by Judi Curtin
Just then, I felt something stick into my back. I jumped and gave a tiny squeal. It was Jamie, poking me with his dirty finger.
‘What are you doing, Megan?’ he asked.
Oh, no. Not much point sneaking Alice into Veronica’s room, if I was going to get caught eavesdropping outside, was there?
I fell to my knees and pretended to feel around on the thick white carpet, ‘I dropped ten cent. Do you want to help me look for it?’
He shook his head, ‘No way. Look for it yourself, stupid-face.’ Then he went back into the television room and slammed the door behind him.
I breathed a huge sigh of relief, got up and went into Alice’s room out of trouble.
Ages later, I heard the door of Veronica’s room opening. I went out and met her in the hall. She was smiling a funny kind of smile, which vanished as soon as she saw me.
‘Oh, Megan. There you are. Where’s Alice got to? Is she in her room?’
I gulped. Would Veronica believe me if I told her Alice had gone to the shop, or something? Could I pretend not to know where Alice was? That was a bit pathetic as the apartment was tiny. Surely Veronica would never fall for the dust in the eye thing again? Was I going to have to break her precious vase after all? Where on earth was Jamie, and why didn’t he oblige me with one of his world-famous tantrums?
Veronica folded her arms and looked at me as if I was a total idiot. I never felt that she liked me much, but ever since Halloween when Alice had spent three nights hiding in my house, Veronica had acted as if I was some kind of revolting disease to be avoided at all costs.
‘Well?’
I gulped again, and tried not to look towards Veronica’s bedroom door. It was right next to us, and there was no way Alice could sneak out without being seen.
‘She’s … em-m-m … what I mean is … Actually, she …’ I was babbling, and I knew it. I stopped, and thought hard. Distract her. How could I distract her?
I backed into Alice’s room. Veronica followed me. Veronica is the kind of person you’d be afraid of even if you’d done nothing wrong. If we weren’t so high up, I’d have been tempted to jump out of the bedroom window and run away. I opened my mouth, and the words popped out all on their own, ‘Veronica, I can’t open my travel bag. The zip is stuck. Could you help me please?’ As I spoke, I grabbed my bag from the floor, and shoved it towards her.
Veronica slowly unfolded her arms and took the bag from me. The zip of my bag often did get stuck, but of course this time it slipped open easily. Behind Veronica, the door of her bedroom opened, and I saw Alice slip out, and into the kitchen. Veronica handed me back the bag, and gave me an even more scary look than before. Her voice was icy. ‘There. That wasn’t so hard. And now if you have a minute, you might tell me where my daughter has got to.’ I smiled my sweetest smile. ‘Of course, Veronica. She’s just out there. In the kitchen, I think.’
Veronica gave me an evil look, and then spun around on one of her high heels, and walked towards the kitchen. Her heel left a deep mark on Alice’s carpet. I went and sat on Alice’s bed. I picked up the purple cushion and hugged it. I’d only been there a few hours and I’d already spent too much time cushion-hugging. It wasn’t a good sign. I felt like crying. I was really, really sorry that I’d come to Dublin. Veronica was being so mean and nasty, and Alice was all wrapped up in her plotting and scheming, and Jamie was his usual totally horrible self.
Things were bad, and all the signs indicated that they were going to get worse. What about all the treats and fun stuff Alice had promised me? I was sure the week I had looked forward to so much was going to end in total disaster. It just wasn’t fair. I might as well have stayed at home. At least there I wouldn’t have expected any fun, so I wouldn’t have been disappointed.
Just as the first tears came to my eyes, Alice came running in. She slammed the door behind her, and threw herself on to the bed next to me. She was all breathless and excited. ‘I was right. I knew it. I just knew it. How could she do this to us?’
I pretended to sneeze, and used a tissue to wipe my eyes. I needn’t have bothered. Alice was too caught up in her own drama to notice me and my tears.
‘Norman. That’s his name. What kind of a stupid name is that? And Mum kept on saying it. It was “Norman this” and “Norman that” and “You’re so right, Norman.” I thought I’d throw up all over her wardrobe. Serve her right too, if I did. Stinky vomit all over her new Prada shoes.’
‘Any chance he’s just a friend?’ I spoke timidly, fairly sure I knew the answer already.
‘No way. She was all sweet and nice. Too nice for just a friend.’
‘What kind of stuff was she saying?’
Alice thought for a moment. ‘Well, not all lovey-dovey stuff. There were no yucky kissy noises or things. They probably save them for when they meet. It was all things like, “I did exactly as you said”, and “no matter how I try, nothing seems to work.” And then she kept saying how bold Jamie is being.’
‘Well that’s true, isn’t it?’ The words kind of slipped out.
Alice jumped up and stamped her foot. ‘I know that. He is horrible, but I don’t want Mum telling that to strangers. That’s family business. And Norman’s not part of our family. He’s never going to be part of this family. No way!’
I spoke brightly. ‘Still, if there was no lovey-dovey stuff, maybe everything’s OK.’
I didn’t believe that for one moment, but I just wanted to calm Alice down. Her cheeks were hot and red-looking, and her eyes were too bright and sparkly.
She shook her head sadly. ‘The end was the worst part. Mum was quiet for a long time, and I could just about hear his voice, but not clearly enough to hear what he was saying. She just kept nodding and fixing her hair while he was speaking. Then she gave a little sigh, and said, “Thanks Norman. Your call means so much to me, you know. It’s the only thing that gets me through the night.”’
I gave a little gasp of horror. I wished I hadn’t done that, but it didn’t matter, Alice hadn’t noticed anyway. She continued, ‘And then, she said, “I can’t wait to see you again. Tomorrow? Eleven o’clock. The usual place.”’
Alice sat down on the bed again, and put her head in her hands. She kept talking, but her voice was all muffled. ‘The usual place. If they have a usual place, it must be really serious. Oh Megan, what on earth am I going to do?’
I patted her shoulder and said nothing. Once again I felt like crying. Because I knew exactly what she was going to do.
And I also knew that, despite my best intentions, I was going to do it with her.
Chapter six
And so, the next morning, exactly as I had feared, Alice and I were lurking next to a huge line of wheelie bins near the entrance to her apartment building. There was a disgusting smell of rotting food and dirty nappies. We were like two criminals in a very bad spy movie. Or the famous five, when three of them had the good sense to stay at home in bed. It was freezing cold, and I was glad I’d obeyed Mum and worn my warmest jacket. We’d been out there for ages because Alice had insisted on leaving early, in case her mother went somewhere else before her hot date.
Alice had told her mum that we were going to spend the day with one of her schoolfriends. Veronica had just shrugged and said, ‘Have a nice day then, girls. See you later.’ My mum would have insisted on phoning the girl’s parents, and making sure it was OK. Still, I suppose my mum was right. Alice’s mum didn’t check up on her, and look what was happening.
Another ten minutes went very, very slowly by. My feet were going numb, and my hands were red and sore. My breath made huge clouds of steam in the cold, smelly air.
I tried arguing again, ‘Al, I really don’t think this is such a good idea. Your mum will see us straight away, and we’ll be in the worst trouble ever.’
Alice shook her head grimly, ‘She won’t see us, because we’re going to be too careful.’
‘And what if she goes in the car? What will we do then? Are we going to run down the
street after her at sixty kilometres an hour? I can run fast, but I’m not quite that good yet. Or is a taxi going to appear out of nowhere, and we’ll jump in and say “follow that car” and the driver will shake his head and say, “kids these days” and race off with a big screech of tyres?’
Alice didn’t even smile at my joke. ‘Very funny. Not. I told you already. Mum hardly ever takes the car out. She walks nearly everywhere.’
I was cross and cold, and argued more than usual. ‘But what if she’s meeting this guy miles away? What if their “usual place” is at the other side of the city? Surely she’ll drive then. And then what will we do?’
Alice thought for a moment, and then she gave me a bright smile. I felt that old familiar sinking feeling right at the end of my stomach. I knew the answer before she could get the words out.
‘If that happens, we’ll just have to call today a trial run, and tomorrow, we’ll hide in the back of her car before she leaves.’
All of a sudden, I felt even colder, and I hoped and prayed that when Veronica finally appeared, she wouldn’t be waving her car keys.
The door to the apartments opened and closed about a thousand times. We watched loads and loads of people coming and going, but there was no sign of Veronica.
‘Maybe she’s not coming,’ I said, after what felt like another hour. ‘Maybe Nasty Norman phoned and cancelled. Maybe she’s decided to stand him up. Maybe she’s got sense and ditched him.’
‘Or maybe he’s got sense and ditched her’. I didn’t say this out loud!
Alice didn’t even look at me. ‘No, she’s coming all right. I know it. There’s still loads of time.’
I checked my watch. It was still only half past ten. Unfortunately, Alice was right. There was still loads and loads of time. I wondered if it was possible to die of cold in Dublin in February. I wished my gloves and scarf weren’t hidden away at the back of my wardrobe at home. I wished I had another few jumpers on, and maybe a nice woolly hat. An extra pair of socks would have been nice.
I looked at Alice. ‘Aren’t you cold?’
She shook her head, ‘No. I’m fine.’
She was lying. Her lips were turning blue, and the tips of her fingers were white. I wondered if it was an early sign of frost-bite. Alice was very determined, but I doubted if even she would be prepared to sacrifice a few fingers just to discover who her mother’s boyfriend was! This whole thing was crazy. I had to make her see sense.
I put on my most persuasive voice. ‘Come on, Al. Let’s forget about all this. I brought my purse with me. Let’s sneak into town. We can go to that place you told me about. We can get hot chocolate. With marshmallows. And then we can go to the cinema. It’ll be my treat.’
Alice looked at me closely, ‘OK, so.’
I breathed a huge sigh of relief, and the cloud of steam that came out of my mouth almost hid Alice from view. I hadn’t really expected her to give in so easily. It must have been the hot chocolate that did it. Or maybe it was the marshmallows. Alice always was a sucker for marshmallows. She even said that she could taste the difference between pink and white ones.
Then Alice continued, ‘If you want hot chocolate with a big, fat pile of stupid marshmallows you go get it. And go to the pictures too. I don’t care. You can do whatever you like. But I’m staying right here. I have a job to do, and I’m not leaving until it’s done.’
Hot chocolate and the pictures wouldn’t have been much fun on my own. And besides, Alice looked so sad. She looked all lost and confused and alone. I couldn’t just abandon her.
And then for a second I thought how I would feel if I were in her place – if my mum suddenly took Rosie and me to live far away from Dad and all my friends. And how would I feel if my mum started going on dates with a secret boyfriend?
And in the unlikely event of that ever happening, I knew that Alice wouldn’t be all afraid and cautious like I was. She would do everything she could to help me. She wouldn’t give up until everything was OK again.
I shook my head. ‘No, Al, forget I said anything. If you’re staying, I’m staying.’
She spoke more softly then. ‘Really, Meg. It’s OK. This is my problem. I should never have asked you to get involved. I’ve been very unfair to you. You go off if you want. I’ll tell you exactly where to go. I’ll tell you what bus to get and everything. I’ll follow Mum, and see what she does, and I can meet you later. It’s fine. Really.’
I knew she meant it. I also knew that she would stand there behind those stinky bins until she turned into a block of stone or ice or something. She could end up losing all her fingers and all her toes and the tip of her nose, like the poor guy I’d seen on the Discovery Channel a few days earlier. Sometimes Alice was too tough for her own good.
Hot chocolate would have been nice. I could imagine wrapping my fingers around a huge, warm mug, and breathing in the thick, sweet scent. I could almost taste the marshmallows melting on my tongue. But Alice was my friend, and she needed me.
I jumped up and down on the spot, and blew on my numb hands, and tried to smile. ‘Who needs hot chocolate on a lovely warm day like this?’
Alice smiled back with her blue lips, and we waited some more.
Chapter seven
At about a quarter to eleven, the apartment doors opened again. Alice nudged me, and pointed. Then she hissed into my ear. ‘Look. Here they come. Get ready.’ Her breath in my ear was so nice and warm, I nearly forgot to feel afraid about what we were going to do next.
Veronica and Jamie walked slowly towards us. Alice grabbed my sleeve and pulled me further in behind the dustbins. The smell was even worse in there, and I could feel something soft and squelchy under my foot. I was afraid to look down to see what I had stepped on. Something revolting probably. I wondered why we couldn’t have found a nice clean flowerbed to hide in.
I could hear Jamie’s whining voice edging towards us.
‘I don’t want to go to crèche. I want to stay home and watch TV. Crèche is stupid.’ Next I heard Veronica’s voice, all soft and smooth and nice. ‘It will be fun, Jamie. You can play with all your nice friends. And have some nice biscuits. Maybe there will be chocolate ones today. You love chocolate biscuits.’
‘Don’t want to go. Don’t want to go. Don’t want to go.’ Each time he said it, his voice got louder and crosser.
By now, they were really near us. I could hear the clacking of Veronica’s high heels. I was afraid to breathe, even though Jamie’s whining would surely have drowned out any sound I was capable of making. I squashed even closer to a filthy bin. There was something brown and horrible trickling down the side of it. I tried not to wonder what it was. Through a crack, I could see Jamie and Veronica walking past. Jamie was making gross snivelly kind of noises, and Veronica was pulling him along by the arm.
Then, to my absolute horror, Veronica walked past the car park gates and over to her car. She took out her keys and opened the driver’s door. Alice looked at me defiantly. I knew what she was thinking. She was already planning how we could hide in the back of her mother’s car the next morning. I felt sick at the very thought of it. I closed my eyes and waited for the sound of the engine starting.
Then, I heard the car door slam, and Veronica’s sharp tones again. ‘Now Jamie, I have my umbrella, so if it rains we’ll be nice and dry. Come on, darling.’
I let out the breath I hadn’t realised I was holding, and looked towards Alice. She was trying to look all cool and casual, but I knew she was relieved too.
I peeped out from our hiding place. Veronica and Jamie were out on the footpath outside the car park, and were vanishing around a corner.
‘Quick,’ I hissed. ‘Let’s go, or we’ll lose them.’ I was getting into it now, and didn’t want to fail, partly because I knew that if this plan didn’t work, Alice would surely come up with an even crazier idea for the next day.
Alice shrugged, and stepped slowly from behind her bin, dusting down her jacket as she did so.
‘It�
�s OK. No rush. They have to go to Jamie’s crèche first, and I know where that is, so no point killing ourselves. And no point taking stupid chances. This is the easy bit.’
And so we walked slowly along the road, and while we walked, I wondered if every girl’s life was as complicated as I had allowed mine to become.
After about five minutes, we got to Jamie’s crèche. There was no sign of him, nor of Veronica. Part of me hoped that she had left already. Alice’s plan was sure to fail, so maybe it was better if it failed sooner rather than later.
‘I think we’ve missed her,’ I said. I tried not to sound too pleased.
Alice didn’t even reply. She grabbed my arm and dragged me into a clump of bushes just across the road from the crèche. There were no bins this time, but once again, Alice had picked a really smelly spot – there was dog poo everywhere. It wasn’t fair. Starsky and Hutch never had to do this kind of stuff. I tried to find myself a clean patch of ground to stand on, and we waited. Again.
Before too long, the crèche door opened, and Veronica came out. She rummaged in her handbag, and took out a pair of sunglasses, which she carefully arranged on her head. Then she fixed her hair, dabbed at her lipstick with her finger, and set off down the road.
Alice leaned over and whispered, ‘Now, Megan, let’s take it nice and easy. Too close – she sees us. Too far away – we lose her. About fifty metres would be best. Gottit?’
I felt like laughing. What on earth did Alice know about trailing someone? When did she become the expert? Most likely all her knowledge, like mine, came from detective shows on television, and they probably weren’t all that accurate.
Still, this wasn’t the time or the place for an argument, so I bit my tongue, and edged out of the bushes with her. A woman wheeling a buggy gave us a very strange look, but Alice smiled at her, and said, ‘We’re just researching a science project for school. It’s on urban dog poo.’ The woman gave us an even stranger look, and hurried on.