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Chapter no 40

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

WEDNESDAY NIGHT.ย HIGH TIME.

โ€˜Hello, Mummy,โ€™ I said. I heard my own voice โ€“ it sounded flat, emotionless.

โ€˜How did you know?โ€™ Sharp. Irritated. โ€˜Itโ€™sย alwaysย you, Mummy,โ€™ I said.

โ€˜Cheeky! Donโ€™t be insolent, Eleanor. It doesnโ€™t suit you. Mummy doesnโ€™t like naughty girls who talk back, you know that.โ€™

Old ground, this โ€“ a reprimand Iโ€™d heard so many times before. โ€˜I donโ€™t really care what you like any more, Mummy,โ€™ I said.

I heard her snort; short, derisive.

โ€˜Oh dear. Someoneโ€™s in a strop. What is it โ€“ time of the month?ย Hormones, darling? Or something else โ€ฆ let me see. Has someone been filling your head with nonsense? Telling lies about me? How many times have I warned you about that? Mummy isnโ€™tโ€”โ€™

I interrupted. โ€˜Mummy, Iโ€™m going to say goodbye to you tonight.โ€™

She laughed. โ€˜Goodbye? But thatโ€™s so โ€ฆ final, darling. Thereโ€™s no need for that, come along now. What would you do without our little chats? What about your special project โ€“ donโ€™t you think you ought to keep Mummy updated on your progress, at least?โ€™

โ€˜The project wasnโ€™t the answer, Mummy. It was wrong of you, very wrong of you, to tell me that it was,โ€™ I said, not sad, not happy, just stating facts.

She laughed. โ€˜It wasย yourย idea, as I recall, darling. I merely โ€ฆ cheered you on from the sidelines. Thatโ€™s what a supportive Mummy would do, isnโ€™t it?โ€™

I thought about this. Supportive. Supportive meant โ€ฆ what did it mean? It meant caring about my welfare, it meant wanting the best for me. It meant laundering my soiled sheets and making sure I got home safely and buying me a ridiculous balloon when I was feeling sad. I had no desire to recount a list of her failings, her wrongdoings, to describe

the horrors of the life weโ€™d led back then or to go over the things sheโ€™d done and not done to Marianne, to me. There was no point now.

โ€˜You set fire to the house while Marianne and I were asleep inside. She died in there. I wouldnโ€™t exactly call that supportive,โ€™ I said, trying my best to keep my voice calm, not entirely succeeding.

โ€˜Someoneย hasย been telling you lies โ€“ I knew it!โ€™ she said, triumph in her voice. She spoke brightly, full of enthusiasm. โ€˜Look, what I did, darling โ€“ anyone would have done the same thing in my situation. Itโ€™s like I told you: if something needs to change, change it! Of course, there will be inconveniences along the way โ€ฆ you simply have to deal with them, and not worry too much about the consequences.โ€™

She sounded happy, glad to be dispensing advice. She was, I realized, talking about killing us, Marianne and me, herย inconveniences. In a strange way, it helped.

I took a breath, although I didnโ€™t really need to.

โ€˜Goodbye, Mummy,โ€™ I said. The last word. My voice was firm, measured, certain. I wasnโ€™t sad. I was sure. And, underneath it all, like an embryo forming โ€“ tiny, so tiny, barely a cluster of cells, the heartbeat as small as the head of a pin, there I was. Eleanor Oliphant.

And, just like that, Mummy was gone.

โ€Œ

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