Let’s twist

In Competition 2816 you were invited to submit a short story with an ingenious twist at the end.

I was inspired to set this challenge after coming across O. Henry’s ‘The Gift of the Magi’ and then rereading Maupassant’s quietly devastating ‘The Necklace’. The moral of Bill Greenwell’s tale — dishonesty pays — struck me as a neat counterpoint to Maupassant.

The winners earn £25 each. G.M. Davis takes the bonus fiver.
 

I answered the knock and was struck dumb. It was 20 years since we’d lived together. I’d undergone sea changes, but she was no different: the pleated pink minidress, the rhinestone gladiator sandals, glamour slap à la Joan Collins.

Too late to invent an excuse: I had to let her in.  ‘Got any gak?’ she asked, twirling through the front door.

‘No, Rita. I’m clean now, you understand? I work and pay my taxes. I’ve played golf with friends of Kenny Dalglish.’

‘Ooh, ’ave the bloody vicar round to tea, do you? Give us some voddy, then.’

Soon I was the captive audience for a familiar tale of girls’ nights out and ratbag men, beginning with raucous chuckles and ending in tears. She departed with a fat cheque.

I was a fool for her still, as I always had been.  But it’s damned hard to say no to mother.
G.M. Davis
 
Pregnant! Yes, it’s official. Her body is changing, hormones dancing riotously to the rhythm of this nugget of life growing inside her. She turns away from her untouched breakfast. Why is she not ecstatic? The truth is, she had imagined the father would share her joy, but her news is accepted with indifference. He has donated his DNA — a life-changing event for her: for him, no more than a physical exercise.