White Light by Mark O'Flynn Read Free Book Online Page A

Christmas present that was all my own.
    7.
    Mum said that if he wanted to borrow her car three or four nights a week, then the deal was he would have to come to the Company with us to hear the sermonettes. The car was, after all, registered in her name. Troy squirmed a bit, but after making a phone call, finally agreed. I was happy because if the Last Judgment suddenly struck he would not be annihilated and we could sit beside each other and let our thighs touch as the prayers kind of washed around us.
    8.
    There were strange phone calls in the middle of the night. Messages for Troy from someone who called himself Max, who said things like ‘The proof of the pudding is in the tank.’ And ‘Fine feathers make fine feather dusters.’
    I was to relay these messages exactly and not mix them up. In fact, the first time, he gripped my arm and made me recite the message exactly. I soon learned to race to the phone before Mum should take it into her head and answer it. Troy said I was a good message-taker.
    9.
    At the Kingdom Hall, the District Servants and Pioneers surrounded Troy, welcoming him into the Company. They asked all about his past and his conversion. When did he see the light? Troy held my hand, patting it like a fish, saying we were soon going to be married. That sentence made my innards go all soft and gooey. The District Servants, the Pioneers and other young men looked at each other and mumbled... You mean we weren’t even married and yet we were cohabiting under the same roof? What would be next, fishing? Gambling? Abortion?
    â€˜It does not look seemly, Elaine, to have an unmarried man cohabiting under the same roof as your daughter,’ said the Pioneer, paraphrasing something from the Book of Revelations.
    Before Mum could get a word in, Troy wisecracked, ‘Get off your hobby horse, mate, I’m going to make an honest woman of her. And what a woman!’
    No one laughed.
    â€˜I hope you don’t mean me, Troy,’ said Mum. She giggled nervously.
    â€˜It’s not like I’m asking her to have a blood transfusion, for Christ’s sake,’ said Troy.
    I could see the looks of annihilation registering in their eyes. Several job offers were forthcoming from the men of the Company but Troy, he said he already had a job. ‘Thanks all the same, chaps.’ And if they needed any cheap electricals, then he was their man.
    10.
    One day, I came home from the blind and curtain shop where I worked as a receptionist and found Mum vacuuming the carpet like a whirling dervish. The furniture had been thrust aside all higgledy-piggledy, the new vacuum cleaner hot to the touch.
    â€˜Are we having a Home Visit?’
    Her eyes looked pinned back in her head, her hair flung upwards as if she’d been riding a motorcycle.
    â€˜Hello, darling,’ she said. ‘No, we’re not. I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling really energised and alive today.’
    â€˜That’s good.’
    â€˜I feel like I’ve been touched by the Spirit. All around me is white light.’
    I unlocked the lock Troy had installed on our door. Troy was lying on the bed laughing his head off.
    â€˜She’s vacuumed the same bit of carpet ten times.’
    â€˜What have you done?’
    He kicked the cushions aside.
    â€˜I put some gas in her coffee.’
    â€˜What does that mean?’
    â€˜A bit of go-ey. Some gas. You know—amphetamines. You want some?’
    I was horrified.
    â€˜You have to go and tell her.’
    â€˜Let’s wait until she’s finished.’
    â€˜No.’
    â€˜Go on.’
    â€˜No.’
    I made him go and explain or I wouldn’t sleep with him that night. Or maybe ever, I was that serious. I crept down the hall and listened at the door while he sat Mum down, gazing into her shrunken pupils and explained. It was quite complicated. When she twigged, Mum fell to her knees in shock and started praying loudly from