The Almost Lizard by James Higgerson

Author:James Higgerson [Higgerson, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781909039469
Publisher: Legend Times Group

Christmas Showdown Shocker!

1.

The sudden cliffhanger left me in an involuntary freeze for a few seconds, mouth agape. I concealed myself next to an ice cream van where I could watch Dad and Robyn move slowly down the promenade, with no sign of letting go of each other’s hands. It was possible, I thought, that there was some reasonable explanation for all of this and I waited for a sign of Dad comforting her, a valid reason for him to be holding Robyn’s hand. Even if neither of them was looking particularly distressed, an affair was not something I was prepared to accept without conclusive proof.

Dad removed any ambiguity from the situation by leaning in and kissing my best friend’s mother.

I wasn’t consciously filming at this point, but afterwards I knew that everything I did and saw in those minutes would be included in The Almost Lizard. There and then, though, I could only think of things in real terms. Dad and Robyn as a couple was such a ludicrous proposition that I couldn’t have possibly believed it were they not kissing less than forty metres in front of me. It was crazier than Mum having a secret sister.

Dad was a dependable force in my life. I portray him as distant and unfeeling at times, but he was by no means absent. Mum just happened to be around more. I’d never doubted that my father loved me and my mother, and I respected the fact that he had eventually grown angry with us on a couple of occasions.

Secret sister aside, my family had been a rock solid unit and the kiss I was watching was nothing short of a detonation. I had grown to rely on my family to be uneventful; it was how everything had started in the first place.

They pulled out of their embrace and smiled in that smug way people do when they’re in love. My head filled with thoughts that made me run away.

Presumably I made my way home on the bus, but I don’t remember it at all. Mum was out when I entered the house. I was home much later than I had planned, but I had virtually forgotten that I’d even seen Anne that day. I walked upstairs, climbed into bed and lay there fully-clothed with my eyes closed. I think I fell asleep, but I can’t be certain of that.

I opened my eyes when Mum came into my room a couple of hours later, making noises about me wasting my holiday by staying in bed all day. I grunted and nearly protested that I had been out and about, but instead I remembered.

Dad.

Robyn.

And going further back to lunch time, Anne.

I told Mum that I wasn’t well, and I was grateful to her for leaving me alone after only a few questions about what was wrong. I lay there in the dark thinking about Dad and Robyn, imagining them together, going through the motions of an affair. The illicit kiss, followed by the denial,

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