Im not your mum any longer, she said, deadpan.
Listen, well have to sell the flat, Samuel Brooks muttered, eyes glued to the floor, and the car too. These people wont leave us alone. Its not just me who could get hurt you and Milly are at risk as well.
But we could go to the police
What police? I owe them a proper sum, he finally looked up, and the interest is piling up so fast I might as well hang myself. Youll have to stay with my mother for a while, you know.
And you? she asked.
Ive got to get out of here. Ill never be able to pay off the debts; the firms already been seized. Im heading north. Seasonal workers are raking in decent wages up there. Maybe, if Im lucky, everything will settle down.
Natalie had a vague idea that things were spiralling the moment strangers with hardlooked faces and obvious criminal records started dropping by for a chat on the street. Samuel would come back from those meetings looking lost, even angry, and would start shouting at Milly for the tiniest misdemeanours. After all, the little girl was only four; she wasnt a trained dog.
Samuels business was a bit of a mystery. Yes, his company sold computer equipment online, but Natalie had no clue where the laptops and monitors were coming from. Most likely they were counterfeit, because whole batches regularly had to be pulled from the market. Each time that happened Samuel had to dive deeper into debt just to keep the ship afloat. Hed managed to wriggle out a few times, but this time the knot had finally tightened and tightly.
Natalie had grown up in a village, so she could have happily moved back in with her parents if she didnt have a roof of her own. She wasnt keen on quitting her job, though she was the deputy headmistress at an elite private school that specialised in English literature, and the prospect of becoming headmistress was practically promised. Mrs. Margaret Collins, the current head, had already announced she would retire in a year. Walking away now would have been downright foolish.
Living under her motherinlaws roof was never going to be a dream either. From the moment they met, the relationship had been rocky. At first Natalie was an unwanted bridetobe you can see the village from a mile away. Then, after shed graduated with honours and started teaching at the specialised English school, she became the foreign fancypants who cant even make a proper stew. Yet Samuel loved her borscht, praised it, and she tried her best to keep up with home cooking despite her long teaching days that stretched well into the evening.
Mrs. Collins was overjoyed about the grandchild, but she wasnt exactly fond of Natalie:
Good wives never run off to the North, she chided.
It wasnt me he ran from it was his creditors. Hes buried in debt.
And where have you been looking? A good wife keeps the familys finances in order. Back in our day we called it running the household. Youve never managed a proper dinner for your daughter, have you?
When theres time, I do cook everything.
And why dont you have time? What is this school of yours that runs lessons until midnight? Ill have a look sometime. Im sure youve already taken a husbands place in the kitchen
One evening she turned up at the school for an inspection. Shouldnt have come, she muttered as the complaints piled up. Everything was written in a foreign script that was fine but the cats roaming the corridors were an outright scandal. This is a school, not a zoo. Decent women would never work in such chaos. She even noted how the lanky English teacher, David Spencer, kept eyeing Natalie, as if trying to undress her with his gaze.
David, a fellow English teacher, was indeed fond of Natalie, but he never crossed the line he knew she had a family.
The cats, you see, were part of the schools Britishstyle pastoral programme. The belief was that close contact with animals makes children kinder, so a few British Shorthairs were allowed to rove freely, even hopping onto desks during lessons. In practice they behaved better than most pupils.
Samuel occasionally sent emails about his whereabouts, but never in detail. He stopped altogether once the men with criminal backgrounds started appearing at the door, asking about him. Natalie grew uneasy, fearing the creditors had tracked him down, but her motherinlaw remained oddly optimistic.
If theyd found him, theyd have stopped coming here, she said.
So why did he go silent?
Youll never guess. Hes a bright lad; he wont stay single for long
A year later, just as the school term was drawing to a close, Samuel wrote that hed met another woman and was now living with her. He didnt see it as cheating after all, there was never an official marriage between him and Natalie. He said nothing about Milly, as if the child didnt exist. Mrs. Collins immediately found an excuse:
Looks like he knows Milly isnt his.
What? She was born while he was with us.
Born to him, maybe, but not from him that can happen, cant it?
Enough of this, Mum! Natalie snapped.
Im not your mother any more. I might stay as Millys granny, but from today Im just Elizabeth Marlowe, or nothing at all thats better.
It was clear they had to move out of the exmotherinlaws flat. Natalie could barely picture a solution. Renting in London was expensive, and she still had to raise Milly. She could try to scrimp, but was it worth staying in a city where, apart from her daughter, nobody else remained? Her own parents, hearing about her troubles, were now urging her to return to the village, promising a teaching post the countryside always needs a teacher.
Mrs. Collins put her own plans on hold:
Dont get carried away, love. Im planning to hand the school over to you; the board isnt opposed.
So where will we live?
Ill speak to the board. They might fund a rental or give a loan. In the meantime, why dont you both move into my cottage? The academic years ending, its May, no heating needed. My husband and I only come out on weekends anyway. When summer comes, you can take a break and head to your parents.
David Spencer offered to drive the few belongings they had just clothes and a handful of dishes in his old sedan. On the way he asked:
And where will you stay in winter?
KCollins said shed find something to rent.
Why bother? Ive got a spare room in my onebed flat. I stay with my mum most of the time; shes ill and cooks for me. Surviving on frozen dumplings and instant noodles forever isnt ideal.
Well see. Im thinking of moving to the village for good this summer.
What about our school? Theyre already lining up a new head
I was always being matched up for marriage. Schools are everywhere, you know.
At the cottage Milly thrived. The fresh air gave her rosy cheeks, and she quickly became friends with Mrs. Collins and her husband practically a new family.
Natalie thought of her former life less and less. It was painful, but perhaps for the best. Samuel would have abandoned them anyway; he never wanted to go to the registry office.
The same David Spencer drove them to the village. After a long day of packing, Mrs. Collins set a farewell table. They arrived just as dusk fell. As David started loading the car, Natalies motherinlaw wouldnt let them go:
Stay a while, where will you be overnight? Ill bring fresh milk, lets have dinner
Natalie followed her, sighing:
Did you really think David was a prospective husband for my daughter?
Isnt that how it works?
No, we have no plans, none at all.
Dont delude yourself. I see the way he looks at you. Milly could easily end up with him
From a distance Natalie watched David and Milly chatting and laughing. Maybe a little thing could happen, she thought, and for the first time in ages her heart felt a warm, calm glow, almost like the carefree days of childhood.
