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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 three of them were like a tableau in the kitchen now. Peggy saw that Greta was having cereal and decided to have cereal. Dell was drinking her coffee and looking into the space in front of her. Sipping. Head slightly lowered, a stare in her eyes that hid her mind, busy at needing to be at work soon and how it was tiring and how she would have liked a day off and how she was a little jealous of Greta and Peggy and how sometimes she wished they’d get a job so she wasn’t the only one working. Peggy and Greta weren’t sure Dell even liked coffee. They wondered if she was just holding on until things got better. Until Heidi came home. Holding the coffee to give her time to think these things over and wonder where Heidi was, when she would be back, if she really had been home and really was angry at her. Dell must have been jealous of Peggy and Greta because they still had each other and she must miss Heidi so very much.

6

6

A lot of the days in the week following the concert were spent looking at the phone. Dell said one day everyone would have a phone in their hand all the time – but not for a while yet. One day, Dell said, they’d be hard pressed to find a moment away from their phones. There’d be meetings in their phones, and friends, and they could talk to anyone anywhere and send pictures. Dell was concerned about the future in a way that the future did not seem concerned about her. It was like she thought she could win it. There would be video phones inside the phones that everyone would have in their hands all the time. There was a magazine article she’d read. Not yet, though. For now, Peggy and Greta had to watch the phone that sat on a pile of phonebooks in the lounge, plugged into the wall. Watching and waiting to see if Tyra would call or the police would knock on the door. But they couldn’t do that all day. Part of the day they had to go to the warehouse and sort clothes and part of the day they had to go to meetings and some of the day they had to clean the house and themselves, and eat and make cups of tea. So, part of the day the fear was very acute because all their energy was going into watching the phone and then it would subside into a backburning fear that lay on top of them and behind them, like when they were swimming and the thing could come from anywhere.