Status: Completed

'Cause the Hardest Part of This is Leaving You.

Party Poison Part I

Mom sweeps a feather duster across the coffee table, over the mantelpiece and then across all four window ledges. She opens the curtains wider and switches on both lamps. It’s as if she’s trying to warn the dark away.

Dad, sitting next to me on the sofa, has a face shocked with the familiar. " I’d forgotten, " He says.

" What? "

" The way you get in such a panic."

She glares at her suspiciously. ‘Is that an insult?’

He takes the duster from her and hands her the glass of wine he’s been swigging and re-filling since breakfast. " Here," He says. " You’ve got some catching up to do. "
I think he woke up drunk. He certainly woke up in Mom’s bed with her.

" Number seven, " I told Mikey, who was relaxed on the floor in front of me.

" What? "

" On my list. I was going to travel the world, but I swapped it for getting Mom and Dad back together. "
He grinned at me, as if it was all my doing, when actually they did it all by themselves. We opened our stockings and presents on their bedroom floor while they gazed sleepily down on us. It was like being in a time warp.
Dad goes over to the dining table now and shuffles forks and napkins about. He’s decorated the table with crackers and little snowmen made of cotton wool. He’s folded serviettes into origami lilies.

‘I told them one o’clock,’ Mom says.

Mikey groans. " I don’t know why you told them anything. They’re weird. "

" Shush, " Mom tells him. " Christmas spirit! "

" Christmas stupid," he mumbles, and he rolls over on the carpet and stares mournfully up at her. " I wish it was just us. "

Dad nudges him with his shoe, but he won’t smile. He waves the feather duster at him. " Want some of this? "

" Just try it!" He leaps up, laughing, and dashes across the room to Mom. Dad races after him, but Mom protects him by standing in his way and batting him off with fake karate chops.

" You’re going to knock something over," I tell them, but nobody listens. Instead, Dad shoves the feather duster between Mom’s legs and jiggles it about. She grabs it from him and sticks it down his shirt, then chases him round the table.
It’s odd how irritating I find it. I wanted them to get back together, but this isn’t quite what I meant. I thought they’d be deeper than this.

They’re making so much noise we miss the doorbell. There’s a sudden rap on the window.
" Oops, " Mom says. " Our guests are here!" She looks giddy as she skips off to open the door. Dad adjusts his trousers. He’s still smiling as he and Mikey follow her out to the hallway.
I stay just where I am on the sofa. I cross my legs. I uncross them. I pick up the TV guide and casually flip through the pages.

" Look who’s here, " Mum says as she steers Frank into the lounge. He’s wearing a shirt with buttons, and shorts instead of jeans. He’s combed his hair.

" Happy Christmas, " he says.

" You too. "

" I got you a card."

Mom winks at me. " I’ll leave you two alone then." Which isn’t exactly subtle

Frank sits on the arm of the chair opposite and watches me open the card. It has a cartoon reindeer on the front with holly wrapped around its antlers. Inside, he’s written, Have a good one! There are no kisses.
I stand it up on the coffee table between us and we both look at it. I ache with something. It feels thin and old, as if nothing will make it go away.

" About the other night . . ." I say.

He slides himself from the arm of the chair into the seat. " What about it? "

" Do you think we should talk about it? "

He hesitates, as if this might be a trick question. " Probably. "

" Because I was thinking maybe you were a bit freaked out. "

I dare to look at him. " Are you? "

But before he can answer, the lounge door opens and Cal comes crashing in. " You got me juggling clubs! " he announces. He stands in front of Frank looking utterly amazed.
" How did you know I wanted them? They’re so cool! Look, I can nearly do it already. "
He’s useless. Clubs spin across the lounge in all directions. Frank laughs, picks them up, and then has a go himself.
He’s surprisingly good, managing seventeen catches before dropping them.
" You reckon you could do it with knives? " Mikey asks him. " Because I saw this man once who juggled with an apple and three knives. He peeled the apple and ate it while he juggled. Could you teach me to do that before I’m twelve? "

" I’ll help you practice. "
How easy they are with each other as they flip the clubs between them. How easy it is for them to talk about the future.

Frank's Mom comes in and sits next to me on the sofa. We shake hands, which is slightly weird. Her hands are small and dry. She looks tired, as if she’s been traveling for days.