Home Girl
Page 23
I looked at Tony. He nodded. “You think I’m ready?” I asked.
“Yes,” Tony and Louise replied together.
We climbed out of the car. My belly twisted again. I’ve just got to stay on the level for a few secs and then I can let it out. God, Naoms. Leaking tears over a social wanker. What next?
Colleen waited for us outside the front door. For a second I thought about Colleen and Tony being my new mum and dad. That would be a neat new start but I knew it could never happen. Then Kim and Nats flashed into my mind. The cramping in my stomach got worse but I had to ask.
“What happened to Kim and Nats?”
No response.
“What happened?” I pressed. “You can’t block me out on this one.”
“There . . . there was . . .” Louise faded out. She glanced at the sky and shook her head. I think I saw a tear in her eye.
Tony’s voice was as low and slow as I’d ever heard it: “I’m really sorry to tell you, Naomi, but Kim suffered a serious head injury. She’s in a—”
“TONY!” Louise cut him off. I’d never heard her yell so loud.
There was a long pause. We had all stopped walking. I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t wanna hear any more. My stomach quit crunching. I just felt numb all over. Kim! Poor Kim.
“Maybe it’s not that bad,” I said. “She’ll be up in the morning wanting to try on garms in charity shops and all that.”
Tony shook and dropped his head once more. “I’m really sorry, Naomi,” he said in a whisper. “Kim won’t be shopping for . . . well, not tomorrow morning.”
“It’s not the time to talk about this, Tony,” Louise said. She started again for the Goldings’ front door. Tony and I followed her.
“I . . . I had no idea this would happen,” I said. “She . . . she always tried to be good to me.”
“Nobody else expected this to happen,” said Louise. “I don’t want you to think that you’re responsible in any way.”
“I . . . I hope Nats will be okay,” I said. “Can you keep me up to spec . . . on where she is?”
Tony and Louise swapped another long look.
“Of course,” Louise replied. “But it might not . . . it might not be for a while.”
Colleen hugged me extra tight as I entered the house. When I scoped her eyes I knew for real that Kim was in a bad place.
“I’ll put the kettle on and make the coffees,” I said.
“No coffee for me,” Louise said. “I have to head home.”
I embraced her, though she wasn’t expecting it. She gripped me hard. “You’ll have to put up with me for a few weeks yet,” she said.
“Will you take me down to this new place in South Crongton?” I asked.
Louise nodded. “Yeah, I won’t leave before that. It’ll take around two weeks or so to get all the paperwork done. You’ll be under the care of the Crongton council. But I’ll make sure you’re settled in okay.”
“Remember, I wanna be a godmother,” I said. “So hurry up and get pregnant.”
“I’ll try,” Louise said.
Then she was gone. It was better that way. We didn’t wanna spank up the trauma.
I spilled more tears as I made Tony and Colleen their late-night coffees. I tried to stop but all this mad emotion gushed outta me. Colleen made me my ham omelet and I chased that down with chocolate biscuits. She led me to my bedroom later on and kissed me on my forehead.
“Never forget this, Naomi,” she said. “No matter what happens, your life is as valuable as anyone else’s.”
She closed my door but left the light on. I didn’t have my meerkat to cuddle up to but I wanted what Colleen, Tony, and Louise had. A proper home with nuff love in it.
I wanna find some good sistrens, sistrens who’ll be there for me. Is that too much to ask? The Man Upstairs owes me on that one. Maybe in South Crong I might find a decent bruv too. I’ll be fifteen in a couple of months. I’ll be old enough. Yeah, I’ll meet a bruv and we’ll hot-toe it away to somewhere like Biggin Spires where, if we do foster kids, they can go to a decent school. No grimy ends or PRUs for them.
Acknowledgments
I’d like to thank my tireless agent, Laura Susijn. I’ve benefited from twenty years of your careful steering and wise counsel. Thanks for putting up with my strops and rants in all that time, and here’s to at least another two decades.
A big Crongton knuckle bump to the numerous librarians, schools, colleges, prisons, and literary organizations who promote and share my work.
Special mention to those who have supported me and stood by me when I felt down: Courttia Newland, Lemn Sissay, Vanessa Walters, Andrea Rhoden, Denise Rhoden, Amaka, Carol Brown, Tony Parkes, Pauline Gocan, Pauline Caitlyn-Reid, Irenosen Okojie, Grace Wilson, Yvvette Edwards, Joy Francis, Words of Colour, and so many more.
Thanks to my cowriters in the anthology SAFE: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space and its editor, Derek Owusu. It was a pleasure being part of the project and it fills me with great confidence that there is a new generation of black writers emerging who will tell their stories and make their mark.
As the Wailers sang, we must pass it on.
And thanks to the most important group of them all, those who have read an Alex Wheatle book. It’s been twenty years since the publication of my debut novel, Brixton Rock, and I still can’t believe I’m doing this writing thing for a living.
If I was blessed with the talent to pick out a decent melody, I’d write a song about the moment I picked up a Biro in a youth hostel in Brixton and wrote my first poem, “Dear Nobody.” More of that later—watch this space.
One love,
Alex Wheatle
ALEX WHEATLE is the author of several best-selling books including the modern classic Brixton Rock, and the multi–award winning Crongton series. He was awarded an MBE for his services to literature in 2008, has been twice nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal, and has won numerous other awards, including the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. He lives in South London. Home Girl is his latest novel.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, by any means, including mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the publisher.
Published by Akashic Books
©2019 by Alex Wheatle
Paperback ISBN-13: 978-1-61775-753-2
eISBN-13: 978-1-61775-771-6
Library of Congress Control Number: 2019935273
First printing
Black Sheep
c/o Akashic Books
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