Episode 7
The phone tinkled in the background. Therese jumped up. She’d dozed off again during New York Housewives. She’d have to stop watching television after lunch. It made you feel so sluggish, when you succumbed to a “Nanna” nap in the middle of the day. She’d have to cut it out. It was Julie and she was somewhat shocked to get a call from her.
“Oh darling, It’s been such a long time…”
“I know, I know, I’m sorry. Mum, I’ve got to go to Djakarta for work again and….and…Marcia can’t look after Lauren. I just wondered if…if…if you could…it’d only be for two weeks?”
***
Therese was making up the bed in the spare room. She’d made it look quite girly for when Laura might stay, but now it looked a bit childish. Would she absolutely hate it? She’d better not get rid of the bunny and fluffy duck in case she still wanted them to cuddle at night. You didn’t know, really. Was she out of touch? It would probably do her good to get a fresh perspective – to see things from a young person’s point of view – she could see them sitting at the breakfast table, chatting over a nice cup of tea or coffee and Vegemite on toast, or eggs or …. She wasn’t sure what teenagers ate nowadays really, maybe she was watching her weight…? They’d work it out.
The doorbell rang. She was excited to open the door.
Julie was struggling with an enormous sports bag, looking over her shoulder at a sullen Laura, who was scuffing her feet along the footpath. Therese never remembered Julie being sullen. Maybe the Gen Ys were? Therese rushed out, wanted to take the bag from Julia, but it was just too heavy. Therese embraced her and then she went to hug Laura. Laura looked as though she was being forced to kiss an ogre, so Therese pulled back. She smiled.
“Come on in, you two. I’ve just been waiting for you to get here. How about a nice cup of tea? Have you got time to…?”
Julie heaved the bag inside the door and then turned to Therese apologetically.
“Sorry, Mum, I’ve really got to run.”
“…are you sure?”
Therese couldn’t express how disappointed she felt. Months since they had had a meaningful exchange of any kind, and now she had to rush off again? But she couldn’t say anything. It would break the bubble of pseudo “everything’s alright” between them and then what would happen? She put that out of her mind. Besides, there was something else – someone else to consider now. Laura had flopped down on the lounge, apparently too exhausted to even talk to her. What made these kids so uninterested nowadays? Was it all the technology and staying up till the wee hours? What?
As Julie rushed out, not even hearing her plea, and Therese was still considering what to do and what to say, Laura found the remote and turned on the television. She expertly flicked through the channels and when there was obviously nothing there to her liking, she said:
“Have you got Netflix?”
Therese had had to shake her head.
“How about we sit down and have a nice cuppa, Laura, would you like tea or coffee?”
“Have you got any Coke?”
“Sorry. I’ve got mineral water. So do you want to take your bag into your room and I’ll get the drinks?”
She dragged, half carried, the bag into the little bedroom. Therese wondered what she kept in there. Was it a dead body? Books, so she could study? She’d always been smart and curious. Therese remembered when she was little and she could form perfect sentences, conversing almost like an adult, apparently out of nowhere and seeming to understand really complicated processes. She had a love of nature and used to have one of those contraptions, a plastic one, one that could capture insects. She’d stare at an elegant spiky green praying mantis lovingly for hours and be very reluctant to let him go.
“Would you like a snack? I’ve got biscuits, cheese…?”
The response was muffled, and Therese thought it might have been a No.
As Therese got the mineral water out of the fridge, poured it, and put the kettle on, she could hear the drawers opening and closing and was thankful that at least she was putting her stuff away. She wouldn’t have to chide her about tidiness or anything. Still, she felt some trepidation as the next two weeks stretched interminably ahead of her. How would she keep her amused? What would she want to do? She didn’t have any friends up here. Perhaps she would spend most of her time on the phone or in her room. That wouldn’t do at all, Therese decided and she made herself a promise right there and then to get to know her granddaughter properly, whatever it took.
When Laura finally emerged from the bedroom, Therese patted the lounge next to her.
“Want to sit with grandma, love? It’s been a really long time. I’ve missed you”
She didn’t say anything but you could see she was looking for the tv remote again. What was it with these kids today, did they not know how to make conversation? What made them so uncomfortable? She had to be honest though, she didn’t know where to start either. She sat down, and started drinking the mineral water in the coloured tumbler. Therese stirred her tea.
“So how’s school going?”
“Okay.”
“Just okay?”
“Yeah.”
“What subjects are you doing? You used to be really good at art, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. Um, English, Art, Science, Maths…the usual”
“So which one do you like best?”
A long pause ensued, broken only by the sound of the gurgling in the kitchen from that pipe that needed to be fixed. The plumber had been underground for what seemed like hours and was unable to find the source of the problem. God, it was like pulling teeth. It’s not as if she was asking an essay question. Therese couldn’t believe that she’d have to get through two weeks of this. She would be pulling out her grey hair, what was left of it. Surely a routine question like this would provoke some sort of answer, she’d find out a little bit more about her. Be able to relate to her on some level.
“None of them, actually. I hate school and can’t wait to leave.”
“Oh.”
Therese hadn’t thought this through at all. Maybe she should have asked a different question – something a little less predictable, maybe ask whether she had a boyfriend – but was that really something she wanted to know?
She tried a fresher approach.
“Well, then, have you got any hobbies that you like? What do you do in your spare time?
“Not much.”
“Well, you’ve had a long drive, love. Do you want to have a shower now, or do you want dinner? I made your favourite. Lasagne, wasn’t it? You used to love it.”
“I’m not hungry.”
Therese was looking forward to having a nice dinner with Laura, to watching her helping to set the little table in the kitchen cum dining room and to chatting. To a nice and cosy and warm feeling of having someone to cook for again, to fuss over. It was never fun, sitting by herself and washing her own plate and afterwards trying to be enlightened by Q and A or whatever was on the ABC. Now it hit her - what if her granddaughter was anorexic or bulimic? She did look thin, but that ran in the family, didn’t it? God, that would be dreadful, how would she know, what would she do? Did Julie know?
“Are you sure, you won’t change your mind? I spent all day…”
Laura abruptly got up and went to her room. Therese didn’t know what to think. Had she offended her? What was it? What had she done? Nothing, as far as she could tell. Now she felt as though she was adrift. What was she going to do for the next two weeks? And interminable two weeks.
She turned on the television. There was no sound from the bedroom. Therese watched the news on ABC and then a documentary. Therese was tired then, and decided to go to her room. She turned off the lights after putting the lasagne, now cold, in the fridge. She herself hadn’t felt like eating anything. Her usually hearty appetite had deserted her. There was still no sound or movement from the spare bedroom. She wondered whether she should go in – what if something was really wrong? She decided there and then she ought to at least knock on the door and find out if anything was wrong, but it took her a long time before she could bring herself to do it. She sat there in the dark with her cold tea staring back at her for what seemed like an age.
