Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool Read Online Free PDF Page B

caught up
in the lining and, because I’d moved, my back was only covered by a sleeve.
    ‘Peter . . .’
    It wasn’t a dream. It was Gloria who’d called my name. I threw off the coat and the blanket and ran down the stairs to the middle room.
    She was looking towards the door waiting for me to arrive.
    ‘I didn’t hear you,’ I said. ‘I’ve just woken up. Are you okay?’
    ‘I guess I’m okay.’ She turned away. ‘I thought you were going to stay in here, Peter. You said that you were going to sleep on that other little bed right there. You
sneaked off.’
    ‘You fell asleep and I didn’t want to disturb you.’
    ‘Hmm,’ she sighed. ‘That wouldn’t have mattered.’
    Gloria was mad at me for leaving her by herself. I recognized the expression. It was just like a New York morning. She would get up early and disappear into the bathroom to take a shower and put
on her make-up. Eventually she would return looking glamorous, but pouting and sulking heavily. If I’d fallen asleep again she would wake me up with bits of breakfast, which usually consisted
of a glass of milk mixed with lecithin granules and vitamin B powder. Then the pills: a calcium magnesium, a ‘C’ and a ‘D’. After that I’d get a cold boiled egg, a
strange piece of toast and an apricot kernel. Coffee would come last. She’d stop sulking when I’d say something nice and then we’d get on with the rest of the day. I always
enjoyed her morning sulks.
    Even though she was ill and uncomfortable, the sight of her sulking now was pathetic and sweet and it made me sad.
    ‘Your hair looks nice.’
    ‘Your mother fixed it,’ she said.
    ‘You look much better today.’
    ‘I feel much better.’
    ‘Do you want me to get you anything?’
    ‘Your mother’s done everything for me. She’s already been in and helped me out.’
    It was obvious that my mother had been about. The covers on the bed looked neat and tidy and there was a cup of tea on the table next to it. Gloria looked fresh and alert and her hair did look
presentable. She really was looking better than she had the night before.
    ‘I’m going down to the kitchen,’ I said. ‘And then I’m going to the health food shop.’
    ‘Okay, Peter, but don’t forget the grape juice. I need the black grape juice. And get me that book by Adele Davis, it’s called
Let’s Get Well
.’
    ‘Do you want me to get you some magazines?’
    ‘No, thanks, Peter. I don’t want to look at a magazine.’
    ‘Do you want me to bring you a radio?’
    ‘No, thanks, Peter. I don’t want to listen to the radio. I just want to be alone. I’m thinking.’
    The window was open. It was cold so I closed it.
    ‘No, don’t do that,’ she said. ‘Please leave it open. I want the window open.’
    My mother was on her knees sorting out the cupboards underneath the kitchen sink.
    ‘I was just coming to wake you.’ She looked up as I came through the door.
    ‘There’s no need for you to be doing that, is there? It’s a bit early in the day.’
    ‘If it wasn’t for me, nothing would ever get done in this house. Joe’s been on the phone –’ she stood up to tell me – ‘and he wants you to meet him in
that health food shop in Lower Breck Road. He hasn’t got time to come here and collect you. He’s got to do something to the car.’
    ‘What time did he say?’
    ‘Round about eleven, so you’d better get a move on,’ she added, looking towards the clock. ‘It’s just turned half past nine.’
    Breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast was instantly produced and my mother got back down to clearing away the pots and pans with a determined look in her eye. We didn’t mention Gloria but I
wasn’t convinced that she was really absorbed in her household chores, so I sat in silence eating the food. When she started to dismantle parts of the gas stove and began cleaning the steel
grill with a knife, I thought that perhaps it might be wise to speak.
    ‘I had a terrible sleep,’ I