The Blame Game by Sharon Hegarty

Author:Sharon Hegarty [Hegarty, Sharon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-03-23T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

It was strange how something once so enjoyable had become, in such a short space of time, something that she was almost loath to do. Going shopping; such a simple, mundane everyday task, that was now a minefield of potential hazards that Julia had to navigate her way fearfully across.

She had wanted to order an online shop, to take the stress of going into town away, it would have been a simple solution, but Owen would not hear of such a thing. Her desire to do so made her little better than her son in his opinion.

‘We will carry on, just as we have always done. We will not god damn hide.’ The mere suggestion of her getting the local supermarket to deliver had been met with an adamant, angry outburst followed later by the now familiar, oppressive silence which had settled upon their house. ‘You shop every week, at the same time, at the same place, and you will continue to do so. Jesus, Julia, you need to be out there, you need to be seen. You and Tom are both just as weak as each other.’

She had tried to speak up for herself, using everything other than the truth as her argument; it was to save time, she was too busy to go there herself this week……everything other than the fact that the thought of going, of seeing all of the people that she knew that she would inevitably bump into, actually made her feel physically sick.

Of course she had eventually gone, just as her husband had demanded. She had powdered her face and applied her pearl lipstick, curled her hair and put on her best casual outfit. She had asked Sophie if she would go with her, only to receive an adamant shake of the head as her daughter had retreated back into the sanctuary of her bedroom, away from her. Now she was here, reminding herself to breath as she walked, her head held a little too high to be considered natural, across the supermarket car park.

She had intentionally gone earlier than usual, her one show of defiance to Owen’s instructions. She was a woman of habit, normally she saved the weekly Saturday shop to mid-afternoon, when she had the opportunity to mingle with the most people; when a household chore was transformed into just another part of her husband’s election campaign and she could talk to the locals, show them that her family was absolutely just like them; a reliable, approachable part of the community. Today she had arrived mid-morning as she had no desire to feel like a complete and utter fraud.

It was thankfully quieter than usual. Julia inhaled as she pushed her trolley through the automatic doors, her stomach already churning even though she had not as yet seen anyone that she recognised. She felt as though she had just stepped onto a stage; a glaring, imagined spotlight landing directly on her, clearly highlighting her for all to see.

She managed to make it all the way to the bakery aisle before she was spotted.

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