Weirdo Read Online Free Page B

of her shades, Amanda’s eyes flicked nervously to the space behind Edna’s head that still hadn’t been filled by her father and then back towards the Morris Minor. Slouching out of the passenger seat, as reluctantly as one would expect from someone his age, came the reason for all of this.
    “This is Wayne,” she said, the bonhomie in her voice as phoney as the accent.
    He didn’t look like much to Edna – a scrawny lad with a bumfluff moustache, a head of unkempt brown, curly hair, abomber jacket and bovver boots. Nineteen years old, a painter and decorator: that was all he was.
    But enough for Amanda to leave the artist husband she’d run off with all those years ago, Sammy’s dad, Malcolm Lamb who, despite his unpromising beginnings, had ended up owning a large advertising agency in London. Employed to do up the family house in Chelsea, Wayne had ended up wrecking their marriage instead. Amanda had tried to convince Edna that some harebrained scheme about property development would keep them in riches once she got here. That a bit of sea air would be better for Sammy than any thoughts of staying with her dad, her public school and all her friends in London …
    Edna thought that her face would crack with the effort of keeping her smile in place.
    “Wayne,” she nodded curtly.
    Wayne dragged his gaze up from the crazy paving to grunt a greeting, then dropped it down again. No one made a move to shake hands. The three of them were trapped, suspended until the car’s rear door slammed loudly behind them.
    Sammy stood with her arms folded, head cocked to one side. Since the last time Edna had seen her, she’d had a fringe cut which sloped over her eyes, hiding their expression. The hair wasn’t the only thing that had changed. Sammy’s body had started to develop swells and curves, the way her mother’s had at that age. And though she wasn’t flaunting it – the pink-and-grey-striped T-shirt top, matching ra-ra skirt and pink plimsolls were exactly the sort of thing Shirl’s girls wore – there was something about the sullen tilt of her posture that sent a tremor through Edna’s heart. A voice whispering through her mind:
History is starting to repeat …
    Then Sammy raised her hand to push the thick wedge ofblonde hair out of her eyes, revealing fingernails with chipped pink polish that were bitten to the quick. With that one gesture, she suddenly became a child again, Edna’s little Sammy.
    “Nana,” Sammy whispered.
    “Come here, my darling,” Edna opened her arms, “give Nana a hug.”
    With a sideways glance at Amanda that Edna didn’t catch, Sammy ran to her grandma, burying her head on Edna’s shoulder, her arms around her waist.
    “Nana,” she repeated. “Oh, Nana, I’m so pleased to see you.”
    Edna brushed the fringe out of Sammy’s eyes as a fat teardrop fell from her lashes. A snakebite of love and rage bit deep within the grandmaternal gut. “There, there, Sammy,” she whispered. “Nana’s here now. Nana’s here.”
    Amanda pushed her sunglasses up to the top of her head, eyeing the spectacle with pursed lips. Noodles, still growling and with every hair on his body standing on end, started to retreat backwards down the hallway, until his hind leg made contact with an advancing leather shoe. Noodles and Amanda looked up at the same time. The dog gave a yelp and ran to the sanctuary of his basket in the kitchen.
    “What’s all this then?” Eric’s voice was gentle as he placed a hand on Edna’s shoulder, but the eyes that stared over at Amanda were anything but. “How’s my little girl?” he said.
    For one second, Amanda thought he was talking to her.
    “Granddad!” Sammy’s head came up and her tear-streaked face broke into a tentative smile, exposing the wonky front tooth that she refused to have put in a brace.
    “She’s had a long journey, haven’t you, love, feeling a bit tired out?” Edna suggested.
    “Well, that’s a shame,” said Eric, “because I