Chapter Twenty Five

Since his meeting with Carl, Aaron had had nothing but grief from Cain and Debbie about what he'd been doing at Mill Cottage. He'd refused to tell them at first, but they'd nagged him so much he'd ended up telling them that he'd seen his mum and that she'd asked to see Carl. Debbie had been surprised but accepting of this, whereas Cain had gone mental.

"She won't see her own family but she'll see that idiot?"

"She's only talking to him about the baby" Aaron tried to stay calm since his Uncle couldn't.

"And what do you think you're doing, sneaking around, having secret meetings?"

"Wasn't very secret, you watched me go in"

"I meant with Chas, you budgie! Why didn't you tell us you'd seen her?"

"I'm telling you now aren't I? Why do you care?" Aaron was starting to get angry.

"She's my sister, I have a right to know what's going on"

"You have no right to know anything! What kind of brother have you ever been to her eh?" Aaron shouted as he threw a spanner on the floor near Cain.

"Oi!" Debbie shouted, "both of you, calm down!"

"You don't know what you're talking about, you'd better..."

"I know more than you think. What kind of brother leaves his little sister to sort out your alchie father? Who lets his thirteen year old sister work in a strip club? And now, what do you ever do for her but cause trouble?"

Cain's face had frozen in surprise, but he recovered quickly enough to react to Aaron's last comment, "You're the one who causes her trouble mate, not me".

"I know I'm no angel, but I'm nothing like you. I'm learning from my mistakes and I'm gonna be there for my little sister. And my mum." And with that he stormed off towards the pub past a startled Debbie and a fuming Cain.

When he arrived at the pub, he sat in a corner booth and counted to fifty in his head. He'd got to thirty five when Marlon came over.

"Pint?" Marlon asked. Aaron nodded. "Pie and chips?" Aaron nodded again. "I don't suppose you've heard owt..."

"Yeah, but I'm in the mood for punching someone at the minute Marlon, so I wouldn't recommend sitting down"

Marlon took the hint and went to sort out his order. He returned with it ten minutes later, by which time Aaron seemed to have calmed down.

"Can I bribe you for info if I don't charge you for these?" Marlon joked.

"Yeah, but then who'll protect you when Diane finds out you've been giving out freebies?" Aaron said, but indicated for Marlon to sit with his head.

Marlon was supposed to be watching the bar, but the lunchtime rush hadn't started yet so there were hardly any customers. He slid opposite Aaron and waited for him to start talking. Aaron took a huge bite of pie and washed it down with lager before looking up at his cousin's big, brown, inquisitive eyes.

"I saw her last night. She was freaking out over everything."

"Not surprising I suppose"

"She thought the baby was dead and blamed herself."

"Why would she do that?" Marlon asked.

Aaron shrugged as he took another bite.

"Is she okay now?" Marlon pushed. He was a sensitive soul and didn't like hearing that his cousin was in pain.

"She's better today but not okay. She's agreed to talk to Carl this morning, then she's gonna tell the nurse to allow visitors later today. You can pass it on to the family, but don't let them all bundle in at once"

Marlon nodded, "She'll be okay you know, she's tougher than Uncle Zak and Cain put together is Our Chas".

"Well she's had to be hasn't she" Aaron mumbled darkly. Marlon sensed that this statement had something to do with his earlier mood.

"What do you mean?"

Aaron looked up from his food and sized his cousin up. Would it be worth talking to Marlon about this? He was struggling to come to terms with what his mum had told him the other day and he might have some extra insight that could help him. Paddy had listened to his story but he wasn't part of the family, he couldn't explain anything, just listen.

"I just had a row with Cain" he said, "I basically called him a useless brother".

Marlon pulled a face as if to say 'rather you than me'. "Any particular reason you've done that? Got a death wish, for example?"

"He was getting all righteous about mum, having a go at me because she spoke to me and not him. He seems to think he has rights over her, like he owns her. But he's never done anything for her."

"He has a funny way of showing he cares does Cain, but when it comes to family..."

"Yeah yeah, family this, family that" Aaron interrupted, his temper flaring again, "you all go on about 'the family' 'the Dingle way' but you're all a bunch of hypocrites. Where was the family when Shadrach was spending all his money on booze with two kids to bring up?"

Marlon realised that this wasn't just about Cain "what's brought this on?" he asked quietly.

"My mum, when she was...when we were waiting for help, she told me about when she was a kid. She was properly out of it but I didn't realise at the time and I made her keep talking. I don't think she'd have said owt if she was normal-minded. But she did, and now I can't stop thinking about it."

Marlon sighed, he wished he'd never sat down now, how was he supposed to explain his family to someone like Aaron – young and stubborn?

"Okay" he started, looking Aaron straight in the eye, "I don't know what she told you exactly, but what's in the past is in the past. Chas doesn't dwell on it and she wouldn't want you to either. She loved Shadrach despite his faults and she loves Cain too. He might not have been there all the time when they were kids, but when he was, he protected her as best he could. Not that she ever really needed it, always terrified me has your mum. And the family are here for her now, that's what counts." Marlon spotted two customers looking over the food menu. "I've got to go. Just try to learn from the past, not dwell on it, eh?" And with that he stood and went to serve the customers.

Aaron went back to his pie and chips. Marlon was right, his mum didn't tell him that stuff so that he would go all angry young man on his family, it was so he could understand a bit more about their past. And it made him realise that if she could forgive those she loved for making mistakes, no matter how big they were, then he should do the same.