"That was very good of you. Getting a gift for Auntie Grace." My mother said.
I nodded not really sure what to say.
"She rang earlier, to say thanks." my mother continued.
At first i didn't understand. Then, it dawned on me. She was fishing for information. Obviously, Grace hadn't explained the context and mum was wondering why I was taking gifts to her sister. I'm twenty. It's not like I'm a kid anymore. There was nothing mum hated more than not knowing what was going on.
"It was just a box of chocolates." I explained. "No big deal. Just a thank you really."
It obviously was a big deal to my mum, and there was no way she was going to let this drop so quickly. It was clear she could not understand what I was up to.
My Aunt Grace is my mothers older sister. My mum is in her late forties and the youngest of three. Grace is the oldest . She's in her late fifties. She's married to uncle Andrew and lives about ten minutes walk from us. Daniel, a friend i've known for over ten years, since we went to school together, lives in the same road as they do, about six houses down.
I had been to see Dan last week, after i finished work and, for reasons unknown, he wasn't in. It turned out he was delayed at his work , but I only found that out later.
At a loose end I thought i'd pop round to see Grace and Andrew. I knew Andrew would probably be at work. It was Auntie Grace I really wanted to see.
She was always my favourite when I was younger. Andrew had a good job, so they always had better stuff than us. A better house, better holidays and better gadgets. She had a soda-stream, a VHS player that kind of thing. When you're a kid in the very early eighties, that was so cool. Auntie Grace was always cool.
I realised as I knocked, that I didn't have much of a reason to call. Hell though, if you can't call on family, who can you call on?
She was surprised to see me and I could tell she was uncomfortable but she let me in when I explained my predicament of Dan being out and me needing the toilet badly.
The response I was half expecting. Something along the lines of
"You live a few streets away. Go home." never came.
I popped upstairs quickly, finding that I did need a pee after all.
She was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs when I had finished.
"Thanks Auntie Gee, you're a lifesaver." i said, giving her a dry peck on the cheek.
It was only then, when up close, that I got the aroma of her scent. I found it quite intoxicating.
She gave me a little smile and I had the distinct impression she couldn't get me out of the house quick enough.
I didn't think anything of it until I met up with Dan a week later. He was profuse in his apologies and took me to the pub to buy a few beers by way of an added apology.
We stayed there for a couple and on the way back home I remembered Auntie Grace. As I thought about the last time we met I convinced myself that she seemed sad, you could even say melancholic.
I popped into a newsagents on the way and picked up a very overpriced box of chocolates. Before I headed home, I did a detour to Grace.
Once again she opened the door with a look of surprise on her face. She took a deep breath when she saw it was me.
"I thought you were Andrew, back early." she said, as if that explained anything.
"Just me." i said awkwardly.
"Do you want to come in?" she asked.
"No...thank you." I said. "I just wanted to give you these." I held the chocolates out to her.
"A thank you for saving me from public embarrassment the other day." I said, sheepishly.
"So sweet of you. You shouldn't have." She replied, taking them from me.
"I just got the sense that you needed a little cheering up" I said.
She stepped up, and this time, she pecked me on the cheek. She gave me a faint smile. Although, for a minute i thought she was going to say something, she remained silent on the matter.
That was two days ago. I turned down an invite to come in. I had no reason to go inside. I has accomplished what I set out to do, but part of me regretted it.
There I was doing what I thought was a good thing and now I was getting the third degree for it.
"I had Grace on the phone for an hour." mum was saying, rolling her eyes at the recollection.
"She was whining about Andrew, he seems to be in the pub all of the time." She was now in full flow.
I nodded and didn't say a word. Just keep quiet and mum will tell me everything.
"I knew he liked a drink, they both do. From the sounds of it he's pissed all of the time. He got sent home from work a few weeks ago. Now he just goes down the boozer after work and most of the weekends too." Mum continued.
Once she was in full flow it was difficult to stop her. But, that explained it.
"Anyway, she got all teary and said you were a lovely boy and that was the nicest thing thats happened in weeks...silly cow."
"Mum!" i said "thats a bit harsh!"
"Andrew was a boozer before she married him. What did she expect? That's why your cousin Phil won't go round there. He had a big falling out with Uncle Andrew."
Over the next ten minutes she recounted the whole phone conversation and told me the ins and outs of their lives, as much as she knew. The thing was, mum seemed to know quite a lot. I wouldn't say I was shocked, that would be too extreme. I was saddened. I liked Grace. She was nice, she was funny and I always enjoyed visits to her house when I was younger. I was finding myself getting upset about it and I didn't know why.
To this end, I found myself knocking on her door the following Saturday. What would I do if Uncle Andrew answered? From what mum had said, the chances of that were slim.
As the door opened I felt a pang of fear. This was ridiculous I told myself. Grace was standing there in a dressing gown. Her hair, usually so precisely coiffured, was piled up in an untidy brown bundle on her head. She was also wearing no make up. I dont think i'd ever seen her without it. Even though she looked as though I had got her out of bed, she still looked good to me.
"I thought i'd pop by." I said "but, if its not convenient."
She took a step back, which I took as an invite. So I entered the darkened hallway. She closed the door behind me then walked into the living room. I took this as my cue to follow her. She sat on the large sofa that dominated the tiny room. The television was on, with the sound down.
"I was just watching the television." she said.
I couldn't fail to spot the bottle of gin that sat on the table next to her, within arms reach. It was three-quarters empty. I was hoping that she hadn't drunk all of that this morning.
We sat there for a minute in silence. It was clear that whatever might have been on the box was merely background noise, as she didn't even appear to know what she was watching.
"Uncle Andy about?" I asked, trying to get some conversation going.
It was obviously the wrong thing to say.
"Went out for a paper about an hour ago. He might come back for supper this evening." was her angry response.
She said it with such vitriol i couldn't think of anything to say as a comeback.
"That'll be another fucking dinner ruined." she snarled. Then for the first time she looked at me.
"Sorry." she said. Her expression softened, and I could see she meant it.
"No offence taken." I said.
