Page 75 - The Woven Tale Press Vol. IV #2

“What’s the use me trying to teach her to speak was meeting. Rotting wooden gates sag from properly?” asks Edna, exasperation in her stone gateposts. Susan is skeptical. Neverthe- voice. Susan’s eyes dart in her direction. less, she crunches up the gravel driveway be-
“DancING. Isn’t she a bit young for dancING?”
says Bert. When she steps into the clammy, green-and-
“As long as her and Linda stick together they’ll be all right,” says Edna.
white-tiled hallway, Susan can almost believe she’s in somebody’s bathroom. After a few sniffs, she identifies a pervasive, soapy fra- grance as lavender-scented talcum powder. Everything, including the double spirals of
the ornately carved banister posts and a huge mirror with a chipped gold frame, is covered in a dusty, white film of the stuff; someone has drawn a heart with an arrow through it on
“What next?” asks Bert. He picks up his Little- woods football pool form and limps over to the television to watch the sports results. Susan prays he’ll win a fortune in the football pool — maybe then her mother might treat him better.
the mirror’s surface. An underlying odour of mold saves the hallway from being totally sub- merged in cloying, floral sweetness.
“Back by ten o’clock, my girl,” says her mother as she clears the table.
“Little tart,” whispers Fergus in Susan’s ear as she brushes past him. If I’m a tart what does that make him? thinks Susan, knowing that Fergus’s evening at the pub will be spent attempting to pick up any girl unfortunate enough to cross his path.
A gaggle of youngsters roughly the same age as Susan tumbles, giggling, through the front door. Susan’s stomach performs a tight somersault when she spots Gordon Dale with his brother, Bill. They live on the street next to Susan’s. She looks away when Gordon meets her gaze.
The Maureen Lovage Academy of Ballroom Dancing is housed in a crumbling Victorian mansion a ten-minute bus ride from Susan’s house. She’s often cycled past the weather- beaten sign, but never took it seriously until Linda started to boast about all the boys she
Andrew Smith’s first novel, Edith’s War, won a gold medal at the Independent Publishers’ Book Awards, U.S.A. His short fiction has been included in the Journey Prize anthology and shortlisted for the CBC Literary Awards. He has published two non-fiction books: Strangers in the Garden, the secret lives of our favorite flowers and Highlights, an illustrated history of cannabis (co-author).
66
hind Linda.