At last I got a reaction: a slight movement of the lips, accompanied by a determined refusal to laugh.
Still heading toward the tunnel that took us under the Thames and so
south, we came to a gas station just past the Burger King dome. I needed to call her grandparents.
It seemed that fuel was a sideline for this garage; it sold everything from disposable barbecues to lottery tickets and firewood. I undid my seat belt and tried to sound happy with life.
'Do you want anything from the shop?'
She shook her head as I got out to use the pay phone on the wall. I'd get her something anyway. A nice bundle of kindling, maybe.
After pulling various bits of paper from my jacket pocket I found Carmen and Jimmy's phone number on a yellow Post-It note, its sticky bit covered with blue fluff from my jacket. Kelly was still sitting in the car, belted up and staring daggers at me, both for what I had done and what I was about to do.
I knew that they'd be in at this time of day. They always had lunch at home; in nearly fifty years of marriage they'd never eaten out. Carmen didn't like other people preparing her husband's food, and Jimmy had learned better than to argue. I also knew that Carmen would answer the phone; it seemed to be a house rule.
'Hello, Carmen, it's Nick. How are you both?'
'Oh, we're fine,' she said, a little crisply.
'Quite tired, of course,' she added, to introduce a tone of martyrdom at the first available opportunity.
I should have ignored it and got straight down to business.
'Tired?' I asked, and as I said it I suddenly remembered something.
'Oh, yes, we stayed up until well after News at Ten. You said Kelly would be calling us.'
They hadn't heard from her since I'd taken her away for the trip, and I'd promised she would call. Mind you, Kelly hadn't exactly gone out of her way to remind me.
'I'm sorry, Carmen, she was so sleepy last night I didn't want to wake her.'
She didn't go for that one and I didn't blame her. She was right; at ten o'clock last night we were both filling our faces with Double Whoppers and fries.
'Oh, well, I suppose we can talk to her now. Has she had her lunch?'
What the question actually meant was: Have you remembered to feed our granddaughter? My thoughts went out to Jimmy, married to her for half a century, and her son, Kev. No wonder he'd headed west just as soon as he could.
I tried to laugh it off; for Kelly's sake I didn't want to rise to this emotional blackmail.
'Carmen, look, something has come up. I have to go away tonight.
Would you be able to have her and take her back to school on Monday? I was going to take her out for the five days to 'do' London, but she might as well go back now.'
There was excitement in the air, but she still had to carve off her pound of flesh.
'Of course. When will you be coming?'
'That's the problem, I haven't enough time to get her to you. Could you meet us at Gatwick?'
I knew they could. In fact, chances were that Jimmy was already being dispatched with an impatient motion of her hand to get his eleven-year-old mint-condition Rover out of the garage. The new door that had just been built gave direct access from the bungalow; he was very proud of that. I could picture him in there, wiping any stray finger marks off the paint work.
'Oh .. . can't you come here? It would mean we wouldn't get back until late.'
They lived only an hour from the airport, but anything to fuck me about.
'I can't, I'm afraid. I'm a bit strapped for time.'
'But where would we meet you?' There was an edge of panic in her voice at the thought of having to do something so challenging, mixed with annoyance that today's minute-by-minute routine was being disrupted. It must have been a riot growing up as Mr. and Mrs. Brown's little boy.
I'd sensed from the beginning that they or rather, she didn't really like me. Maybe she blamed me for their son's death; I certainly knew she resented the fact that I was the person he'd appointed as their granddaughter's guardian, even though she knew very well that they were too old to look after her themselves. But fuck it, they'd be dead soon. I would just feel sorry for Kelly when that day came; she needed other people to support her, even if they were as suffocating as the Browns.
When I got back to the car Kelly was pretending to be engrossed in another flyer, and without looking up she greeted me with a downright martyr's sigh. I'd have to sort her out soon, or she was going to turn out like her poisoned granny.
I kept it upbeat.
'They're really excited about you coming to stay today instead of next weekend, they can't wait to see you and hear all about your time on the ship with everyone.'
'OK. That means that I go back to school when everybody else does?'
'Yes, but you'll have a great time with Granny and Grandad first.'
She didn't share my optimism, but she was switched on enough to know that, even though they might be boring, they loved her dearly. It was the only reason I put up with them.
We got back onto the main drag and headed for the tunnel, me thinking about the RV details I'd been given. From Kelly there was nothing but brooding, oppressive silence and I didn't really know how to break it.
Eventually I said, 'I'll phone you at school one lunchtime next week,
OK?'
She perked up.
'You will? You'll phone me?'
'Sure I will. I don't know when it will be, but I will.'
She looked at me and raised an accusing eyebrow.
'Is that going to be another one of your promises?'
I smiled and nodded my head. I knew I was digging myself a very deep hole here, because every time I promised I seemed to fuck up; I didn't have a clue what I'd be doing, and I knew it was a short-term gain. I hated this part of my responsibilities, I hated letting her down the way I'd been let down.
I said, 'Not just a promise a double promise. We'll talk about all the things we'll do on our next holiday. I'll make it up to you, you'll see.'
She was studying my face, sizing me up. Having gained an inch, she was going to go for the full mile.
'Do I have to go to Granny and Grandad's?'
I could guess how she felt. She'd told me that when she was with them, she spent most of her time pulling her shirt back out of her jeans after Carmen had pulled them up to her armpits 'to keep out the cold.' I wouldn't want to be going there either, but I said, 'It'll be fine, don't worry about it. You were going to stay with them next weekend after school anyway. Another weekend won't hurt. I'll have a little chat and see if they'll take you to the aquarium to see those sharks we were talking about.'
She gave me a look to let me know the aquarium trip wouldn't happen.
I knew she was right and ploughed on.
'One thing's for sure, I don't want them to take you to the Bloody Tower; that's our special thing, OK?'
There was a slow acknowledgment, even though she probably knew there was more chance other grandmother metamorphosing into Zoe Ball overnight. I indicated to get off the M23 on the last stretch toward the airport.
Signs welcomed us to the North Terminal and I headed up to the shortterm parking. I kept up my goodness-me-I'm-so-excited voice.
'Right, let's go and see if Granny and Grandad are here yet, shall we? Tell you what, if they aren't, we'll go and have something to eat. Hungry yet?'
That should keep Granny happy.
She didn't say it, but the look she gave me as she got out of the car said, Cut the crap, dickhead, I've had it up to here. She'd been hung out with the washing; she knew it, and she wanted me to know that she knew it. I got hold of her hand and bag, because there was traffic all over the place, and followed the signs to the North Terminal.
I'd arranged to meet them in the Costa Coffee shop. It would be easy enough to find; even they could do it.
