BooksBarbecue
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Chapters (75)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise
  3. About the Author
  4. Title Page
  5. Intoroduction
  6. ONE
  7. TWO
  8. THREE
  9. FOUR
  10. FIVE
  11. SIX
  12. SEVEN
  13. EITHT
  14. NINE
  15. TEN
  16. ELEVEN
  17. TWELVE
  18. THIRTEEN
  19. FOURTEEN
  20. FIFTEEN
  21. SIXTEEN
  22. SEVENTEEN
  23. EIGHTEEN
  24. NINETEEN
  25. TWENTY
  26. TWENTY-ONE
  27. TWENTY-TWO
  28. TWENTY-THREE
  29. TWENTY-FOUR
  30. TWENTY-FIVE
  31. TWENTY-SIX
  32. TWENTY-SEVEN
  33. TWENTY-EIGHT
  34. TWENTY-NINE
  35. THIRTY
  36. THIRTY-ONE
  37. THIRTY-TWO
  38. THIRTY-THREE
  39. THIRTY-FOUR
  40. THIRTY-FIVE
  41. THIRTY-SIX
  42. THIRTY-SEVEN
  43. THIRTY-EIGHT
  44. THIRTY-NINE
  45. FORTY
  46. FORTY-ONE
  47. FORTY-TWO
  48. FORTY-THREE
  49. FORTY-FOUR
  50. FORTY-FIVE
  51. FORTY-SIX
  52. FORTY-SEVEN
  53. FORTY-EIGHT
  54. FORTY-NINE
  55. FIFTY
  56. FIFTY-ONE
  57. FIFTY-TWO
  58. FIFTY-THREE
  59. FIFTY-FOUR
  60. FIFTY-FIVE
  61. FIFTY-SIX
  62. FIFTY-SEVEN
  63. FIFTY-EIGHT
  64. FIFTY-NINE
  65. SIXTY
  66. SIXTY-ONE
  67. SIXTY-TWO
  68. SIXTY-THREE
  69. SIXTY-FOUR
  70. SIXTY-FIVE
  71. SIXTY-SIX
  72. SIXTY-SEVEN
  73. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  74. CLIMATE EMERGENCY
  75. Copyright

Another website has a huge banner across the top in childlike handwriting, saying ‘Hey, It’s Just an Opinion!’ Below this are loads of memes, cartoons of frogs and short videos. I don’t really get most of them, except the ones of a man with a bomb in the top of his turban. There was a video that went viral a year or so ago, just a looped clip of the guy who presents a TV show making a weird noise. It got funnier the more you watched it. Maybe these videos are like that. I click on a few things and come to a really retro arcade-style game where the turbaned man is running around a network of caves, and you – as an American GI – have to catch him before he collects all of the gold coins. I play this for a while before Mum comes home. The anger slowly subsides.

I sidle into the kitchen as she’s putting dinner in the microwave. Mum never cooks on a Monday evening – it’s enough just facing a new week, she always says. I don’t mind much. There’s something about microwave food that’s reassuringly safe.

‘Mum…?’ I start.

She’s leaning on the sideboard, her shoulders heavy. She doesn’t look up or respond, and I get the impression she hasn’t heard me come in or speak.

‘Tea?’ I ask, a little louder, picking up the kettle.

She nods, slowly.

I move past her to the sink, catch the scent of cigarettes. Maybe it’s Carl’s smoke on me.

‘Good day?’ I ask over the loudness of the tap.

Mum lifts herself a little, puts her hands on her cheeks and hold them there as if she’s trying to put herself back together before she turns around. It’s at this point that I worry she’s been crying. Perhaps I shouldn’t have come downstairs.

Her eyes are a little red when she turns around a second or two later, but there are no tears, which is good. ‘No, not really. You?’

‘Not that bad. Why? What happened?’

‘Nothing to worry about. Just a new person starting at work who they want me to train.’

‘Oh.’

‘It’s fine, really.’ Mum shakes her hands in front of her, the way she does when she’s trying to flick away all the bad thoughts. ‘It’ll be good in the long run as I can give her things to do to ease my work-load, but it was exhausting, being with her all day today. Just….’ She tails off, the exhaustion clear in her voice.

‘Was she not very nice?’

‘No. The opposite. She was lovely.’ Mum’s voice is flat. She’s staring at the floor.