Free Something Invisible by Siobhan Parkinson Page A

will be changing your name now. ‘Mrs. Burke.’ Ugh! It sounds so old, Mum.”
    â€œYou just think that because it’s your granny’s name. But anyway, I have no intention of changing my name, Jake. It’s not obligatory, you know, and I haven’t a notion of it, so you see, there is no problem.”
    â€œSo you and I will still be Cotter?”
    â€œOf course.”
    â€œAnd Dad will still be Burke?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œAnd what about Daisy?”
    â€œI don’t know. I hadn’t thought about it. Burke, I suppose.”
    â€œYou see! It’s different for her. Because of your stupid wedding. That’s why you did it, so she could be a proper Burke.”
    â€œJake, this is ridiculous. Can we have this conversation some other time, some other place?”
    â€œNo,” said Jake. “I think this is a good time.”
    â€œYou can be Burke too if you like, darling, if you want to be the same as Daisy. I’m sure you can fill in a form or something. It’s no big deal and we can discuss it another time, Jake.”
    â€œI just told you, Mum, I don’t want to change my name.”
    â€œAll right then! Don’t!” his mother yelled at him. “That’s just what I’ve been saying all along. You don’t have to! There IS no issue, Jake.”
    Jake’s mother never yelled at him, but now she was shouting and her two fists were clenched in the air in front of her, and she was rocking back and forth, as if she wanted to shake him. He was so startled he let out a loud gasp and burst into tears. It was the shock, more than anything, of seeing his mother so exasperated with him. They never fought. And he never cried.
    â€œJake, Jake, I’m sorry!” His mother hunkered down with the crinkling sound of her wedding dress folding around her as she sank, and opened her arms to him.
    He longed to run into those outstretched arms and hug her, but something made him hang back. Maybe it was stubbornness, or maybe it was embarrassment at his own tears, or maybe it was just the thought of the starchy texture of her dress crunching against his face. But he stood there and shook his head, and fought to push back the tears.

CHAPTER
    30
    Jake was invited to Stella’s for tea on the day after the wedding. He was glad to get away. His parents had announced that morning that they were on their honeymoon, and they had no intention of doing anything for the whole weekend except staying late in bed reading the papers, and watching some crime thing on the television. Jake was to help himself to leftovers from the wedding party and not interrupt. His mother would have to feed Daisy, of course, but that was the only thing they were definitely doing all day.
    The kitchen was in chaos. No wonder his parents didn’t want to get up and face it. Jake found the cornflakes easily, but he had to wash a cereal bowl that someone had clearly eaten raspberry pavlova out of. He scrubbed the bowl hard and tried not to think about the person who’d last eaten out of it, but his heart wasn’t in it, and he only ate half the cornflakes.
    When Stella rang to invite him to tea, he was thrilled to accept. He told his stunned parents that he expected to see some order in the kitchen by the time he got home, and left early, because he’d decided that he would visit Mrs. Kennedy before presenting himself at Stella’s.
    Mrs. Kennedy was surprised to see him. She hadn’t heard about the wedding.
    â€œThat’s nice,” she said, when Jake told her the story. “You must be pleased.”
    â€œWhy?” asked Jake. “What’s it got to do with me?”
    â€œWell, I don’t know, but you must be pleased for your mother.”
    â€œI’m not,” said Jake. It felt good to be able to tell someone this, someone who wasn’t going to get upset about it.
    â€œAnd it must be nice to know that your dad is, you know,