‘Sure,’ Rob said. ‘No problem.’
‘But you can see your mother if you want to.’
‘Right,’ Rob said flatly. I wasn’t sure if it was a yes or a no.
David struggled to open the rain-swollen door to the shed and eventually Rob stepped in to help him.
Inside, it was piled high with classic shed rubbish – a hosepipe, a rusty lawnmower, some tools, an old pedal bin… And in the middle of a small clearing sat the box.
‘That’s it,’ David said, tapping it gently with the tip of one shoe.
We all stood looking at the box. It was about the size of a large microwave and had been taped up so thoroughly that it was impossible to tell what it had originally held.
‘And you honestly don’t know what’s in it?’ Rob said, crouching down.
‘I do not,’ David said, then, ‘Open it if you want.’
Rob tested the box for weight – it looked pretty light. He hiked it up into his arms. ‘No, I think I’ll open it back home,’ he said.
‘It might just be rubbish though,’ Lucy pointed out.
‘Then that’s something I’ll find out back home.’
‘So do you want to?’ David asked, as he locked the door. ‘Do you want to see Eileen, or not?’
Rob shrugged. ‘Not sure,’ he said.
‘You do,’ I told him. ‘Now we’re here, of course you do.’
‘Maybe,’ Rob said, then, ‘Sure.’
‘There’s not much of her left,’ David said, and for a split second I imagined the horror of her dead and rotting in one of the bedrooms.
‘He means there’s not much left of hermind,’ Rob said, catching my eye. ‘The dementia.’
The house smelled of something sickly and sweet – maybe porridge – but there was also a smell of piss. Most of the furniture had indeed been taken away and all that remained in the lounge were two armchairs, the TV and a horrible glass and rusted-chrome coffee table.
Rob’s mother was sitting in one of the armchairs staring vaguely in the direction of the television, which was showing some kind of game show. The sound was turned down low.
Eileen was working her mouth silently and fiddling with the sleeve of her faded blue dress. She had a downy moustache and a few long white hairs sprouting from her chin that I immediately felt desperate to pluck. She looked even older than her husband.
At the sight of her, Rob paused and blew through his lips, and I wondered for the first time if it might be his mother who Rob had fallen out with all those years ago. For some reason I’d always assumed that it was his dad, but now I wasn’t so sure.
‘Hello, Mother,’ Rob said, coldly. He crossed the room and crouched down between her and the TV.
Eileen didn’t react to his presence in any way, so he bobbed left and right, trying to catch her eye, before glancing up at his father. ‘Can she see me?’ he asked. ‘Can she even hear?’
David nodded and blinked slowly. ‘It’s her mind that’s gone,’ he said. ‘The lights are on but nobody’s home.’
‘It’s Rob,’ Rob said loudly. ‘Do you remember me?’
‘She doesn’t remember anything at all,’ David said.
‘That must be convenient,’ Rob muttered. ‘Still, I bet you do.’
I bit my lip and shot a fleeting glance at Rob’s father. He looked somehow blank, like he too had switched off his mind.
‘Mother!’ Rob said again. ‘It’s Rob!’
