Chapter 32 Chapter Thirty-One

Kay turned the key on the door, but it wouldn't turn. She tried jerking it in and jerking it out, blowing on it, but it didn't work.This has never happened before: the key fits in the lock but doesn't turn at all.She wanted to punch the door, kick it, shoulder it. She stopped, took a deep breath, and told herself to be cautious.She was so tired last night that she had to fetch Mary and John from a neighbor's house after arriving so late and send them straight to bed.Then she sat in front of the TV and smoked until 5am.She knew the children lay awake in their beds, blinking in the dark.She went to the bathroom at 4:10 in the morning and heard Joe and Frank whispering.She sat there smoking a cigarette, drinking herbal tea, thinking about the image of the children in the eyes of the police, she felt so embarrassed that she couldn't sleep.

She knew they looked like the offspring of the working class, and she herself was sometimes disheveled, but she always thought the kids looked decent.Maybe not, maybe they look jealous, greedy, mean; maybe she looks between 45 and 60, Frank seems eccentric, John looks like a potential rapist; maybe Mary is too fat, maybe Joe likes to be flattered .She had never had a crisis of faith with children before, and it made her feel uncomfortable. To prove herself decent, she woke up after only three hours of sleep, woke the children one by one, had breakfast, and went to school in clean, pressed clothes.Then she dressed and got on the bus to Thornton Hall.In the upper deck she leaned her head against the rattling windows, the stranger's thick breath blowing in her hair, and swore to listen to Margery and say nothing about last night's events.She would pat Margery's hand, telling him not to worry.She will forget about herself, work hard, and maintain a graceful demeanor.

But Margery's key just won't open the door.She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths to relax her body, then opened her eyes, twisted her waist, and faced the floor-to-ceiling windows of the kitchen. Margery was looking this way with her arms folded.She was wearing yellow slacks, the expensive ones, the ones she regretted buying but liked very much.She rarely wears these trousers, only on very special occasions.Banana yellow flared trousers have been out of fashion for 30 years. Kay raised her hand in a static waving gesture, but Margery didn't move.She stood there, like a picture completely embedded in the floor-to-ceiling glass window, staring straight at this side.Kay waited for her to point to the lock or invite himself in through the glass window, but no, Margaery opened her folded arms and pointed to the door behind Kay.

Kay glanced back. The door was closed.Margery still stood there motionless, pointing at the door, murmuring "no" or "go". Someone inside was with her. Kay put the plastic bag in her hand on the gravel and hurried to the floor-to-ceiling glass window, took the handle on it, twisted it, pulled it hard, the glass rattled, she made a mistake, it shouldn't be Pulling, it should be pushing. She realized her mistake, twisted the handle again, and pushed it open. The floor-to-ceiling glass door slammed into the operating table inside. Margery took a few steps back, grabbed the sink, "Get out!"

"Who's here?" Kai walked into the living room. "No one." She stopped and listened carefully. No one was here, only Margery. "go out!" Kay was sweating and panting, and Margery stood there, leaning coldly against the sink.In front of Margery, she felt so vulnerable, "Why?" Margery walked to the table, as if this was an imminent matter, moved the crystal vase on the table, and there was a yellow rose in the vase.She looked at Kai, with a ruthless sneer on the corner of her mouth, "The police have already come, and you know why." For a moment Kay couldn't hear any sound in the world except the dull pounding of her own blood, and she felt the blood rushing up her cheeks, into her eyes, all over her face.

She saw Margaery Thelain standing in the big, luxurious kitchen, baring her teeth, and she knew exactly what Margaery saw: a loser and his messed up life. "You're wrong," Kay meant to yell, but ended up in a whisper. "That's not right." "Get out!" Margery's tone was very decisive, which meant that Kai should never come back, not later, not a year later. Kay hesitated, she was too upset to speak.She stepped out of the French doors, closed them softly, and looked at the handle above, not into the room. Then she walked to the front door, the handle of the plastic bag stretched out to her like a child, and she lifted the bag and walked out the door, head held high, until she reached the dumpster around the corner.She lit a cigarette and turned to face the tall hedge.

She took a deep breath, suppressing her tears, and took another breath almost before she could breathe out.Her panic is not because of Margery's meanness and contempt for her, but because of losing her job.Four kids need shoes and food and she needs to pay rent and damn family taxes.It's just about money.just money.I could find another job—she told herself.She is well aware that such opportunities are few and far between, she has been well paid and the time is right for her.Find another job maybe working the night shift at Asda where she'll be out all night and the kids will be home alone - she doesn't even know if they're at home or out, or who's with them together.

She took another breath.No, there will be other jobs.She still has the job with the Campbells.Maybe they know someone else here who needs a cleaner.Maybe. She threw away the cigarette, quite sure that she had managed to solve the problem with four puffs.Pulling herself together, she straightened her hair and walked down the alley toward Campbell's house.She slipped into the garden, walked around the lawn, and came to the kitchen door. Molly Campbell was waiting for her in the kitchen.Margery had been here before and got her affairs here, and Molly was going to ask Kay for the key back.

Molly opened the door with a wry smile. "Hello, Kay." She tilted her head to one side, sighed, and stepped back, letting Kay into the kitchen, pointing to a chair that had been pulled out from under the table, and sitting him down.Kay sat there, trying to hear Molly Campbell's reasons for firing her.Molly goes into the details of Kay's taxes, explaining why it would be better for everyone if Kay never came back.She said it was because of the taxes: Margery had explained that if Kay "leaves" without the job, it wouldn't be worth it.Be nice to everyone.After Molly finished speaking, she took out a box of biscuits.

Kay listened hard, feeling the sadness of losing Joey Errol and the warmth of being with the old man rise and fall alternately in his chest like waves.She felt herself holding Joey's bony little hand, and saw the tea-stained teeth of Joey when he laughed.When the old man died, only five teeth were left, which were actually just a few small stumps. Her gums had receded, and she no longer wanted to wear false braces.Kay picked her up from the bathroom, feeling the weight.Kay's arms were wrapped around Joey's scrawny body, and Joey's arms were wrapped around Kay's neck.Surprisingly, Joy can also properly hum an old song and pretend they're dancing together.

Tears welled up in Kai's eyes.She packed her things, got up, opened the door, and went into the garden. "Oh no," Molly Campbell held out her hand, "Kay, I'm so sorry, please come back—" But Kai waved him off, "No, I'm fine." "Please come back and sit down for a while." "No, there's no need." She fumbled in her bag, still crying.At this moment, how much she longed for the warmth of Joey's body relying on her own, how much she missed the deep love she had lost.She found the key and put it in Molly's outstretched hand, "Not because of that," she felt ridiculous, because it was only a job two mornings a week, for God's sake, "Not because of the job." She trotted away and circled the lawn again, desperate to get out of here as soon as possible. Kay smokes on the bus platform, something she's never done before.It was possible that Margaery Thealine would drive by, but she didn't care anymore. Realizing that this might be the last time she came here, she tried hard not to cry, and kept her grievances deep in her heart.Now she doesn't have any jobs, no references and maybe not even a job at Asda.Perhaps Molly would feel sorry enough to issue her a letter of recommendation. She waited, tears blinding her face, her phone ringing in her handbag, but she didn't answer.She just waited until the bus came.She sat down on a window seat. Donald Scott asked her to call back about Errol's settlement.She had to work hard to search the name in her memory.She remembered that he was the Errol family's lawyer and used to visit Joey.Scott came across as arrogant in the text, referring to the police, the bowl and the watch, as if a watch and a bowl would affect the eventual liquidation of the property.But it occurred to Kay that she could call Scott and ask him to write a letter of recommendation for her. He knew Kay's work performance at the Errol's house, and maybe she could get a good letter of recommendation, so she could get one. A job in a nursing home, and she might even get training opportunities. A spark of hope snowballed: Scott was a lawyer, and his case would be more credible.This time Kay looked at the road and saw the familiar hedges and corners and trees.She calmed down and realized where her mistake was: Margery regretted confiding to Kay, who had listened to her, crossed the line between employee and employer, and the two had gone too close.To add guilt, there is nothing wrong with it, and Margery is likely to find an excuse to fire her, as if Kay can be bagged and thrown in the trash. Anyway, the job would have ended soon, Margery was broke, and the job at the Campbells was barely enough for her transportation, so she should have left. She leaned back, feeling a cigarette burn and a visceral sadness.A new start.She felt energized again, confident that she was capable of taking on new challenges.As a mother of four, the only shadow on her mind was last night.They would also be brought in for questioning again, at any time, day or night.The police may go to the school or the house of the children's friends and whip them out.She thought of the teacher looking at her children with strange eyes, thinking of those children telling them not to go to the house again, thinking of them being isolated and rejected. Kay decided to do something about it, since she never learned the art of passive waiting. Kay led Frank and Joe home from school, and the three huddled around the dining table.Joe and Kay sat down, and Frank rode on the step stool, well above the table. "I'm going out this afternoon, now," she said firmly, knowing she looked in control and sure, "do you all know what they're doing?" Frank looked at his to-do list. "I don't think you need to drag us out of school to do these things, Mom." "Yes," said Joe, looking at his list, "most of these people are at school, and I won't be able to talk to them until after school anyway." "Children," she said, "don't tell those two little ones. I had a shock last night and I need to get this sorted out today. I've called the police and we'll be back at tea time, So you guys are going to be home at 4:30 and go to the bus with me." Jo blinked at the list and looked at her mother amusedly, "We know you were taken aback, Mom." "We were all taken aback," Frank said quietly. "Why didn't you go to work?" Joe asked. It hadn't occurred to Frank until then that Kay would normally be at Thales' house at this hour. Kay reached for a cigarette, then changed her mind. She looked at the children. "I'm going to change careers. I'm going to be a nurse." Kay got off the train at the inclined bridge station and walked across the river to the Bloomiero financial district.A gust of fresh wind blows from the river, rising all the way, following her into the dense apartment buildings, even at the deep corridor doorway, the wind still blows up her clothes and blows her hair to her ears.The traffic rushed across, heading to the highway 500 yards away. It was a mistake, Kay told herself, but she pressed the buzzer on the door anyway. A woman's voice asked, "Who is there?" Kay said her name, and the woman asked her to repeat it before hanging up.Kai waited.A bus passed by, slowed down, and pulled to the side of the road about 100 yards away. Kay tried to give chase, but then the voice on the receiver said, "Come on." She looked at the glass door, expecting a signal, but there was nothing, and with a gentle push with her fingertips, the door swung open.She walked into the hall. This is a private apartment, and the price is expensive, but the lobby is much dirtier than the apartment she lives in.She sighed at the sticky floor and the cigarette butts in the pot.People should not smoke in this kind of public space.Someone even burned holes in the leaves of fake plants with cigarette butts.The kids there don't do that, or they get kicked out. She pressed the elevator button, walked in, pressed the floor number, turned around and stared at the elevator door.When the elevator came up, she cleared her throat, straightened her hair, and saw her own shadow through the door, her old, shabby, and tired appearance, the appearance of a middle-aged and elderly person between 45 and 60 years old.The elevator stopped, paused, and the elevator door opened. She regretted coming here. At first she thought it was another hall because it was tall and big like an airport. A wall of windows is two stories high, overlooking the river outside.The surrounding walls are yellow sandstone and there is hardly any furniture except a couch.That's when Kay saw the woman.She was standing 10 feet away, diagonally across the room, in an odd place to greet a stranger coming out of an elevator, not where your eyes would normally notice.She wants someone else to come to her. Dyed hair, pink lipstick, high heels, she raised her elbow and waved like a child, "Hello." Kay nodded, looking around for the others. "I'm Crystal." "Okay." Kai didn't have time to talk nonsense with this woman, she just wanted to make a mistake, then go out, go home, and smoke a cigarette quietly. "Danny's here." Crystal pointed to a door in the wall beyond the elevator.Kai walked over, the door was slightly open, she pushed it, and the woman behind her walked over quickly, blocking Kai with her high heels without making a fuss. "I'm going to tell him—" Kay held up her hand and said, "I'm fine." She walked into the room, trying to get out of her inner struggle quickly. It was a low-slung study room with halogen lights hanging from the ceiling, thick carpet, pine bookshelves against the wall, and on the far wall hung the biggest TV that Kepping had ever seen, with football players on it. Life-size. Danny McGrath isn't old yet.He didn't spend long nights nursing sick people with high fevers, or spending nights sewing last-minute costumes for children for school concerts.He has never worked two jobs a day just to pay for childcare and rent.He did none of these things.He only lives for his own enjoyment, and only works for what he wants, such as the big TV in front of him, or the leather recliner he is lying on.The shelves behind him glistened with expensive alcoholic beverages.He looks young and energetic. Seeing Kay, Danny sat up in the recliner and paused the football game with the remote.He didn't stand up, and he didn't invite Kay to sit down.He didn't know how long the other party would stay. "Kay, how are you?" Kay puts her hands in her pockets and looks around the room, nodding at everything, "Fine." Kay has good eyesight, in fact, and she knows that these are all vulgar high-budget stuff and won't last long. "Is there anything I can do for you?" It was a mistake, she made a mistake, and she held her breath. She looked at the far wall and said the words she had rehearsed in her head on the bus: "I need you to do me a favor." They stared at each other.Danny nodded, "What's the matter?" "Your sister," Kay said, looking at the moonlight-white belly peeking out from under his T-shirt, "I want you to tell her that she wants to make trouble for my children, but they are good boys and they have done nothing." Danny cleared his throat. "I don't have anything to do with Alex." "She was investigating my kids for a murder case that had nothing to do with them." "Kay, I'm not in touch with her anymore. I ignore her, and she ignores me." But Kay had tears in her eyes, it was a stupid choice to come here, she was panicking now, stupid, "You should have thought she was going to give birth..." She started crying. Danny looked at Kay and cried, "Is she pregnant again?" "twin." "I never noticed..." "It's visible now." His eyes shifted to the TV. "Ah, yes, she's wearing a coat." "Aren't you going to say something to her?" Danny smacked his lips and moved his butt in the recliner, "Alex has nothing to do with me, if I can help I will, if there is anything I can do... If you sue them, I can pay What about attorney fees?" Kay took a deep breath, and the thick carpet under her feet creaked as she moved.Kay wanted to leave, she never asked Danny for anything, it was a mistake to come here. "Okay." She stepped back towards the door. "16?" Kai held his breath, "Huh?" "He's 16?" Kai put his hand on the door, "Who are you talking about?" "Joseph, is he sixteen?" Kai turned to face Danny, "Yes, Joe (Joseph's nickname) is 16 years old." They looked at each other, Danny's eyebrows slowly raised.Kay smacked her lips, "Don't be so self-righteous, Danny, Joe looks good." But Danny was not discouraged, although Kay never told him, but for some reason, he knew that Joe was his.He looked away from Kay and cleared his throat. "What kind of kid is Joe?" Danny thought of JJ.Kay suddenly saw him for what he really was.His eye circles were red, his belly was protruding, and his ankles looked puffy.Danny: 45 to 60 years old. Kay walked over and took Danny's face in his hands, surprising him.Kay said, "Danny, Joe is a sweet, very sweet little guy." Danny wrenched his face out of Kay's grasp and burst into tears like a child. He stood up in embarrassment, brushed Kay's hand away, turned around, wiped his face with his sleeve, and sniffed. "Baby," Kay said, "Baby?" Danny couldn't turn to face Kay, "What?" "I shouldn't be here." "No, I'm fine." Kay opened the door and tried to leave before Danny could pull himself together, but Danny was standing beside her, clutching a thick stack of £20 notes, trying to squeeze them into her hands. Kay put her hands in her pockets, looked at the money, "Stay away from us!" After saying this, she left without looking back.