t a teenager anymore but kept her mouth shut, in no mood to add to the strain they’d no doubt experience.

As a child, Emily had hated visiting the family this far north. There was something claustrophobic about how near the houses stood to each other, as well as the sand that somehow managed to seep between the well-manicured lawns to fly up with the slightest breeze. If the wind was bad anywhere in Cape Town during summer, it was always ten times worse out here away from the mountain. And the people... Emily tried not to grimace at their obvious lack of taste. Every second or third house had its ubiquitous Mexican, donkey or palm tree wall plaque–an affectation she still couldn’t figure out why was endemic to many of the newer middle class neighborhoods. Only here in Panorama, some of these hideous kitsch items were super-sized. She supposed it went with the faux-Spanish architecture that had been popular during the late seventies.

Aunt Bee was her mother’s older sister and now presided over the extended Keating family as the de facto matriarch since their maternal grandparents had passed on. The fact that Emily and Rae stubbornly clung to the Clark surname after their mother had reverted to her maiden name was yet another point against them.

The family had gathered at the back of the house, an assortment of relatives she hadn’t seen since the last big lunch, and had absolutely no desire to spend more time with than absolutely necessary.

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