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Kategori: Novell

The óther daughter


The other daughter


By



Anna lamb Doyle



Chapter One



“You have to go and that is that.” Kitty’s dad Conor said.
“But I have so much on..” Kitty said, in a sulking tone, not letting the subject go even though she knew she had lost the battle of wills, which was unusual. She was an only child and used to having her own way more often than not.
“Granny hasn’t got long left. We have to go and see her as often as we can now, it is our last chance..”
“But she doesn’t know me! She never ever recognised me how many times you ever told her my name. She doesn’t want to see me, all she ever wants to talk about is 1963 and the terrible price of eggs!”
“You know what Altzemers is like. She is still your Grandmother even though she has always been ill for as long as you have lived. She wasn’t always like this..” Conor sighed. “She used to be so witty and smart, she could really hold her own in any conversation.. It is a tragedy that a mind so sharp could be eaten away by an illness..”
Kitty nodded. It was sad, of course it was. She felt so sorry for her dad. He was an only child too and his dad had died many years before Kitty was born.
“Ok..” she said. It was inevitable. The whole McHugh family had gone from visiting the nursing home, where old Mrs Mary McHugh had lived for many years now, once a month to several times a week. The doctors had been adamant.
She didn’t have long left.

Kitty had brought a book and her dad bought her a magazine in the petrol station next to the nursing home. At least she had come well prepared. Her dad would feel terrible guilty if he didn’t stay for hours and hour in the company of someone who doesn’t know you are there are very long.
Kitty’s mam Brenda had brought a magazine too, even though she wouldn’t be reading quite as openly as Kitty would.
The nursing home was nice. It was an old stone building with lovely gardens around. It was summer and there seemed to be an abundance of flowers growing everywhere, trailing down from hanging basket and from windowsills. Inside there were plenty of flowers too and the furniture was soft and homely, with happy, relaxing pictures on all the softly pastel walls.
Not like a hospital at all.
Not that it was a hospital. They only had the one doctor and he ever came once a week or so and if someone got ill there were sent to the hospital.
No the nursing home was a place where old people who were not sick enough to be in a hospital waited to die.
And now it was Kitty’s grandmother Mary’s time.
She lay in a bed in a nice, bright room that she shared with a Mrs Thornton. There had been another woman, Mrs O’Sullivan, in Mrs Thornton's bed until last year. Mrs O’Sullivan had never said a word, just stared into the ceiling and had often scared Kitty when she was smaller. Mrs Thornton was better. She was always dressed and up and about. You could talk to Mrs Thornton; she was just a little bit senile.
Kitty’s Grandmother Mary was also senile, the doctors thought, as well as having Altzemers. She had been incontinent for many years and had nappies on. Not that you could see them. Grandma Mary sat mostly in her bed now, half asleep. Years ago she had been upset most of the time. It had not been nice to see her at all and Kitty had seldom come with her father, just for the Christmas and her birthday. Grandma Mary would walk around, wanting to leave and blaming every one for everything, not knowing where she was and demanding to be taken home, asking for her dead husband.
She rarely spoke now. When she did it was to Kitty’s father Conor, she’d think that he was a child again, scolding him for being late for school or not doing his homework. It could be quite funny sometimes. Kitty’s mother hated being in the nursing home and usually never came, but her mother-in-law was dying o they were all making an effort.
“We are here mam!” Kitty’s dad said in a cheery voice as he bent over his mother and kissed her on the cheek.
She looked at him with unseeing eyes.
“We brought you some more flowers!” Kitty’s mother said and started to rearrange all the flowers on the little table and on the windowsill. Most of them they had brought themselves, but Kitty’s mother found a new bunch and read the note. “From your Uncle Peter and auntie Alice, “ she said to her husband “ they must have been here yesterday. I am sorry now that we missed them!”
“Did I not tell you? Uncle Peter did phone.. It must have slipped my mind..” Kitty’s father said and sat down on the chair next to his mother’s bed, holding her hand.
“We must ask them over to dinner sometime, haven’t seen them in years..”
“Yes we must do that..”
Kitty couldn’t remember Uncle Peter and Auntie Alice. Her mother had tonnes of relatives, four sisters and three brothers and more uncles and aunts than you could count too, but Kitty’s dad never seemed to have anyone. Except for his mother, whom everybody thought would be better off dead. They never said of course, but that was what Kitty knew they were all thinking. Her mother’s family, that was.
“Say Hello to Granny..” her dad said and Kitty walked over dutifully. It wasn’t that she was scared of old people, it was just that she felt like a hypocrite.
She had never known this woman and this woman had never known her. It seemed so false to play the devoted granddaughter every time she visited.
But it meant a lot to her dad, so Kitty always did.
“Hi, Granny!” she said and leaned over and faked a hug.
Her dad looked pleased.
“Kitty got 100% on her French test yesterday..” he bragged. “She must take after you, you always had an ear for languages..”
Kitty went over to the other side of grandmother’s bed and sat down on ‘her’ chair. There were three chairs around Mary McHugh's bed. One for her son, one for her daughter-in-law and one for her granddaughter.
There were no other visitors expected.
“I think you paid the butcher too much, Conor..” Grandma Mary suddenly said.
Kitty’s father sighed.
“I asked for a pound of sausages and a pound of rashers and the sausages are 1 s/2d and the rashers are 2s/2d @ pound and he charged you 3s/6d! That is not right, you will have to go back!”
“Yes mother..”
“You didn’t buy sweets?”
“No mother.”
“That butcher, he can’t be trusted, that is what I always said and your father agrees with me. I think we should go to the one across the street from now on, they are a little bit dearer but I believe their quality is beyond questioning! And I don’t mind paying for quality!”
“I know that mother. Why don’t you have a little sleep now?”
“I have to get your father his tea. Did you wash your hand since you came in?”
“I did.”
“You are a good boy, Conor. What would I do with out you?”
“Just sleep now mam..”
And she closed her eyes and Kitty’s father pulled the blanket up over her. She was often cold; she lay still so much.
“Oh, darn!” Kitty’s mother said.
“What is it, dear?”
“I forgot the bank!”
“What time is it?”
“Half two.”
“Still time if you hurry..”
“But I need your signature too..”
“I completely forgot! There has been so much lately..”
“Don’t worry about it, we can go now..”
“But we have only just arrived..!”
“We can come back. “Kitty’s mother said. “You can stay here, Kitty, we will just be a minute, there is a bank just around the corner..”
“But mother..”
“She is a sleep, she will not notice..”
“Are you ok to stay on your own, Kitty?”
“Yes dad, I am 14, I can sit and read a book on my own..!”
“Ok, but we will be quick..”

Kitty read on. It was not a book she particularly liked, it was just something she had too read for school. Mrs Thornton had several visitors and they were laughing and talking quite loudly it seemed now that Kitty was on her own.
Kitty looked at her grandmother, sleeping not totally restful in her bed. She looked a lot like her son, Kitty’s father. Same thin long face with that permanently serious look, like the weight of the world was on their shoulders.
At home they had Mary and grandpa XXX wedding photograph on the mantelpiece. They had been a handsome couple, so young and so happy. But even then, when Mary must only have been twenty or so, did she have that look of doom on her face. Granddad XXX on the other hand seemed to have been a happy go lucky type that nothing could get down. Kitty’s father had endless stories of the things he had got up too.
Quite unlike his son, Kitty thought.
Her father was one of the most boring people she knew. She loved him, but there was absolutely nothing exiting about him at all. He was old for starters. He had been forty-two when Kitty had been born and now he was not far from sixty. All her friends had fathers whom where maybe 40 or so, Kitty’s father seemed very old in comparison, especially since he acted old as well.
He was the senior manager of a large engineering company, a well respected, organised and orderly man. He had been born in Dublin but had left the city when he had married his wife from Cork and they had settled there. Cork was also where he took his mother when she became unable to look after herself.
Kitty’s mother was old too, fifty-three. She was a civil servant at the department of agriculture. There was absolutely nothing exciting about Kitty’s parents, Kitty was sure of it. The reason that she was an only child was her parent’s age. Kitty just knew that they had been miles to old to have children after she was born.
Grandma Mary was 81 and thought she was still forty or so.
“Water..” Kitty heard her grandmother whispered. She hadn’t opened her eyes, just moved in the bed.
Kitty put her boring book down and walked over to her.
“Do you want some water?” she asked.
The nurses seemed to come in endlessly with new stainless steel containers with ice water that none of the patients drank.
Grandma Mary opened her eyes and looked straight at Kitty.
She had never done that before as far as Kitty could remember.
“Yes, please my child, pour a glass for your old Grandma. I am so happy you could come, I have waited for you..”

XXXXXXXXX

Chapter Two

Kitty was just stunned. Her grandmother had never known before who she was or what she was doing there. They had never talked. She had never felt that her grandmother had ever understood a word that she had said, had never thought that she could even heard her and here she was, having a conversation!
“Of course..” Kitty said and poured the glass half full. Her grandmother couldn’t take the glass because she was lying down. Kitty helped her to sit up and get the bed adjusted and then she pulled the table over and put the glass of water on it.
Her grandmother’s eyes were sparkling with joy.
It made Kitty really happy to see her so alive.
“So, why are you not in school?”
“We have the day off, it is almost summer holidays anyway..”
“Does your father know about this?”
“Of course he does, he drove me here. He and mam have gone to the bank, they’ll be back in a moment.”
“Dumped you with me – have they? Just like them, I don’t think they’ll be in a hurry back, but never mind. You have got your old grandmother to keep you company. If it wasn’t for this blasted flu’..!”
“Yes, grandma..” Kitty said and smiled. This was really nice. Her grandmother must have noticed all those times when Kitty had thought that she was on another planet. Altzimers is a strange illnesss..
“You and I always have so much more fun on out own – don’t we pet?”
“Yes..”
“I have sweets in the drawer, you know where they are and there are cream buns in the pantry. Will you make the tea?”
“Of course..”
“You are always such a nice girl May-May, your wild parents don’t know how lucky they are.. If only they would settle down and get real jobs and do something with their lives instead of all this messing around with alternative lifestyles.. Conor was always such a nice boy – who knew university would do this to him? Well, meeting your mother didn’t help. You know I love your mother, but god help us all, the ideas she has! I have told her more than once that a woman’s first job is as a mother, she can always have a career, but you, my precious, is only young now! Granddad thinks she is a communist! The only good thing that pair has managed is you..” and Kitty’s grandmother smiled and touched her cheek lovingly, took both her hands and leaned back on her pillows and fell asleep again..
Kitty looked at her. She slept so much more peacefully now, with a little smile playing at the sides of her mouth still holding on to Kitty’s hands.
It had been too good to be true. Her grandmother hadn’t recognised her at all; she had just involved her in her strange dream world.
Kitty still didn’t have a grandmother, nothing had changed.
Kitty took her hands back and went over to her chair and picked up her book.
The book report was due in this week..

In the car home Kitty’s dad said that they were going back the following day.
“Do I have to?” Kitty said. “It doesn’t matter if I am there or not, she doesn’t know me!”
“I think that she does. At some deeper level she does know you are there, she just can’t communicate it..” Kitty’s father said.
“I thought she knew me to day for a moment..”
“Really?” Kitty’s mother said. She had never been recognised by her mother-in-law either, but didn’t mind. She was only sad for her husband’s sake. He had been very close to his mother before she got ill and had taken it badly.
“She looked me in the eyes and called me her granddaughter and talked about you and dad and everything. She thought she was at home with the flu and that you two had left me there to be babysat, as if you did that sort of thing all the time.. But it was just a dream she was having..”
“I am sorry honey..” Kitty’s dad said, and there was something in his voice. A tone Kitty had never heard before.
“I really bought it, you know, I wanted to believe so much. And then she called me May-May..”
You could cut the silence in the car with a knife.
Kitty was sitting in the back and she could only see the two very stiff necks of her parents who refused to look back at her.
“Dad?”
She could hear her father taking a deep breath.
“Yes, honey?”
“Why are you not saying anything?”
“Grandma is very ill. I am sorry if she frightened you to day..”
“She didn’t. To day was the first time I saw a glimpse of what she must have been like before she got sick.. It was almost.. fun, you know, like being with a real grandma. Not that grandma is not my real grandma, but you know what I mean.”
“Yes dear..” He looked over at Kitty’s mam who looked back as if to say that he was in charge.
“What is it – did I do something wrong?”
“No, no, it is nothing like that..” Kitty’s mam assured her.
“So what is it then?”
“Nothing. Nothing at all. We are all just upset because Grandma has so little time left with us..” Kitty’s dad said, but he didn’t look at her. Neither did her mam.
Kitty knew they were lying.

Kitty dreamt about her grandmother that night. Her granny was not sick and they were best friends, had secrets together from her parents did grandma and granddaughter things together.
She was tired the next morning in school.
“What is up?” Leona, Kitty’s best friend asked. Leona was cool, you could tell her anything and she would keep it to herself. She never pretended to understand if she didn’t, but it didn't matter. She was the best friend to have, she made no demands and she didn’t have a big ego. She never had to be right even when she was. Kitty’s dad said that Leona was a bit dopey and stupid, but he didn’t know Leona like Kitty did. Sure, at first glance, she did appear to be a bit like a Kuala, but that was just her way. She didn’t like fuss, and never created it around herself. She was a hard person to get to know, didn’t have many friends but Kitty treasured her more than anything. Leona cared, she didn’t make decision made upon fad and popularity or anything like that. She genuinely didn’t care what people thought of her as long as she knew she was right. That made Leona very cool. But very few people were smart enough to realise how smart Leona really was.
“This whole thing with my granny..” Kitty tried to explain. She couldn’t really say what it was that was bothering her, it was all mumbled up in her head.
“Yesterday you were all guilty because you couldn’t feel sad enough about her dying soon and what’s wrong now?” Leona was always straight to the point. She came from a family where everyone spoke like professors, absentminded professors at time, but deep thought was very cherished and appreciated.
“I don’t know.. My parents are lying too me.”
“Parents do that, they think it will save you pain and anguish. Is your grandmother going to die in horrible pain or has she got an illness that you might inherit or something?” Leona got her notebook out and scribbled something. She was always writing down things, things she never showed anyone except Kitty and Mrs Harvey, a writer that lived next door to her and that Leona had been best friend with since she was small.
“No. What are you writing?”
“I don’t know yet, just that your life is interesting right now.”
“Interesting?”
“You have this granny that you have seen all your life but never spoken too who is now dying. Something is bothering you, tell me about it, I’d like to know.”
Leona said ‘I’d like to know’ very rarely. Mostly she didn’t want to know, she didn’t like to clutter up her mind with too much useless information at any time. Space had to be left free for original thought, or that was how she had explained it to Kitty.
“It is a bit spooky.”
“All the better.”
“My granny talked to me yesterday, for a moment I thought she had got all better by some miracle and that she suddenly knew me after all these years. “
“Was that not nice?”
“It was, it was really nice, but then she called me May-May and said some thing that are not true about my mam and dad so I knew she was just living in her ‘other’ place, it had nothing to do with me at all.”
“But she has always been like that, why are you so disappointed now?”
Why indeed? Kitty thought as the bell rang and they had to mosey off to their class.

At lunchtime Leona and Kitty ate together as usual. Leona said nothing, which was her way. She was generous with time, didn’t have to clutter peoples every moment with her own thoughts. But Kitty could feel her waiting for an answer, the answer Kitty had been working on all morning.
“It doesn’t make sense..” she started. “As you said, all my life she has been this way, I have never expected anything from her.”
“But..” Leona said and took a bite out of her lettuce Ryvita sandwich. Kitty’s mother had been afraid for a long time that Leona was anorexic; she was as skinny as a rake and ate nothing but extremely healthy foods. But she was not anorexic. She just came from an extremely skinny family that had a mother obsessed with beans sprouts and tofu. And the other reason she didn’t look as healthy as some of the other girls Kitty’s mother kept on comparing her with was that she didn’t wear any make up and didn’t care about fashion. Her hair was rarely brushed and only washed once a week if she could remember and it didn’t matter. To Kitty she was beautiful, beautifully herself, something Kitty could never hope of accomplishing. Not in her house where every move was watched and every change was viewed with suspicion. Her father especially was really a nutcase when it came to health and safety.
“But, we connected. That is the only way I can describe it. We connected and it made me realise how much I have been missing all these years. You should have seen the look in her eyes! She was so happy to see me, like she had waited years for me to come. It was as if she really loved me..”
“I am sure she does..”
Kitty gave her a look.
“I mean.. I am sure she would have if she knew you. So who did she think you were?”
“She wasn’t too far off in her imaginary world. She thought I was a granddaughter, probably named after herself. Her nickname was May and she called me May-May.”
“I am sure science knows less than little about these diseases. What if she has taken in some of the things your dad has been telling her over the years? She has distorted the facts according to what her demonising brain can manages, like a crashing computer, and has made some sense of it. She can’t communicate to you, but surely she can think and feel?”
“Yes..”
“What are you talking about today, my beauties?”
It was Peter-the pest.
“Go away Peter!” Kitty said. But Peter was not a boy to be sent away with a harsh tone. Undeterred he sat down between Leona and Kitty.
“So, what is the secret? Were you talking about who of you is finaly going to get me? I never meant to cause a catfight..”
“You are too much..!” Leona said.
“For one girl maybe, all the more reason for me to keep you borth..!”
“Please levae us..” Kitty said. Peter was a nerd, a genius in many ways but totally unept socialy. Not that kitty and leona were the most popular in their school, but Peter stood out. He had no friends, were constantly winning prizes for his sience projects and ran the school webpage singlehandledly and was all the teachers pets as he had forgotten more about computers than they would ever hope to learn.
“You looked so sad, I had to come over and cheer you up..” Peter said and looked Kitty straight in the eye. He had brown eyes, sad, inteligent, puppy soft brown eyes to go with his unrule brownish red hair and frechled face.
Peter had started to bother Leona and Kitty last year, apparently with out any reason he had made them his friends.
Leona had not minded to begin with, it would take a lot from her to mind about another beings presents and Kitty had thought it a worthy cause. After all the boy was henpicked by the rest of the school and that wasn’t nice so she felt obligated to make it up to him. He was also a genius and hanging around him could prove good for her grades.
But he was a pain.
It took a lot of patients to be around him, more patients than Kitty had. She had been perfectly happy to explore the world quietly by Leonas side, talking everything trough and making it clear in her mind. Kitty had a great need for that, having a clear mind. Confusion scared her.
Nothing of that was possible with Peter around. He talked no sens at all and constanly interupded and persisted in his charade that both Leona and Kitty were madly in love with him and were wadging a war against each other to have him. Kitty had talked to Leona about it, what to do to get rid of him, but Leona was reluctant to take any action. She was not an action person, she let life happen and had a strong oppinion that every thing would work out eventually.
And then, sometimes, he could be really sweet. Like now.
“I have a problem with my gran.” Kitty said and found herself telling him all about it eventhough she really thought it was none of his buinsness.
“Cool! If this was the X-files your gran would be posses by a spirit long gone or you could have unearted some magic power with in yourself to heal, only you heald the wrong mind back into her body…”
“Get real!” Kitty said, but she had to smile. He could be funny sometimes.
“What would you do?” Leona said suprisingly. Kitty never thought Peters oppinion mattered. He was god at sience and maths, but useless at everything else, advice being the worst of it.
Peter thought for awhile.
“You said she has never talked to you before, and you have never been alone with her before?”
“That is right.”
“Maybe you should see her again, find out more. With out your parents, if they are lying to you, they are not going to be much help.”
“You are right, I should go back. I’ll take the buss there after school, Mam and Dad isn’t going until tomorrow.”
“We’ll tell your mam you are doing your homework at my place as usuall.” Leona said.
“They would never know..” Kitty said. The thought of doing domething without her parents permission excited her, but she was also scared.
What would she find in room 18 on her own?

XXXXXXXXXX



Chapter three.

The buss was full of schoolkids going home. Kitty knew some of them, but made a point to sit in the front, were no one would sit, not to have to explain to anyone where she was going.
Peter and Leona had been great about the whole thing.
They had rang Kittys mam from Peters mobil phone and he had also given it to her to bring with her.
“Just in case you need anything..” he had said and looked almost cute for a moment. Unbelivably.
“Take notes..” was Leona’s advice. “You don’t want to miss anything
that could be important later on. I’ll take your schoolbag, you don’t want to drag that around town.”
So with butterflies in her tummy she had set off and before she could think to much about it, she was at the nursing home.
She just walked in. There was a lot of people taking the old ones out into the gardent to enjoy the early summer sun and Kitty wasn’t noticed as she walked the familiar koridore down to room number 18.
“Hello there Kitty!” Mrs Thornotn said and smiled. She looked like the perfect granny, all ready to go out and garden.
“Are you going out?” Kitty asked.
“Yes, my roses need trimming, can’t get behind, the’lltake over the garden and my Josef would’t like that. He maried me for my green fingers, you know. Can’t let him down, have to go..” and so she left and Kitty walked over o her grandmothers bed.
Her grandmother was dosing.
“Hi, Granny, it is me..” she said and pulled her fathetrs chair closer to the bed.
Her grandmother stirred and opend her eyes.
“Hi granny, it is me..” she said again. She didn’t say her name, just looked into those old blue eyes who suddenly lit up with recognision and delight.
“May-May, my darling!” she said and tried to sit up. Kitty helped her to get the bed upright and the pillows just right. Her granny stroked her hands lovingly as she worked and tears of joy fell from her eyes.
“there now..” Kitty said and sat down on the bed instead of the chair. It seemed more natural, something a granddaughter should do when visisting her grandmother.
“You naughty girl, I waited for you last night and you never came..!”
“I am sorry about that Granny.”
“It doesn’t matter now, you are here! Your mam let you come on your own? She is back from that trip to england yet, isn’t she?”
“Oh, yes, everything is fine..”
She did feel bad about lying, but it made the old woman so happy. So totally happy to see her.
“Oh, I missed you. You are the best thing that vever happened to me, you know. I always wanted a daughter and instead I got your dad, and as much as I love him, we don’t understand each other very well. Not like you and I.. Were best friends..'
“Yes Granny..”
“I’ll never forget the day you were born.. You have heard this story a million times..”
“Tell me again, Granny..”
“Your stupid mother didn’t realise she was in labour. Herself and your father had gone to some party a student frind of theirs were having. I dare say your mother had a few drinks..”
Kitty couldn’t imagine that. Both her parents were Teetottallers.
“Anyhow, who do they call as allways when they got themselves into trouble? Good old Granny. I picked them up, neither of them were in a fit state to drive to hospital and none of their friend ‘s were eiter. So I rush over, in the neck of time and get Diane into the hospital. Had I left it up to that father of yours, he would have left his wife to have the baby at the party..”
Some imagination!, Kitty thought.
“I held her hand as she cried and cried, having you. Your father had some romanitic notion of being there when his ‘son’ was born, but the hospital would’t allow it. I know they do it now, but in 1968 thing were very different.. They wanted me to leave too, but I had to stay. That mother of yours were in no fir state to make any desissions and someone had to take charge – so I did. And 4.43 in the morning you were born, the most beautiful baby the word had ever seen. Your mother named you Mary Alexandra Natassia Herrieel McHugh, first name after me and the others after film stars or whatever they were. The dubble last name she totally insisted on, she hadn’t given up her name just because she had married and she didn’t want you to think that her name was any lesse than that of your father. She kept telling every one about far away places were children inherit their mothers last name and as ususall no one argued with her. You know what she is like and she was much worse then. Belonged to every womans organisation there was, burning bras and smuggeling condoms. She embaressed us all something terrible..
She never intened everyone to call you Mary, that wasn’t exotic enough for her, but it stuck and since I was May, you became little May-May. My little May-May..”
“And what about dad?”
Kitty had this awful feeling in her stomach. She knew this was important. It was more than just an old woman dreams..
“Conor? The amount of good money I have wasted on that boy, trying to make him a decent person. When will he learn? All this messing around with a new job every week, trying to find himself.. It is just selfishness, if you ask me. He is not willing to put his nose down and do the work and bring up his family properly.. I keep telling him, he is an engeneer like his father. Build bridges and roads! It is good honest work and it will pay for a decent morgages! But your mother doesn’t want that, she wants to move around and have no roots. You can’t tell them nothing..!”
“That is right!” Mrs Thornton said, loudly agreeing as she was being escorted in by two male nurses.
There was quite a lot of noise getting Mrs Thornon to realise that she should be stying in and Kitty saw that there would be no more time for privacy. Besides, it was nearly five already, her mother would be home soon and wouyld be asking questions if she wasn’t.
“Buy Hranny..” she said, leand over the old woman and hugged her. For real this time.
“Bye Pet.. Don’t be long.. “ her small little old voice sounded so pittyfull. Kitty felt so sorry for her, prosoner of her mind and body.
She hurride her steps out.

The bus took her nearly all the way to leona’s house. Kitty ran up and rang the doorbell. Leona had been waiting for her.
“I did some of your maths, to give you some time onight.. I told my mother you were in my room, just in case your mother rang mine. You know what they are like..”
“You are the best!”
“How did it go?”
“I am not suer, I’ll tell you tomorrow in school, ok.”
“Good luck – see you!”
Kitty dragged her heavy schoolbag home, she lived a few houses from Leona.
Her mother wasn’t home yet, she must be working late, so Kitty put the potatoes on and looked in the freezer to see what they might have to eat. She settled on a few lamb chops and stuck them under the griller.
She had set the table when her mam and dad came home together. An odd coincidence. They both had their own car and woked irreliluar hours soemtoimes.
“Lovely, you are a gem, Kitty!” Her dad said.
“Very good, did you get much done over at leonas?” her mother said.
“No, we talked a lot, I’ll do it after we eat – I am starving!”
Leonas mam put sonme frozen vegetables in a pan and whisked up a sause from a packet and they sat dowm to eat.
Kitty felt bad avbout liying to them, but she could tell that they felt bad also.
“You know that May-May that Granny was talking about, was there ever anyone with that name in our family?” she asked.
“Not really..” her dad said. “As I said, Gran is very ill and your mother and I have been talking. Maybe we have been seeing her a bit much lately, she has to up to a few month left, maybe we should scale it down to two visits a week. iT i not good for you to spend so much tiome around sickness and death..”
“I think it is great for me, only this morning Leona said that I am living such an interestinmg life these days..”
“Leona doesn’t know much..” Conor said and started eating in sielence.
“So we won’t go to Granny tomorrow?” Kitty asked.
“No, we leave it for saturaday..”
That was that, her father didn’t like leaving much room for discussion.
“Ok..” Kitty said, planning a visit herself.
She couldn’t wait to see her Granny again.

Chapter four.

Mrs Thornton was asleep when Kitty came after school the next day. She must have been given some medication because she had not even got dressed that morning.
Kittys Granny on the other hand was sitting up, as if waiting for her.
“May-May!” she said and reached out her arms for Kitty and gave her a big bearhug.
“Granny..”
“Tell me all about school and everything, the way you always do..” Grandma Mary said, really interested.
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything..!”
“Well..” Kitty said.She wasn’t used to talking to anyone but leona. Her parents werent the talking type, they both liked far more practical things and were very uncomfaortable in the presents of emotions and feelings. But Kitty could tell her Granny was a person who had lived for emotions and feelings.
So she started to tell her. All about that toadfaced frenchteacher that kitty lived in total fear off. She felt like if she didn’t preform 100% Miss Murphy, a woman in her late fifties would have her for breakfast. There was something threatening in her manner all the time. She was an angry person and everything she said and did seemed to be directed to Kitty whom she didn’t like.
“I had a frenchteacher like that..”Granny May said. “Do you know what we did?”
“What?!”
“We started a campain against her. A niceness camapin to shame her from doing what she was doing. We hadn’t done nothing to her, so why was she treating us like dirt? So we started to pretend that Miss Egan was our favorite teacher, that we all loved her and that she could do nothing wrong. WE told the other teachers how good she was, we behaved immaculatly in class and really made an effort.'”
“Did it work?”
“Oh yes, she started to belive her own publicity. We had told every one what a great friend she was to all the girls and how she valued our progres and entusiasm, and after a while she did. It was like a miracle. It is amazing how people behave the way we expect them too, good or bad..”
That really made Kitty think.
Suddenly she wanted to know where her Granny had gone to school and who had been her best friend and her granny told her gladly, lots of funny stories and it was not until her stomach started to grumble that Kitty realised how the time had flown.
“I have to go!” she said and kissed her granney.
Granny may held her.
“Don’t go, please. I hear all these noises at night and I am afraid.. Call your dad and ask if you can stay the night..”
Kitty felt terrible.
“I have to go..”
And she had to tear herself away.
ON the buss she rang Leona on Peters mobil phone.
“Quick!” She said. “I don’t have tome to pick up my schoolbag, bring it to my house and meet me there in five minutes, tell your mam that we have both gone out if my parents call..”
“Ok”
Good all reliable Leona. No unessisary qestions, she was just a good friend all the time.
When Kitty walked the short distance from the buss to her house she could see both her mam and her dad’s cars in the driveway.
And there was Leona.
It was nearly six.
“Walk me to the door, pretend that you walked me home for company..”
So the chatted and opend the front door.
“there you are!” her motehr said. “I was just going to call leona. Are you staying for dinner?”
“No” Leona said. “Got to go.”
And she did.
“Odd child, that. I don’t know what younsee in her..” Kittys dad said.
“A lot of things you’d never understand. “

Next day in school, Leona and Peter were dying to her what had happened at her meeting with her Grandmother.
“There is very little to say..” Kitty said.
“I have been reading up on the illness. Altzeimerpatiens can recall perfecly things that happened a long time ago but can easely forget the last thirty years or so..” Leona said. In her house there was a book about everything. And still she went to the library twice a week.
“This is dead cool, did it say anything about imaginary friend that Altzeimers patient make up?”
“No, but they do get confuest. A lot. Can I have a look at your notes again?” Leona said.
“Sure, what are you looking for?”
“I get a feeling that this May-May excists.”
“She can’t.”
“She might not be exsacly what your grandmother say she is, but maybe there is something there. All the stuff she told you about her childhood, can you check that out and see if it is all correct?”
“How would I do that?”
“You could” Peter said “Do what I do.”
“What is that?”
“When ever I am to embaressed about something I pretend that It is for a school project and every one is ever so helpful. Tell your parents that you are doing a family three or a history of your grandmother as an assingment in school. They have to tell you everything they know then and they will not be the least suspisious.”
“Another good idea. You surprise us more and more.” Leona said.
Peter blushed.

“Dad, can I ask you about Granny’s life?” Kitty said. It was Thursday night and her father was finishing off some files after dinner.
She had been thinking about asking him all day. How to do it, whan to do it, in the end she just came out and said it. “It is for a school project. “ she hasely added when she saw his concerned face.
‘School’ was the magic word and he smiled.
“That is so nice. Something that you could keep after she is gone..”
“I’d like to know when she was born, what schools she went to, any funny stories that you might remember from her childhood. That sort of things..”
Her dad was more than happy to help. But he actalyy knew very little. He had no idea what schools his mother had gone to and the funny story thing was beynd him. He was not a funny stories sort of a guy.

Skriven av: Anna

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