Love, Rosie (178 page)

shock
for
quite
a
while.
I
just
thought
of
the
fact
that
Katie
would
have

another
set
of
grandparents,
yet
even
more
people
in
her
life
she
had
never

met
before.
And
then
I
became
angry
by
that
fact.
And
even
more
angry
by

the
fact
that
all
these
years
I
knew
who
they
were,
they
knew
well
who
I

was,
they
had
passed
me
in
the
street
on
numerous
occasions
while
I
was

pregnant,
then
again
when
Katie
had
been
born,
had
heard
the
rumors
that

she
was
Brian’s
child
yet
never
bothered
to
make
any
sort
of
contact
or
give

help
of
any
kind.
The
last
I
had
heard
of
them
was
that
they
had
sold
up
and

had
moved
to
the
sun
to
help
heal
Mrs.
Whine’s
arthritis.

After
the
anger
had
passed
I
quickly
became
embarrassed
by
the
fact
I

had
just
screamed
the
house
down
at
their
son
about
my
right
to
drink
all
I

like
on
a
Saturday
night
and
dance
the
streets
naked,
while
they
sat
in
the

very
next
room
in
silence
listening
to
my
every
word.
I
could
imagine
them

Ruby,
sitting
there
with
their
noses
turned
up
with
disgust
at
the
unem-

ployed
young
single
mother
who
had
their
son’s
baby
without
anybody’s

consent
and
drank
to
get
drunk
on
the
weekends.
(Imagine!)

All
these
emotions
and
thoughts
ran
through
me
in
a
matter
of
seconds

while
Brian
watched
me
digest
the
information.
I
slowly
put
my
bags
down

(making
loud
clinking
noises)
and
I
entered
the
living
room.
I
introduced

myself
in
my
best
sober
voice
and
shook
their
hands
politely,
thanked
them

for
coming
back
to
meet
Katie
and
me
but
apologized
that
I
couldn’t
stay

because
I
had
made
plans
for
the
evening
already
and
pretended
as
though

they
hadn’t
already
overheard
what
exactly
they
were.
Well
I
couldn’t

exactly
sit
down
and
have
a
serious
conversation
with
them
could
I?
My

head
was
spinning
and
every
time
I
spoke,
my
voice
sounded
like
it
was
com-

ing
from
the
other
side
of
the
room.
So
I
made
my
excuses
and
left.
Of

course
I
had
absolutely
nowhere
to
go
so
I
just
wandered
the
streets
for
ages

and
pondered
my
life.
After
a
while
I
decided
I
hated
it
and
everyone
in
it
(I

know,
I
know—
again
),
and
seeing
as
Katie
was
away
safe
for
the
night
and

Brian
the
Whine
had
company
I
made
my
way
to
the
nearest
pub
and

drowned
my
sorrows.