time, and wasn’t always entirely sure when it was appropriate.
‘Um, okay, do NOT marry a posh boy,’ said Selina. ‘Unless you like, you know, being their mummy, dealing with drug abuse, never ever knowing how they feel and having to stick things up their bottoms.’
Flora looked horrified.
‘Seriously? All of them?’ asked Polly, fascinated. She didn’t know any posh people.
‘All of them,’ said Selina. ‘Every single one.’
Flora bit her lip.
‘Are you joking?’
‘No,’ said Selina. ‘I would never joke about that.’
‘So you married Tarnie because… what, because you didn’t have to do any of that?’ said Kerensa, getting borderline hysterical.
‘Kerensa!’ said Polly. ‘Seriously, watch it!’
Selina shook her head.
‘Oh, I’m meant to talk about him,’ she said, rolling her eyes. ‘Therapist says so, and it’s costing me enough…’
‘Well, you can’t have everything,’ said Kerensa.
‘He was going back and forth between here and Looe back then,’ said Selina, taking on a slightly dreamy look. ‘Oh my, he was so handsome. It was before the beard. I was very against the beard. I think he only did it to annoy me.’
‘Oh I quite liked it,’ said Polly without thinking, earning herself a warning kick under the table from Kerensa. ‘What? Oh.’
But Selina went on, lost in her reverie.
‘He was gorgeous. Every other idiot I’d met was such a prannet, going on and on about the City, or oil speculating, or what their daddy did or whatever.’
‘Whilst requiring insertion,’ added Kerensa.
‘Quite,’ said Selina, lighting up a cigarette and waving it around. Polly and Kerensa didn’t mind, but Flora looked horrified.
‘Get used to smoking if you want a posh boy,’ said Selina. ‘Their parents abandoned them to boarding school. They all have to smoke to stop themselves from crying.’
‘Maybe I shouldn’t marry a posh boy,’ said Flora. She glanced over at Jayden, who hadn’t taken his eyes off her, and who waved furiously.
‘I sure am learning a lot tonight,’ said Dubose.
‘And he was real,’ Selina went on. ‘He didn’t speak unless he had something he needed to say. He didn’t turn on the charm… I hate charm. Such a bloody overindulged characteristic. As if it means anything. Charm is just a way of fuckers getting you to do what they wanted you to do all along. They might as well hold a gun to your head. They’re both short cuts.’
‘Hear, hear,’ said Kerensa. Reuben was so abrasive and uncharming that Polly found it came all the way round the back and ended up charming again.
‘He just said it like it was… of course at first I found that really attractive. Later on it made me want to kill him every time I attempted to start a conversation about our relationship.’
The girls nodded.
‘And he was just… he was just so different from all the nobbers that I’d known before. So straight. So honest.’
Polly gazed at the table, her ears burning.
‘So,’ said Selina, ‘I gave up everything. Oh my lord, my parents went mental. I felt like one of those sixteen-year-olds in the newspapers every summer who goes on holiday to Turkey and accidentally marries a waiter. Seriously, you’d think that’s what I’d done. My stepmum was the worst. She’s a vicious character to begin with, but she’d fought her way up from nothing to marry my dad, who had a bit, and she was all like “You don’t know what it’s like being poor, Selina. You think it’s romantic, but it’s not the least bit romantic when the boiler breaks down in the middle of the winter, and he’s off on the high seas.”’ She mimicked a high-pitched estuary voice. ‘“Also, you know, all sailors have venereal disease.”’
There was a silence.
‘Of course the worst of it is, she was right.’
‘About the venereal disease?’ Polly had suddenly sat up straighter.
‘No, for God’s sake. You knew him. You know what a brilliant bloke he was. No, about
‘Um, okay, do NOT marry a posh boy,’ said Selina. ‘Unless you like, you know, being their mummy, dealing with drug abuse, never ever knowing how they feel and having to stick things up their bottoms.’
Flora looked horrified.
‘Seriously? All of them?’ asked Polly, fascinated. She didn’t know any posh people.
‘All of them,’ said Selina. ‘Every single one.’
Flora bit her lip.
‘Are you joking?’
‘No,’ said Selina. ‘I would never joke about that.’
‘So you married Tarnie because… what, because you didn’t have to do any of that?’ said Kerensa, getting borderline hysterical.
‘Kerensa!’ said Polly. ‘Seriously, watch it!’
Selina shook her head.
‘Oh, I’m meant to talk about him,’ she said, rolling her eyes. ‘Therapist says so, and it’s costing me enough…’
‘Well, you can’t have everything,’ said Kerensa.
‘He was going back and forth between here and Looe back then,’ said Selina, taking on a slightly dreamy look. ‘Oh my, he was so handsome. It was before the beard. I was very against the beard. I think he only did it to annoy me.’
‘Oh I quite liked it,’ said Polly without thinking, earning herself a warning kick under the table from Kerensa. ‘What? Oh.’
But Selina went on, lost in her reverie.
‘He was gorgeous. Every other idiot I’d met was such a prannet, going on and on about the City, or oil speculating, or what their daddy did or whatever.’
‘Whilst requiring insertion,’ added Kerensa.
‘Quite,’ said Selina, lighting up a cigarette and waving it around. Polly and Kerensa didn’t mind, but Flora looked horrified.
‘Get used to smoking if you want a posh boy,’ said Selina. ‘Their parents abandoned them to boarding school. They all have to smoke to stop themselves from crying.’
‘Maybe I shouldn’t marry a posh boy,’ said Flora. She glanced over at Jayden, who hadn’t taken his eyes off her, and who waved furiously.
‘I sure am learning a lot tonight,’ said Dubose.
‘And he was real,’ Selina went on. ‘He didn’t speak unless he had something he needed to say. He didn’t turn on the charm… I hate charm. Such a bloody overindulged characteristic. As if it means anything. Charm is just a way of fuckers getting you to do what they wanted you to do all along. They might as well hold a gun to your head. They’re both short cuts.’
‘Hear, hear,’ said Kerensa. Reuben was so abrasive and uncharming that Polly found it came all the way round the back and ended up charming again.
‘He just said it like it was… of course at first I found that really attractive. Later on it made me want to kill him every time I attempted to start a conversation about our relationship.’
The girls nodded.
‘And he was just… he was just so different from all the nobbers that I’d known before. So straight. So honest.’
Polly gazed at the table, her ears burning.
‘So,’ said Selina, ‘I gave up everything. Oh my lord, my parents went mental. I felt like one of those sixteen-year-olds in the newspapers every summer who goes on holiday to Turkey and accidentally marries a waiter. Seriously, you’d think that’s what I’d done. My stepmum was the worst. She’s a vicious character to begin with, but she’d fought her way up from nothing to marry my dad, who had a bit, and she was all like “You don’t know what it’s like being poor, Selina. You think it’s romantic, but it’s not the least bit romantic when the boiler breaks down in the middle of the winter, and he’s off on the high seas.”’ She mimicked a high-pitched estuary voice. ‘“Also, you know, all sailors have venereal disease.”’
There was a silence.
‘Of course the worst of it is, she was right.’
‘About the venereal disease?’ Polly had suddenly sat up straighter.
‘No, for God’s sake. You knew him. You know what a brilliant bloke he was. No, about
Similar Books
