Page 20 of We All Live Here
“You got a cell phone?”
“Mum won’t let me have one,” she says.
“Because she’s eight,” says Celie, defensively.
“You got one, Celia?”
“It’s Celie,” says Mum, through gritted teeth.
“Of course it is.”
Celie doesn’t want to hand it over. She doesn’t know what messages might come through while he’s holding it. So she shakes her head and pushes her phone deeper into the front pocket of her hoodie.
There is a short silence. Mum sighs. “Violet, go and get the iPad.”
When the extract is finally located, with a lot of squinting from Gene, who clearly can’t see very well but doesn’t have glasses, Celie moves to the sofa on the other side of Gene so that she can watch. She feels like a traitor, though she’s not entirely sure why. Mum, who has clearly seen this before, gets up and goes to help Bill in the kitchen. She cannot hear what they’re murmuring to each other, but at one point Bill reaches out a hand and rests it on the middle of Mum’s back.
And then some tinny theme music is playing on the iPad and Gene is exclaiming with pleasure. “There it is! Twenty-four million Americans tuned in every week at its height. Isn’t that a great theme tune? Da-dadadadada-da-DAAA…da-DAAA.” He waves his right arm like a conductor.
And then there he is, his face thinner and unlined, his hair black and sleek against his head. He is wearing a blue nylon jacket with gold epaulets and a planet insignia on his chest. “I didn’t think I’d see you again after the great Saturn disaster,” he is saying, with his American accent, his voice low and tender.
A beautiful young African American woman with sprayed silver hair is gazing up at him through huge eyes. “They told me…you were killed in battle, Captain. Why would they do that?”
“Isn’t she a doll? That was Marni Di Michaels. We were…very close for a while. She eventually married a football player. You know the Chicago Bulls? Or was it the Braves? What was his name…?”
Celie stares at the woman, who is gazing at Young Gene like she could eat him. Oh, God, she probably had. She steals a sideways glance at Old Gene, who is mouthing the words of the script as it plays, lost again in his fictional world.
“The episodes where Captain Strang and Vuleva were together were the highest rated in the whole series. They killed her off in series three, and I told the director it was a mistake. And you know what? I was right, because—”
“Supper,” says Bill, loudly, and starts moving the dishes with a clatter onto the table.
•••
They are halfwaythrough a near-silent meal when Mum finally speaks. “So why weren’t you in touch after Mum died?”
There is a brief pause, and then Gene sighs. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I had so much work and I couldn’t get a flight so…”
“She was your wife.”
“Not for a very long time.”
“Wait, what?” says Celie, her fork halting halfway to her mouth.
“But she was. For ten years. I’m proof of that. It would have been a mark of respect to show up. For once in your life.”
The girls are staring at Gene and then at each other.
“You’re Mum’sdad?” says Celie. She is about to saywe thought you were deadbut realizes it might not be the kindest thing. Instead she says: “But…how come you aren’t in Mum and Dad’s wedding pictures?”
Gene rubs at his ear. “Yeah. I had to be away filming. It was…tricky. The industry, you know? It’s like a juggernaut. Nothing I could do.”
Mum’s face looks like it’s sculpted from marble. Nothing moves on it. Violet closes her mouth as if she’s just remembered she has one, then says slowly: “You don’t look like a grandpa.”
“Ahh, I never much liked that term. You can call me Gene.”
“You never liked ‘Dad’ much either, as far as I can remember.” Mum doesn’t look up from her plate.
Celie is in shock. The only things she knows about her grandfather are these: that Mum doesn’t ever drink because he drank; that he left when Mum was small; that he was unreliable, and Grandma had to cope all by herself, but we don’t need to talk about it. That Bill is the exact opposite of him, and that was why he and Grandma were so happy. She’snot sure now why she thought Gene was dead, but she has never even heard him mentioned by name until today.
