Alice Next Door

by Judi Curtin

  Alice looked a bit doubtful.

  ‘I’m not so sure. But we’d better try something. I haven’t got long left.’ As she spoke she sucked her cheeks and her tummy in, and flopped onto the bed in a mock faint.

  ‘Very funny. You just lie there being totally dramatic, and I’ll do all the work,’ I muttered as I stuffed a pot of noodles into the pocket of my hoodie, and went into the bathroom. I ran the hot tap for ages, but it never got that hot. Not considering I needed water that was actually boiling. In the end I got fed up, and I ripped the foil from the top of the carton anyway. Inside was really gross looking. Maybe Mum was right, it couldn’t have been good for you. It didn’t even look like food. It was a strange orangey colour, and was mostly dust with a layer of strange-looking brown things on top. I carefully filled the carton up to the mark on the side, and stirred it with the handle of my toothbrush. It actually smelt quite nice – a bit like pizza. I checked to see that the coast was clear, then I ran back to my room. Alice was lying on the bed, trying to look weak.

  ‘Oh, at last. You might have to feed me. I have no strength left.’

  ‘Here,’ I said. ‘Feed yourself. I worked hard for this.’

  Alice took out the spoon we’d saved since breakfast, and dipped it into the pot. She stirred around, and sniffed for a while. ‘Mmmm. Smells nice enough. A bit like pizza.’

  I smiled to myself. ‘Try some then. Before it gets cold.’ What I really meant, of course, was ‘before it gets colder,’ since it was only barely warm to start with.

  She gingerly scooped up some of the orange-brown stuff, and put it into her mouth. I smiled at her encouragingly. Behind my back I had all my fingers crossed.

  ‘Yeeurgh.’ She very rudely spat it back into its pot. ‘Yuck!The noodles are still rock hard. I can’t eat this. It’s like eating gravel.’

  I was upset. ‘Come on, Al. Please try. You have to eat. It can’t be all that bad.’

  She thrust the pot towards my face. ‘OK, You try it then.’

  I shook my head. ‘Sorry, I’m quite full.’

  ‘Yeah. Full after your dinner. Was it nice? Did you have second helpings?’

  All of a sudden Alice began to cry. She put her head in her hands, but I could see tears squeezing between her fingertips.

  I picked up the pot and put it on my dressing table. I really didn’t need to have that stuff spilled on my duvet. It looked like the kind of stuff that would make a stain that would never come out – even with the kind of biological washing powders my Mum refuses to use. ‘Oh, Al. I’m sorry. Don’t worry. I’ll get you some food. I’ll think of something, I promise. You won’t starve.’

  She looked at me crossly, wiping away her tears. ‘I know I won’t starve. But I’m not just crying about the food. It’s everything. I don’t think this plan is going to work. We’re just going to be in terrible trouble, and then I’ll have to go back to Dublin, and it will be worse than ever. Mum won’t even let me visit here any more after this. Oh, Meg, this was all a huge mistake.’ She put her head down again and gave a succession of huge, sad sobs.

  There was no way I was giving up though. No way. There was too much at stake.

  I took her by the shoulders. ‘Come on, Al. Don’t talk like that. Just wait till Mum brings Rosie upstairs for bed, and I’ll get some boiling water. You can have two pots of noodles, or three if you want, and you’ll feel better, and then we’ll plan for tomorrow. We’re going to make this work. You just wait and see.’

  She looked at me closely. ‘Promise?’

  I nodded, feeling a bit guilty because the truth of the matter was that I was no longer very sure of anything.

  * * *

  Later, when Mum took Rosie up for her bath, I persuaded Dad to go into the garage to look for some tennis balls for me, and I managed to get a huge jug of boiling water into my room. Alice ate three pots of noodles, and afterwards she was in much better form.

  At about eight o’clock, it was time to phone Alice’s mother. She answered at once.

  ‘Alice, is that you? Where are you? I’ve been phoning the house for ages.’

  Whew, I thought, that was lucky. Her dad must have gone out.

  Alice spoke airily. ‘Oh, I’m home now. Dad took me to the doctor’s.’

  Her mother sounded anxious. ‘Doctor’s? Are you that sick?’

  ‘No, Mum. The doctor says I’m fine. It’s just a bug. He says I’d better not travel for a few days yet.’ She hesitated. ‘Maybe I should wait until Friday, and travel up with Dad?’

  She had no intention of doing that of course. The whole point was that her Dad would arrive in Dublin without her, and there would be a big panic, and her mother would be shocked into moving back to Limerick.

  Her mum spoke. ‘Hmmm. I don’t know. It’s Tuesday now, isn’t it? I’ll have to see. I need to speak to your father, put me on to him.’

  ‘Well, actually, he had to go back into work. He left early you see, to bring me to the doctor, so he had to go back in again. I think he’s going to be home very late.’

  Her mother sounded cross again. ‘Typical. And of course the switchboard at work won’t be on, will it?’

  Alice grinned at me. ‘No, Mum. Unfortunately not.’

  Her mum made a cross, grunting kind of noise. ‘And I don’t suppose he’s entered the twenty-first century and bought himself a mobile phone since I saw him last, has he?’

  Alice grinned at me again. ‘No, Mum. Sorry.’

  ‘You know what, Alice? I think he deliberately stays out of reach.’

  I think she was right. If I was married to a cross woman like her, I’d want to be out of reach occasionally too.

  Alice spoke softly, like to a child. ‘Don’t worry, Mum. It’s fine. Why don’t I just tell Dad I’ll stay here until Friday? He can drive me to Dublin after work and we’ll see you then. Isn’t that the best thing?’

  Her mother gave a big, long sigh. ‘Well, we’ll see. Don’t eat anything until you’re better, and tell Dad to get you some Seven-Up to drink, and I’ll ring you tomorrow.’

  ‘OK, Mum. I’ll phone you though. I’ve loads of credit on my mobile, and I might as well use it up.’

  ‘OK, bye darling.’

  ‘Bye Mum. Love you.’

  Alice clicked off the phone, and grinned at me. I felt a lot better. With every passing day, and with every phone call, it seemed as if we were getting closer to our goal. If only things kept going like this, everything would be perfect. Soon Alice would be back living in Limerick where she belonged, and before long the dried noodles and the bathroom mountaineering would only be a distant memory.

  Chapter fifteen

  Later that night, when I was pretending to be all settled down in bed, Mum came in to say her goodnights. She still had her apron on, which meant she was busy, so I was confident it was going to be a short session.

  As usual, I was wrong.

  She sat on the bed and sniffed the air. ‘What’s that smell?’

  I shrugged and tried to look innocent – a look I was beginning to perfect.

  ‘What smell? I don’t get a smell.’

  I wondered was it Alice’s feet. She hadn’t dared to have a shower since she’d arrived in our house. And sometimes her feet did pong a bit – especially when she wore trainers.

  Mum looked puzzled. ‘There’s definitely an unusual smell in here. It’s like……’

  ‘Maybe it’s that nice perfume you and Dad gave me for my birthday. I put some on earlier.’ This wasn’t actually a lie. I held my wrist towards Mum’s face so she could smell it.

  ‘No, love. It’s not that. It’s…..’

  ‘Or it could be nail varnish remover, or deodorant or something,’ I offered helpfully.

  Mum shook her head, and wrinkled up her forehead. ‘No. It’s nothing like that. I was going to say it’s something like onions, or tomatoes or something. Only kind of artificial. Like packet soup.’

  Of course. It wasn’t Alice’s feet that were the problem. Mum w
as smelling the stupid pot noodles. She wasn’t far off the mark with her guesses. I bet she was a bloodhound in her last life.

  I couldn’t think of anything to say. All I could think of were the empty noodle pots which were in a plastic bag in a drawer next to my bed.

  She shook her head. ‘Anyway, whatever that smell is, it’s not very pleasant. Will I open the window and let some fresh air in?’

  To open the window, she’d have had to go around to the other side of my bed, and even though Alice had rolled underneath, I didn’t want to take any chances.

  ‘No, Mum, it’s fine thanks. I don’t notice anything.’

  She sat on the bed, and rubbed my forehead.

  ‘Are you OK, Megan? You look a bit pale.’

  I put on a brave smile. ‘I’m fine. I’m a bit tired, that’s all.’

  For once, I wasn’t lying. All the fussing over hiding and feeding Alice, and the regular bouts of bathroom mountaineering, were beginning to wear me out. I wasn’t used to such an exciting life.

  Mum didn’t know about any of that, though, did she?

  She smiled. ‘That’ll be all the tennis. You’re just not used to it. If you play more often, you won’t get so tired.’

  ‘Mmmm. I suppose so. I think I’ll play again tomorrow, and see how I get on.’

  I turned over then, and snuggled under the duvet, trying to give her the hint to leave. Unfortunately, Mum was never very good at taking hints.

  ‘And, Megan, I hope you’re getting used to Alice not being around.’

  I couldn’t reply. This really wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have at any time, and especially not right now with Alice lying under my bed listening to every single word.

  Mum put on her softest voice. ‘You just wait and see. You’ll be in secondary school next year. You’ll make lots of new friends. And in no time, you’ll nearly have forgotten all about Alice. When you’re all grown up, she’ll just be a distant, happy memory from your childhood.’

  I could feel the mattress moving slightly under my legs. Alice must have been pushing her feet up underneath it. She was making double sure that I wouldn’t forget about her. It was a typical, reckless, but very funny Alice-moment.

  I couldn’t help it. I gave a sudden, huge laugh. Mum looked at me in surprise. I put my head in my hands and pretended to be crying.

  Mum put her arms around me and rocked me. It would have been very soothing if I had been upset, but since I was trying to stifle my giggles, it wasn’t very helpful. I made lots of gross snorting noises that I hoped sounded like sobs. Mum said, ‘oh my poor darling,’ and rocked me some more, while Alice’s feet beat out a snappy little rhythm beneath the mattress.

  Eventually I recovered my composure. I sat up straight, wiped my eyes and smiled a brave smile.

  ‘I’m OK now, Mum. I just had a sudden sad moment. I was just thinking of what I’d say to Alice if I could see her now.’

  While I said this, I slid my hand from under the covers and put it under the bed. As I did so I made it into a fist, in an effort to make Alice behave herself. Luckily it worked. The movement under my legs ceased, and I began to relax.

  Mum got up to go.

  ‘Better now? Call me if you need me. And remember, Megan, Daddy and I will always love you, no matter what.’

  Great, I thought grimly. I’ll keep that in mind for when you discover exactly how I’ve spent this week.

  Mum kissed my forehead, and went out of the room. After waiting a few minutes, just to be sure, Alice rolled out from under the bed.

  First I was angry with her but not for long, I could never be angry with Alice for long. Soon we were in fits of giggles and then we lay in the darkness without speaking.

  It was nice, just knowing that she was there.

  As I closed my eyes and dropped off to sleep I promised myself that Alice would never, ever be just a distant memory to me.

  Chapter sixteen

  Next morning I woke up to two distinct noises. The first was the sound of heavy rain beating down on the flat roof of my bedroom. The second was the sound of Alice snoring. She sounded like a pig or a rhinoceros or something. I listened for a while, and then decided I’d better wake her. If Mum happened to pass my bedroom door, she’d surely come in, wondering what the strange noise was.

  I leaned down and shook Alice hard. She woke up and looked at me in surprise, as if she wasn’t quite sure where she was.

  ‘Megan?’

  I grinned at her. ‘Yes, Alice. It is I.’

  She looked sad. ‘Sorry. I was having a very vivid dream. I thought I was at home again. With Mum and Dad. And Jamie. Jamie was being really, really stupid. But it was nice all the same.’

  She sat up straight and stretched her arms high into the air. ‘But no more moping. Today we are thinking positive. Today is the first day of the rest of my life.’

  I laughed. ‘Yes. The first day of the rest of your life in Limerick.’

  ‘Yes! The rest of my life in Limerick.’ Her face took on that shiny, happy expression that I both loved and feared.

  ‘Bit of a problem, though,’ I added.

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘Listen.’

  She put her hand behind her ear in an exaggerated listening pose. ‘What? All I can hear is Rosie crying.’

  Now that she mentioned it, I became aware of a soft wailing sound coming from the other side of the house. I hadn’t noticed it before. I suppose I was just so used to it. It was the background noise of my life.

  ‘I don’t mean Rosie. Can’t you hear the rain?’

  ‘So? It’s raining. Big deal. This is Ireland. It rains a lot here. Hadn’t you noticed? Anyway, it’s not raining in here is it?’

  I sighed and wondered if she was deliberately missing the point. ‘Of course it’s not raining in here. But how can I pretend to be going to play tennis if it’s still pouring rain this afternoon? Mum knows I wouldn’t play in the rain. So how will I get out of the house?’

  Alice clapped one hand over her mouth in an expression of sheer horror. I wasn’t sure if she was faking it. With Alice it was often hard to tell.

  She spoke in a hushed tone. ‘You’re right. This is a disaster. We’re trapped. We could be prisoners for the whole day. It’s not fair. It’s cruelty to children!’

  I laughed. ‘Hey, it’s not quite that bad. We’ll think of something. Now, do you need to do some mountaineering before I go for breakfast?’

  She shook her head. ‘No. I’m fine. Ill wait till you get back.’

  I shrugged, and pulled on my dressing gown.

  ‘OK. I’ll see you in a while. I’ll bring you back something nice.’

  Then, closing the door carefully behind me, I went back to my real life.

  * * *

  After breakfast, Mum said. ‘You know what day today is, Megan?’

  I pretended to think. ‘Wednesday?’

  Of course I knew perfectly well what day it was. Wednesday was an important day. It was half way through the week. Alice had been in hiding for two days, and we only needed to continue for two more.

  Mum continued. ‘Well, Wednesday is toddler group day. Rosie and I will be leaving in a few minutes. It starts at half ten.’

  At these words, Rosie began to jump up and down. I felt like doing the same. Mum going out was an unexpected bonus.

  Rosie clapped her fat little hands together. ‘Yay. Toddle oop. Toddle oop. Bikkies. Juice.’

  Poor Rosie. She had no freedom at all, and the only time she ever saw a biscuit was at toddler group.

  Mum laughed, and stroked Rosie’s hair. ‘Well, Rosie’s excited about it anyway. Why don’t you come, Megan? You can play with the toddlers. You always like that.’

  I shook my head. ‘I don’t think so, Mum. I’m a bit old for that stuff.’

  ‘OK, you can stay here then. But no television and no computer. You can tidy the family room while I’m gone.’

  I smiled my sweetest smile. ‘OK. Leave it to me. Your wish is
my command.’

  Mum did her usual half-exasperated shake of her head, and then she went to get her coat. I did the good girl act, and began to stack the dishwasher.

  As Mum was leaving she came back into the kitchen. ‘Sure you won’t come?’

  ‘Yup. Quite sure.’

  ‘OK, so. Be good. I have to go to the supermarket on the way home, so I won’t be back until about one.’

  I had to bend my head over the dishwasher so she wouldn’t see how happy that news made me. My hair fell down into a dirty porridge bowl, but I didn’t even care.

  As soon as Mum’s car was gone from the drive, I skipped into my room.

  ‘It’s OK. It’s me.’

  Alice rolled out from under the bed.

  I threw my arms in the air with a theatrical flourish.

  ‘Ta-da! May I present you, Alice O’Rourke, with the freedom of this house? For two and a half long hours, you, Alice O’Rourke can wander the rooms of this dwelling without fear of discovery, or banishment to Dublin.’

  Alice looked at me, puzzled. ‘Quit the fancy stuff. Just tell me what’s happening.’

  ‘My mum’s gone out,’ I explained. ‘We’re free.’

  Alice jumped up. ‘Free, and starving. Take me to your kitchen.’

  It was strange, sitting in the kitchen with her, watching her eat two bowls of Weetabix, and three slices of toast. She kept getting up from her seat, and wandering into the hall, as if she had never experienced such freedom before.

  Then we tidied the kitchen together, and we worked as fast as we could to get the family room tidy enough to keep Mum off my back. After that, the rain stopped for a short while, and we played swingball in the back garden, where we were safe from neighbours’ prying eyes.

  When it started to rain again, we went back inside. I had a brainwave. I dug out an old vacuum flask from one of the kitchen cupboards, and filled it up with boiling water. Then I hid it in my room, so Alice could use it later, to heat up her noodles. I was very pleased with myself, and even Alice was impressed.