What became of us

essay about capital punishment: ‘the word is hanged’.
    ‘Was that her?’ Leonora asked.
    Roy and Saskia reached the gate first. They held it open for Manon and Lily. Then the little group disappeared.
    ‘Yes, she was, but it really wasn’t anything to do with her,’ Annie said.
    ‘It was in the paper. Wasn’t she the daughter of someone famous?’
    ‘No, he was,’ Ursula began, then stopped herself, wondering whether Manon was still as sensitive about people knowing that.
    ‘She’s awfully pretty,’ Leonora remarked. ‘What’s she done with her life?’
    ‘Her mother was French, so she lived in Paris, modelled a bit, and then she was a croupier I think, and then she met this incredibly rich Italian count and lived in a palace in the middle of Rome.’
    You make friends to fill in the deficiencies in your own life, Annie thought, and Manon provided her with exoticism. She liked the fact that she knew her better than Leonora did.
    ‘Goodness! Sounds like a fairy story,’ said Leonora. ‘And what does she do now?’
    ‘Haven’t you read the stories?’ Annie asked her.
    ‘Yours?’
    ‘No,’ Annie struggled to suppress her irritation. ‘Manon’s. You must have seen the wonderful reviews,’ she forced herself to say. It was the first time she had admitted the brilliance of Manon’s work, even to herself.
    ‘She’s a writer!’ Leonora’s face lit up. ‘Perhaps I should have asked her to read something tonight?’ Annie thought of one of the most memorable stories, which was entitled ‘A Leopardskin Bedspread’. She didn’t think that it would have quite fitted Leonora’s programme for the evening.
    ‘She’s a bit shy.’
    ‘Yes, she seemed a bit quiet,’ Leonora said, adding, ‘almost sullen.’
    Whenever she was with Manon, Annie was eaten up with envy. Manon was not just beautiful, she had the sort of beauty that men died for. She was not just slim, she had the body of a catwalk model. There were umpteen perfect reasons to hate her, but as Annie looked at Leonora and recognized the schadenfreude in her face, and the eagerness to embark on a major bitching session, she suddenly felt enormously protective of Manon.
    ‘So what have you done with your life, Leonora?’ she asked.
    ‘You mean apart from running a home, raising two children by myself, cooking three healthy meals every day and singing in a local choir?’ Leonora asked.
    ‘Yes, apart from that,’ Annie said, cruelly.
    ‘During term time, I run a music class for the under-fives,’ Leonora replied huffily. ‘It’s not exactly a brilliant career like yours, but it fits in with my children.’
    Annie pictured her singing in front of a row of astonished toddlers.
    ‘Anyway, la, la, la, la, la, la, la,’ Leonora trilled bravely, ‘I’m glad I caught you, because I’m dying to know what you’re going to read? And will you go last?’
    ‘What am I going to read?’ Annie repeated. ‘Well, you tell me!’
    Leonora looked bewildered.
    ‘You said you wanted me to read something,’ Annie continued, ‘so what is it?’
    ‘Oh, I thought you’d have something you’d written.’
    ‘I write about sex and the single girl. I don’t think it would be very appropriate.’
    ‘Oh, I see what you mean.’
    ‘Who else is doing something?’ Annie asked.
    ‘I’ve got Jennifer doing Elgar on the cello, then there’s Mel, she’s the woman who runs the Oxford branch of Penny’s charity. She’s got cancer too and she’s going to read Letter to the Corinthians.’
    ‘Letter to the Corinthians?’ Annie asked.
    ‘You know that Faith Hope and Charity one, the one Tony Blair did at Diana’s funeral except that he said “Love” instead of “Charity”. I think Mel’s sticking to the traditional version. What else? La la la. I’m going to sing some Lieder, but I was hoping you’d finish us off with something a little more cheerful, so to speak.’
    It was going to be worse than Annie had imagined.
    ‘Is this before or after dinner?’ she asked.
    ‘After.’
    ‘Wouldn’t it be better before? Everyone will be so nervous they won’t enjoy their food,’ Ursula intervened in Annie’s support.
    ‘Mmm, you may be right. But I’ve printed the programme on the back of the menu, you see.’
    ‘I think I’ll have to go and work on something in my hotel,’ Annie said.
    ‘I’m off for a nap,’ said Ursula quickly.
    ‘Fine, fine... la, la, la... see you later.’
    ‘How much organization can a dinner for