Parcel for you.. Part 25

 

‘Oh, we might have to try and scrub that off,’

 

‘Why Mum? It suits him, don’t you think it suits him?’

 

Vanessa stared at her daughter, she was always bamboozled by the wall of defiance which Annie put up whenever they disagreed on something, however small. ‘I suppose it looks sort of bohemian but it might react with his materials or invalidate the warranty.’

 

Annie and June both gasped simultaneously. ‘I don’t know how you could even think of him in those terms…such a lovely lovely man,’ said June, ‘Honestly Vanessa, just because you’ve been divorced doesn’t mean you should hold the sanctity of marriage with so much…flippancy.’

 

‘Flippancy? I don’t,’ Vanessa glanced at Annie who was stifling a laugh now, ‘it’s just that if he breaks. I can order another one, that’s all. I mean, I’d probably transfer the chip so he’d still be Spencer.’

 

‘Well, I couldn’t do that with your father, when he broke, I had to take care of him.’

 

‘Yes Mother but Spencer isn’t human, that’s the advantage, he was manufactured without any of the mess and the frailties that comes with being made from flesh and blood.’

 

‘Sounds like the easy option to me. Maybe I should get one of my own, to help me with the cleaning and make me a drink now and then..’

 

Annie shuffled to the edge of her seat and rubbed her hands together. ‘Grandma, that’s a really good idea. Why don’t you. He could be friends with Spencer. I can help you place the order.’

 

Spencer turned around and looked at Vanessa but didn’t say anything.

 

‘I’ll have to do some research first,’ June gave her granddaughter a gentle slap on the thigh, ‘I’ll ask my chiropodist, see what she thinks, she’s always very honest. Your mother’s a dark horse, isn’t she..’

 

‘A horse?’ said Spencer.

 

June burst out laughing again. ‘It’s a saying, a metaphor. Oh he’s still got some way to go hasn’t he before he understands the finer details of communication.’

 

‘He understands most things actually,’ said Vanessa.

 

‘He was absolutely terrified when Annie let me in, he ran out the back door and Annie had to follow him and talk him into returning. I could swear his hair stood on end. I don’t normally have that effect on people,’ June chuckled and her shoulders went up and down.

 

Spencer and Vanessa exchanged a look. ‘Does anyone else want another drink?’ said Spencer.

 

‘No I don’t think so Spencer…but it’s very kind of you to ask. I’d better be getting back home, the buses will be crammed full of people at this time of day, absolute nightmare for somebody like me with bad feet .’

 

‘It’s okay Mum. I’ll drop you home. Spencer, do you want to come with us?’

 

‘I can stay here with Spencer,’ said Annie, so quickly that it made Vanessa suspicious.

 

‘No, I’d like him to come out for a car journey, get him out the house. He’s meant to go out regularly to expand his software connections.’

 

‘Okay,’ Annie said with some extra communication in the tone of her voice to suggest she was annoyed.

 

They made the short journey to drop June off safely and then Spencer climbed into the passenger seat. ‘I wish I could drive,’ he said, looking longingly at the dashboard.

 

The idea of Spencer driving seemed more plausible now than their first outing to Tesco together, shortly after he arrived, when he attempted to get into the driver’s seat. ‘Well, perhaps you will…one day.’

 

‘I don’t know if I'll be allowed because of the perceived potential for malfunctions.’

 

Vanessa sighed. ‘But you rarely malfunction, unless I’ve forgotten to do something.’

 

‘I don’t malfunction, it’s just that I have gaps in my reasoning, in my understanding of the world around me but when they are filled, they can only be filled logically. People don’t see that though, they don’t see how I process information, they only see potential for things to go wrong.’

 

‘I understand their concern because you are a relatively new invention but humans, who are a very old invention, are highly likely to malfunction in millions of different ways. For example, I’m feeling quite annoyed right now and that’s making me drive faster, slightly more aggressively.’

 

‘Mmm, I noticed that. Why are you annoyed? Have I done something wrong?’

 

‘No, no, not you. I just wasn’t expecting to come home from work to my mother and all of you chatting and laughing in the kitchen like that.’

 

‘Oh,’ Spencer thought for a moment, then said, ‘like what?’

 

‘I don’t know…..that.’ Vanessa winced as she replayed the feeling she had when she opened the front door and she felt like an intruder in her own home.

 

‘We were just talking and I made Annie and June tea and biscuits. After I’d recovered from the initial fear of seeing June again. Actually, I need to speak to you about that..’

 

‘About what?’

 

‘When I saw June entering through the front door, I felt something. It was like my cartridge filled up all at once.’

 

‘What have you been eating?’

 

‘Nothing, a few cream crackers yesterday, that’s all but I felt this fear and it went down into my stomach and then somehow, out the back, like an exhaust, and it was all so quick. That’s partly why I ran out the back door. I felt out of control and you weren’t there of course.’

 

‘Sorry, I was at work and I wasn’t expecting her to come over.’

 

‘She seemed to like me, your mother, at least that’s how I interpreted it. Before long we were all laughing and telling stories.’

 

‘What stories were you telling?’

 

‘She told me about the first time you brought Annie’s father home to meet the family and he was entirely dressed in denim, denim jeans, denim jacket and denim shirt. Annie thought it was very funny and said that she would get the same outfit for me..’

 

‘Eurgh! No thank you, that was the fashion then and it was a very different world. There’s no way I’d entertain a real man dressed in triple denim. What was I thinking? I was a another person back then.’

 

Vanessa pulled up outside the house. She glanced down at the henna tattoo on Spencer’s hand, she took hold of it and sighed heavily. ‘I’ve got some acetone somewhere, to get that off. It won’t hurt you will it?’

 

‘No I won’t feel it but I suppose it could damage my veneer.’

 

Something was bothering Vanessa. It wasn’t just the henna tattoo, it was a general feeling that he was somehow becoming public property, at least among family members. She suddenly felt more possessive over him and fearful that he could be manipulated if she wasn’t there to protect him, ‘Spencer?’

 

‘Yes?’

 

‘I think you should sleep in my room tonight, next to me tonight.’