Single Working Mother Essay

Submitted By CLWCLWWLC
Words: 435
Pages: 2

How dare you! (Goes to hit Rosie but cannot.) You're at the centre of everything I do! (Slight pause.) Mummy treated me as though I'd simply fallen over and cut my knee - picked me up and said you'll be all right now, it won't show much. She wanted to make it all better. (Quiet.) … She was the one who wanted it kept secret … I WANTED you, Rosie. (Angry.) For the first time in my life I took care of myself - refused joints, did exercises, went to the clinic. (Pause.) 'It's a girl.' (Smiles irresistibly.) - After you'd gone I tried to lose that memory. (Pause. Effort.) Graham … your father. (Silence.) He couldn't be there the day you were born, he had to be in Liverpool. He was married. (Emphatic.) He loved me, he loved you, you must believe that! (Pause.) He said he'd leave his wife, but I knew he wouldn't; there were two young children, the youngest was only four … we'd agreed, separate lives, I wanted to bring you up. He sent money. (Pause.) I took you to Lyme Park one day, I saw them together, across the lake, he was buying them ice creams, his wife was taking a photo. I think they live in Leeds now, I saw his name in the Guardian last year, an article about his photographs … (Pause.) It was a very cold winter after you were born. There were power cuts. I couldn't keep the room warm; there were no lights in the tower blocks; I knew he had an open fire, it was trendy; so we took a bus to Didsbury, big gardens, pine kitchens, made a change from concrete. I rang the bell.