Seven Letters

by Sinéad Moriarty

  Johnny looked at his plate. ‘Not yet, but hopefully something will come up.’

  ‘I love your enthusiasm, especially when newspapers seem to be a dying format. These days, anyone can write a story and post it online. You don’t need to be a journalist. Pity you didn’t see online publishing coming when you chose your career. People will always need bathrooms, but newspapers, not so much.’

  Mia gulped more wine to stop herself speaking. She could feel anger bubbling up inside. Had Adam so easily forgotten that during the recession, when he’d had to close down two of his bathroom shops, Johnny had sent his way any colleague who was even thinking about buying a new tap? Had he forgotten how difficult it was when things were going badly? Just because his business was booming again, did he have to be such a smug git?

  Sarah leaned across and squeezed Johnny’s arm. ‘People will always want to read what Johnny has to say. He’s brilliant. Always was, always will be.’

  Mia felt tears well up. Good old Sarah, always with a kind word, always sensitive to others. Mia polished off her wine and poured more. Beside her, Johnny knocked his back too. At this rate, they’d both be face down on the table by the time the main course arrived.

  Since Johnny had been laid off they’d cut back on all unnecessary expenses, and wine was one of the first things to go. They bought cheap beer and drank a couple of those to take the edge off after a long week. Posh cheeses had been replaced with lumps of Cheddar and artisan bread with sliced pan. They’d sold Johnny’s car and were sharing Mia’s. When their friends suggested meeting up for dinner in town, they made excuses not to go. Tonight was Charlie’s treat, so Mia was able to relax and not worry about the bill. She was determined to keep meeting their mortgage repayments, no matter how much they had to tighten their belts.

  Their food arrived, and Olivia made a fuss over the amount of salt Charlie put on his fish. ‘Darling, it’s so bad for you. You promised to cut back. Here, taste some of mine.’ Olivia proceeded to fork-feed Charlie half of her meal and make ‘yummy’ sounds each time he took a bite.

  Sarah caught Mia’s eye and made a vomit face. Mia, loosened by wine, laughed.

  Olivia and Charlie looked over.

  ‘It’s lovely to see you smile, Mia,’ Olivia said. ‘It transforms your face. You always seem so preoccupied and stressed. Those frown lines are very hard to reverse without Botox.’ Olivia whispered the word. ‘I trained myself not to frown, you know. You can do it too – it’s not that difficult. All you have to do is say Frown and your face falls down over and over and eventually you’ll just stop and look relaxed and happy all the time, like me.’

  Mia stared at her fork and imagined sticking it into Olivia’s salon-coiffed head.

  ‘Breathe,’ Johnny whispered, ‘and lower the weapon.’

  Olivia nudged Charlie, who tapped his wine glass with his fork.

  ‘I … that is we … ah … well, we have a little bit of news.’ Charlie struggled to find the right words.

  ‘More of an announcement,’ Olivia said grandly.

  ‘Yes, well, I suppose that’s right. The thing is that we’ve … well … we’ve decided to get hitched.’

  ‘What?’ Mia and Sarah exclaimed.

  Charlie’s face reddened. Olivia took his hand firmly in hers. ‘Isn’t it wonderful? I know you want to congratulate your father, girls. I’m sure you’re pleased to see him happy again.’

  ‘You’ve known each other for ten minutes,’ Mia spluttered.

  ‘Five months actually, Mia,’ Olivia said sharply. She straightened her back and puffed out her considerable chest.

  Maybe that was it, Mia thought, through her wine haze. Olivia’s boobs. Maybe that’s what Charlie liked so much about her. Olivia was all boobs and touching. Their mum, Penny, had been flat-chested, witty and, truth be told, sharp-tongued at times, but very loving, too. She hadn’t endlessly groped their father, like Olivia did, but Penny had loved him, supported him and made him laugh.

  Mia could feel an epic frown down the middle of her forehead right now. This was ridiculous.

  ‘It does seem quite impulsive,’ Sarah said. ‘What’s the hurry?’

  ‘Are you up the duff, Olivia?’ Adam said. ‘Shotgun wedding, is it?’

  Olivia glared at him. ‘Don’t be silly. We both feel that, as we’re not getting any younger, we want to commit to each other now, don’t we, Charlie?’ She held Charlie’s hand to her cheek.

  ‘Oh, yes, that’s right.’ Charlie was a bit sheepish.

  Mia was furious with her father. Why did he have to announce this in the middle of a restaurant in front of Johnny and Adam? Why couldn’t he have taken her and Sarah out for a coffee and told them privately, so they could discuss it? Allow them the time to process this news. It was a big deal. It meant that Olivia would be in their lives for good and their mother would fade into the background.

  Mia glared at her father, who avoided her eyes and looked at Sarah, the ‘nicer’ daughter. ‘I know it’s a bit of a whirlwind romance, as they say, but we get on well and have fun together, and I want to make an honest woman of Olivia.’

  ‘So this was your idea?’ Mia folded her arms across her chest and eyeballed her father.

  ‘Of course it was.’ Olivia pretended to be insulted. ‘I hardly twisted his arm. Charlie proposed very romantically, over breakfast in bed.’

  ‘After sex, I presume.’ Adam laughed at his own joke. ‘The feel-good hormones carried you away, did they?’

  ‘Adam!’ Sarah thumped his arm.

  Olivia giggled. ‘I’ll tell you this and no more. Charlie is a very fit man.’

  Charlie blushed, but looked flattered at the same time.

  ‘Jesus, I need a stronger drink,’ Johnny muttered.

  ‘Stop! Enough! We don’t need the sordid details.’ Mia got up from the table and headed to the Ladies. Her feet were like lead and her head was spinning. She felt a hand on her arm.

  ‘OMG, we need to talk.’ Sarah hurried her into the powder room. Mia plonked herself down on the chair in the corner.

  ‘What is he doing?’ Mia said. ‘She’s a pain in the arse.’

  ‘I agree.’

  ‘Talking about sex with our dad!’

  ‘Well, Adam did wind her up.’

  ‘Did you see Dad’s face?’

  ‘He looked proud of himself about the sex. Oh, God.’ Sarah squeezed her eyes shut.

  ‘Do you think it’s the boobs?’

  ‘I guess so. But I thought you were either a boob man or a leg man. Mum had no boobs and good legs, so I presumed Dad was a leg man,’ Sarah said.

  ‘Well, he seems to like boobs now. He’s always staring at Olivia’s.’

  ‘They’re hard to miss in those plunging tops.’

  ‘Don’t.’ Mia covered her eyes.

  ‘To be fair, although she’s a pain he has been happier since he met her,’ Sarah said.

  ‘Fine, so date her and shag her, but don’t marry her!’ Mia slapped her hand on her thigh.

  ‘She’s an operator. She knows exactly what to do and she’s played him like a violin.’ Sarah pulled at her face in the mirror. ‘He likes being looked after – all men do. She fusses over him and he loves it.’

  ‘Do they?’ Mia chewed her lip. Did men like being fussed over? She never fussed over Johnny and he seemed fine. Did he really want her spoon-feeding him and making ‘yummy’ noises while flashing her boobs?

  Sarah turned away from the mirror to face her sister. ‘Absolutely. Adam loves me to fuss over his sore back or tell him how wonderful he is for working so hard or to cook his favourite dinner.’

  Mia sat back in the chair. She couldn’t remember what Johnny’s favourite dinner was. Was it steak and chips? Or roast lamb? Maybe roast chicken. She actually didn’t know. But she’d never fussed over him. She loved him and supported him and encouraged him and looked after him if he was sick, but she definitely wasn’t a fusser. Maybe she should fuss more. Then again, given how tired she was most days, she
could barely speak when she got home, let alone fuss.

  ‘What are we going to do? Will we try to get him to have a long engagement?’ Sarah asked. ‘I’m worried he may regret it. I think he needs to get to know her better.’

  ‘A very long engagement.’

  ‘I don’t want to upset him, though,’ Sarah said. ‘He does like her a lot.’

  ‘Well, he’d bloody well want to if he’s just agreed to spend the rest of his life with her,’ Mia said, the alcohol making her sound angrier than she’d intended.

  ‘Will you say it to him?’ Sarah asked.

  ‘No way. He’ll take it better from you. He prefers you.’

  ‘No, he doesn’t. Don’t be silly.’

  ‘Yes, he does, and we both know it, but it’s OK because I know Mum preferred me.’

  ‘You cow,’ Sarah said, laughing.

  Mia grinned. ‘I love you the most.’

  Sarah leant down and kissed her sister’s cheek. ‘Ditto.’

  ‘Thank God we have each other,’ Mia said. ‘The only sane ones left.’

  Sarah pulled her to her feet. ‘I’ll talk to Dad tomorrow, quietly and alone. For now, we have to pretend we’re happy.’

  ‘Do we really?’

  ‘Yes, Mia. Now behave.’

  ‘I’ll be good.’

  ‘Smile and say nothing.’

  ‘How’s this?’ Mia turned to her sister, a fake smile plastered across her face.

  ‘That’s really scary. OK, forget the smile. Just keep quiet.’

  ‘But Olivia said my smile transforms my face.’ Mia bared her teeth again.

  The two sisters arrived back at the table, laughing.

  Olivia beamed at them. ‘Didn’t I tell you, Charlie? They’re delighted with the news.’

  ‘Thrilled.’ Mia threw her arms in the air.

  ‘Over the moon.’ Sarah giggled.

  ‘My lovely girls,’ Charlie said fondly. ‘Best sisters in the world.’

  7

  Riley poured vodka into the plastic cup and topped it off with a splash of Coke. Taking a deep breath, she knocked it back. It burned her throat and made her want to throw up, but she needed it.

  She glanced up from under her fringe and watched him flirting. How could he do this to her? He’d said she was special. He’d said she was the only person he wanted to be with. He’d said … he’d said so many things. They were together. They were a couple. Riley and Zach, Zach and Riley. She’d loved it. She’d loved being part of a pair. It had been the best five months of her life.

  Until last week, when she’d made that joke about the stupid high jump. It was no big deal, but he’d looked all hurt and then he’d stopped answering her calls and then he’d sent that text: I think we need to take a break. A text! A break? Because of a stupid comment?

  Zach was the one good thing in her life. He made her feel ten feet tall. He made her feel beautiful, which no one had ever done before. She knew she wasn’t, but when Zach said it, she kind of believed him. Stupid of her, because he obviously hadn’t meant it. He’d been avoiding her, and now he was humiliating her in front of everyone. Riley needed to numb the pain quickly.

  It was crazy that he was acting like he was into Zoë. She was so not his type. He’d always slagged off ‘those girls’ with their fake tan, bleached hair and dresses barely covering their arses. Zach always said they looked like cheap Barbie dolls. He said he liked Riley because she was different. Well, it didn’t look that way now. Riley crunched the plastic cup between her fingers as Zach twirled Zoë’s long hair around his finger and laughed at some stupid remark she’d just made.

  ‘Hey.’ Shocko sidled up beside her at the kitchen counter. ‘What’s up?’

  ‘I’ll tell you what’s up,’ Riley hissed. ‘Zach is a dickhead, that’s what.’

  Shocko followed Riley’s eyes and saw Zach kiss Zoë. He turned back to Riley. ‘He was always a dickhead.’

  ‘Yeah, but he was my dickhead. Mine, not hers. Look at her, she’s pathetic. Peroxide toothpick.’ Riley roughly wiped a tear away.

  Shocko put his arm around his best friend. ‘Dude, he’s not worth it. Don’t let him get to you. You’re in a different stratosphere from Zoë. If he can’t see that, he’s a fool.’

  Riley grabbed another cup and filled it with vodka. ‘He told me I rocked his world.’

  Shocko poured water into a cup and handed it to Riley. ‘I think you should drink this.’

  Riley pushed his hand away. ‘I need to get really drunk and block this out.’

  ‘I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Besides, you’re pretty smashed already.’

  ‘Not smashed enough.’

  Riley blinked. God, the lights were so bright. She went to sit up but fell back onto the pillow. Her head ached. She looked around. Where the hell …

  ‘You’re awake,’ Shocko’s voice said.

  Riley turned to see her friend sitting in a chair beside her. ‘Jesus, Shocko, where am I?’

  ‘A and E.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Yep. Let’s just say the vodka had a negative influence on your balance. You fell and cut your head.’

  ‘OMG, did anyone see?’

  ‘Pretty much everyone at the party, yeah.’

  ‘Don’t sugar-coat it.’

  ‘I thought we swore to always be honest with each other,’ he said.

  Riley bit her thumbnail. ‘Did Zach see?’ she asked, looking down at her hands.

  ‘Kinda hard for him to miss it. You were throwing a drink over him when you tripped.’

  Riley covered her face with her hands. ‘Oh, God, did I?’

  ‘Yep. Most of it went over Zoë, though.’

  Riley smiled. That was something. ‘How did I hit my head?’

  ‘You were throwing the drink and, like, shouting a lot and then you sort of just lost your balance and fell over and whacked it on the coffee-table. It was pretty dramatic – people thought you were like dead and stuff. Because there was a lot of blood.’

  ‘Did Zach think that?’

  ‘Yeah, he looked pretty freaked out, but when he bent down to check on you, you told him he was a scumbag, so he knew you were alive.’

  Why did she have such a big mouth and why did she get so drunk and why was she such an idiot? Now everyone in school would be talking about what a loser she was. Not only had Zach publicly humiliated her with Zoë, she’d humiliated herself by making a scene.

  Riley’s head throbbed. ‘How did I end up here?’

  ‘Someone, who thought you were like dead or dying, called an ambulance. I came with you.’

  ‘You didn’t call my parents, did you?’

  Shocko’s cheeks reddened. ‘I had to, Riley. Because you’re a minor, they said I had to get an adult to pick you up.’

  Riley began to sob. Not only was she now going to be a pariah in school, but her parents would go mental. Her mother would lock her up and never let her out again.

  Shocko stood up and shuffled his feet. ‘I’m sorry, dude, I had to.’

  Riley cried even more.

  Shocko wrung his hands. ‘Jeez, Riley, don’t cry. Come on, it won’t be that bad.’

  ‘My mum is going to freak.’ Riley wiped her tears with the back of her sleeve.

  ‘Yeah, she probably will but … well, I’ll talk to her. I’ll say … I dunno … Oh, I’ve got it. I’ll say your drink was spiked.’

  Riley sniffed. ‘Yes. That’s perfect. You’re a genius.’

  Shocko shrugged. ‘Well, I wouldn’t go that far, seeing as I failed almost every subject in my Christmas exams, but …’

  Riley took his hand. ‘You’re a genius to me.’

  Shocko’s face turned pink.

  The curtain around the bed was yanked backwards.

  ‘Riley! Are you OK?’ Mia asked, rushing over and examining the bandages.

  ‘I’m fine, Mum. It’s just a bump.’ Riley was desperate to play this down.

  ‘You gave us a fright, sweetheart.’ Johnny rea
ched down and hugged her.

  ‘They glued it.’

  ‘What?’ Mia glanced at Shocko.

  ‘Her head, they glued it. No stitches, just glue.’

  ‘Sounds sore, you poor thing. How are you feeling?’ Johnny held her hand.

  ‘Honestly, it’s fine. It’s no big deal.’

  ‘Thank God you’re all right. How did it happen?’ Mia asked.

  ‘Well, I tripped and hit my head off a coffee-table.’

  ‘Were you drinking?’ Mia’s eyes were like lasers.

  Riley flinched. ‘I had one beer.’

  ‘One beer?’ Johnny asked. ‘You smell like you had twenty.’

  ‘No, just one,’ Riley said. It was true: she had only had one beer. She’d had about six vodkas as well, but at least it was partly true.

  ‘You fell over after one beer.’ Johnny’s eyebrows rose.

  Riley glared at Shocko.

  ‘What?’ He looked confused, then his brain caught up. ‘Oh, yeah, sorry, I think her drink was spiked,’ he blurted out.

  ‘Spiked?’ Mia was horrified. ‘With what? By whom?’

  ‘Oh, eh, well, I’m not sure, like. I didn’t see obviously, but one minute Riley was fine and then she wasn’t.’

  ‘This all happened in Violet’s house, at the party?’ Mia asked.

  ‘Yes,’ Riley said.

  ‘Where were her parents? Were they not supervising? There wasn’t supposed to be any alcohol at all.’

  ‘Her parents went out for a bit.’ To London for the weekend, Riley thought, but you don’t need to know that. ‘And some of the kids brought drink.’

  ‘What was your drink spiked with?’ Mia asked. ‘Should we ask for a drug test? I think we need a drug test.’

  ‘No!’ Riley sat up in the bed. She’d smoked a joint with Shocko in his garage before going to the party. That would show up and then her mother really would put her in prison.

  ‘Riley, I’m afraid we have to. If your drink was spiked with a drug, we need to know which one. It could affect you in the future, flashbacks, psychotic episodes … Who knows what damage it’s done and will do?’

  ‘It’s very serious,’ Johnny agreed. ‘In fact, we may even have to get the police involved.’

  ‘Yes,’ Mia agreed. ‘I’ll have to call Violet’s parents first thing in the morning and get statements from all the kids who were there. Someone must have seen who spiked your drink. It’s illegal.’ Mia patted Riley’s arm. ‘I’m going to call the doctor in and get tests done. We need to know exactly what’s in your system.’ Mia turned to leave.