Sunita’s Secret

by Narinder Dhami

  I laughed, shaking my head. ‘Thanks, but not tonight. I’d have to ask my mum first.’

  ‘All right.’ Henry waved and turned through the gate. I carried on down the street. But before I’d gone two steps, I saw the Williamses’ front door fly open.

  ‘There you are, darling!’ Henry’s mum was beaming all over her tiny, pointed, pixie-like face. ‘And whoever did all the dusting this morning, I’d like to know?’

  ‘I have no idea,’ I heard Henry reply. He was smiling.

  ‘The same person who emptied the kitchen bin, I expect!’ Slipping her arm through Henry’s, Mrs Williams drew him inside. I went on my way, and now I was smiling too.

  Our house was very quiet. For a moment I thought that everyone was out, but when I went into the kitchen, the twins were sitting peacefully at the table, colouring in pictures with fat wax crayons. To my surprise, Mrs Brodie was with them.

  ‘Oh – hello,’ I said. ‘Where’s Mum?’

  ‘She asked me to babysit,’ Mrs Brodie said cheerfully. ‘Said she had to pop out.’ She broke off as Davey began trying to wrestle a blue crayon from Debbie.

  ‘I want that one!’ Davey yelled, trying to bite Debbie’s finger.

  ‘No-o-o!’ howled Debbie, lashing out with her other hand.

  ‘Now, now, what’s this nonsense?’ Mrs Brodie said sternly. ‘You know how to ask properly for something, Davey.’

  Davey looked shame-faced. ‘Please, Debbie, may I borrow the blue crayon?’ he said humbly.

  ‘Yes, of course you may,’ Debbie replied, and handed the crayon over with a gracious nod of her ponytail.

  My eyes almost dropped out of my head.

  ‘That’s better,’ said Mrs Brodie. She winked at me as she got up and went over to the kettle.

  ‘That’s amazing!’ I said.

  Mrs Brodie smiled. ‘I used to be headteacher in a rather tough school in Glasgow,’ she replied. ‘Now, shall we have some tea? I’ve brought some shortbread with me.’

  I joined the twins at the table and helped them with their colouring. Mrs Brodie was just serving up tea, juice and shortbread when we heard the front door opening.

  ‘Mum!’ the twins roared, and galloped off down the hall.

  Mum came into the kitchen a moment later with the twins hanging off her arms. She looked wide-eyed and rosy-cheeked, as if she was excited about something.

  ‘Where’ve you been?’ I asked curiously. She didn’t have any shopping bags with her.

  ‘Sunita, I’ve gone and done something really crazy.’ Mum took off her gloves and pressed her hands to her flushed cheeks.

  ‘What?’ I asked anxiously.

  ‘I’ve got a job.’

  I thought I’d misheard her.

  ‘I’m sorry? What did you say?’

  ‘A job.’ Mum stared at me. She looked petrified.

  ‘Mum!’ I ran over to hug her. ‘That’s great! Where?’

  ‘Only at the burger bar,’ Mum explained in a shaky voice. ‘I noticed a poster asking for workers when we were in there the other day. So I went back today and – and my first shift’s on Saturday morning …’ She stared anxiously at me. ‘Oh, Sunita, do you think I’ve done the right thing?’

  ‘Of course you have!’ I said, my arms still around her. ‘I think it’s brilliant.’

  ‘Will we get free burgers?’ asked Davey eagerly.

  ‘I’ll be able to afford to buy them from now on.’ Mum laughed.

  The four of us stood in a circle with our arms around each other, as Mrs Brodie moved quietly away to put the kettle on again. We were managing, we were coping. No, better than that. We were re-making ourselves into a new family. Remaking our lives without Dad.

  I sang to myself as I wandered down the street towards the Williamses’ house. I felt good, and there were lots of reasons why. It was Saturday morning. Although it was November, the sun was shining and the sky was a very pale blue. Mrs Brodie was looking after the twins and it was Mum’s first day at her new job. I was happy, and happiness was becoming a habit I didn’t want to break.

  All the same, I did feel a little worried about Mum. I wanted to give her some moral support. So Zara and Henry had offered to come to the burger bar with me. I was meeting Henry first, and then we were going to collect Zara.

  As I rounded the corner, I drew in my breath with a little gasp. Jack Browning was strolling down the street towards me, having just come out of his house, I guessed. His clothes looked cool and expensive – designer jeans and jacket, Nikes, and dark sunglasses perched on his gelled hair.

  I tried not to look nervous, or show that my heart was fluttering inside me. Staring straight ahead, I walked on. But out of the corner of one eye, I could see that Jack had noticed me and was scowling heavily.

  ‘Where do you think you’re going?’ he snarled, stepping in front of me.

  I stopped. I had no choice.

  ‘To Henry’s house,’ I replied. ‘Get out of my way.’ I could feel my knees trembling, but I refused to drop my gaze.

  Jack didn’t move. ‘You got me into big trouble with Arora last week.’ He thrust his face close to mine, so close I could see the pores of his skin. From this distance, he wasn’t so gorgeous. He had lots of blackheads. ‘I got detention because of you.’

  ‘No, you got yourself into trouble,’ I said coldly. ‘It was nothing to do with me. Ow!’

  With one swift movement, Jack had grabbed my arm and twisted it behind my back. He wasn’t really hurting me, but I couldn’t move.

  ‘Now we’ve got to find some way for you to pay me back,’ he said in a gloating voice. ‘How about you take on all my homework for the next week?’

  ‘Jack! Jack! What are you doing?’

  Jack almost jumped out of his skin at the sound of Mrs Williams’s voice. So did I. Immediately Jack dropped my arm, and I backed away from him.

  Henry and his mum were standing on the doorstep of their house. Henry was staring at me anxiously, while his mum looked as if she simply could not believe her eyes.

  ‘It’s all right, Mrs Williams,’ Jack blustered, managing his cocky smile. ‘Sunita and me were just messing around.’

  ‘Really,’ Henry’s mum said in a chilling voice. She marched down to the garden gate, her high heels clicking on the path. ‘Well, if I see any more messing around like that, I shall be speaking to your father.’

  ‘Shut up, you stupid old bag,’ Jack muttered, adding a few swear words under his breath.

  Mrs Williams looked outraged as Jack turned and stalked off.

  ‘Are you all right, Sunita?’ Henry rushed over to me. It was strange seeing him in weekend clothes, and not his uniform. His jeans looked quite baggy. I had been sure for some time that he’d lost weight, but he hadn’t mentioned it, so neither had I.

  ‘Well!’ Mrs Williams looked as if she needed a sit-down, a cup of tea and a bottle of smelling salts to revive her. ‘Jack Browning behaving like that! Who would have thought it!’

  ‘He’s actually not a very nice person, Mum,’ said Henry.

  ‘You mean – this isn’t the first time he’s done something like this?’ Mrs Williams seriously looked as if she was about to faint.

  Henry shook his head.

  ‘Thank goodness you’re not like that, darling.’ His mum slid her arm round Henry’s (smaller) waist and gave him a little squeeze. Henry looked so proud, I almost burst into tears on the spot. ‘Now, would you like to come in for a drink, Sunita, or do you have to be going?’

  ‘Thank you, Mrs Williams, but we’d better go,’ I said with a smile. ‘Zara’s waiting for us.’

  Henry’s mum gave him another hug, went inside and waved us off.

  ‘Somehow I don’t think your mum will be thinking that Jack Browning’s the best thing since sliced bread any more,’ I remarked.

  ‘No,’ Henry agreed confidently. ‘Funny, I was just trying to get up enough courage to tell her what he was really like when I glanced out of the window and there he was, beating yo
u up.’

  ‘Glad I could help,’ I said dryly.

  Henry chuckled, hitching up his jeans, which were definitely too big for him.

  ‘Henry?’ It seemed a good time to raise the subject. ‘Are you losing weight?’

  ‘A bit.’ Henry blushed, looking very pleased with himself. ‘All my clothes are loose. And now my mum thinks I’m the best thing since sliced bread.’

  ‘Because you’ve lost weight?’

  Henry shook his head. ‘I don’t think she cares about that any more,’ he said slowly. ‘She just loves all the little things I’ve been doing for her.’

  I smiled. That was the power of the secret good deeds.

  ‘So how do you think your mum’s getting on at the burger place?’ asked Henry as we walked towards Zara’s street.

  ‘I don’t know.’ I started feeling a little worried again. ‘She’s never had a job before. She was at college when she married Dad. She didn’t even finish her course.’

  ‘I bet she’ll be fine,’ Henry said comfortingly, stopping outside a purple front gate. ‘Is this number twenty-six? That’s Zara’s.’

  Zara’s house was like ours, a small Victorian terrace, but that was where all similarities ended. The front door was bright purple, and it had a rainbow painted above it. The window frames were pink and a climbing rose rambled all over the house, the scented flowers a pale, creamy yellow colour. Instead of a doorbell, there was an actual brass bell next to the front door with a rope hanging from it.

  ‘This is great!’ Henry said enthusiastically, grabbing the rope and ringing the bell loudly.

  Immediately it sounded as if there was an earthquake inside the house. There was a noise of shouts, screams, feet thundering down stairs and dogs barking. Henry and I grinned at each other.

  ‘Get out of the way!’ We could hear Zara yelling inside. ‘It’s for me.’

  The door was flung open. Two cats, one white and one tabby, came out and started curling themselves around my ankles. I got a confused impression of a small crowd of bright-eyed little children peeping at us from the stairs, while a dog still barked somewhere else in the house. But I was transfixed by Zara.

  Henry’s eyes were also falling out of his head. ‘Zara! Wow. You look great.’

  Zara sighed loudly, pretending to be annoyed. She wore a purple suede Afghan coat with a fluffy white collar, and jeans tucked into knee-high black boots. Her birthmark was almost invisible. She looked beautiful.

  ‘Close your mouths, you two,’ Zara said tartly. ‘You might swallow a fly.’

  ‘I can’t believe it.’ I peered closely at her. ‘What happened to your birthmark?’

  ‘My mum bought me this special camouflage make-up ages ago,’ Zara said casually. ‘I haven’t bothered to try it out before.’

  ‘You look fantastic,’ I said warmly.

  ‘Oh, please,’ she said in a prickly tone. ‘Was my birthmark really so bad?’

  ‘Of course not,’ I replied. ‘It’s just that you’ve never worn any make-up before. It really suits you.’

  ‘Definitely,’ Henry added.

  ‘Well, enough about me,’ Zara snapped, trying hard not to look pleased but not succeeding. ‘Are we going to Best Burgers?’

  She was just stepping outside when Mrs Kennedy popped her head round a door at the end of the hall.

  ‘Zara, aren’t you going to bring your friends in to say hello?’

  Zara groaned. ‘Do I have to?’ But I got the impression she didn’t really mind.

  ‘Yes, you do.’ Her mum came forward, a baby on her hip, followed by a big black dog, which galloped straight in our direction. Henry looked a bit nervous, but Zara grabbed the dog’s collar before he could launch himself at us, tail wagging. ‘Hello. You must be Henry and Sunita.’

  We nodded and said hello.

  ‘Doesn’t my Zara look absolutely gorgeous?’ Mrs Kennedy said proudly, smoothing down a sticking-up bit of Zara’s dark hair.

  ‘Mum!’ Zara protested loudly, pushing her away. But it was obvious she was pleased.

  ‘She’s even prettier when she smiles.’ Eyes twinkling, Mrs Kennedy shifted the baby to her other hip. ‘But you have to watch for it. She doesn’t do it very often.’

  ‘I know,’ I agreed. ‘I actually think she rather enjoys being grumpy.’

  Zara sighed loudly, but her lips were twitching a bit. She pulled open the front door and ushered us out.

  ‘’Bye, love.’ Mrs Kennedy, the children, the dog and the two cats gathered at the door to see us off. ‘Have a good time. We’ll go and see Gran and Gramps later when they’re back from their holiday. I can’t wait to see their faces when they find out we’ve been decorating their house!’

  Henry and I glanced at each other, amused.

  ‘So,’ Henry said with enormous glee as the three of us walked off down the street. ‘How’s life, Zara?’

  ‘Fine,’ Zara replied, marching purposefully ahead of us.

  ‘Did you notice a difference in the way Zara and her mum spoke to each other, or am I just imagining it?’ I said to Henry in a low voice.

  ‘You’re not imagining it,’ Henry replied softly.

  ‘Stop whispering, you two!’ Zara snapped, spinning round to glare at us. But it was all show really. I could tell.

  The High Street wasn’t far from Zara’s home. As I led the way to Best Burgers, my heart was suddenly thundering in my chest, and I felt quite sick. I didn’t want this to go wrong for Mum.

  The burger bar was busy, and there were queues at every till. Mum was standing at one of them, taking orders. She wore the green and white uniform, with her hair tucked under a green and white cardboard hat. She looked calm, not at all flustered. I felt relieved.

  Zara went to find a table, while Henry and I joined the queue at Mum’s till.

  ‘I’m just having a drink,’ I said quickly as Henry pulled some money out of his pocket. Mum had only been able to spare a pound for me. ‘Nothing to eat.’

  ‘Share with me,’ Henry suggested. ‘I don’t want much.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ I asked gratefully.

  Henry nodded.

  We moved up to the counter. Mum winked at us as she whisked a tray from the pile and placed it in front of us. She wore a name badge with KULJIT on it.

  ‘Good morning, welcome to Best Burgers. How may I help you?’ she asked brightly.

  ‘Good morning to you too,’ I said with a grin. ‘Two small fries, two cheeseburgers and three strawberry milkshakes to eat in, please.’

  ‘Certainly,’ Mum replied briskly. She bustled away and began collecting our order.

  ‘I think she’s got this well under control already,’ remarked Henry.

  Mum was back with our food and drink quick-smart. She placed it carefully on the tray, and took our money.

  ‘Are you OK?’ I whispered.

  ‘Fine, but my hair stinks of chip fat!’ Mum whispered back. She raised her voice. ‘Enjoy your meal.’

  Zara had managed to get a table quite close to where Mum was serving. Henry and I took the tray over to her.

  ‘Your mum seems to be doing all right, Sunita,’ Zara said. She pointed at a copy of the local newspaper which somebody had left behind on the table. ‘Here, you two, take a look at this.’

  On the front page was a photo, and the caption: Mayor and family attend opening of new hospital ward. Henry and I took a closer look. Celina’s dad stood in the middle of the picture, wearing his mayoral fur-trimmed robes and gold chain. Celina and her mum looked rich, glossy and well-dressed, Mrs Patel in a heavily embroidered sari, and Celina in boots and yet another designer coat.

  ‘Sickening, isn’t it?’ Zara sniffed, tossing the newspaper onto an empty table. ‘It’s almost enough to put me off my food.’ She frowned at the tray. ‘Is that all you two are having? I can lend you some money, Sunita—’

  ‘No, it’s fine,’ I broke in. ‘I’m going to share with Henry. He doesn’t want much.’

  ‘A-ha!’ Zara excl
aimed triumphantly, pointing a finger at Henry. ‘I knew you were losing weight!’

  ‘It’s not a crime, is it?’ Henry retorted, blushing.

  ‘No, but it’s about time,’ Zara said bluntly.

  ‘All right, I’ll make a deal with you.’ Henry divided his cheeseburger neatly, and gave me half. ‘I’ll carry on losing weight if you wear a bit of make-up to school from now on. Done?’

  Zara looked taken aback. ‘Everyone’ll stare at me,’ she snapped. ‘They’ll think I’m ashamed of my birthmark.’

  Henry and I burst out laughing.

  ‘Zara, no one who knows you will think any such thing,’ I said with a grin. ‘Why not make the best of yourself?’

  ‘Anyway, the only thing everyone will be thinking is how stunning you are,’ added Henry.

  ‘Very funny,’ Zara muttered. She put up a hand to smooth her hair down neatly and Henry and I winked at each other.

  As they began chatting about last night’s TV, I kept an eye on Mum. She was doing very well, even chatting to the customers every now and again. I relaxed a little.

  I noticed the two women who came in a few minutes later, but only because they had six children with them of various ages, who were making a noise. The women pulled them into one of the queues with a good deal of muttering and shoving, and loud questions about what they wanted to eat. They all kept changing their minds.

  With a sick feeling in my stomach, I kind of knew what was going to happen a split-second before it did. One of the women, the one in the pink shalwar kameez, glanced at Mum, did a double-take and looked again. She began whispering frantically to the other woman. She stared at Mum, her eyes almost falling out of her head. Then they both began to herd their kids out of the queue they were standing in, and across to Mum’s till.

  ‘But this queue’s shorter,’ one of the boys whined.

  ‘Be quiet, Ajay,’ the other woman ordered sharply.

  I curled my fingers into my palms until the nails dug into my skin. Henry and Zara were still chatting, and didn’t notice that anything was wrong. I fixed my eyes on Mum, willing her not to notice that the women were staring at her.

  She noticed – of course she did. I could see it in her face. Then her head went up, and she stared the two curious women straight between the eyes.