About a boy part 2

Continued from here.

Angela was furious. She dragged John off to the kitchen where she slapped him and yelled at him. The kitchen staff fleeing. She rarely lost her calm but she hadn't been lucky with her children. John was the rebellious one and Perry was the sensitive one. Sean had been the glorious middle child, a wonderful mix. Since Sean had become ill she'd sometimes sit in the livingroom with a glass of red wine pondering why it would be Sean who would die. They had known very early on that they couldn't cure the type of cancer he had. So she wondered if it would have been easier if it had been John or Perry instead. One of the two extremes. John had always had the ability to drive her up the wall, and Perry. Well Perry was so young, but who knew what he'd turn into once he hit puberty.

Having finished yelling at John, she dragged him into the hallway where she met her other sister Olivia. Olivia was a weathered woman of 55 who had spent her life worshipping the sun and was now paying the price. Her skin like pleather boots and tired eyes she was still running an illegal daycare business out of her kitchen. She stood there in her black polyester pants, turquois shirt and black flats. Angelan immediately noticed the flats, she frowned. "would you be ok taking the kids home and watching them until it's over?", Olivia looked at Angela and responded "sure, but I'm not taking Perry. Remember last time, he had been chased up a tree by my sons". Angela agreed, Perry would have to stay. Afterall, the family should be represented, children included.

Angela watched as Olivia and her husband took John and his cousins by their arms and dragged them to the car and drove off into the afternoon. She may not like her but she knew Olivia was dying to leave as they weren't allowed to smoke in the room or on the terrace. Then she went looking for her sister Sally. Sally could keep an eye on Perry. Afterall she liked him so much, maybe she'd offer to have him stay over for a few days. It worried her that he hadn't seemed to show any type of emotion since Sean had died.

Would he be more like her than she thought? For the first few years she'd wondered where he'd come from because Perry didn't look or act like any of them. He might as well have been adopted. Now she almost wished he'd stayed that way, as he was showing all her trades. Lack of emotions being the worst. It had always bothered her that she had to pretend to care, be sad and be happy for others. Her sisters knew she was cold, void of emotion and empathy but she'd managed to fool Kenneth. Or maybe he'd seen a different side of her. She would have to make sure Perry wouldn't turn out that way.

Perry had been the smiling boy who cried at everything. Overly emotional, but he seemed to have hardened after Sean had died. She didn't understand, because Sean and Perry hadn't been interacting a lot. It had always been John and Sean. They were together, playing. When Sean got sick John was allowed to go behind the red door. To the cancer wing. Perry was not, as he was so young and was a potential disease carrier. Sean had been behind the red door for close to a year. Angela didn't understand, but then there was more important stuff to deal with today. She had to mingle.

Kenneth brought a gin and tonic over to Sally who was sitting on the terrace enjoying the view. "Beautiful day, yeah?" he said. Sally looked at him and said "this will be my eighth, your wife won't approve". He looked in through the window and saw Angela being hugged tight by a plump gray haired woman wiping her drag queen like makeup off on her dress. "There are lots of things she won't approve of today, I doubt you'll make the top 10" he said smiling. "It's tough though, I don't know what we are going to do now. When this is over". Sally smiled and said "You go home, hug your children and tell them everything will be alright". He knew she was right, life had to go on, and if anybody could pull that off, it would be his wife. "Have you seen Perry" he then asked before spotting him sitting alone with his legs dangling over the edge of the terrace.

The rest of the day went beautifully, just like Angela had imagined it. The assortment of cheeses and sausages was divine, and everyone seemed to cheer up a bit. Afterall, alcohol did lift the spirit of most. By 6pm everyone had left and Angela rounded up Sally, Kenneth and Perry. Kenneth went to settle the bill and Sally and Perry walked down to the brown Ford Escort. Angela stayed behind waiting for her husband before joining the others by the car.

Then they drove Sally home, and then changed direction towards their home. They drove down the road towards their home. A villa with 3 bedroom, 2 livingroom and a large kitchen built in 1977 a year before Angela, Kenneth, John and Sean had moved in. It was definately the right move Angela thought. They had bought Angelas childhood home and lived there for a number of years but it was a 3 story house and it was so impractical. Besides, they'd gotten a good price for the house and made a bargain on the villa. The neighbours were also very dignified and had kept their distance since Sean got sick.

Perry went straight for his room and went to bed. It had been a long day and the sun had taken its toll on him. Kenneth grabbed a bottle of red wine and two glasses, then joined Angela on the patio. They didn't say anything, they just sat there, sipping wine and staring into the dark garden. When the bottle was empty, Angela went and got another one. There was no point in holding back tonight. Tomorrow was going to be dreadful anyway.

At 2am Kenneth went to bed. Angela just sat there. When she was sure everyone had gone to sleep she curled into a ball on the garden bench and a tear ran down her cheek. The next morning Kenneth found his wife wrapped in a blanket on the bench, asleep. A third half empty bottle of wine on the table next to the bench.