litany of complaints about the neighbours, about her health, about anything and everything and everybody. She could see her mother in her chair, an overflowing ashtray perched on the arm and a glass of spirits within easy reach. She could visualise the dusty council flat, the damp seeping through the wallpaper, the stained carpet and the grey net curtains hanging , lopsided, at the window.
Flora Darrow was a bitter and disappointed woman.
Her first husband, Declan Gallagher, a merchant seaman, had been killed in a bar fight in Port Swettenham, in Malaysia – or the Federation of Malaya, as it was then. Years of financial struggle trying to bring up their son, Ross, followed. The bad days appeared to have ended when Flora met and married Malcolm Darrow.
At first the marriage had been happy. Darrow was a welder at the Govan shipyard, rarely drank and was sensible with money. What was more, he took his duties as stepfather to the boy seriously. Within two years, Flora was pregnant with Adele (or Adaira , as she was christened).
But when Adele was twelve years old, everything changed again for Flora. Darrow started seeing another woman. He moved to Aberdeen to work on the oil rigs and took his new love with him. Although he continued to send money to the family in Glasgow, and there was no divorce, neither Flora nor Adele ever saw or spoke to him again.
It was then that Flora Darrow began her slow decline into alcoholism.
Adele’s half-brother Ross was by this time in the army and the money he sent home supplemented Darrow’s remittances. It kept the family with a roof over their heads and food on the table, just about.
Despite being a bright girl, Adele left school at sixteen and worked at a number of menial, badly-paying jobs until she discovered she was pregnant by a casual boyfriend. Then her world started to fall apart in earnest.
“Did you hear what I said, Adele?”
“Yes, Mam. You want me to send you some money.”
“You know I don’t like to ask, pet, but that good-for-nothing brother of yours never sends me anything.”
Adele knew that was n’t true, but she couldn’t be bothered to argue. She was desensitised after years of her mother trying to play off her children against one another, and usually found it convenient to bite her tongue. What the older woman did not realise was that Adele and Ross did communicate about her and compared notes. They had agreed to keep their mother in the dark about this so as not to fuel Flora Darrow’s inclination to play the victim card.
Once she had listened to more complaints about the state of her mother’s knees, Adele could finally hang up. She felt drained of energy and wished she’d taken two of Leona’s cigarettes, instead of just one.
She hoped she wouldn’t get any weirdo customers today. She wasn’t up to it.
The week passed quietly for Adele.
As usual for the English summer, the weather was changeable. The customers at the discount store for the most part presented faces of habituated disillusionment and grumbled that prices were going up. It was a treat when she received a smile or a thank you. She was usually invisible: it was the lot of the check-out girl.
Adele wondered what, if any, changes the Millennium would bring. None, in all probability. Life just went on until the day it didn’t.
On the Saturday morning she found herself doing shopping in the city centre . It was her normal routine before her afternoon shift at the Gold Club.
“Good morning.”
The friendly greeting took Adele by surprise. She turned to see a young man with sandy-coloured hair dressed as a vicar and holding out a cupcake.
“Can I give you something to ruin your teeth?” he said.
Recovering herself, Adele saw the man was standing at a church stall, along with three middle-aged ladies. She had never noticed the stall before. A red and gold banner was strung overhead announcing ‘Christ Has Risen’.
“Is this new?” she said, before realising how
Flora Darrow was a bitter and disappointed woman.
Her first husband, Declan Gallagher, a merchant seaman, had been killed in a bar fight in Port Swettenham, in Malaysia – or the Federation of Malaya, as it was then. Years of financial struggle trying to bring up their son, Ross, followed. The bad days appeared to have ended when Flora met and married Malcolm Darrow.
At first the marriage had been happy. Darrow was a welder at the Govan shipyard, rarely drank and was sensible with money. What was more, he took his duties as stepfather to the boy seriously. Within two years, Flora was pregnant with Adele (or Adaira , as she was christened).
But when Adele was twelve years old, everything changed again for Flora. Darrow started seeing another woman. He moved to Aberdeen to work on the oil rigs and took his new love with him. Although he continued to send money to the family in Glasgow, and there was no divorce, neither Flora nor Adele ever saw or spoke to him again.
It was then that Flora Darrow began her slow decline into alcoholism.
Adele’s half-brother Ross was by this time in the army and the money he sent home supplemented Darrow’s remittances. It kept the family with a roof over their heads and food on the table, just about.
Despite being a bright girl, Adele left school at sixteen and worked at a number of menial, badly-paying jobs until she discovered she was pregnant by a casual boyfriend. Then her world started to fall apart in earnest.
“Did you hear what I said, Adele?”
“Yes, Mam. You want me to send you some money.”
“You know I don’t like to ask, pet, but that good-for-nothing brother of yours never sends me anything.”
Adele knew that was n’t true, but she couldn’t be bothered to argue. She was desensitised after years of her mother trying to play off her children against one another, and usually found it convenient to bite her tongue. What the older woman did not realise was that Adele and Ross did communicate about her and compared notes. They had agreed to keep their mother in the dark about this so as not to fuel Flora Darrow’s inclination to play the victim card.
Once she had listened to more complaints about the state of her mother’s knees, Adele could finally hang up. She felt drained of energy and wished she’d taken two of Leona’s cigarettes, instead of just one.
She hoped she wouldn’t get any weirdo customers today. She wasn’t up to it.
The week passed quietly for Adele.
As usual for the English summer, the weather was changeable. The customers at the discount store for the most part presented faces of habituated disillusionment and grumbled that prices were going up. It was a treat when she received a smile or a thank you. She was usually invisible: it was the lot of the check-out girl.
Adele wondered what, if any, changes the Millennium would bring. None, in all probability. Life just went on until the day it didn’t.
On the Saturday morning she found herself doing shopping in the city centre . It was her normal routine before her afternoon shift at the Gold Club.
“Good morning.”
The friendly greeting took Adele by surprise. She turned to see a young man with sandy-coloured hair dressed as a vicar and holding out a cupcake.
“Can I give you something to ruin your teeth?” he said.
Recovering herself, Adele saw the man was standing at a church stall, along with three middle-aged ladies. She had never noticed the stall before. A red and gold banner was strung overhead announcing ‘Christ Has Risen’.
“Is this new?” she said, before realising how
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