Music from Home

by Geraldine O'Neill

  “Hello, Maria?”

  “Yes?” Maria thought she recognised the voice – an older woman’s – but she couldn’t be sure.

  “It’s Denise Spencer here, Paul’s mother.”

  Maria’s heart quickened. “Oh, hello, Mrs Spencer.”

  “Sorry for disturbing you, dear, but I had to wait until Paul was busy watching the television so he wouldn’t hear me.”

  Maria caught her lip between her teeth and waited, with no idea what to expect.

  “I was just wondering if your father is home tonight?”

  “No, I’m sorry,” Maria told her, “he’s in the restaurant. You can always phone him there if it’s important.”

  “No, no.” There was a pause. “It’s actually to do with you, Maria. I wondered if you have anything planned for the weekend of September the tenth? It’s about a month away.”

  Maria quickly thought. “I don’t think so . . . but I’m not sure.”

  “I thought I would ring to give you plenty of time. You see, it’s Paul’s eighteenth birthday, and we’re thinking of going down to London for a show, and Paul’s dad and I wondered if you would like to come? That’s if your father has no objections, of course.”

  Maria caught her breath. London! She could hardly believe it. Not only did she definitely want to go to London – she definitely wanted to go with Paul and his family. “Oh, that sounds great!” she said, “I’d love to go!”

  “Well, I’m sure Paul would love you to go too. I think he would enjoy it much more if you were there.”

  Maria felt a thrill run through her. “I’ll check it with my father when he comes home tonight,” she had to take a deep breath to calm her voice as she felt so excited, “but I’m sure it will be okay.”

  “Make sure you explain that you will both be very well chaperoned. We’ll be staying for two nights at my sister’s house in a nice part of London called Hampstead Heath. It’s very central and we’ll have time to see a show and go round the sights.”

  “I’ll tell him all that when he comes in tonight,” Maria promised.

  “Now, we’re keeping it a surprise until it’s all organised. We’ve discussed it and think we should tell Paul maybe a week before we go, so he can look forward to it, and so the two of you can chat and decide where you would like to visit, because we may need to book tickets in advance. Is that all okay, dear? I’ll ring Leo tomorrow or he can ring me – whatever suits – and check that everything is okay.”

  “Thank you, Mrs Spencer, I’ll really look forward to that.”

  “Good,” she said, giving a small laugh. “That’s what we want to hear.”

  Then, after she put the phone in the receiver, Maria hugged herself and jumped about the room with sheer excitement. London – London – London!And with Paul for two days and nights! And his mother saying that he would enjoy it much more if I was there. How absolutely fantastic!She had to phone Stella. This was much too big to keep to herself.

  She went back to the phone and dialled Stella’s number. Mr Maxwell answered and said he would get her.

  Stella’s voice came on the line. “This better be good news,” she said. “I can’t believe you’re phoning me in the middle of Top of the Pops! I’m missing The Equals singing ‘Baby Come Back’ and I love it!”

  Maria started to laugh. “It’s not just good news,” she said. “It’s absolutely fantastic!”

  Chapter 22

  Maria’s evening flew by between phone calls and TV and homework. And she was pleased with herself for spending twenty minutes talking to Paul without letting anything slip about the planned trip to London. She knew of course that it was easy not to mention it while it seemed so far away – the difficulty would be when it got closer to the time.

  She went upstairs and got her English and Maths homework and then came back down to do it in front of the fire. She found concentrating on schoolwork difficult at the best of times – especially since she had started going out with Paul – but tonight it was absolutely impossible.

  Her attention wandered between the television and the radio, her homework and magazines and going into the kitchen for drinks and biscuits. She was glad her father or Mrs Lowry wasn’t there to ask her what on earth she was doing, flitting around like a bee in a flowerbed.

  It was after ten when the phone rang again, and Maria had actually become so engrossed in her English Comprehension questions that she didn’t take time to wonder who was calling at that time before picking up the receiver. If she had, in all probability she would have guessed that it was her father.

  “Maria? It’s Diana here. I’m really sorry to ring you so late at night. I just wondered if it would be okay if I call at the house in five minutes?”

  “Yes,” Maria said, alarmed. “Is there anything the matter?” It suddenly reminded her of the morning in the church with Mrs Flynn.

  “Nothing very serious, but I’ve just been at Stockport lnfirmary with your dad tonight, as he got a bit of a bang on the head. He’s absolutely fine, but he has to wait to have an X-ray, and I thought you might want to be with him. I’ve just driven back to pick you up. I’m at my house now as I needed a warmer coat and I thought I’d give you a ring so I didn’t give you a shock.”

  Maria felt a prickly feeling over her back and neck. “What happened?”

  “Well, I was at the restaurant with your dad tonight, and there were some teenagers outside in the street teasing a man called Timothy and your dad and Franco went to sort them out.”

  “Oh, my God! Did he get badly hurt?”

  “No, he said he didn’t. He and Franco chased them off, but he said there was a bit of a scuffle and apparently he hit his head off a postbox.”

  Maria’s hand came up to cover her mouth.

  “He’s insisting he’s okay and he’s talking fine and everything, but Franco said he got a bit of a bang and he does have a headache, so we thought it was best to get him checked out.”

  “He’s never sick,” Maria said in a low voice. “I can’t imagine him in hospital.”

  “Don’t worry – it is only the X-ray department. I’m leaving the house now, and I’ll be with you in a couple of minutes.”

  When they got to the hospital and she saw her father sitting in the X-ray waiting room, Maria was immediately reassured. He was smiling and shrugging and telling her he was fine and it was only a little headache and a fuss about nothing.

  “But I don’t want you to think I am complaining about Diana and Franco insisting that I come to the hospital – quite the opposite. They were very good and just concerned for me.”

  “It won’t take long to have an X-ray done and then we can go home,” Maria said, giving him a hug. “And this was all over poor Timothy again?”

  Leo shrugged and nodded, and Maria saw him wince as he moved his head.

  “Have you a pain?”

  “A little one,” he said, “and I’m just slightly dizzy . . .”

  “Will I get someone?” Diana asked.

  “No, no, I’m fine.” He looked at Maria. “I hope Franco called the police. We can’t have this happening with Timothy again. They’re only boys, but they’re frightening him and causing noise around the restaurant. I don’t want to be selfish but, apart from upsetting Timothy, they might drive our customers away.”

  “Did they attack you and Franco?”

  Leo raised his hands. “Ah, it was nothing but a scuffle. More dancing around than fighting. Nothing to worry us, but it might be best if the police speak to them and to their parents. That will probably be enough to frighten them off – to put a stop to them annoying poor Timothy.” He shrugged and looked over at Diana. “He’s a harmless man, he wouldn’t harm a fly. He spends his life looking after his mother and sister, and the only outings he gets are to the shops or the occasional night in the pub at the bottom of the road. They taunt him because he is different and call him a nancy-boy and a queer and awful words like that.”

  Diana throat tightened as she imagined
the scene. And then her heart warmed even more to Leo, thinking how kind and selfless he was defending someone like that. “And you say this has happened before?”

  Maria nodded. “It happened that night after we were at the racecourse. The night Franco had the cut on his hand.”

  “I didn’t realise there was a problem that night,” Diana said, sounding surprised. “It was my first time in Leonardo’s and everything seemed lovely.”

  “It was only a scratch, a graze,” her father said. “Franco forgot it very quickly.”

  Diana knew he was playing the incident down so as not to worry them.

  “But it’s terrible,” Maria said. “And we can’t let it happen again. If Franco has not gone to the police already then I’m going to tell him that he absolutely should go tomorrow.”

  “Okay, okay,” Leo said. He looked over at Diana and smiled. “I’m so sorry your evening was spoiled.”

  She smiled back at him. “It doesn’t matter, we can do it again.”

  “That’s what I was hoping.”

  A woman came into the waiting room with a little boy with his arm in a sling, and then a man came in supporting a limping teenage boy who was wearing a football strip. The man started chatting to Leo, telling him how his son had been viciously tackled by one of the opposition team and had gone over on his ankle.

  While he was occupied, Diana turned to Maria. “He definitely seems better now,” she said. “But I think it’s still worth checking it out. He could have mild concussion or something like that.”

  “I agree,” Maria said.

  She turned then as she heard footsteps coming along the corridor and then a nurse came around the corner and called her father’s name.

  He got to his feet, slightly unsteadily, and Diana and Maria rose, ready to help him if necessary.

  “We’ll be about twenty minutes,” the nurse said.

  “Sorry, girls,” Leo said, giving a weak smile. “I know it’s not the most exciting way to spend your evening.”

  “You even made me miss finishing my homework,” Maria joked, “but I suppose I’ll have to forgive you since you have a reasonably good excuse.”

  They all laughed and then the nurse and Leo went walking down the corridor in the direction of the X-ray department.

  “He’s never sick,” Maria said. “It feels strange being in a hospital with him.” Her eyes narrowed in thought. “I think the last time I was in a hospital with him was the night that my mother died.”

  Diana put her arm around her. “It must be hard for you being here and remembering that,” she said softly. “But you don’t need to worry – this is just a routine check that they do on everyone. Your father will be okay.”

  Maria thought how nice and kind Diana was. As soon as she mentioned her mother, she felt that it might have made Diana feel awkward, but she could not detect even the slightest feeling of that being the case, and it made her warm to her even more.

  The door opened, causing a sudden draught, and a porter came in to talk to the receptionist. Maria gave a small shiver.

  “You’re cold,” Diana said, rubbing her shoulder. “There’s a small café across in the main block. We might as well go and have a cup of tea while we’re waiting.”

  As they walked along Maria wondered if Paul had rung the house while she was out. They were supposed to be going to the cinema the following night, and hopefully the date would still be on as long as they didn’t keep her father in the hospital for a couple of days or anything like that. She then caught herself, realising how selfish she would sound if she said that to anyone.

  The café at this hour was quiet. Only a few tables had customers and Maria could see that most of them were nurses on their breaks. Over in a corner there was a table with five young men in white coats – one with a telltale stethoscope around his neck – who had to be doctors who had finished their evening rounds.

  While Diana went to get them hot chocolates, Maria went over the evening in her mind, wondering how things could change so quickly because of one phone call. She had been almost delirious with happiness after Paul’s mother had rung and now, a few hours later, she felt the opposite. She knew of course that her father would be fine. He was a fit healthy man, and a small knock on the head wouldn’t do him any great harm, but the incident itself had shaken her and made her wonder at the way things happened.

  She looked over at the counter where Diana was standing, and thought about the changes their chance meeting had brought into their lives. How different her father was since meeting this lovely woman, and how silly she had been when Stella had first lightly mentioned that it might be a good thing if her father met someone. She realised now that since her mother had died there had been a real gap in her father’s life – a much bigger gap than she could ever have imagined. And that her stubbornness and selfishness had almost lost him the chance of the happiness she could see he now had with Diana. If it hadn’t been for Mrs Flynn taking ill in the church, Maria knew in her heart she would probably not have even looked at Diana at the races that day, and would certainly not have got into conversation with her for fear it might have encouraged things.

  And as she watched the attractive, friendly woman now putting the mugs on a tray for them, she thought how much less her own life would be without her in it. Without being intrusive or over-involved, Diana had been a great support to her, someone who had her best interests at heart. And, Maria thought, it was very separate and different from her friendships with Stella and the girls at school and did not intrude in any way. And the link between Stella’s mother and Diana actually helped things, as she could share her ups and downs with Stella and the situation with Tony without feeling judged. And Maria was grateful that Diana only ever mentioned Paul if Maria herself brought the subject up.

  She was of course desperate to tell her about the proposed trip to London, as talking about it would make it more real. But she felt that the hospital café, when they were waiting on news of her father, was not the place to discuss something so frivolous. As soon as her father got the okay, they would all head home, and it might be something nice to cheer them all up on the journey back.

  Diana put the tray on the table now. She put Maria’s hot chocolate in front of her along with a cellophane-wrapped packet of two chocolate biscuits. “I thought these might help keep you going in case you’re feeling a bit tired.”

  Maria thanked her, then Diana looked at her watch.

  “It’s after eleven now,” she said.

  “Is it?” Maria hadn’t given the time a thought. They sat in silence for a few minutes, sipping the hot drinks, then she looked up at Diana. “He will be okay, won’t he?”

  Diana touched her hand. “I’m sure he will. It’s just routine.”

  Ten minutes later they walked back to the X-ray department, and were both relieved to see Leo sitting there chatting to a nurse.

  “I’m just out,” he told them, “and I think everything is fine.”

  Maria’s heart lifted and she realised she had been more worried than she thought.

  “I was just talking to your dad,” the nurse said, “and we think it might be best to keep him here overnight for observation. The X-ray wasn’t clear, so we don’t have any accurate results yet.”

  Leo looked at them and smiled. “I’m really fine. I don’t need to stay.”

  “It’s your own decision,” the nurse said, “but we’d feel happier if the headache was settled.”

  “Maybe you should think about staying overnight, Leo,” Diana suggested. “Just to make sure.”

  “I’d rather be home . . .” He stood up, and then he suddenly swayed. He put his hand out to the wall to steady himself.

  Maria’s heart lurched. “Dad!!”

  The nurse, Maria and Diana all rushed to catch him and help him back into the chair.

  “That’s it, Dad,” Maria said. “You need to stay in. You’re still not a hundred per cent.”

  “It’s just the dizziness,” Leo
said. “It just came back when I stood up.”

  “You’re okay, Leo,” the nurse said. “It might be a touch of concussion, and it’s best if we keep an eye on you.”

  “Okay, Dad?” Maria said, placing her hand gently on his shoulder. “You’ll be fine.”

  Leo nodded and then he slowly leaned forward in the chair, closed his eyes and vomited all over the floor in front of him.

  “Oh, Dad!” Maria exclaimed. “Are you all right?

  “Just hold him there,” the nurse said, rushing over to the desk to the phone.

  Maria’s heart was racing. This wasn’t right. “Don’t move now, Dad,” she told him. She went to stroke his head and then she remembered and stopped. “Just wait until the nurse comes back. I think they will probably be happier if they get you in bed for a while to let it all settle down.” She remembered an accident in school where one of the girls banged her head during a gym class, after falling awkwardly off the vaulting horse. As soon as she got sick, the teachers rang for an emergency ambulance. It was, as the nurse had said might be the case with her father, concussion. Thankfully the girl was fine and back in school in a day or two.

  Diana moved to sit at the other side of him. “Maria’s right,” she said, “it wouldn’t do you any good to travel home tonight. You’ll feel much better in the morning.”

  “I apologise for being sick,” Leo said. “I’m very, very sorry.”

  “We’ve all been sick, Leo, one time or another,” Diana said, kissing him on the forehead. “But it’s nice you’re such a gentleman.”

  The nurse finished on the phone then she came back over to them carrying paper towels, an ordinary towel and a theatre gown.