A Friend of the Family by Lisa Jewell Read Free Book Online Page B

answer it.
    ‘Hello, angel,’ they could hear her saying. ‘… Now close your eyes, Seany – I’ve got a surprise for you.’
    ‘All my boys, all together, it’s like being in heaven.’ Bernie looked as if she were about to expire with pure joy as her eyes swivelled around the table from son to son.
    ‘Mickey,’ she said to the dark-haired man standing proprietarily by the cash desk, ‘look – all my boys!’
    ‘Aah,’ said Mickey, snapping to attention and walking towards their table, ‘so I see.’
    Tony was never entirely sure whether Mickey genuinely liked his family or whether the bonhomie and familiarity were all part of some slick PR thing. The Londons had been coming to Mickey’s since Tony was a baby. Mickey’s had been the first Greek to open up in the area and for a while it was the most popular restaurant around. All the local young couples came here on Saturday nights to relive their Mediterranean holidays. When the boys were kids they’d been to Mickey’s every Saturday night, sometimes just the family and sometimeswith friends; they went there not just for the food but also for the ‘entertainment’– musicians, dancers, plate-breaking. But nowadays they went only on special occasions: birthdays, promotions, engagements – and the return of youngest sons.
    ‘So,’ said Mickey, beaming beatifically at the family, his hand resting on the back of Tony’s chair, ‘where you bin hiding, Mr Ned? Why you leave your mother on her own for so long, eh? Your mother, she bin pining – pining pining pining.’
    ‘You tell him, Mickey,’ said Bernie good-naturedly. ‘Three years, he’s been gone – three years!
    Mickey tutted extravagantly and raised his hands to the ceiling. ‘I tell you, if one of my boys did this – other side of the world, three years, no visits – Mrs Mickey, she would die, probably, die of a broken heart.’ He clutched his hand to his chest to illustrate the breaking of Mrs Mickey’s heart. Mickey was prone to melodrama, another trait that Tony had never been sure was genuine or part of an elaborately constructed persona. The whole family worked on the assumption that Mickey loved the Londons, but for all they knew he could be throwing darts at photos of them in his spare time and sticking pins into voodoo dolls. Tony didn’t trust anyone who was in a position to make money out of him. Ever. They had too much to gain by being nice to you.
    ‘What you bin doing out there in Aussieland for three years, Mr Ned? You bin surfing, huh?’
    Ned grimaced and was about to answer when Mickey suddenly turned round to acknowledge a customer who’djust walked in. Another deeply loved customer, judging by the look of joy and delight that spread across his face.
    ‘Hey, Mr Gervase!’
    Tony turned in his seat. Gervase. Great. Fucking great. Couldn’t this family do anything on their own these days without Skeletor turning up?
    ‘All right, Mickey – how’s it hanging?’The two men shook hands warmly and Gervase pulled off his leather jacket and took the empty seat between Bernie and Ness. ‘Sorry, I’m late, Bern.’ He kissed her on the cheek and she flushed with pleasure.
    ‘Never you mind, love. We haven’t even ordered yet.’
    Tony caught Ned’s eye. He was throwing him a ‘What the fuck is this all about?’ look. Tony shook his head slightly and sent him a ‘This is just the way things are now and I don’t like it any more than you do’ look.
    ‘All right, beautiful?’ Gervase leant in to Ness and gave her a big smacker on the cheek.
    Ness beamed and Tony stared at his menu, crossly. This was their restaurant. The Londons’ restaurant. This was where they came, as a family.
    Apparently Mum had met him at the pub, that place where she sang on Wednesday nights, and they’d ‘got chatting’– whatever that meant. He’d given her some sob story about how his girlfriend had kicked him out and he was about to spend his last fifty quid taking a hotel