Margaret remembered all too well her bitter conversation with that dreadful woman who had married her son, Daniel. She had done her best to talk him out of it, but in the end, it made no differenceat least, not at first. That provincial nobody had far too much nerve.
“Listen here, Margaret. Why pretend youre some wise matriarch? I know you cant stand me, and its because I see right through you. I wont bend to your whims. What gives you the right to barge into our flat every evening uninvited? Were not living off your money,” the cheeky girl had spat at her.
“Excuse me? You dare lecture me? Wait till you reach my age” Margarets carefully maintained poise shattered, revealing the petty, small-minded woman beneath. She had lived her life with one goal: comfort, no matter whose feelings she crushed along the way.
“Margaret, Daniel and I love each other. And Ive noticed how your little chats affect him. Wasnt it enough that you drove out his father and talked him into signing over his share of the flat? Now you wont even let him live? If you cant love him yourself, at least let someone else try,” said the infuriatingly bold Emily.
“Oh, so thats your tune now? Well, let me tell you something, you little upstart! Who even are you? Crawled out of some backwater town, didnt you? Youre nothing. One missed paycheck, and youll be on the streets. And you have the gall to tell me what to do?” Margarets temper flared.
“Is that how you measure decency? So, if you swindle a flat and toss people out, youre some grand lady? But if I earn my keep honestly, thats shameful? Not all of us latch onto husbands with property just to bleed them dry. And for your informationI know you werent born in London either.” Emily had struck a nerve.
Margaret had, in fact, come from a tiny village decades ago, with no education or prospects.
“Youll never be with my son! A mother is sacred! Get out!” Margaret had no real retort left, so she played her trump card.
Emily just scoffed and walked away. The argument changed nothingshe and Daniel married anyway.
But Margaret didnt give up. When Emily had their son, Oliver, she poisoned Daniel against his wife until they divorced. Oliver was only four.
Yet Margaret still feared Daniel might crawl back to that brazen little actress. She knew he still saw them occasionally, even paid child support.
What she didnt know? Daniel and Emily had never really split. They raised Oliver together while Margaret thought hed moved away for work.
The plan wasnt just about his meddling mother. Years before the wedding, Daniel had fallen into debt after a bad business deal with his mate, Jack.
“Dan, dont do it. Jacks a shark. Youre just a lamb to him. Hell ruin you,” Emily had warned.
“Em, dont exaggerate. Jacks solid. Men have to stick together. Thats how we survive.”
“Dan, hes using you. You preach brotherhood, but decency isnt about gender. When will you grow up?”
He ignored her. Jack made him director of a shell company, vanished with the money, and left Daniel drowning in debt.
Theyd have been better off on his modest civil service salary. So, they hatched their plankill two birds with one stone. Margaret gloated over the divorce, and Daniels creditors left Emily and Oliver alone.
Officially, he lived in company housing. In reality, he came home each night to his family.
He was happy. But once a month, hed visit Margaret, who still thrust “suitable” women at him.
“Should we just tell her about the debts? And us?” Emily suggested.
“No Itd break her. Well find another way,” Daniel sighed.
“But how? We cant hide forever! Some lifea secret family!”
There was no way out. Emily scraped by with odd jobs; most of Daniels wages went to debts. They were nearly destitute. Sometimes he told her to leave him. But she loved him.
“Em, why keep supporting him? Youve got nothing but problemspaying rent, feeding him Why? Youre not even married anymore!” Emilys mother, Helen, a retired schoolteacher, begged her to come homewithout Daniel.
“Mum, I love him. We have Oliver. I wont abandon him.”
Helen had raised Emily alone. She hoped an ultimatum would make her daughter see sense. No luck. So, she devised her own plan.
“Margaret We need to talk.” Helen had traveled from Yorkshire to confront her.
“Debts? And hes still with her? Lying to me?” Margaret was livid.
“Yes. And my daughters scraping by to feed him. I came against her wishes. What do we do? Were the elderswe must help them.”
“But how?”
“Pool our savings. Ive little, but for my daughter my grandson.”
“Youre serious? Hes a grown man! I raised himthats enough! No help! I disown him!” Margaret wouldnt spare a penny.
“Fine. Move in with me. Its cramped, but well manage.” After Margarets rejection, Helen made peace with Daniel.
“I dont mind,” Emily said quietly.
“Neither do I. Helen Im sorry for how Mum acted at the wedding.”
Daniel remembered mocking Emilys provincial relatives for not using proper cutlery. Now he knew that didnt matter.
“Youre the last man Id ask. But Emily needs help,” Helen phoned her ex-husband, George.
“Helen, of course. Shes my only child. Whats needed?”
“A place to live. And money.”
George had done well in construction. She expected refusalhed always been tight-fisted.
“How much?”
She named the debt.
“Fine. One condition.”
“Which is?”
“Have dinner with me.”
Helen laughedlike a girl again.
Years later, Oliver turned eighteen. The family gatheredHelen and George, hand in hand. Love had returned after years of courtship.
Emily and Daniel had remarriedbut only after George bought Emily a flat in her name. Daniel had reformed, working steadily.
“Everyone here?” Oliver asked.
The doorbell rang. Oliver answeredand there stood Margaret.
“You invited her?” Emily frowned.
“Mum, I felt sorry for her. She kept calling saying she was lonely.”
“Took you long enough to apologize,” Helen said sharply.
“Easy, love. Without her, we wouldnt be here. Weve all made mistakes,” George chided.
“Mum, why the act?” Daniel scowled.
“I just came to say sorry,” Margaret murmured.
Shed waited for them to beg. When they didnt, the loneliness gnawed at her.
“I thought youd grovel. But Im not so heartless. Forgive me.”
Silence. Then someone poured her tea. Passed the sandwiches.
No one in that family ever mastered proper cutlery. But they had kindness, happinessand forgiveness.
