The Art of Forgetting Read Free Page B

friend kind of thing. We only went along for the free food. Come on, let’s see what he’s got to say for himself!”
    So saying, she grabbed my arm and tried to pull me to the junction. The lights were red and we could cross, but I shook her off.
    “What are you doing?” I said, my voice rising, but she skipped across just as the lights changed back to green, leaving me standing there. A minute passed, or maybe it was less. Anyway, it was long enough to make me realise that I was alone and adrift without Linda. What would I do if she left without me? So I crossed as soon as I could, then stood there and said nothing as he held out a five pound note to her. His face was bright red.
    “Look, it was a moment of madness,” he said. “I don’t know what came over me. I’m sorry if I scared you.” He looked at me – then back to Linda. “Why don’t you two have a night on the town, on me? You won’t hear from me again, I promise, and it’s the last time I’ll do anything like this, believe me!”
    “It had better be,” said Linda grimly, as she took the note and balled it into her fist. “I know your name and I know where you live, so go back to your wife and kid and stop pestering my friend!”
    She grabbed my arm and propelled me off down Charing Cross Road. I don’t think she had any idea where we were going, and her anger seemed to be burning my arm. Eventually we went into a bar and she ordered cocktails – something sickly and sweet – which we drank in an atmosphere far from that she had described to me just a few days ago. After a while, she put her drink down on the glass tabletop and leaned back, arching her fingers in front of her mouth.
    “You’re cross with me, aren’t you?”
    “No, not cross, not really, but I suppose I am a bit surprised,” I said, feeling on the defensive although there was no reason to be.
    “Look, it just got to me, that’s all. His wife sitting at home looking after the baby and him out chasing after you. Suppose you had been interested? Suppose you’d fallen in love and he’d decided to leave her? You’ve got no idea, have you, how difficult it is bringing up a kid on your own. Everyone pointing the finger and saying you’re an unmarried mother. All the kids in school teasing your kid and saying ‘where’s your dad’?”
    It hit me then, that this anger wasn’t some sort of empathy for abandoned wives in general. She was speaking from experience and I blurted it out, before I’d had time to think about whether it was a good idea. “Is that what your dad did?”
    “Yes, if you really want to know, it is. But don’t think you can start feeling sorry for me. We are perfectly fine, thanks very much. Better off without him.”
    She picked up her drink and made quite a performance out of extracting the pieces of fruit and deciding whether to eat them or not, so I drank the rest of mine and concentrated on looking around the room instead of at her. Clearly I had hit a nerve, but at least it explained what had happened. Now we could put it all behind us, enjoy the rest of the evening and there would be no real harm done. Five pounds was nearly half a week’s salary to us, and it would take some spending.
    Unfortunately, that isn’t how it turned out, but that’s what I was thinking as we stood up to go. She had been to the ladies and not returned for a while, but when she did, she was all smiles again.
    “Come on, let’s hit the town, courtesy of your sleazy friend. And if he thinks that’s the end of it, he can think again!”
    So that was the start of it, but it was also the beginning of the end of my friendship with Linda. I didn’t say anything at the time as I was afraid she’d revert to her sullen and angry mood, especially as part of me was still clinging to the picture of us having a great evening together, but I was really uncomfortable about taking his money. I was positive that it must stop there, but not so Linda. She didn’t say much until