by Judy Leigh
‘I’ll raise you ten, if you play your cards right.’ Maggie found her jokes hilarious.
‘Ah, but what if the chips are down?’ Lil croaked, wheezing with laughter.
‘I’d love some chips,’ Maggie breathed.
Lil hugged her cards. ‘Look – I’m playing them close to my chest.’
‘I’m a wild card,’ Albert cackled and waved a sprightly leg in the air.
‘I have a trick up my sleeve,’ Maggie howled as she pushed a card under the cuff of her blouse. ‘Oh, no, I’ve lost it—’
‘You must have been dealt a bad hand,’ Lil yelped and the three of them keeled over, one after the other, screaming, in convulsions, everything seeming much funnier than it was in reality.
‘I’d better play my ace.’ Cassie sighed, reaching onto the bed for the remote, turning off the television. The silence was a sudden stark contrast.
Maggie moved her head and muttered, ‘Where did all the music go?’
‘I am Queen of Clubs.’ Lil raised her arm in the air. ‘I’m trumps and I vote – Albie, you’ve got to take off your pants.’
‘Right, then – I will.’ Albert stood up slowly, tottering and smiling, his thumbs moving to the waistband of his snow-white undies, wriggling and sliding them down over his belly. Maggie started to bawl out the stripper tune and wave her arms in the air. She reached for her sunglasses and put them on, leaning forward to get a better look.
Cassie decided that she’d seen enough and murmured, ‘Stop, please.’ Albert stopped, clutching his pants, grinning.
Cassie gazed from face to face, meeting the eyes of each of the card players, each of them staring back at her as if they were naughty children. Then she took Lil’s hand. ‘Did you eat anything while you were having lattes in the coffee shop?’
‘We had cake,’ Maggie answered. ‘A brownie.’
Albert brought a bottle of beer to his lips and muttered, ‘A chocolate one.’
Lil piped up. ‘We sliced it into three bits. We had a bit each. It was very nice although I thought it tasted a bit funny at first.’
‘Oh, Lil, you’ve no idea what you’ve eaten, have you?’ Cassie said, then she stood upright, folding her arms. ‘Right, the poker game is over. Lil, Maggie, I want you to get into your beds. Albert, you need to go back to your room. I can take you…’ She paused; her phone had started to ring. She caught her breath. ‘Oh, no – I said I’d call Jamie this evening and I forgot. Lil, get yourself to bed. I’ll take this outside, in the corridor – I’ll be back in a minute…’
She stepped into the hallway, leaving the door ajar behind her, and murmured, ‘Hello – I’m so sorry, Jamie…’
‘Cassie,’ his anxious voice came back. ‘I waited but I didn’t hear from you.’
‘Yes, sorry, I—’ Cassie’s mind raced, deciding she wouldn’t tell him yet that she’d met Piet Cornelissen and had dinner with him. Cassie had been too busy enjoying herself and she felt awful that she’d forgotten to phone him. ‘I was about to call you.’
He sounded tired. ‘I was just going to bed.’
Cassie’s voice was confidential. ‘Jamie, you wouldn’t believe what happened tonight – I came into our room and Lil and the others were in a ridiculous state. They’d been in a coffee shop and bought a dope cake and got themselves completely stoned.’
Jamie drew an audible breath. ‘Cassie, that’s unbelievable – your mother’s in her eighties.’
‘I think they only had a little. But they were all sitting on the floor, eating pizza, drinking beer and playing strip poker.’
She expected Jamie to laugh, but he hadn’t caught the infectious mischief in her tone. Instead, his voice was quiet. ‘So, have you been out somewhere nice?’
‘Yes.’ Cassie’s voice was full of enthusiasm. ‘I went to a club. I sang and performed a new poem.’
‘Did it go down well?’
‘Oh, yes.’ Cassie recalled the audience’s applause. ‘I met some locals – a local – a guy called Piet. He’s a singer, a musician, really good.’
‘Oh.’ Jamie was quiet on the other end of the phone, then he said, ‘Good for you. I’m so glad you’re enjoying yourself.’ She heard him inhale steadily. ‘I hope Lil will be all right. She’d better stay off the wacky-baccy for the rest of the holiday, though.’
‘Definitely,’ Cassie agreed.
Jamie waited a second too long. ‘Right. Well, I’m off to bed now. I’m glad your performance went down well. We can talk tomorrow. You must be tired.’
‘Yes, I am, a bit,’ Cassie admitted. ‘I wish you’d been there.’
‘I’d have enjoyed that. We’ll catch up tomorrow. Sleep well, Cass. Goodnight.’
‘Yes, you too…’ she began, but he had ended the call.
Cassie stood on the landing, the phone still raised in her hand, wondering if Jamie had felt troubled by her words. She shook the thoughts away; she was imagining it. She’d call him tomorrow and ask him how his day had gone. She knew she could cheer him up; he was probably not enjoying his time alone. She stood still for a moment, thinking. Jamie was a priority; she desperately didn’t want to hurt his feelings. She missed his warmth, his steadiness and his support, his friendly voice – for a second, she thought about ringing him back. But now wasn’t the time to talk to him: it was time to go to bed.
Cassie moved quietly back to her room, cracking the door open a little to see how the land lay. She expected Lil, Maggie and Albert to be still playing cards. She thought with a grin that she wouldn’t be surprised to see Albert stark naked and Maggie ready to strip off while Lil waved her hand of cards triumphantly and encouraged them to hurry up. Instead, there was silence in the room. Cassie stepped inside. The floor was still covered with debris, pieces of pizza, empty cartons, greasy packaging. The smell of fried food and beer was in her nostrils as she gazed around. Maggie had fallen onto Cassie’s bed, still wearing sunglasses, clothed in blouse and tights, and was asleep, her mouth open. Lil and Albert had tumbled onto Lil’s bed, Albert in his tomato-spattered underwear, and they were both slumbering like babies, their arms round each other and a smile on their lips. Cassie covered them both gently with a blanket from Maggie’s bed, lifted the faux-fur coat from a chair and placed it over Maggie’s chest, and wondered what to do.
She would clean her teeth and her face, pull on her pyjamas and slide into the third bed, Maggie’s, under the single sheet, and hope that she’d fall asleep quickly. There would probably be a spare blanket or two in the wardrobe, at the top. She was tired – it wouldn’t be hard to doze off, and she could resolve the fallout from her mother’s drug-fuelled binge with her gambling friends in the morning. Cassie glanced fondly at her sleeping mother, who was curled up on the bed, her expression angelic, Albert’s nose nuzzled into her neck.
Then the thought of life in Amsterdam came to her, the excitement of performing at the Zwart Gat. She imagined herself living in her own flat in Amsterdam, such a vibrant city; she’d make new, exciting friends. She imagined getting to know Piet Cornelissen. He was certainly interesting. She glanced around the room as Lil snuffled softly in her sleep. Cassie exhaled deeply. It would be an interesting place to live.
The next morning at breakfast, the attention was on Albert, who hadn’t returned to his room all night. By breakfast time, everyone knew that Cassie had texted Duncan before midnight to tell him that his father had fallen asleep and was going to spend the night with Lil and Maggie. The banter was flying fast across the table before he arrived, innuendo about Albert’s ménage à trois and him still being a player at eighty-one years of age, that there was life in the old dog yet. Tommy was telling everyone it was because the three of them had crossed the Minnewater bridge in Bruges together, over the river of love.
Ken politely asked everyone to refrain from making jokes as Albert and his lady friends would soon be down from their room. This caused even more hilarity from everyone except Pat, who told everyone that it wasn’t right to mock those who had genuine feeli
ngs for others. Then Lil, Maggie and Albert arrived for breakfast, baffled and tired, and a huge whoop echoed around the breakfast room, Tommy waving his fists in the air and DJ and Jake cheering and singing ‘Pass the Dutchie’, a song that confused Lil, Albert and Maggie, although everyone else smiled, seeming to know that the word ‘Dutchie’ was a euphemism for marijuana.
Lil sat down, rubbed a hand over her brow and muttered, ‘I’m exhausted. Just pass me a cup of coffee,’ and the laughter erupted again. Lil reached for the jug and filled her cup. ‘Well, yesterday was interesting. I slept like a log though.’ She nudged Albert. ‘I was a bit surprised when I woke up this morning and found Albert next to me.’
Albert grinned, his face shining with delight, and patted her hand. Maggie reached for a plate of ham and bread. ‘I’m still starving. We must have been playing strip poker until all hours.’
‘Strip poker?’ Sue boomed, her eyes wide, whisking a flowing scarf over her shoulder. ‘And did I hear right, my dear? You were eating cannabis cakes?’
‘You should have been there, Sue,’ Lil admitted. ‘It was quite a party.’
‘It was,’ Cassie agreed. ‘It took me an hour to clean up the mess this morning.’ She gazed fondly at Lil. ‘You certainly had a good time.’
Maggie’s eyes shone. ‘I can’t remember when I last laughed so much.’
Denise managed a smile. ‘I think I’ll join you next time.’
‘Oh, there won’t be a next time,’ Cassie promised.
Tommy raised his coffee cup. ‘On that note, I’ve arranged a canal trip for us all this morning. Then this afternoon, we can do as we wish.’
‘I’m going shopping for souvenirs.’ Maggie tapped the table with her fist. ‘I need to get something nice for Brian.’
‘I have a postcard to send to Herman…’ Lil mused.
Pat nodded. ‘I’m getting Thilde something special.’
‘And I have to buy something for the wife.’ Duncan sighed.
‘I’m tempted to try out Lil’s coffee shop – what do you think, Syoo?’ Denise suggested defiantly, noticing Ken glance her way.
‘We could all go for a coffee,’ Ken said cheerily. ‘I want to visit a local bookshop too.’
‘Pornography?’ Jake whispered too loudly.
Ken looked insulted. ‘Contemporary literature, nothing more,’ he insisted, and DJ guffawed.
Sue patted Ken’s hand. ‘I’ll come to the bookshop with you, Ken, but I have to be back for half past two – I’ve booked myself an appointment for a manicure and a pedicure at a beauty parlour. And a facial. A bit of luxury will be so nice– two hours of bliss.’
‘You’re so lucky.’ Denise glanced at Ken. ‘My poor nails have been bitten down to the quick just lately. And I haven’t been sleeping at all well.’
‘You need one of those brownies,’ Maggie suggested.
Tommy took charge. ‘So, what about dinner tonight? Who wants to go where?’
‘I want to eat at the Zingende Appel,’ Emily replied. ‘It’s a wholefood place near the red-light district.’
‘Me too,’ Pat agreed. ‘Thilde told me about it, she’s been there several times – it’s really trendy.’
‘We’ll go.’ DJ nudged Jake. ‘It’s not far from a club I know about and we’re going clubbing afterwards.’
‘We’ll go to the Apple place too, shall we?’ Lil asked Maggie and Albert. ‘I like hanging out in trendy places in Amsterdam.’
Ken nodded. ‘Maybe we should all go together? Wholefood might be just what we all need.’
‘That would be nice, Ken,’ Denise returned his smile.
Tommy clapped his hands together. ‘Shall I book for all thirteen of us tonight at seven?’
‘Twelve of us.’ Cassie put her phone away. ‘I’m spending the morning with Lil and then I have a date in the evening – I’ll be eating somewhere else.’
A roaring sound not dissimilar to a labouring cow came from DJ and Jake, intended to imply that Cassie was involved in an illicit romantic liaison. She rolled her eyes.
‘I don’t think I would like to date anyone on holiday.’ Denise made a disapproving face. ‘After all, what would be the point?’ She waved a paperback book in the air. ‘That reminds me, Lil – thanks for the loan of this novel about the stables. I loved it. It certainly made me think about life and romance. Can I borrow the next one?’ She glanced at Cassie momentarily, who had raised her eyebrows. ‘No, I’m not the one-night-stand type.’
‘You can have Frolics in the House, Denise – I’ve just finished it,’ Maggie offered. ‘It’s even better than Fifty Shades of Hay, especially the ending when Devlin O’Toole gets his punishment from the whole front bench.’
Ken shook his head. Denise was gazing at him on one side and, on the other, Sue was smiling, her eyes shining. He coughed. ‘So, Tommy, when do we go on the canal trip?’
‘We’ll finish breakfast and then we’ll be off sharpish. We’ll spend a couple of hours on board. Then we can all go shopping.’
‘I can’t wait.’ Lil reached for more toast. ‘I’m enjoying it here. I think I could get used to Amsterdam. It’s my new favourite city in the world. I could live here.’
Cassie sighed and her eyes drifted towards her mother. ‘Me too,’ she muttered, sipping coffee thoughtfully.
22
A well-modulated male Dutch voice announced that the boat was just about to travel beneath the Skinny Bridge, one of the most famous bridges on the Amstel. ‘The Magere Brug or Skinny Bridge connects the banks of the river at Kerkstraat, between the Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht. The central section of the Magere Brug is a bascule bridge made of white-painted wood. The present bridge was built in 1934.’
The passengers leaned out of the windows of the long white boat, cameras and phones clicking, framing stretches of the grey river, the curve of the bridge, the tall narrow houses in the background below deep blue sky. Pat tapped Lil’s hand.
‘We text each other all day, dozens of times. Thilde is feeding the cows at the moment.’ He exhaled. ‘I wish she could have come with us to Amsterdam.’
Lil smiled, meeting his sad eyes. ‘She’s a lovely girl.’ She raised an eyebrow. ‘So, do you think she’s the one, Pat?’
‘She is.’ Pat was dreamy. ‘I’ve liked other girls, dated a few times but no one has ever been like Thilde. We just – connect.’
‘I can see that.’ Lil glanced out of the window as they sailed beneath the bridge, darkness filling the boat and then brightness. She gazed into the steel-coloured water. Another barge glided by.
Pat took a breath. ‘Thilde says Herman asked after you.’
‘Yes.’ Lil stared towards the banks, where cycles were lined up against dark railings and a tree dipped its branches into the murky river. ‘He’s a nice man.’
‘He asks about you every day.’
‘I’m going to send him a postcard.’
‘Lil?’ Pat’s cheeks were pink. ‘I’m going to go back to see Thilde in a few weeks. I’m going to ask my dad for some time off work. He’s a chippy, a carpenter; we work together, Stott and Son.’
‘Do you think he’ll mind?’ Lil’s brow wrinkled. ‘I mean, you’ve just had one holiday and you’ll be asking for another…’
‘I know. He can be a bit grouchy. Business was a bit bumpy a year ago, but we’re back on track now. I just thought, if I went to Belgium for a few weeks to see Thilde – that you’d like to come along? To see Herman.’
‘Thanks.’ Lil was thoughtful. She recalled the warm smile, the bushy brows, the light touch of his arm. ‘I might just do that, Pat.’
Pat nodded. ‘I’ll tell Thilde – just that I asked and that… you might.’
‘Mmm.’ Lil turned her attention back towards the river, the guide’s voice in her ears explaining that they were approaching another bridge. Her eyes found Cassie, chatting to Emily; Ken was flanked by Denise and Sue, both gazing up at him; Duncan was talking to Albert and Maggie but neither of them were listeni
ng, both staring into the river. Lil’s own thoughts filled her mind; it might be nice to go back to Boom, to the Goossens’ farm, to get to know Herman better. She gazed at Cassie again and wondered about the man she was meeting later. Lil remembered that he was called Piet and that he was a musician, but she knew little else. She felt the old familiar anxiety creep along her spine and into the back of her neck and she forced a grin. She would never stop being Cassie’s mother, whatever their ages.
They stood on the roadside, by the riverbank, as the cruise boat glided away; everyone was making decisions. Duncan, Tommy and Albert were going to find a bar and have a swift drink. Ken wanted to buy books and Sue insisted he take her with him. Denise was going back to the hotel to read. The youngsters were going shopping for souvenirs by themselves so Cassie shepherded Maggie and Lil towards a parade of brightly coloured shops. ‘Right – let’s get a list in our heads, shall we? So we don’t miss anyone out?’
‘I’m going to buy something special for Brian.’ Maggie smiled.
‘What about some boxers or a posing pouch? It might ignite his passion,’ Lil joked.
Cassie exhaled. ‘There are lots of souvenir shops here. I’m going to buy Jamie a sweatshirt and I have to buy myself a mug. I’ve some friends I want to get a few small gifts for, Cathy and Mark and—’
‘I want to get some stuff for me, so that I can remember my holiday,’ Lil said decisively. ‘And maybe something for Herman and I might get Keith something…’ She was thoughtful for a moment. ‘I’m going to buy a present for Jenny Price too.’ She nodded, her face serious. ‘Yes, I’ll get her a little something. I bet she misses the random acts of kindness.’
Maggie’s eyes were swivelling from shop to shop. ‘Right – shall we all meet back here in half an hour? Then maybe we can all have a cup of coffee?’
‘Good idea,’ Lil agreed. ‘I can shop better by myself.’