Page 51 of The Bordeaux Book Club
‘What is this “mummy boy”?’ Camille asked, confused. She crossed one endless leg over the other. ‘That he love his mother?’
‘I was going to say, he’s a bit at her beck and call,’ Grace said. ‘But yes, I suppose so.’
‘Well, he’s still young,’ Leah said. ‘Still plenty of time to fly the nest.’
‘Still,’ Monica said, leaning forward as if imparting a secret. ‘It’s a bit… well… it’s not ideal at his age. Doesn’t necessarily bode well for the future.’ She suddenly seemed to remember Camille was Alfie’s girlfriend and blushed a deep shade of red. ‘Sorry,’ she said.
Leah found herself looking at Camille. Obviously, it hadn’t put her off to have a boyfriend who spent more time on the phone to his mum than with her. She was sitting back, quite relaxed, legs still crossed, observing them from over her glass.
‘It is OK,’ Camille said, moving forward. ‘I think that it is very attractive to have a man who care for his mother. It show that he care for people,non? And that he has a good heart.’ She patted her own chest as if to confirm this was where such a heart might be located.
‘Sorry,’ Leah said, blushing. ‘And I mean, you’re right really. I don’t know why people would describe being a “mummy’s boy” as a bad thing.’ She thought of Scarlett and couldn’t imagine a circumstance when a call from Leah would have her rushing away from a social occasion. Maybe if she was on the brink of death? But perhaps not even then.
‘Besides, he is not – how you say – a mummy’s boy,’ Camille added. ‘Yes, he help her a lot. But he is not over-attached to her? He love her, and he help her. He share with her some of the books from the group. But it is not normal for him right now, of course.’
There was a silence as they all wrestled to find meaning in the words. ‘Sorry, you’ve lost me,’ George said at last. ‘What is not normal?’
‘Well, he is very close to his mother now, yes. Because his mother need him more.’
‘Oh.’
A look flitted across Camille’s face. ‘Oh, but you do not know!’ she said.
‘Know what?’
Camille looked at them. ‘Perhaps I should not say this,’ she said. ‘Because he hasn’t told you himself. But perhaps it is important for you to know. Alfie’s mum, she is not well.’
‘Oh no,’ Leah said, feeling her heart sink.
‘They think that she is dying.’
20
As Monica got up to see Camille and George off, Grace leaned over to Leah. ‘Do you mind,’ she said, ‘if we stay to help her clear up? She’s got a lot on her plate.’
‘Of course,’ Leah said, eyeing the rug again. She felt guilty about having ruined her host’s décor, no matter what Monica said. She wondered if she should find out where Monica got the rug from, see if she could replace it. But had a sneaking suspicion it would be way out of her price range.
‘Poor Alfie,’ Grace added.
Leah nodded, not quite sure what to say.
After Camille’s bombshell, she’d explained that Alfie’s mum had cancer, that the latest treatment hadn’t worked as well as it should. ‘It make her very ill,’ she said, ‘but the cancer, it stays. Now she is very tired and they are losing hope.’
‘Oh no,’ Leah said, lifting her hand to her mouth. ‘And his dad isn’t around?’
‘No. Alfie, he doesn’t know his father in England. It has always just been them. And his mother, she brought him to France for a better life. To spend more time with him. And to getaway from the place where they live, which was not nice I think.’ Camille said.
‘Do they know,’ Leah asked cautiously, ‘how long?’
Camille shrugged. ‘I think not long. But there is a new treatment to try – it is a trial, though.’
They’d fallen silent, thinking of Alfie – his running off, the air of sadness he sometimes carried. Even his joining the group to please his mum. It all made sense now.
‘Poor Alfie,’ Monica said. ‘You won’t tell him what we said, will you?’
Camille smiled. ‘No, but I think even if I do, he understand. He is sad but he still can – how you say? – take the joke.’
They’d wound the conversation up soon after that. They had already exhausted their thoughts onPride and Prejudice, and it would have seemed odd to talk about it any further without Alfie. Monica offered everyone coffee, but George and Camille both said they needed to get going.
