Free One Step Closer to You by Alice Peterson Page A

to explain a little more to Hugo and me about Vivienne. He told us that after she was released from prison she couldn’t settle in one place, she needed to leave the country and her memories behind. She fled to America.
    ‘How? Why?’ It all sounded so mysterious and tragic.
    ‘I’m not sure, Polly. Don’t ask too many questions,’ Dad had begged. ‘We just need the afternoon to go smoothly, no dramas.’
    Over lunch Mum can’t eat. An hour before Vivienne arrives she’s twitching at the curtains. Dad tries to relax, says he’s going to watch the tennis on television. He enjoys Wimbledon. Hugo and I don’t know what to do; we kill time going for a walk by the lake. I smoke a couple of cigarettes.Hugo asks if he can have a puff. He coughs and splutters. ‘It tastes like the kitchen bin, Polly!’
    Five minutes before she is due to arrive, Hugo and I sit side by side on the sofa, now on our best behaviour. After my walk Mum made me take my jeans off and put a sundress on instead, ‘And please brush your hair, Polly,’ she’d ordered, before even snapping at Hugo to pull his trousers up.
    Dad is helping Mum make the tea. I can hear cups and saucers being laid out on a tray, Mum determined to use the best china. What will Vivienne look like? What will we talk about? Will this visit upset Mum? I begin to chew my thumbnail, unsure I want to meet her now. Will I like her?
Should
I like her, after what she has done?
    We hear a car approaching. I turn to look out of the window, see a taxi parking outside the front door. My heart is beating fast. Hugo grips my hand and I squeeze it back, glad we are in this together. We are a small family, only Auntie Lyn on our father’s side, whom we rarely see. We aren’t used to relations visiting, let alone an estranged aunt who killed Mum’s brother and her own son before being locked up behind bars.
    *
    Vivienne enters the room behind my mother, wearing a cream sundress and wide leather belt with gold clasps, showing off her slim waist. Hugo and I stand up as Mum introduces us.
    Her arms are tanned and adorned with bracelets. Longdark hair sweeps down her back. She is nothing like Mum, who keeps her hair short and practical. Tentatively Vivienne comes over to me first. No one says a word, until Mum finally mutters, ‘This is Polly.’
    Vivienne runs a hand through her hair, her face free of make-up except for deep-red lipstick. I also notice she has two earrings in both ears. I feel paralysed. I just stand there, gazing at this beautiful gypsy-like woman. She clutches my hand and looks deep into my eyes. To my surprise she begins to cry and I don’t know where to look. ‘Silly me,’ she says, wiping away her tears. ‘Always been a soppy old cow.’ She laughs, her light-brown eyes still fixed on mine. ‘It’s just …’ She turns to Mum, ‘so lovely to be here.’ Mum nods curtly, as if this is a business meeting. They couldn’t be more different, but despite myself I find I am drawn to her warmth. She isn’t what I expected at all; she doesn’t seem like the terrible person Mum has talked about.
    Vivienne moves on to Hugo. ‘I’ve heard so much about you,’ she says. ‘Your mother tells me you’re a fine skier.’
    Hugo nods. ‘My school have chosen me to train for the Paralympics and the World Championships,’ he claims with pride. ‘I train at the dry ski slopes all the time.’
    ‘When I lived in Los Angeles, I used to take myself off skiing at Mount Baldy.’
    Hugo giggles and Vivienne tells us she thinks the name is funny too.
    Hugo points to a scar above his eyebrow. ‘I had stitches. I love going fast, too fast sometimes.’
    I glance at Mum, so buttoned up. She can’t sit still, fidgeting like Hugo and me during a sermon at church. Dad pours the tea and tells Vivienne I made the coffee and walnut cake. ‘Do you like cooking, Polly?’ she asks.
    I nod, vigorously. ‘She’s very good,’ Mum adds. It’s the first time my mother has