Father Unknown Read Online Free

aware that she had often made the situation worse by yelling abuse at Lucy, calling her a fat swot and offering her medicated facial cleansers for her spots, and she was ashamed of this now. But Lucy had worn her down, spying on her, going through her room when she was out and generally getting up her nose.
    When Daisy moved into her first bed-sitter, they did get on better when she came home on visits. But as soon as she moved back, it all started again. By this time she was twenty-one and a little more sympathetic, so she tried to win Lucy over by asking her to come to the pictures or go out shopping with her. Yet Lucy seemed set on being disagreeable, and more often than not these trips out ended in a slanging match.
    As Daisy wandered into the kitchen, Fred looked up from his basket and wagged his tail, clearly hoping he was going to be taken out for a walk. ‘No walkies,’ Daisy said, leaning down to pat him, ‘it’s the middle of the night.’ She poured herself some milk, wishing now that she’d confided in Mum about Lucy – perhaps she would have had some good advice on how to deal with her. But it had always been just a private thing between the two girls; they’d never let it show in front of their parents.
    ‘I just won’t rise to it in future,’ she said to herself, putting the mug of milk into the microwave and feeling guilty at the many fights they’d had when their parents weren’t around. ‘We have to be adults now.’
    It was a very warm night, and Daisy got her cigarettes from her handbag and went out into the garden to smoke one, Fred padding softly behind her.
    She had never smoked in front of her parents, it just didn’t seem right to as they were non-smokers. Mostly she only smoked when she went out with friends, but the garden was a place where she enjoyed having a cigarette, it felt deliciously illicit. Joel didn’t approve of smoking, and of course Lucy thought it was the pits. But Tom indulged, and they often had a cigarette together out here in the evenings.
    Daisy sat on the swing seat and Fred jumped up beside her. She lit a cigarette and gently swung to and fro in the darkness, thinking about Joel and wondering if he would be able to get time off for the funeral.
    Suddenly Fred let out a low growl, and Daisy looked round to see Tom coming down the garden in his pyjamas.
    ‘Hi!’ she whispered, not wanting to wake anyone else. ‘Couldn’t you sleep either?’
    He shook his head. ‘I can’t really get my head round it, Dizzie. She seemed so well when I said goodbye in the morning.’
    Daisy gave him a cigarette, and he sat next to her on the swing. Despite being like Lucy in looks, Tom had a very different temperament. He was equally clever, but he liked to act dumb. He was far more thoughtful and considerate than his twin, and more generous with his time, affections and money. He was popular with both his tutors and the other students, he was good at sport, passionate about rock music, and he had a great sense of humour.
    They talked for a while about how they felt about their mother, and Tom began to cry. ‘I didn’t know it would hurt this much,’ he whispered. ‘I thought I’d be almost glad when it happened because she wouldn’t have any more pain. But I’m angry, Dizzie, I keep thinking, why her? Look at all the useless, pathetic people there are! Why don’t they get it?’
    Daisy instinctively knew he didn’t expect her to give him any answers, he was just getting it off his chest. So she held him and let him cry, suddenly aware that she would have to take her mother’s place in the family now, for he and Lucy were going to be lost for a while without Lorna.
    Neither of them had ever left home, they’d been in the same class since infants’ school, they’d chosen a college in West London rather than going away to university, and their closeness had sheltered them from loneliness, bullying and all the many other little things that affect other children. Daisy