Jez! Scarlet! Get changed.”
We’re hardly through the door before Renée is taking our bags and bundling us upstairs. “Come on, you two. I said we’d get to Nan’s for five.”
Jez pulls a face. “Nan’s?”
Renée nods. “Had you forgotten? It’s her birthday.”
Jez groans. “I’m meeting Fish and Reggie later. Do I have to go?”
She glares at him. “Avril’s here too. She’s come back for the weekend.”
Renée sees me hesitate. “Don’t worry, Scarlet. That’s still your room. Avril’s staying with Nan.”
* * *
I walk across the park with Jez and his parents to his nan’s house. It’s busy in the park. Kids are playing on the climbing frames and swings. People are walking their dogs. The grass is a vivid green and the trees are coming into bud. We could be any other family; mum, dad, brother, and sister.
No one notices us.
We blend in.
Normal.
I feel guilty liking it like this, because it feels like I’m pushing Mum and Red further away. I feel like I’ve cheated on them. I’m deserting them. I wonder where Red is right now. I imagine him sitting curled up, his arms tight around his head. Perhaps he knows. Perhaps he feels me spreading my wings, getting ready to lift up into the air and fly somewhere where he can’t follow.
* * *
I’m pulled into a hug by Jez’s nan. She’s wider than she is tall, and I’m almost suffocated.
“And here’s my big boy,” she says, wrapping her arms around Jez. She shakes her head. “So tall and skinny.” She squeezes his arm. “You need more meat on you.”
I follow them into the house and meet Avril, who’s stirring pans in the kitchen. The smell of warm spices and coconut fills the air. Avril’s tall and slim. Her hair falls in hundreds of braids around her shoulders. Theo puts his arms around his daughter, giving her a huge hug. I can’t help staring. I wish I had a dad who’d wrap his arms around me and keep me safe. Avril sees me watching, so I turn away.
“We’re eating traditional tonight,” says Nan. “Rice and peas, fried plantain, and coconut. I’m cooking my mother’s famous tamarind chicken.”
Jez places the presents and cards on the table. “I can’t stay too long, Nan,” he says, looking hard at his mum. “I’m meeting friends later for a burger.”
Nan shakes her head and tuts. “I don’t know how you eat that rubbish. It’s the devil’s food.”
Avril gets me to help her with the coconut. I scrape the hard white coconut meat from inside its shell into a bowl.
Nan picks up the shell and turns it over in her hand. “You’d think we’d be able to get fresh coconut in the supermarkets nowadays, not like this old thing,” she tuts.
“What wrong with it?” I say.
“What’s wrong with it?” Nan pulls out a chair and sits down next to me. “I’ll tell you what’s wrong with it.”
I smile, because I have the feeling I’m in for a story.
Nan picks at the tough brown fibers on the hard shell. “When I grew up we had fresh coconut every day. My brother would climb up a tree outside our house and knock them down. They were young green coconuts, not these hard old brown things. Inside was the sweetest coconut milk. But the best bit,” she says, nodding her head, “was the coconut jelly. Not this hard white stuff, but sweet soft coconut. We’d scrape it from the inside of the shell with our fingers. Mmm! Mmm! I can taste it now.”
Jez reaches across to pinch a piece of coconut.
His nan leans forward. “Did I tell you about the time my father got hit on the head by a coconut?”
Jez rolls his eyes. “Yes, Nan. Just a few times.”
“I haven’t heard it,” I say.
Nan leans back, folds her hands on her stomach, and smiles. “Now, there’s a story,” she says. “Maybe I’ll save it for after supper.”
While Renée and Nan fuss in the kitchen preparing supper, Avril offers to braid my hair. I sit on the floor in front of her and let her pull her fingers and a wide comb through my hair.
“So, is my little brother behaving himself?” she says.
I smile. “Jez is okay.”
“And school? Is that okay? Does Miss P still straighten everyone’s tie?”
“She’s pretty strict,” I say.
“Doesn’t sound like it’s changed much since I left,” says Avril.
“I’m sorry I’ve got your room,” I say. “You can have it back.”
“No worries,” says Avril. “I like staying with Nan. She loves the company since Poppa died. Besides, it’s a lot quieter without Jez about and I can get some studying done. I don’t know how you put up with him.”
Jez looks across at her. “Yeah? Well maybe I prefer Scarlet as a sister! She doesn’t nag me or spend hours in the bathroom.”
Avril lobs the comb at him. “Just let me know if he causes you any trouble, Scarlet, and I’ll come and sort him out.”