The Testimony of Taliesin Jones (50 page)

Hi
s
m
other is s
till monolo
guing
.
Sh
e as
ks qu
estions
w
itho
ut r
eally wa
nting answer
s.
Sh
e
n
ever wai
ts
fo
r p
eople
t
o a
nswer;
i
t's
as
if the answ
ers
will fri
ghten
h
er.
B
y
th
e
t
ime
th
ey
r
each
th
e
h
ouse
sh
e's
bl
inking
h
er eyes aga
in
a
nd
s
mall dr
ops a
re
ga
thering in their
co
rners.

'
It's
so
l
ovely
to s
ee
you
,'
s
he
says
.
'
Really.'

H
e
b
elieves
h
er
when
s
he
says
th
is. T
hey h
ug again a
nd hi
s
c
heek i
s
w
etted
a
nd black
ed
b
y
runn
ing
m
ascara
.

Toni's hou
se
i
s ca
lled Cliff Tops
.
It has many d
oors an
d brightly colour
ed
furniture which has avoid
ed
th
e
wea
r
an
d t
ear
of famil
y
lif
e.
It
i
s
mod
ern
and ther
efore e
xciting: no l
ow
ceilin
gs,
nothin
g
mu
sty a
nd coll
ecting; s
pace to b
e
yourself
s
pace for hi
s
m
other
t
o
b
e
h
er
new
s
elf.

Tali
esin
i
s
m
ore
rel
axed a
bout b
eing
here thi
s
time
.
On his first
v
isit his n
erves
l
et
him down: he w
et
hi
s
bed twic
e
and brok
e o
ne
o
f Toni's kitch
en
st
ools
.
His mother made a fu
ss
about it but Toni ju
st s
miled and
s
aid,
'
Don
'
t worr
y
about it
,
it'
s
onl
y a
thin
g.'
That was one of
his phra
ses
:
'
It's
only a thin
g.
'

Hi
s
moth
er
t
akes
off her scar
f a
nd
s
hakes h
er
h
ead
.

'
Do
yo
u l
ike
m
y
h
air?'

'It m
akes yo
u l
ook
d
ifferent,'
T
aliesin s
ays n
eutrally.

'
Toni d
id i
t thi
s
m
orning
.
H
e'll
be h
ome
in
a
tick
.
N
ow,
do
y
ou w
ant s
omething t
o ea
t?'

'
Can I h
ave so
me t
oast a
nd M
armite?'

A
s
hi
s
m
other
put
s
the br
ead
in th
e
t
oaster
sh
e ta
lks
a
bout the del
ays
on th
e
tr
ains,
complaining about th
e
time
it
'
s
takin
g
th
em
to fi
x
th
e
tra
ck.
Sh
e
pour<; out a mu
g
of t
ea
a
nd
T
aliesin w
raps hi
s
hands
a
round the mug
,
warming hi
s
hands th
ere.
H
e
think
s o
f hi
s
mother h
aving
him ele
ven ye
ars ag
o, sc
reaming
a
nd p
anting
and pushin
g
hi
s
h
ot
he
ad
into th
e
h
ands o
f
t
he d
octor.
He know
s
th
at
h
e
w
as a
diffi
cult
birth b
ecause s
he h
as
told h
im se
veral
ti
mes, in
g
reat d
etail.
She gen
erally e
nds th
e a
necdote with an unc
onvincing,
'But it w
as
worth it.
'
H
e
look
s
at her stom
ach.
He
c
ame from there, from in
side
h
er.
H
ard
to beli
eve
sh
e'd
go throu
gh a
ll
o
f th
at
f
or
him
a
nd th
at
h
e
w
as
onc
e
that close to her. But n
ow,
wit
h
hi
s
h
ands wa
rm
o
n th
e
hot mug
,
hi
s
moth
er
t
alks
ab
out
rails
a
nd th
e ti
me it
's
t
aken
to fi
x
th
em.

Leo
the cat slinks into the kitchen, patient and callous, anticipating food. His
mother starts talking to the cat as if it we
re
a
p
erson
.
And th
en s
he
so
mehow mana
ges
to t
alk
to Tali
esin
throu
gh
th
e ca
t. 'Hello
L
eo
.
Say
hello to T
aliesin
T
ally
i
s g
oing to be staying
her
e
for
Chri
stmas
,
yeee
sss,'
she s
ays
inanel
y,
picking up the
disintere
sted animal
for Tali
esin
to
s
troke it
s
head
.
But lik
e
most cats L
eo
is
c
ontrary, he does th
e
opposite of what you want or exp
ect.
H
e
fl
exes
hi
s
back and claws
wanting to be put down
.

'
Don't be rud
e,
L
eo;
Tally is part of th
e
f
amily.
Y
eeess
,
thi
s
i
s
his h
ome,
too
.
'
But Talie
sin
isn
't
bother
ed
at th
e ca
t's lack of lov
e
.
What di
sturbs
him is his moth
er's
fluent Cat
speak.
Whil
e
the
c
at drink
s
she runs her de-rin
ged
fin
gers
through its
s
traight fl
at
h
air
.
There i
s
tension in h
er
hand
.

'
Would
yo
u lik
e
a hair
cut,
my D
arling?
I'm
s
ure T
oni
will
g
ive you a trim this
aft
ernoon
.
It
's
th
e
l
ast
d
ay
b
efore
h
e
shuts hi
s
salons for th
e
ho
lida
ys
.
He
'd
love to do it. W
e
could do
s
ome Chr
istmas s
hopping afterw
ards
-th
ere a
re
s
till
a
f
ew
bit
s
and pi
eces
t
o g
et. Would
y
ou lik
e
that
?'