Read Online Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe - Free Book Online Page A

Mary-Kay’s.
    ( Carmelita nods. )
    Me: He’s not my friend; he’s Mary-Kay’s.
    Then Jez turned up.
    Me: Oh, here’s Jez.
    Carmelita: For washing machine.
    Me: Yes.
    Carmelita: Your brother.
    Me: And very good friend of Mary-Kay’s as well.
    ( Carmelita smiles. )
    Love, Nina
    PS The LRB—not just about books, but a brainy take on world events etc. You have to be a PhD to get it, or at least a professional intellectual.
    *  *  *
    Dear Vic,
    At the weekend there was talk of one of us driving Will over to see a school friend in Barnsbury in Islington. This boy says he’s got a spider the size of a satsuma. It’s in a giant ice cube in the freezer.
    Will wanted to see the spider but doesn’t like the boy that much and neither me nor MK could be bothered to drive to Barnsbury just for the spider viewing. Except that I was curious about the place (Barnsbury), thinking it might be some huge house (it isn’t, it’s a posh part of Islington with narrow pavements and no parking).
    AB thought it was just a ploy to get people round his house. MK agreed, but thought it “quite commendable.”
    Apparently putting things in ice cubes is a good way of making fake things appear real. So it was possible/likely that the giant spider is a plastic one like the one Will has looked at and considered buying in Harvey Johns (toy shop). Told Will this and he agreed it might not be worth going to Barnsbury. Later he rang the boy in Barnsbury and asked outright if the spider was plastic. The boy admitted it straightaway and even said he’d bought it from Harvey Johns. Will was very satisfied. We all were.
    Didn’t go to Barnsbury. Went to Harvey Johns.
    Pippa has got a new friend called Vie. Not Vi as in Violet, but pronounced Vee as in the French for “life.” So she’s got Mel the beautician and now this Vie the actress.
    She’s doing a version of Swan Lake (Vie is) where they chuck water at each other and the swan breaks someone’s arm on a canal bank (a bringing it bang-up-to-date thing). Audience participation. Pippa says if you don’t wear a shower cap you might get a soaking. I reminded her that her hair is wet already via the wet-look mousse. She explained that wet-look hair is actually bone-dry to the touch. It just looks wet, so when she goes to see the Swan Lake thing, she (of all people) will have to wear a shower cap. Real wet on wet- look equals frizz (i.e. dry) like a double negative.
    Love, Nina
    PS The hair mousse is called Wet-Lookz. She used to use Studio-Line but it gave her crispy curls.
    *  *  *
    Dear Vic,
    Do you like the typewriter? MK has given it to me (lent). It’s crap—you should see it. I like having it but the thing is, using it, I can’t think. Like now, I’m trying to write to you but can’t get going on a letter. Short on news.
    Yours sincerely,
    Nina Stibbe
    *  *  *
    Dear Vic,
    Yes, the typewriter is a bit of a disaster. The secret is to learn to type without having to look at the keys, then you can just type as you think, not keep thinking where’s the T, etc.
    To be honest, I’m trying to write a novel. Have just read an excellent one and think I could easily write one (semiautobiographical). Was just about to show AB a little synopsis and a few pages when Amanda (nanny up the street) asked me if I’d ask AB if he’d watch her do a bit of acting and give her some tips. She’s trying to get into drama school and has been turned down once already and wants to get it right this time. She’s very passionate about it (getting into drama school).
    AB agreed to watch her (he said, “Don’t know why she’s asking me, I’m hopeless”). But he likes Amanda and wanted to help so he came over and they did it in the kitchen. I had to be there too (unfortunately). She performed a bit from a play where a young woman strays into the servants’