The Illuminations Read Free

had been six years and she was used to it. Her house in Stobbs Crescent had got too big and then a couple of druggies smashed the patio doors one night and stole her television. She was terrified. In the morning there was broken glass all over the carpet and her ornaments were scattered around the garden andthe gate was nearly off its hinges. Maureen remembered looking at all this and seeing that her old life was spoiled. After a few weeks, Esther drove over from Edinburgh to try bringing a bit of calm to the situation. She could see the point of a new house but not an old people’s home.
‘It’s not a home,’ Alex said. There was booze on his breath. ‘Get a grip, Esther, it’s not a home. It’s retirement housing.’
‘That’s right,’ Ian said. Esther knew the matter was settled when Ian backed the plan. (Ian worked with computers, as Maureen often liked to remind them. By this she meant he was always likely to be right. ‘And he keeps up his annual membership at the gym.’)
‘It’s sheltered housing accommodation,’ Ian said. ‘She’ll have a door onto the street, like a normal person. But the other door goes into the complex, where all the people can have breakfast together. There’s a warden. It’s safe. And there’s a tropical plants area.’
‘People die in there,’ Esther said. ‘Every day. And she’s only sixty-two.’
‘What’s dying?’ Alex said. ‘People die every day all the time.’
Ian made a face like he couldn’t understand what was wrong with people. ‘What?’
‘Everybody dies.’
‘Not if they look after themselves, they don’t.’
‘It’s a home,’ Esther said. ‘I’ve got patients, Ian, and I’ve seen what happens when they give up. They dwindle. And Mum’s prone to depression. She’s been closing down her life since we were teenagers. She’s gone from marital crisis to infirmity without a break in between, and that makes me sad, Ian, because I’d always hoped for a bit of optimism. A bit of hope. Just once to see our mother happy.’
‘You know everything,’ Ian said. ‘Keep that shit for your patients, Esther. She’s not asking for gold. She wants to be safe at night and this place is the answer.’
Maureen never heard the details of this argument, but Alex later gave her a few clues and it upset her to think of them not getting on. She didn’t want the boys being too hard on Esther just because she was different. Esther had a lot on her mind and she sometimes blamed people, that was her problem, and you have to remember, Maureen noted, that Esther wasn’t too happy in her own life, not nearly as happy as she liked to think, and she sometimes took it out on other people. It was only natural. When you had a big job like Esther’s, people could expect too much. That’s right. Esther was her own worst enemy.
On her way back from the Spar, hugging the milk, Maureen saw the street lights switching off. In winter it was often dark when she went out and getting light as she returned. She liked the sudden change of atmosphere and the sense of a new day beginning. Only when she went to cross the road to Lochranza House did Maureen spot the fire-engine and notice that smoke was escaping from an open window. Jackie the warden was standing out in the car park with a clipboard, the elderly residents gathered around in their dressing-gowns.
‘Jesus, Mary and Joseph, what’s the matter?’ Maureen said, putting the milk down on a bench.
‘It’s Mr MacDonald in 29,’ Jackie said. ‘Burnt the toast again.’
‘Oh dear,’ Maureen said.
‘Evacuation.’
‘Heaven help us,’ said Mrs Souter from flat 24. ‘Is this what they call an evacuation?’
‘It has different meanings,’ Jackie said.
Anne was sitting on the bench. There was a suitcase at her feet and a smile on her face. ‘It’s not that bad,’ she said, looking at the sea. ‘Beautiful lines over there, don’t you think?’ Maureen had wandered back to pick up the milk she’d left on the bench.