Apple of My Eye Read Free Page B

beside it, he said the prayer she had taught him.
    ‘God bless Mum and Auntie Vera, Uncle Stan, Thomas and Peter. God bless Granny Mary, Grandpa Ronald and Uncle John in heaven. God bless my dad and keep him safe wherever he is. Thank you for my lovely day. Amen.’
    He climbed into bed. She plumped up his pillow. ‘Tell me about our house,’ he said.
    ‘One day, when I’ve saved enough money, I’ll buy us a lovely house of our own. You’ll have a big room and can cover all the walls with your pictures. We’ll have a garden so huge it will take a man a whole day to cut the grass. And you’ll have a dog and …’
    He watched her face. Though she was smiling, her eyes were sad. She worked as a secretary at Uncle Stan’s factory but wasn’t very good. That was what Uncle Stan told Auntie Vera. Sometimes Mrs Tanner, who ran the typing pool, shouted at his mother. Auntie Vera said that his mother was lazy but that wasn’t true. She did her best and one day he would go and shout at Mrs Tanner and see how she liked it.
    ‘When I’m bigger,’ he told her, ‘I’m going to help you with your work.’
    She stroked his cheek. ‘Of course you will.’
    ‘And then, when we’ve got our house, my dad can come and live with us.’
    Momentarily her smile faded. ‘Perhaps. But if he can’t we’ll still be happy, won’t we.’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘What shall we do tomorrow? Go to the park and play on the swings?’
    ‘I’m going to draw you another picture.’
    ‘I’ll take it to work and hang it on the wall and when people ask who did it I’ll say that it was my son Ronald Sidney and one day he’s going to be a famous artist and everyone in the world will know his name.’
    She bent down to hug him. Her skin smelled of soap and flowers. He hugged her back as hard as he could. Once Peter had twisted his arm to make him say that he wished Auntie Vera was his mother. He had said it but his fingers had been crossed. He wouldn’t change his mother for a hundred Auntie Veras.
    When she had gone he opened the curtains andstared out at the summer evening. It was still light and in the next door garden Mr Jackson sat in a chair, reading the paper. Auntie Vera said Mr Jackson gambled on horses. Auntie Vera thought gambling was bad.
    Soon it would be dark and the moon would slide across the sky. It was just a thin sliver but in time it would grow as fat and round as the apples Mrs Cooper sold in her shop. His mother had taught him about moons and the constellations of stars. Auntie Vera probably thought moons and constellations were bad too.
    A train rattled past, pumping clouds of steam into the air as it left London for the country. It was full of people. A woman saw him at the window and waved. He waved back.
    One day he and his mother would be on that train. His father would come and take them away to a beautiful house of their own, and Auntie Vera and her rules would be left far, far behind.
    April 1951.
    ‘Bastard,’ whispered Peter.
    Ronnie shook his head. The two of them were sitting under the kitchen table playing with Peter’s toy soldiers. Ronnie thought soldiers were boring but none of Peter’s friends was around so he had been dragooned into taking their place.
    ‘It’s true,’ continued Peter. ‘Everyone knows.’
    Ronnie wasn’t sure what a bastard was but he knewit was something bad. More importantly he knew that it meant something bad about his mother, so he stuck out his chin and said, ‘It’s not true.’
    Peter grinned. He had his mother’s heavy build and bad temper. ‘Where’s your father, then?’
    ‘He’s been fighting the war in his plane but he’ll be here soon.’ Ronnie was sure this was true. His mother had told him his father might be in heaven but he didn’t believe that. At Sunday school he had been taught that God was kind and generous. Granny Mary, Grandpa Ronald and Uncle John were already in heaven and Ronnie was sure that a kind and generous God wouldn’t be so