The following day Adele went to visit her grandma. It was almost two weeks since her last visit, but Adele had been too busy with her studies to visit sooner. During that time, they hadn’t seen anything of her grandma and Adele’s mother hadn’t made the effort to visit her either, claiming she didn’t feel well enough. So, Adele felt it was up to her to make sure her grandma was all right. She’d see if there was anything Grandma Joyce needed while she was there.
‘Hiya, love,’ Joyce greeted when she answered the door but her greeting was lacklustre.
‘Hiya, Grandma.’
‘It’s nice to see you,’ said Grandma Joyce, shuffling across the room and wincing as she bent to get into her armchair.
Her grandma’s words sounded more like an accusation to Adele and she felt guilty for taking so long to visit.
‘Are you OK?’ asked Adele. ‘Is your tummy still bad?’
‘I’m not too bad. It’s just taking a bit of shifting, that’s all… Anyway, I’m at the doctor’s on Monday so you can stop worrying. He’ll sort me out.’
Adele noticed that Grandma Joyce hadn’t offered her a drink, which was unusual for her, and her unease grew. ‘Do you want me to make the drinks, Grandma?’ she asked.
‘Aye, go on. There’s a love,’ her grandma replied.
When Adele was in the kitchen she noticed that not only were there dirty pots in the sink but the cupboards were almost empty too. She searched for milk and found that there was none apart from a half-empty bottle, which had gone off.
‘Grandma, there’s no milk,’ she shouted through to the lounge. ‘Do you want me to nip out for some?’
When her grandma didn’t reply straightaway, Adele went through to the living room. She was disturbed to find that her grandma’s head was lolling and her eyes were shut.
‘Grandma!’ Adele called. ‘Are you all right?’
Joyce jolted awake. ‘Yeah, course I am. What’s wrong?’
Adele felt relief flood through her and remained speechless for a few moments.
‘What is it?’ Joyce asked again.
‘There’s no milk,’ said Adele, once she had recovered from her shock.
Joyce sighed heavily, ‘Pass me my purse. Can you get some from the corner shop, love?’
Adele took the money from her grandma and rushed out to the shop, coming back with the milk as well as a few other items. Then she made the tea and put a few biscuits on a plate. While she polished off three biscuits, Joyce nibbled at one.
‘Do us a favour, love, and pass me those paracetamols off the mantelpiece,’ said Joyce.
When she struggled to take the lid off the bottle of tablets, Adele did it for her and slipped two into Joyce’s hand. Her grandma swallowed them down with her cup of tea.
‘Are you sure you’re all right, Grandma?’ asked Adele.
Joyce tutted, ‘Do I have to keep telling you? I’ve just got a few twinges in my tummy, that’s all. Now stop worrying about me; I want to find out what’s been going on at home. How’s your mam? And what about Peter? Is he still up to mischief?’
Adele quickly told her about Tommy losing his job, taking care to omit details of her father’s drunken state the previous evening. But she underestimated Joyce’s intuition.
‘I bet he’s upset someone, hasn’t he?’
‘Not really, no,’ said Adele, feeling herself blush as she recalled how her father had cursed Don.
‘What did he say? Go on, tell me!’
‘He did go a bit mad, and cursed a lot,’ Adele admitted.
‘I knew it. The bloody big lummox! He’ll have upset someone, mark my words.’ Joyce was becoming irate now, channelling her remaining vestiges of energy as she worked herself up.
‘Maybe,’ whispered Adele, her eyes downcast.
‘Well, never mind,’ said Joyce, on noticing the effect her words were having on Adele. ‘We’ll all just have to manage as best we can.’
Joyce rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything further. She stayed quiet for a few moments while she recovered herself.
Eventually she spoke again, calmer this time. ‘What about you, Adele? How are your studies going?’
‘Not bad. I got really good marks in my last exams.’
‘Good,’ said Joyce. ‘You carry on working hard and make a better life for yourself.’ Then her head lolled once more and she nodded off to sleep.
Adele cleared the dishes, gave the place a tidy then slipped quietly away.
Before she headed for home, she called at the home of Joyce’s neighbour, Mabel Boyson, to see if she could find out anything further about her grandma’s state of health. Mabel knew Joyce had had a bad stomach but couldn’t offer any more information. She was surprised when Adele told her how ill her grandma seemed, and promised to call in and see if she wanted anything.
‘Thanks,’ said Adele. ‘I’ll call round again as soon as I get a chance.’
Despite her good intentions, Adele didn’t have many opportunities to visit her grandma over the next few weeks. She was far too busy and had lots of other things on her mind; when she wasn’t studying she was cleaning the house, or helping to pacify her volatile father. However, when she did visit, her grandma didn’t seem much different. She was still ill and told Adele that the doctor had referred her to the hospital to see a consultant.
Despite her grandma’s reassuring manner, Adele couldn’t help but worry. She wasn’t used to seeing her so ill.
So she told her mother how ill her grandma had seemed and Shirley promised to go round. Adele checked to make sure she had done so and was relieved to find out she had made the effort. She couldn’t tell her very much though, just that her grandma was still waiting to see the consultant. When her mother didn’t seem overly concerned, Adele brushed her worries aside. Perhaps she had been overreacting after all.
*
Tommy wasn’t enjoying being out of work. He spent much of the daytime hanging around the house, watching TV and ordering everyone about. When the opportunity arose, he headed for the pub but, now that he was on the dole, he couldn’t afford to go as often. He sometimes found a way round this though by borrowing from family and friends.
There were constant rows between him and Shirley over money. He would demand extra money from the housekeeping to go to the pub then complain when Shirley provided cheap, badly cooked meals on her limited budget.
Adele had noticed a difference in her mother too. No longer able to go to the bingo, due to a shortage of money, Shirley was becoming bored and frustrated. This meant she was often retaliating when Tommy criticised her. However, a rise in his tone or an aggressive stance could still silence her, as could the sight of Tommy tumbling home worse for wear after a session down the pub.
When Adele came downstairs that lunchtime she could hear the drone of the television set. She peeped inside the living room and spotted her father sipping from a can of lager while his attention was fixed on the television screen. She walked through to the kitchen where Shirley was slouched at the kitchen table with a cup of tea in front of her. She was fidgeting nervously with an empty tablet bottle.
‘Oh, Adele love, I’m glad you’re here. I was just gonna shout up to you,’ she said.
Adele could feel the onset of disappointment, knowing that she was about to be roped into yet another job, which would ruin her plans for the rest of the day.
‘What d’you want?’ she replied, her tone sharp.
‘Aah, don’t be like that, love. You wouldn’t go and pick up my prescription for me, would you? Please? I’ve run out of my pills and I need them.’
‘I’m a bit busy, Mam. Haven’t you got time to go?’
‘Please, love. I’m not so good,’ she said, grabbing hold of Adele’s hand. ‘I can’t be going out today. I get all panicky when I’ve not had my tablets.’
Adele sighed deeply. ‘Go on then, give me the prescription.’
Shirley rose swiftly from her chair and went over to the kitchen cabinet where she found her prescription and handed it to Adele. ‘Thanks, love. I really appreciate it,’ she said, grabbing hold of Adele’s hand.
Adele noticed the unshed tears in her mother’s eyes and she quickly grabbed the prescription form and backed away, irritated. She was still too young to have much understanding of her mother’s mental illness. Instead, she saw her as weak and pathetic.
She wasn’t in the mood for yet another emotional scene so, before her mother could say anything more, Adele dashed from the house and made her way to the chemists. She might not have voiced her feelings to her mother but they didn’t go away. Suppressed deep inside her were confusion, anger and a festering resentment at the life she was forced to live.