Every time you make a move

The Great Pretender-Pt 2

Headfort, around 1pm

"Look Brenda, there's the star of the show!"

"Good man yourself, Johnny!"

"Look, it's almost as if he could be Peter Pan himself!"

Johnny's cheeks flushed bright red as he wove through the buzzing school lobby, in search of his mother as he awkwardly clutched onto his drawstring gym bag that contained his handmade Peter Pan costume.

From the moment he emerged from the boy's backstage changing area he could sense his teachers and classmate's parents ogling and gushing remarks at him, or other children's dads that he had never even met before and his male teachers would give him an affectionate pat on the back or shoulder as he passed by them.

"So this is what attention feels like." he thought, "Maybe popularity and adoration isn't all that it's made out to be"

But there was a silver lining to his local new-found fame, because the ecstasy that the boy felt being on stage and playing a completely different character in order to make people smile was a far better feeling, and was what made performing worth it.

"It's sad that there's only one school play a year... I wish that I could act more" he thought.

Soon enough, through the crowd of other parents and children reuniting for the Christmas holidays Johnny was able to spot the peagreen sleeve of Monica's coat as she frantically waved at him.

"Mum!" he exclaimed, pushing past more people.

The boy collided into Monica's open embrace, burying his face into her shoulder as she bent down to his level, and he didn't care if all the other boys saw him being too soft. It was the first time that he hugged his mother in almost three months since he and his twin sister bid her farewell at the start of September, but for him it felt much longer, and so did the few seconds that she held him tightly in her arms.

"Oh, my big, big boy..." Monica cooed repeatedly, remarking when they pulled away, "Look how much taller you've gotten!"

Of course, Johnny downplayed his apparent growth spurt, "Mummm?! It's only a few extra centimeters!"

"And you were so brilliant up on that stage too!" she ruffled her son's smooth brown hair, "Such a shame Paula and dad couldn't be here to see you."

He reluctantly asked, "You mean, only you turned up?"

"Just me, but I got it on video for everybody else... especially Aunty Paula!" Monica quickly added, holding up her camcorder bag, "She was so looking forward to seeing you as Peter Pan, but she decided to go to Roshni's 24 game so that your sister wasn't alone."

Without even bothering to question the whereabouts of his father, Johnny could smell the alcohol on his mother's breath as she leaned down to push his brunette bangs out of the way and kiss his forehead.

And combined with that, what Monica said next made him sense an imminent problem:

"I tell you what, why don't you grab your things and we'll catch the bus back to Dublin," she suggested, "then we'll have lunch at the hotel bar, or get room service, and celebrate until Roshni and Aunty Paula come back?"

Johnny knew that a meal or room service possibly meant that she'd drink more alcohol, and that alcohol his mum was going to keep drinking until she would get drunk or fall asleep. And from what he remembered back home in London, Monica was no fun at all when she was either of those things.

He doubted truthfully, "Mum, I don't think that's a good idea"

"Why not? Your brilliant performance earned it, sweetheart!" she stood back up again, trying to persuade him further.