Apple of My Eye Read Online Free PDF Page B

the orphanage, bastard.’
    The arguing continued. Then there was the sound of foosteps. Ronnie’s mother running upstairs. Auntie Vera appeared in the kitchen, her face flushed and angry. ‘Looks like I’m making supper then. You two make yourselves useful. Peter, peel the potatoes. Ronnie, lay the table. And what are those roller skates doing on the floor? Put them outside.’
    Peter jumped to his feet. Ronnie did too but made for the kitchen door, where a troubled-looking Uncle Stan was standing.
    ‘And where do you think you’re going?’ demanded Auntie Vera.
    ‘To see my mum.’
    ‘Do what you’re told. Lay the table.’
    ‘I want to see my mum.’
    ‘Let him go, Vera.’ Another weak interjection from Uncle Stan.
    Auntie Vera folded her arms. ‘Lay the table, Ronnie.’
    Ronnie shook his head.
    ‘Now!’
    For a moment he stood his ground. His hands were clenched into fists. In the background Peter was giggling again.
    Then his hands relaxed. He smiled. A soft, sweet gesture of submission.
    ‘Yes, Auntie Vera. Sorry, Auntie Vera.’
    Meekly he went about his task.
    Anna sat on her bed, staring down at the silver band she wore on her finger.
    It had been a thirteenth birthday present from her parents. The last birthday she had celebrated with them before the fatal air raid. She had nothing else to remember them by. No photographs. No other mementoes or keepsakes. Everything of emotional value had been destroyed by the bomb.
    All except her memories. Her father’s voice. Her mother’s smile. Her brother’s laugh as he told her a joke or teased her about a film-star crush. Faint echoes of a time when she had not been frightened of the future. When she had known what it was to feel secure and safe.
    She had to leave here. Take Ronnie and move away. But where would she go? What would she do? She had no brains or talent. She could not earn enough to keep them both. Not without Stan and Vera’s help.
    She heard footsteps. Ronnie stood in the doorway, watching her with anxious eyes. In his hand was a piece of bread and jam. As she looked at him she knew Vera was right. She should have had him adopted. Given him a decent start in life. Not kept him with her because she was too weak to go on being alone.
    Self-disgust overwhelmed her. She burst into tears.
    He ran towards her. Threw his arms around her neck. ‘Don’t cry, Mum. Please.’
    ‘Oh, Ronnie …’
    They stayed like that for some time. Not saying anything. Rocking backwards and forwards with him sitting on her knee so that to an outside observer it might seem that she was the one offering comfort.
    Her tears slowed. She wiped her eyes. ‘Don’t mind me. I’m just being silly.’
    He touched her ring. ‘You were thinking about Granny Mary, weren’t you?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘You miss her. And Grandpa Ronald and Uncle John. You wish they were here.’
    She nodded.
    ‘I don’t want to be adopted, Mum. Don’t make me be adopted.’
    ‘Never.’
    ‘Promise?’
    ‘Promise.’
    ‘Cross your heart and hope to die?’
    ‘Cross my heart and hope to die.’
    He rested his head against her chest. She stroked his hair. ‘I’m sorry, Ronnie.’
    ‘For what?’
    ‘That you only have me.’
    ‘My dad will come soon and then I’ll have him too.’
    ‘He isn’t going to come, Ronnie.’
    ‘Yes he is, and then …’
    She cupped his face in her hands. Stared down at him. ‘Ronnie, you must listen to me. Your father isn’t going to come. Not ever. I’d give anything for that not to be true, but it is. We only have each other.’
    His eyes became troubled. He looked much older suddenly; like the little man he tried so hard to be. She felt ashamed. Wished she had allowed him to hang on to his dream.
    ‘Don’t worry, Mum,’ he said eventually. ‘We’ll be all right. I’ll look after you. I promise.’
    Then he began to sing. ‘You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey.’ His voice was high and off key. A wave