It ended and a cheer went up and a mood came down that something was missing. Uncle Eamon leaned into the middle and cupped his ear, ‘What were you singing?’ Busola looked up, and shook her head. ‘If you could remember the words, you could put a tune to it,’ he said. Tess slapped him on the arm, ‘Bit less of your lip.’ I could see Busola keeping still – I thought she was going to say something, but she didn’t. ‘No, I’ve a question,’ he said, ‘for Kat. Did you choose those curtains?’ They were drawn closed across one window and pulled open from the other one to let in the air. Everyone started laughing, and didn’t stop. ‘Did you?’ I didn’t know what they were laughing about. The only people not laughing were me and Busola and my dad. Annie came off her chair and went down on one knee for breath. My mum was laughing with a hand up shielding her eyes, and Manus was hiding his face behind Barry’s back who was laughing because everyone else was. ‘They make your skin itch,’ Connor said when I shook my head at him. ‘Fibreglass,’ said Annie, trying to get back up on the chair and slipping and falling over. The laughing went on again. Nana wiped her eyes behind her glasses, holding her egg-flip up in one hand until Maggie took it off her to stop it spilling. ‘It’s the same colour as this, in’t it?’ Maggie said, making a face at the sticky yellow as she put the glass on the table. Nana went into a coughing fit and my mum started patting her on the back then thumping it. ‘You could choke on the custard,’ Uncle Eamon said, stirring it up all over again. I looked at my dad, he wasn’t saying anything but it was the way he had his face tilted up, he wasn’t pleased. ‘Arrah, I’ve seen worse on a skirt,’ Gerry said, ‘but at least it’s up over their heads.’ There was a pause, and Annie said, ‘What would you know?’ The laughter changed and ran through them like they were shocked at what she’d said. I looked at the curtains again, they were made from material that crackled when you touched it. But I didn’t see how that could make people laugh. ‘ Slow down,’ Tess said, ‘there’s children about.’ Carmel was frowning, so it wasn’t just me. Eileen had gone back to sorting through the records and looked up, she didn’t get it either. Eamon raised his glass, ‘Ah, it’s only a bit fun,’ he said. ‘Curtains to die for,’ and he looked at my dad. ‘Did you dye them that colour?’

‘You’re just being rude,’ Busola said, and she was looking at Uncle Eamon. ‘And I don’t like the way you touch me.’