‘Coffee machine not working?’ He nodded to the gleaming contraption tucked in the corner.
‘Something like that.’ Marianne hadn’t asked why she’dsuddenly bought instant coffee; she sensed she was a woman who knew that not everything was always as it seemed. In fact, they both knew that, given the revelations this morning.
Bess took the coffees into the lounge and when Gio settled in the armchair, she took the sofa.
Both of them spoke over the other before Bess insisted Gio talk first.
‘When Mum called me from the pub, I assumed… wrongly, I now know, that she was drinking again. I came over to pay the taxi and I was so furious, I was never going to listen to what she had to say. I’d heard it all before, too many times than I care to remember.’
‘She was frantic this morning when I got up, trying to call you every few minutes.’
‘I feel bad about that now. I know I need to trust her more but I think it’s going to take time. For the both of us.’
He looked her in the eye and it made her quiver; how did he have the ability to do that? ‘Are you going to suggest she moves out?’ Bess asked.
‘Do you think I need to?’
‘No.’
‘But you see where I’m coming from?’
‘Of course.’ She hated that her voice wavered. ‘I had no idea she was an alcoholic. You never said, even after all this time.’
‘It was a detail of my life that I didn’t want to admit to. I’d moved out of home when I went to the shared house, I’d escaped a lot of the hassles and the shit that went down in our family. I still had it going on in the background but I avoided rehashing it to anyone.’
‘I wish you’d confided in me. If I’d known, I never would’ve offered her alcohol, I never would’ve called her from the pub. You have to believe me when I say that.’
‘I do.’ But the muscle in his jaw that twitched suggested the night at the pub had instilled enough worry in him that this wouldn’t be easy to move on from.
‘I enjoy having her here.’
He waited a beat. ‘Even the humming?’
‘Well, that I could do without on some days, but it’s harmless.’
‘Are you sure you want her here knowing what problems she has?’
‘She’s sober.’
‘Yes, and she’s one drink away from destroying that. It wouldn’t take much at all. You have to realise that as much as she says, and I hope, she won’t drink again, it’s a possibility. I’m worried, Bess… I don’t know what’s going on with you, but my concern is that whatever it is, whatever drove you to get that wasted and need my mother to get you from the pub, will affect her.’
He was protective, looking out for his family. It hurt that he thought she might be a threat to his mother’s sobriety, but could she blame him?
She needed to be honest, because she had thought about what would happen should Marianne start drinking, now she knew she was an alcoholic. ‘What do I do if she does have a drink? I’m hoping she doesn’t, but what if?—’
‘Then you call me. It’s not for you to have to deal with.’
‘That’s an enormous burden to carry, Gio.’
‘I’ve been carrying it for a long time.’
‘How long was she drinking for, before she got sober this time?’
‘Since I was a boy; my brother was more of a parent than she was.’
‘I’m sorry… I don’t know what to say.’
‘Marco copped the worst deal, I reckon.’
