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Back The Godmothers
Chapters (50)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise
  3. Dedication
  4. Chapter One
  5. Chapter Two
  6. Chapter Three
  7. Chapter Four
  8. Chapter Five
  9. Chapter Six
  10. Chapter Seven
  11. Chapter Eight
  12. Chapter Nine
  13. Chapter Ten
  14. Chapter Eleven
  15. Chapter Twelve
  16. Chapter Thirteen
  17. Chapter Fourteen
  18. Chapter Fifteen
  19. Chapter Sixteen
  20. Chapter Seventeen
  21. Chapter Eighteen
  22. Chapter Nineteen
  23. Chapter Twenty
  24. Chapter Twenty-one
  25. Chapter Twenty-two
  26. Chapter Twenty-three
  27. Chapter Twenty-four
  28. Chapter Twenty-five
  29. Chapter Twenty-six
  30. Chapter Twenty-seven
  31. Chapter Twenty-eight
  32. Chapter Twenty-nine
  33. Chapter Thirty
  34. Chapter Thirty-one
  35. Chapter Thirty-two
  36. Chapter Thirty-three
  37. Chapter Thirty-four
  38. Chapter Thirty-five
  39. Chapter Thirty-six
  40. Chapter Thirty-seven
  41. Chapter Thirty-eight
  42. Chapter Thirty-nine
  43. Chapter Forty
  44. Chapter Forty-one
  45. Chapter Forty-two
  46. Epilogue
  47. Extract from Those Faraday Girls
  48. Acknowledgements
  49. About the Author
  50. Also by Monica McInerney

Of course I knew posting unprescribed medication was illegal. Of course I knew it was dangerous. But I was thinking of Eliza. I wanted her to be able to get ready for her New Zealand trip without worrying about her mother. I decided all Jeannie really needed was a good sleep. So I posted her the pills. I put them between two bars of chocolate and a tea towel showing Oxford Street at Christmas. I packaged it all up and said on a card, ‘Enjoy the chocolate. A little is a lot, remember!’ I thought Jeannie would enjoy that, pretending that it was the chocolate, when I was talking about the pills.

JEANNIE, STILL SWINGING: I did enjoy it. Very witty.

MAXIE: Olivia kept saying to me on the phone, ‘Maxie, it’s my fault. It’s my fault.’ I thought I was mishearing at first. That she was saying, ‘It’s your fault, it’s your fault.’ Then I remembered that I hadn’t told her about the sleeping pills. Olivia could be so judgemental sometimes. I knew she wouldn’t approve.

SPOTLIGHT SHINES BRIEFLY ON OLIVIA LOOKING AT MAXIE. HURT EXPRESSION.

MAXIE: But Olivia wasn’t talking about me. She was confessing to me. Telling me about the phone arguments. That she had called Jeannie a bitch. That Jeannie had left a hysterical message saying she was going to take some pills and drink wine and get in the bath. That Olivia had decided to ignore it. But then Olivia suddenly said to me, ‘What did you mean, Maxie. Just now. You said it was your fault. What did you mean?’

I told her about the pills. I started crying. I hadn’t only sent Jeannie the pills. I had taken Eliza away on holiday. Jeannie would never have done it if Eliza was there. It was all my fault. Mine, not hers.

For five minutes, for five terrible minutes when we should have been talking about how we could get to Eliza, be by her side as quickly as possible, we were talking about ourselves. Trying to absolve ourselves of guilt.

LONG PAUSE.

SPOTLIGHTS APPEAR ON MAXIE, OLIVIA AND JEANNIE, STILL SWINGING ABOVE. SHE LOOKS DOWN AT HER TWO FRIENDS. HER EXPRESSION IS SERIOUS.

OLIVIA: I said we couldn’t talk about it any more. I told Maxie to get on a plane from Auckland to Melbourne. Hire a car, drive to Eliza as quickly as possible. I’d get there from Edinburgh as soon as I could. It took me a day and a half. It’s the worst flight I’ve ever taken in my life.

MAXIE: My flight that night was the worst one of my life too.

OLIVIA: When we both finally got to her, Eliza was —

MAXIE: When we both finally got to her, Eliza was —