BooksBarbecue
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Chapters (57)
  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Dedication
  4. Dedication2
  5. 1994
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 2006
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. 23
  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. 27
  34. 28
  35. 29
  36. 30
  37. 31
  38. 32
  39. 33
  40. 34
  41. 35
  42. 36
  43. 37
  44. 2018
  45. 38
  46. 39
  47. 40
  48. 41
  49. 42
  50. 43
  51. 44
  52. 45
  53. 46
  54. 47
  55. 48
  56. 49
  57. Acknowledgements

The walk home would take about forty-five minutes. The sausage rolls were frozen, so they wrapped them in Peggy’s sweatshirt. They walked through town because it was interesting, and the wind had picked up even though the sun was out now and warm. The end of town up by the parliament buildings was deserted. It was crowded during the week but dead on the weekend. When Peggy and Greta got home, they were hungry. One of them turned the oven on and the other went to the bedroom to put their coats and backpack away. She found half a lettuce in the refrigerator and some chickpeas they hadn’t used for the hummus, which might be nice. ‘I’ll make a salad as well,’ she said towards the bedroom door, which always shut by itself. ‘Cool,’ she replied from the bedroom. ‘Thanks.’ She stood at the sink and washed her hands. There were some tomatoes somewhere, but she wasn’t sure where. Tomatoes with chickpeas would be good with the sausage rolls. A car’s reflection slid across the bedroom wall as she heard it accelerate. The street was a cul-de-sac but every now and then a car went past, and you could always hear it from the bedroom. She looked behind herself and there was a lemon in the fruit bowl, and they had some olive oil. The jackets were warm with the walking and the sun, and she held them up against her face before hanging them up. She couldn’t find the tomatoes anywhere.

She stopped what she was doing and looked at the door, from the kitchen, from the bedroom – she walked over to it and she opened it and there was only one of her.

27

27

She sat for a long time on the floor in the frame of the open door, staring at the hinges, keeping it open with her feet. She couldn’t look into either the kitchen or the bedroom. She was keeping the whole house balanced with her stillness. Like the slightest glance would collapse everything into a decided state, and it would be settled. It felt like maybe it wasn’t quite decided yet – like if she did the right thing, she would be two again and this would be a funny story to look back on – just a hiccup. Then she stood up, not shifting her eyes, breathing deeply, gasping perhaps for something. The door swung towards her and she reached out her hand to stop it. She was dizzy. She hadn’t eaten, and she was hungry and stiff from sitting on the floor. It was starting to get dark outside and the oven was still on. The close smell of warmth pushed at her face.

Finally, she looked around, not knowing which room to step into but knowing she couldn’t stay in between them any longer.