EPISODE 16: In trouble with the parents
DAD, Please listen.” My father does not listen. My mother has fallen and broken an ankle. My father is angry with the doctors. He is angry with my mother. And he is angry with me. He is expressing his boundless anger with great clarity. I hold the telephone away from my ear.
Noel and Billy storm down the stairs, superhero capes flying behind them. “Dad, where’s mum? We want something to eat.” I place my hand over the receiver. “Noel, please. I’m trying to talk to granddad,” I plead. “Ask Maria for something.”
Noel and Billy crash through the kitchen door. I look down at the telephone receiver. It seems that I am neither listening, nor speaking to my father. I raise the receiver to my ear. “But why the hell can’t you come at the weekend? David? Well?” my father continues. “I have to go to New York.” “New York? Where are your priorities David? Eh? Your mother is lying here immobile and…”
I let the receiver drift from my ear once more. Through the kitchen door I see Maria buttering slices of bread. To our great relief, she has returned from Spain. When she left we feared that the funeral, of an unspecified member of her family, was cover for a more permanent departure. Emma sits, backlit, at the kitchen table peeling vegetables, whilst beyond her, Noel and Billy hurtle about the garden.
“Dad, please send mum my love. And try not to get so worked about it all. I’ll come and see you once I’m back from New York. I’ll bring Noel and Emma if she’s up to it. Dad, I… It’s good to talk to you.” My father is silent. “Dad?” “Yes, ok son. Thanks for talking. And listening.” The phone goes dead. See next Tuesday’s Lifestyle sectionfor Episode 17. For previous City Dad columns, see www.cityam.com