Free A Death in the Family by Hazel Holt Page B

That’s when I told him I was gay.’
    He tipped away the washing-up water and took some time to wring out the dishcloth and drape it neatly over the bowl.
    ‘He didn’t believe me at first – said it was only a phase, all the usual things. But, just for once, for the first time in my life, I stood up to him and told him that he had to accept it.’
    ‘That was very brave of you,’ I said.
    He smiled sadly. ‘The only really brave thing I’ve ever done in my life.’
    ‘So what happened then?’
    ‘He really lost it – raved and roared – “No son of mine…” all that. Then he told me to get out and never come back. He said I was to go straightaway. I asked if I could wait until Mum came back – she’d gone up to London to check some stuff for my father in the British Library – but he said no, I had to go at once and I was never to see her again.’
    ‘Oh no!’
    He shrugged. ‘That’s the way he was. When Mum came back he told her she must never see me or get in touch with me ever again.’
    ‘For heaven’s sake! So where did you go?’
    ‘I had this good school friend, David – he wasjust a friend, nothing more – and his parents had been very kind to me. I think they knew I wasn’t happy at home, though I’d never actually said anything. I went to them. I told them everything that had happened and they were marvellous. They let me stay with them and Mr Samuels, David’s father, gave me a job in his office – just to tide me over, he said.’
    ‘What about your mother?’
    ‘Mrs Samuels managed to see her when my father wasn’t around, and told her where I was and that I was all right.’
    ‘Poor Janet.’
    ‘It was horrible. We met secretly sometimes when we could, but she was terrified that he would find out.’
    ‘Why didn’t she leave him?’
    He shook his head sadly. ‘She had nowhere else to go and, besides, he’d sapped her will so much…’ He was silent for a while then he went on, ‘That summer the Samuels went on holiday in France. There was this
gite
they always rented in Normandy and they took me with them. It was wonderful, it changed my life.’
    ‘Hadn’t you been abroad before?’
    ‘A “cultural tour” with my parents with my father setting me a portion of the relevant guide book to be learnt by heart before we visited each monument or museum.
Not
exactly inspiring. But this was different, living in the proper country withreal people, the relaxed way of life, the food! That’s when I realised what I wanted to do.’
    ‘How splendid.’
    ‘The Samuels had been going for years to this particular restaurant and Mr Samuels asked if they would take me on. My French wasn’t very good but I managed to make Monsieur Picard understand how much I wanted to learn from him, so he agreed. I did all the menial jobs, worked from seven in the morning till late at night and fell into bed exhausted in the little attic up above the restaurant, all for virtually no money. But he was a wonderful chef and he taught me well. When he thought I was good enough he passed me on to a friend of his who had a well-known restaurant in Paris. I was so lucky.’
    ‘Hard work!’
    ‘Yes, but it was work I loved. I was there for about six months, then I began to worry about Mum. I’d kept in touch with her through the Samuels and she wrote to me when she could, but although she always said that everything was all right, I felt it wasn’t and – well, I thought I should be near at hand. Anyway, I really wanted to see her.’
    ‘Of course.’
    ‘I came back and got a job in Bristol – sous chef in a really good restaurant, in Clifton. That’s where I met Yves – he was the maitre d’ there. He’d come over here to get more experience, but he was very homesick and we talked a lot about Paris, which iswhere he’d come from. Then after a bit we moved in together – he’s a very special person, I’ve been so lucky to find him. Well, we always had this dream of starting our own