Gramps had no such qualms.
‘Why is a woman watching me sleep like a psychopath?’
‘This is Jaden, from a care agency. She literally just walked in.’ Every muscle in Beckett’s body was tense.
‘She looks like a crow.’
‘I’m so sorry.’ Beckett turned towards Jaden, his hopes starting to crumble. ‘He’s sometimes confused when he first wakes up.’
‘I am not confused. I don’t need looking after. I certainly don’t want to be looked after by a fat old crow.’
And then he mumbled a racist expletive that Beckett knew Jaden heard because she flinched.
Before Beckett could usher her out of the room, Gramps stood up, grabbed his coffee mug and hurled it at the mantlepiece. A large photo frame flew off, shattering into pieces.
Jaden swore, diving back into the hallway.
Gramps and Beckett simply stood there, staring at each other. Beckett couldn’t have told you what damage hurt the most. His relationship with the man who’d raised him, or the picture of his mother, now lying in the hearth.
Beckett found Jaden in the kitchen, gathering up her things.
‘I’m so sorry. He’s never said anything like that before.’ Beckett rubbed a hand through his hair. He couldn’t believe this was happening. ‘The carer who’s been helping tide us over is Sri Lankan.’
She glanced up, a tight smile on her face. ‘Beckett, my team are trained in caring for people who exhibit challenging behaviours relating to their condition. We can work around that. However, I will need you to be honest if we’re going to provide the level of care that he needs and keep everyone safe.’
‘I don’t know what to say. This is the first time he’s been violent like that.’
She picked up her bag. ‘I must stress that we are a person-centred organisation. Unless he’s been assessed as lacking the competency to provide consent, Marvin must agree to our care plan. I recommend you have a conversation with him, because we can’t move forwards if he’s not on board.’
Her tone softened slightly, which said a lot, considering the situation. ‘Reassure him that the crow is merely the manager, she won’t be doing the day-to-day fun stuff. I’m also going to request that you make a GP appointment to discuss possible dementia, and assess for other signs of deterioration in his condition. Once you’ve done that, if Marvin is up for it, we can try again.’
‘Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome. I know this is incredibly difficult for you.’ She squeezed his shoulder as she left the room. ‘Go and see to your grandfather. I’ll let myself out.’
Beckett swept up the shards of glass, then vacuumed for good measure. His hands shook as he placed the now bare photo back on the mantlepiece. Gramps stared at his quiz show and said nothing.
At a loss for what to do next, Beckett made them both a hot drink and turned the television off before sitting down.
He wanted to yell and curse. Spew out the frustration and pain of the past few years. Make Gramps feel terrible. However, Beckett saw the glint of fear in his grandfather’s eyes, even as he took a defiant slurp of tea, and knew that he already did.
‘What was that?’ he asked instead, as gently as possible.
Gramps turned his head away.
‘I know you aren’t racist. You’ve never thrown anything like that before. You scared me, Gramps.’ Beckett paused, trying to get a grip on the tremor in his voice. ‘I’m afraid something’s going on with you, you’re struggling, and if you won’t tell me about it, I can’t help.’
The only indication Gramps had heard was his lips turning white as he pressed them together.
‘I understand if you don’t know what happened or why, but if that’s the case, can you at least tell me?’
‘I’m missing the final round.’
‘Okay.’ Beckett stood up. He couldn’t stay here watching television as if everything were fine. ‘I get that you’re scared, too. We still need to talk about this care agency, though. I have to get back to earning some money and at the moment there’s no other option. Please. I need your cooperation on this.’
Gramps stared stubbornly at the blank screen, until Beckett gave in, turning it on and leaving him to it.
He’d see if Mary could get him to open up, or Bill. Because today had made clearer than ever that Beckett was clueless.
