Chapter One
By Thursday evening, Suzy wanted to hunt down everyone who’d ever said that mother-daughter bonds were wonderful, magical things, and lock those lying assholes in a room with Lily. Let them handle the job of herding a moody, sarcastic 12-year-old goth to her violin lesson for a change.
Suzy had already known she’d end up feeling like that on Thursday evening, and yet the frustration somehow always managed to sneak up on her anew.
‘I’m not going without my Miss Piggy purse,’ Lily declared with a scowl, not budging from her spot on the sofa.
‘Well, where did you last have it?’ Suzy asked, trying to keep her annoyance out of her voice. Lily always found some excuse to make them run late – if it wasn’t her Miss Piggy purse that was missing, it was her skull hair clips, or her octopus pencil case, or her purple lipstick, or her green nail polish. It was all just one of the hundreds of little battles of will that happened between the pair of them.
‘I don’t know where I had it,’ Suzy’s daughter told her. ‘If I knew, then it wouldn’t be lost.’
Suzy took a deep breath and pointed at the front door. ‘Get in the car. You’re not going to be late for your lesson just because you can’t keep your things in order.’
Lily glared, dragging her feet as she walked out the door, and continuing to drag them the whole way down the front path through the yard. Suzy followed and then overtook her, climbing into the car and starting it up when Lily finally deigned to join her.
‘I don’t see why I have to go at all,’ the girl sulkily complained.
‘Because you begged me for weeks and weeks, not a full year ago, until I agreed to get you violin lessons, that’s why,’ Suzy retorted. As always, despite her resolve to be a grown-up and not let Lily’s needling get to her, she was getting drawn into the fight. ‘If you don’t want them any more, good. It’ll save us money.’
‘Martial arts is way cooler than violin. It’s so sexist that Steven gets to go there on Thursdays while I do this.’
‘It’s what you wanted !’ Suzy protested, before forcing herself to stop the whine creeping into her voice. ‘Now stop being a drama queen about it. Your dad’s going to pick you up straight from class to go back to his place, OK?’
‘Good,’ Lily said peevishly, pulling a thick book out of her backpack and burrowing her nose in it. At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft.
‘What sweet, wholesome reading for a little girl,’ Suzy noted in a dry tone. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be into pop stars and ponies at your age?’
‘I like ponies just fine,’ Lily said disinterestedly, not looking up from her page.
‘I don’t think fire-breathing hell-steeds from air-brushed fantasy novel covers actually count as “ponies”, dear,’ retorted Suzy. Lily ignored her and kept on ignoring her for the rest of the car ride.
By the time Suzy got back to the house, now silent except for her own footsteps, she was completely drained of energy. All she wanted was to slouch down on the battered old chaise longue out the back and smoke a cigarette and stare up at the stars. But no, she’d quit, and she was going to hold firm to that one, no matter how exhausting her not-even-a-proper-teen-yet daughter was being, no matter how stressful work was, no matter how rarely her son would emerge from his quiet, shy shell and actually talk to people. Nope, no cigarettes for Suzy.
She thought about running herself a bath, but it seemed more effort than it was worth. Everything felt like that, to be perfectly honest, and the idea of spending the entire evening on her own with nothing but her own miserable thoughts for company was absolutely horrible.
Acting on a whim, Suzy grabbed her jacket and the prettiest of her scarves, the pink silk one, and set off towards the train station. She’d been a teen queen of nightlife, once upon a time. Surely tonight she could find something fun to do.
She
By Thursday evening, Suzy wanted to hunt down everyone who’d ever said that mother-daughter bonds were wonderful, magical things, and lock those lying assholes in a room with Lily. Let them handle the job of herding a moody, sarcastic 12-year-old goth to her violin lesson for a change.
Suzy had already known she’d end up feeling like that on Thursday evening, and yet the frustration somehow always managed to sneak up on her anew.
‘I’m not going without my Miss Piggy purse,’ Lily declared with a scowl, not budging from her spot on the sofa.
‘Well, where did you last have it?’ Suzy asked, trying to keep her annoyance out of her voice. Lily always found some excuse to make them run late – if it wasn’t her Miss Piggy purse that was missing, it was her skull hair clips, or her octopus pencil case, or her purple lipstick, or her green nail polish. It was all just one of the hundreds of little battles of will that happened between the pair of them.
‘I don’t know where I had it,’ Suzy’s daughter told her. ‘If I knew, then it wouldn’t be lost.’
Suzy took a deep breath and pointed at the front door. ‘Get in the car. You’re not going to be late for your lesson just because you can’t keep your things in order.’
Lily glared, dragging her feet as she walked out the door, and continuing to drag them the whole way down the front path through the yard. Suzy followed and then overtook her, climbing into the car and starting it up when Lily finally deigned to join her.
‘I don’t see why I have to go at all,’ the girl sulkily complained.
‘Because you begged me for weeks and weeks, not a full year ago, until I agreed to get you violin lessons, that’s why,’ Suzy retorted. As always, despite her resolve to be a grown-up and not let Lily’s needling get to her, she was getting drawn into the fight. ‘If you don’t want them any more, good. It’ll save us money.’
‘Martial arts is way cooler than violin. It’s so sexist that Steven gets to go there on Thursdays while I do this.’
‘It’s what you wanted !’ Suzy protested, before forcing herself to stop the whine creeping into her voice. ‘Now stop being a drama queen about it. Your dad’s going to pick you up straight from class to go back to his place, OK?’
‘Good,’ Lily said peevishly, pulling a thick book out of her backpack and burrowing her nose in it. At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft.
‘What sweet, wholesome reading for a little girl,’ Suzy noted in a dry tone. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be into pop stars and ponies at your age?’
‘I like ponies just fine,’ Lily said disinterestedly, not looking up from her page.
‘I don’t think fire-breathing hell-steeds from air-brushed fantasy novel covers actually count as “ponies”, dear,’ retorted Suzy. Lily ignored her and kept on ignoring her for the rest of the car ride.
By the time Suzy got back to the house, now silent except for her own footsteps, she was completely drained of energy. All she wanted was to slouch down on the battered old chaise longue out the back and smoke a cigarette and stare up at the stars. But no, she’d quit, and she was going to hold firm to that one, no matter how exhausting her not-even-a-proper-teen-yet daughter was being, no matter how stressful work was, no matter how rarely her son would emerge from his quiet, shy shell and actually talk to people. Nope, no cigarettes for Suzy.
She thought about running herself a bath, but it seemed more effort than it was worth. Everything felt like that, to be perfectly honest, and the idea of spending the entire evening on her own with nothing but her own miserable thoughts for company was absolutely horrible.
Acting on a whim, Suzy grabbed her jacket and the prettiest of her scarves, the pink silk one, and set off towards the train station. She’d been a teen queen of nightlife, once upon a time. Surely tonight she could find something fun to do.
She
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