Diane looked at me for a response, but I felt as if someone had merely opened the door to an empty room. I didn't feel anything. It simply confirmed that during my life my father had already been dead to me. After breakfast, I walked to the local telephone box. My mother answered the phone. "What happened?" I asked. "Your father had a heart attack. It happened this morning, around two…" said she in her domineering voice. On hearing another voice in the background, I interrupted, "Who else is with you?" "Your auntie Gladys. Do you want to speak to her?" Gladys must have been standing close to my mother, because almost immediately she broke into the conversation. "Hello Ronald," she began, then without pausing for breath launched into an interminable barrage of endless patter, like the clatter of rain on a tin roof. When I could bear it no longer, I interrupted her. "Where is he now?"
- 87 - |
.