My Husband's Wife(35)

‘But I have told you, piccola. The nuns will not let us in.’

Carla looked up from under her lashes. ‘Ask Larry. He can do anything.’

Mamma flushed. ‘Even he cannot fix this. But perhaps he might consider sending you to a private school …’

That night, when Larry came to dinner (even though it was a Saturday!), Carla did not need telling twice when it came to bedtime. Putting her ear against the wall, she could hear muffled voices. ‘I know it is a lot to ask, but …’

‘Impossible! What would my wife say if she found out that such a large sum of money was leaving our account every term?’

More muffled voices.

‘There is something I might be able to do, however. That convent you mentioned just now. Our firm sets aside an annual amount for local donations. I can’t promise anything. But it might be possible to pull a few strings. Even for naughty lapsed Catholics like you, my darling …’

The music finished before Carla could hear more. There was the sound of a door clicking. They were going into the bedroom. Soon, Larry would come out and go to the bathroom.

There he was. Quickly, she leaped out of bed and opened her door.

‘Larry,’ she whispered.

Then she stopped. Horrified. Instead of his suit, he was wearing a shirt that was open, and underneath … ugh! Desperately, he covered himself with his hands. His face showed that he was as shocked as she was. ‘You are meant to be asleep!’ He sounded angry.

Carla glanced at Mamma’s closed bedroom door. ‘If you don’t help me go to the school with the brown uniform, I will tell Mamma about the woman in the car.’

His face scowled. ‘You little –’

‘Larry!’ Mamma’s voice called out from the bedroom. ‘Where are you?’

Carla glared. ‘I will not tell you again.’

I will not tell you again. It was what one of the teachers had said when she’d missed what was being said in class. Now it was her turn to be tough.

The following morning at breakfast, Mamma was all smiles. ‘My darling, guess what? I told Larry how unhappy you are and he is going to see if he can get you into the convent school. Isn’t that wonderful?’

Yes! Yes!

Carla gave Larry a steady look. ‘Thank you,’ she said quietly.

‘Aren’t you going to give him a kiss on his cheek to express your gratitude?’

Bracing herself, she walked across and brushed her mouth against his skin. It felt old. Dry.

‘Mamma,’ she said sweetly when she sat down again. ‘Have you thought again about what I asked before? You know. Going to work on Sunday so that I can see Lily and Ed?’

A quick look passed between her mother and Larry. ‘Is that what you would like?’ Mamma’s voice had an edge of excitement.

‘Yes, please.’

‘Then I will ask if they mind.’

Mind? Of course they didn’t. Carla heard Lily’s voice from down the corridor. ‘We love having her round. Just drop her off when you go.’

Something had changed. Carla felt it from the minute she entered the flat. Ed was barely speaking to Lily. And Lily, instead of greeting her with a new cake recipe or a ball of wool to make some more pompoms, was sitting at the kitchen table, surrounded by books.

‘She is working on a case,’ Ed said, as he asked her to sit a certain way on the sofa. ‘We must not disturb her, must we?’

‘Just as we must not disturb you when you are painting,’ snapped Lily.

Carla began to feel uncomfortable. ‘I thought a case was something that you carried things in.’

Ed took a swig out of the glass in front of him. It had a dark-brown liquid inside and smelled like the whisky Mamma gave Larry when he came round. ‘Believe me, we are carrying enough baggage at the moment.’

‘I think that’s enough, don’t you?’ The words sang out of Lily’s mouth, but her eyes were empty.

‘Sure.’ Ed turned round to face Carla. ‘Now I want you to sit there without moving and think of something nice.’

So Carla did. She thought what it would be like to go to a new school where no one bullied her. And she thought of the postcard of a London bus that she and Mamma had written to Nonno in Italy, even though they did not expect one back. And she wondered if –

What was that scratching noise under the door? An envelope! Eager to please, she ran to get it, handing it to Lily. Ed looked annoyed – whoops, she’d forgotten not to move!

‘Ed?’ Lily’s voice sounded like Mamma’s when Larry couldn’t come over in the evening. ‘Take a look at this.’

Ed’s face stiffened. ‘We’ll have to call the police.’

Then he looked at Carla. ‘Shall we see if your mamma is home from work now?’





15


Lily


My first thought, as Ed hands the note to me, is that it must have come from Sarah. My mind races back to the message that the secretary gave me last week.

‘The caller?’ I asked at the time. ‘What did she sound like?’

The girl shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Normal.’

‘Not dead?’ I almost asked.

Trembling, my fingers dialled the number.

‘Sarah Evans speaking.’