Time To Play by KA Richardson (best book club books of all time TXT) 📗

li precariously balanced the shopping bags in one arm while trying to unlock the door to his flat. He didn’t know if Marlo was still inside with Elvie, but he figured the two eggs and spring onion that were in the fridge wouldn’t feed one of them, let alone three, so he’d stopped at the supermarket on the way back.

Pushing open the door, he heard laughter from inside. Laughter that sounded awfully familiar.

Stepping over the threshold, he peeked round into the living room, and was surprised to see his mum sitting on the couch, chatting to Elvie and Marlo.

‘Ma?’ he asked, stepping through. He was confused. Had he invited her down, then forgotten? Or was she staying with Cass and Alex, and his brother had failed to mention it?

‘Alistair,’ she greeted warmly, pulling herself to her feet and coming to him. She wrapped her arms round him and squeezed tightly, ‘Surprise! I thought I’d pop down and see my sons. Is that shopping? That’s good, because what ye had in was pitiful. How do ye expect to feed a woman and bairn if you dinnae keep food in the fridge? We had chips for lunch, from that place round the corner. Quite nice, it was. Not a patch on Clyde’s Chippy near us, but still good.’

He followed his mother into the kitchen and stood silently as she started unpacking the bags. After a few seconds, he decided he couldn’t hold back.

‘What’re you doing here, Ma? I wasn’t expecting you.’

‘I know that, son. That’s the whole point of a surprise, ye know. I just missed ye, is all. It’s been months since ye’ve been up, and Alex mentioned ye might be having a tough time of it at the minute with work and what not. It’s nae bother if me being here’s an issue: I can go and stay in a hotel.’

‘No. I didn’t mean that, Ma. I was just curious. I’ve missed you too. Every time I plan to come up, something happens, and it ends up not being possible. I’m sorry, Ma.’

‘OK, I’ll take the couch, though admittedly the flat seems a little crowded. I presume ye’re aware there’s a young lassie in there who needs yer help? She’s had an awful time of it, the poor wee mite.’

‘She told you about it?’ Ali tried not to sound incredulous. Not only was he harbouring an illegal immigrant; now his mum knew about it too. He could picture the interview with professional standards now: ‘No, I was not aware that she was illegally in the country, sir.’

‘Well, your mother and colleague both were, so it stands to reason that you also knew, McKay, doesn’t it?’

‘Aye, she mentioned it in passing. The other lassie, Marlo, is it? Nice girl that one. Head’s well and truly screwed on. Dive team she tells me? Seems to think highly of ye.’

‘Don’t do this, Ma. That’s none of your business.’ Ali groaned.

‘What?’ asked his mother innocently. ‘I don’t know what ye mean. Cup of tea?’

Ali sighed and nodded. ‘Want me to help?’

‘Go get yourself in there and chat to your guests. Figure out how to help the wee one.’

Ali made his way through. ‘Sorry, I didn’t know Mum was coming down.’

‘It’s fine, she’s lovely. We’ve been having a good chat. I came back in about 2 p.m. Had some errands to run, and Elvie wanted to stay inside. Hope that’s OK?’

‘Course it is. How you doing?’ he asked, turning towards Elvie.

‘I have to go back, yes?’ Her voice was barely audible, her eyes turned downwards. He could see she was dreading his response.

‘Not if I can help it, love. I’m going to see what we can do. We need to speak to immigration, but I need you to come to the station with me tomorrow and answer some questions. Is that OK?’

Elvie nodded; she didn’t have any reason to trust him, but he could see that she did.

Turning back to Marlo, he added, ‘So you didn’t get called in, then?’

‘Nope, but tomorrow’s a whole new day. Supposed to be off tomorrow too, but we’ll see. Angelo from Bravo Team has text to say their search will extend into tomorrow too. They’re looking for a teenager, believed to have been drunk, who somehow wandered into a storm drain near the viaduct in Bishop Auckland. So, if anything comes in, we’ll get the call.’

‘Well, hopefully it’ll be as QT as today seemed to have been.’

‘You’ve jinxed it now,’ said Marlo with a wry smile.

Just at that point, his mother came in carrying a tray of tea and a plate of biscuits she’d apparently found in the cupboard. Ali didn’t have the heart to point out they were probably there from Alex’s time in the flat. He never bought biscuits.

He took one dutifully though, and as he bit down, he frowned slightly. What would tomorrow bring? How would he explain holding Elvie at his home for two nights before bringing her in. This was gunna blow back and bite him on the arse. He could feel it now.

Connor’s Parents’ House, Sunderland – 15 November

Connor found himself sat in the car outside his parents’ address again. It seemed to be the only thing he did, sitting there dreading going inside. It was worse today though: he’d struggled all day with what he’d found out the night before. He’d spent hours looking over photos of him as a child, innocent with blond hair and blue eyes. And he’d examined them for hints as to his lineage.

Deep down, he knew what Fred had said was true. There was no reason for him to lie. He’d said the words because he knew he would hurt Connor, that it would cut deeper than any knife could. All these years of trying to hold the family together and cope with his mum’s illness