Lionel Asbo: State of England (41 page)
Read Lionel Asbo: State of England Online
Authors: Martin Amis
‘My …? No. No, I didn’t pick up my bathers. He’s going away, Dawnie.’
‘Is he? What’s he gone and done now?’
‘Tell you later. He isn’t coming back.’
‘Huh. So no more Lionel. No more Dad. They’re the ones you and I … Lionel, Horace. And your gran in a way I suppose. Grace. They’re the ones we couldn’t help having feeling for.’ Her chest filled and her eyes freshened. ‘Well they’re gone. And so it’s just the three of us.’
Des gave no answer. And now Cilla announced that she was awake, awake and of the company. She did this, as always, not with tears but with song. They thought she must be singing in imitation of the birds – the birds you could still sometimes hear, up on the thirty-third floor, so high above Diston Town.
Dawn backed into the passage. ‘We’ve got to have a second, Desi.’
‘Got to. No choice.’
‘Pro bono publico.’
‘It might be another Cilla.’
‘It might be another Cilla. Say hello then!’
‘Not yet, Dawnie. I need a shower. I’m … I’m covered in grit.’
Raising her voice as she went down the passage she said, ‘I’ll change her. Wash her in the basin. She loves that.’
‘Go on then. I put the kettle on. Just about to make some tea.’
‘Go on then. Ooh, I’d love a cup. I’ll be needing one!’
She paused, and he paused too, and she heard him call out,
‘… I’ll wait!’
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Epub ISBN 9781446476758
Published by Jonathan Cape 2012
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Copyright © Martin Amis 2012
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‘Mean Mr. Mustard’ lyrics by John Lennon/Paul McCartney
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Lines from ‘Creation; Four Angels; Lycaon; Flood’, in
Tales from Ovid
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First published in Great Britain in 2012 by Jonathan Cape
Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road,
London SW1V 2SA
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9780224096201 (hardback)
ISBN 9780224096218 (trade paperback)
Table of Contents
2006: Desmond Pepperdine, Renaissance Boy
2012: Cilla Dawn Pepperdine, Babe in Arms
Table of Contents
2006: Desmond Pepperdine, Renaissance Boy
