Free Invisible by Barbara Copperthwaite Page B

keen on Daryl from the start simply because he took
me away from her and she didn’t like the fact that someone else had more
influence over me than her. She’s not used to being challenged, was always so
popular at school; sporty, clever, the first to get picked on teams, while I
hung on to her coat tails a bit and was popular purely by association with her.
This was the first time I had ever challenged her, and she didn’t know what to
do. It was empowering to see her step back like that, stunned.
    I could understand her
reaction though because I was pretty stunned myself . But
I just carried on, for once feeling strong and unafraid of confrontation – I
think it was my protective streak that gave me the strength; she was being so
unfair on Daryl and hadn’t even given him a chance to defend himself.
    ‘You just feel bad because
you know damn well how unreasonable you’ve been lately, and now, desperate for
any excuse, you’ve decided to blame Daryl,’ I ranted. ‘You come here and
announce you hate my husband because - ooh, scary - he looked at you.’
    I’m quite proud of myself
because I spat the last bit out while doing a kind of jazz hands movement,
totally taking the pee. I was so furious it gave me the guts to be sarky . Even now, I’m so angry I’m almost shaking. All right,
so Daryl isn’t the easiest of people. Even I freely admit that he’s often a tosser when in company, seems to have this need to push
people’s buttons and act like a knob, but you just have to learn to ignore him.
He’s not scary!!!!
    By the end of it, Hannah had
got all sniffy, as though somehow I was being unreasonable. Silly
cow. At least Amy had the courtesy to look mortified by the whole thing.
‘We didn’t mean to hurt you…’ she began, but I cut her off. They both should
have thought of that before they came to my house talking rubbish.

 
    Tuesday 11
    Still
annoyed about yesterday. I’m not going to tell Daryl about it
though because he’d, fair enough, go absolutely mental. He’d be so hurt. Poor
bloke has little enough self-esteem as it is after all those years of being
bullied at school and undermined by his mum, without people laying into him
now. Tell you what though, if Hannah and Amy were terrified of one of his looks
I reckon they’d wet themselves if he went to see them to give them a piece of
his mind. The thought almost makes me tempted to tell him, but no, it’s not
fair on him. Shame though.
    Anyway, the good news is,
the tonsils have come right down to normal size and I am starting to feel human
again. I don’t like to boast but I washed my hair this morning. I had to,
otherwise it might have walked off and washed itself, it was in such a state.
    Afterwards I sat and read
the mags Amy and Hannah had brought round (at least
the visit was good for something). There was an article in it about ‘How to
spot if he’s having an affair’. Elusive behaviour, hard to pin down, irritable,
frequently unreachable on the phone… Should I be worried that Daryl ticks every
one? Well theoretically, yes. The thing is though…he’s always been the same. So
unless he has been having an affair for the last nine years, the entire time
we’ve been together, then I’m not too worried. Boy would he have to have an
understanding mistress!
    We even joke about it sometimes
when, for example, he’ll mention having been to the cinema to see something and
he’ll think we’ve been together. ‘No, that was with your other woman,’ I’ll
laugh, and he cracks up too.
    Or sometimes he forgets he’s
told me things and will either not have told me at all or told me 20 times and
he’ll snigger and say: ‘Ah no, I must have told the other woman, not you.’
    I’ve even asked him before
if he is seeing someone else – not in an accusing way though because that would
just cause a row; in a jovial, funny way. He just gives me an exasperated but
sympathetic look and says: ‘How the hell could I have an affair? Even