by Judi Curtin
‘I don’t know how she does it,’ she said. ‘It’s like she puts on an invisibility cloak once four o’clock comes.’
‘Exactly,’ I said. ‘Anyway, we can talk to her tomorrow at lunch time, and once we find out what’s going on, we can figure out a way of helping her.’
But Aretta didn’t come to school the next day or any other day that week. Ella and I were totally worried about her, but we didn’t dare to go to the detention centre to find out what was going on.
There was nothing we could do.
That night my friend Kate FaceTimed me. (Kate lives in Seacove, where I go on holidays with my family. At first I thought she was totally weird, but when I got to know her, I realised that she’s really, really nice. The only problem now is that she lives so far away I hardly ever get to see her.)
‘Hey,’ I said. ‘It’s so good to hear from you. How are you?’
She told me all the latest news from her school, and laughed a lot when I told her about how Ella and I sneaked Lucky into the nursing home to visit Gigi.
‘So how’s your adorable baby brother?’ I said then.
She gave a huge, soppy smile. ‘Simon is the cutest baby in the world,’ she said. ‘He knows loads of words now, and every day he learns more. He comes into my bed every morning to wake me up, and even if I’m really tired, his giggling makes me smile. When he laughs, he makes everything funny. He’s just so …’
She stopped talking.
‘What?’ I said. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Sometimes when I think about how much I love Simon … it scares me to think that if it weren’t for you, I might never even have known that he existed.’
I hoped my red face didn’t show up on her screen. ‘I didn’t really—’
‘You were amazing, Eva,’ she said. ‘You fixed my life. You made everything perfect again. You…..’
Now I was totally embarrassed. ‘Yeah, well,’ I said. ‘Thanks for that, but I think I’ve lost my touch. There’s a new girl called Aretta in my school. She’s got loads of problems, and I can’t think of a single way to help her.’
‘That’s so awful,’ said Kate, when I’d finished telling her about Aretta. ‘But don’t worry. I know you’ll be able to figure something out.’
I shook my head. ‘I’m not so sure. I think this problem might be too big for me.’
‘No problem is too big for you. Just do what you always do.’
‘What’s that?’
‘Wait until the perfect idea comes to you, and then don’t hang around worrying about if it’s stupid, or if it’s going to work – just go ahead and do it.’
We chatted for another while and then Kate had to go and do her homework.
Suddenly I realised how much I missed her.
‘When are we going to see each other?’ I asked. ‘The holidays are ages away, and my mum and dad are really busy these days, so they don’t have time to drive me to Seacove for just a day trip.’
Now Kate looked sad, and I felt sorry. ‘Oh don’t worry,’ I said. ‘We’ll think of something.’
She gave a small smile. ‘I guess. Now, I’ve really got to go. Bye.’
I looked at the blank screen for ages. Kate is one of my best friends, and never seeing her is totally, totally unfair
Chapter Eighteen
‘Be brave, Lucky,’ I whispered as we tip-toed up the stairs on Friday night.
‘You’ve got a long night of cuddling ahead.’
‘Yip, yip,’ said Lucky.
Ella giggled. ‘I wonder if that’s doggie-speak for ‘Yay!! or Please don’t do this to me.’
‘We’ll never know!’ I said. ‘Now hurry up, before Nurse Witch catches us.’
Once again, Gigi’s room was full of people. The small table was set up with cups and saucers and plates full of sweets and biscuits.
‘Oh, there you are girls,’ said Gigi when she saw us. ‘Welcome to the party. I think you know everyone except for Hannah.’
She pointed to a small woman who was sitting in the corner of the room, knitting furiously.
‘Hello, girls,’ said Hannah, without looking up. ‘I’m so excited to be here. My daughter invited me to visit her this weekend, but I said no. Her house is very boring compared to the parties here on Friday night. Now can you pass Lucky to me, I want to see if this coat I’m knitting for her is big enough yet?’
‘Where’s Peggy?’ I asked, remembering the woman who had marched off the week before.
‘She didn’t want to come,’ said Gigi. ‘She’s sulking again. Paddy rolled over her foot at breakfast this morning, and Peggy said he did it deliberately.’
‘I did do it deliberately,’ said Paddy. ‘She took the last slice of toast.’
I started to laugh, but stopped when I realised he wasn’t joking. Then I felt worried.
‘Peggy seems to be a bit of a troublemaker,’ I whispered to Ella. ‘What if she decides to tell Nurse Witch about our Friday night parties? Maybe we should ask Gigi what she thinks.’
‘No,’ said Ella. ‘Everyone’s having such a lovely time. Let’s not worry them. Let’s just cross our fingers and hope that Peggy hasn’t got a mean streak.’
Twenty minutes later, the party was going great. Nancy was organising strict five-minute hugging sessions with Lucky, Gigi was pouring the last of the tea, and Fred was passing around plates of food. And then Gigi’s bedroom door was pushed open, and Peggy hurried in.
‘Nurse Witch is coming!’ she said.
‘You told on us!’ said Paddy. ‘You wicked woman. I knew you didn’t have a decent bone in your body.’
‘No,’ wailed Peggy. ‘I told no one.’
‘But it’s only half-past ten,’ said Fred. ‘Why would Nurse Witch be coming up now?’
‘I was just coming in to say hello,’ said Peggy, ‘when I saw the call-light over Michael’s door come on.’
Gigi had told us about the man at the end of the corridor who never left his room. If he had pressed his call button, then we only had a few minutes before Nurse Witch came along the corridor. I pictured her putting her book down with a big sigh, and slowly making her way up the stairs.
‘Maybe she won’t come in here,’ said Ella. ‘Maybe if we’re all really quiet, everything will be fine.’
‘It’s not going to be fine,’ said Gigi, shaking her head. ‘Nurse Witch rarely comes up here, but when she does, she checks in every bedroom.’
‘We’re doomed,’ said Peggy. ‘We’re all doomed.’
‘No, we’re not,’ said Nancy. ‘Everyone hide.’
That was a good idea, except that there were eight people and a dog in the room, and the only places to hide were the teeny-tiny bathroom, and a cupboard that looked like it was made to hold dolls’ clothes.
And then Gigi stood up. ‘I’m not hiding,’ she said. ‘Last time I checked, we were all adults.’
‘I’m not an adult,’ said Ella.
‘Nor me,’ I said. ‘And Lucky’s only six months old. Even in dog years, she’s pretty much a baby.’
‘Then maybe it’s better if you three hide,’ said Gigi, pushing us towards the bathroom. ‘Or else things might get a bit complicated. But I am going to stand my ground. Who’s with me?’
As I grabbed Lucky and followed Ella in to the bathroom, I heard a big defiant chorus from the bedroom.
‘We’re all with you,’ said Paddy. ‘Every last one of us. We’ll fight this to the death.’
‘Maybe not that far,’ said an old lady. ‘I like being alive.’
‘Leave the door open a tiny bit,’ I whispered to Ella. ‘I don’t want to miss a second of this.’
‘I don’t think I can bear to look.’
‘But isn’t it so great to see Gigi and her friends standing up for themselves?’
‘I guess,’ said Ella. ‘But what if it all goes horribly wrong?’
Chapter Nineteen
For a few minutes, the only sounds were the beating of my heart, and the dry coughing of one of the
old ladies in the bedroom.
Next to me, Ella started to relax. ‘Maybe everything’s going to be OK. Maybe Nurse Witch checked on Michael and then went back downstairs.’
I shook my head. ‘I doubt it. Gigi says she’s like a machine, and machines don’t think. They just do the same thing, over and over again. They always……’
I stopped talking as I heard the bedroom door being pushed open.
‘Mrs Walker!’ came Nurse Witch’s angry voice. ‘Why is your light on at this time of night? Why is…….?’
I peeped out and saw Nurse Witch standing in the doorway of the bedroom. Her face was white and angry.
‘What on earth is going on here? Mr Edge, Mrs Parsons, why aren’t you in your rooms? Don’t you know the rules?’
Gigi and her friends were huddled together in the corner of the room, staring at the matron. They looked old and scared.
‘The poor things,’ whispered Ella. ‘They want to stand up to her, but they’re not brave enough.’
‘Give them a chance,’ I said, not really daring to hope.
‘Well?’ said Nurse Witch, walking further into the room, with a cruel smirk on her face. ‘Has anyone got anything to say?’
And then Paddy wheeled his chair towards Nurse Fitch, stopping just a centimeter from her ugly white shoes.
‘Of course we haven’t forgotten the rules,’ he said. ‘How could we? You’ve got them printed up and stuck to every surface in the place. For all I know, you’ve got them tattooed on your bottom.’
Nurse Witch looked like she was going to explode. Some of the old ladies gasped in horror, but Gigi stepped forwards, laughing loudly.
‘Ha!’ she said. ‘Very funny, Paddy. I couldn’t have put it better myself. The thing is, Nurse Fitch, we are all perfectly aware of your stupid rules. We have just decided that we’re not going to follow them anymore.’
Peggy stepped forwards too. ‘So what are you going to do about that, Nurse Fitch, or should I say, Nurse Witch?’
Now all the old people shuffled forwards, laughing like crazy.
Nurse Witch’s mouth was wide open, but she didn’t say anything. She took a few steps backwards.
‘Ha!’ said Hannah, waving her knitting needles a bit too close to Nurse Witch’s face. ‘You’re like all bullies – a coward at heart.’
‘Yesss!’ I whispered. ‘Go, Hannah.’
Peggy took another step forwards. ‘My nephew is a journalist in the local newspaper. If you don’t leave us alone, I might just tell him that this place is full of bed-bugs.’
Nurse Witch looked like she’d been slapped. ‘You can’t do that,’ she said. ‘Telling lies to the newspapers is a crime.’
Peggy laughed a big loud laugh. ‘Ha! I’m ninety-eight and three quarters. What are they going to do to me? Send me to jail for life?’
But then Nurse Witch recovered a bit. Her voice was sharp and cold like early-morning frost. She took a notebook and pen from her uniform pocket, and began to write. ‘I am recording all of your names,’ she said.
‘Ohhh, we’re in the naughty notebook,’ said Peggy, giggling like a bold schoolgirl. ‘We’re all scared now.’
‘You should be scared,’ said Nurse Witch. ‘Because you are all now on a warning. If you don’t start following the rules, I will be writing to your families to ask them to consider finding new homes for you.’
‘You won’t have to do that,’ said Gigi. ‘We’re fed up of this place with its stupid rules and regulations. We’re leaving anyway, aren’t we?’
No one said anything for a second, and then there was a chorus of voices. ‘Yes,’ they said. ‘We’re leaving.’
‘But Gigi can’t leave,’ I whispered to Ella. ‘You said there aren’t any other nursing homes near here. If she moves, she’ll end up miles and miles away from your family and we’ll never get to see her.’
But Ella was smiling. ‘Gigi’s bluffing,’ she said. ‘We always play cards at Christmas and Gigi is a champion bluffer. Just you watch.’
For ages and ages, Gigi faced Nurse Witch with her arms folded. The only sound was the click-clack of Hannah’s knitting needles.
And then Gigi spoke again. ‘I wonder, Nurse, could you be so kind as to bring me the portable phone? I would like to call my son to make arrangements for my new residence.’
‘And I want the phone after her,’ said Peggy.
‘Then me,’ said Fred.
‘I don’t mind waiting till last,’ said Hannah. ‘I need to finish this row.’
And that’s when Nurse Witch cracked. I guess she knew she’d be in trouble with the health board if half the residents of the nursing home decided to leave at the same time.
‘Let’s not be hasty here,’ she said. ‘Why don’t we all sleep on this?’
‘We can sleep when we’re dead,’ said Peggy.
‘We’re not sleeping until this is settled,’ said Gigi calmly. ‘We don’t want you showing up here in the morning with a pack of reinforcements.’
‘So what exactly is it that you want?’ asked Nurse Witch weakly.
‘Ice-cream for tea every night,’ said a woman I’d never heard speak before. ‘And we want a choice of chocolate and raspberry ripple – and caramel sauce on Sundays.’
‘Agreed,’ said Nurse Witch. ‘Now will you break up this party and go to bed?’
‘Oh no!’ I whispered. ‘They finally stood up to her. Surely they’re not going to let her away that easily? Did they do all this just for a few bowls of ice-cream?’
And then Gigi spoke. ‘There’s one more thing,’ she said. ‘You seem to forget that we are adults, not bold babies. It is wrong to expect us to stay in our rooms after eight o’ clock. We demand that we be allowed to go wherever we like until midnight – or later if we so choose.’
After only a tiny hesitation, Nurse Witch nodded her head.
‘Agreed.’
Before she could change her mind, Peggy pulled down the rule-sheet that was pinned just inside the door. She handed it to Nurse Witch.
‘Rule 27,’ she said. ‘Barring emergencies, residents will remain in their rooms after 8.00pm. We’d like you to cross that out now, and you can amend all the other notices in the building tomorrow.’
Slowly Nurse Witch took out her pen and crossed out rule 27.
‘Happy?’ she said.
‘I’m not,’ said the quiet woman. ‘I won’t be happy until you write in the ice-cream rule – and don’t forget to mention the caramel sauce.’
Ella and I tried not to laugh out loud as Nurse Witch carefully added a line to the list of rules.
‘Now,’ she said. ‘That’s done. Will you please go back to your rooms?’
‘We don’t have to,’ laughed Nancy. ‘You’ve changed the rules. We can stay here all night if we want.’
Nurse Witch looked like she was going to cry, but then I guess Paddy felt sorry for her. ‘I reserve my right to stay as long as I like, but it’s been an exciting evening, and I’m a little tired. I think I’ll go to bed. Thank you for a lovely evening, Gigi.’
He wheeled himself past Nurse Witch and out of the room, followed by the rest of the party-goers. Nurse Witch was the last to leave. She didn’t say anything, as she closed the door hard behind her.
‘OMG!’ said Ella as she raced out and hugged her granny. ‘That was so cool. I thought Nurse Witch was going to die.’
I hugged Gigi too. ‘Well done,’ I said. ‘You were brilliant. You were all brilliant. Life’s going to be much nicer around here from now on because you were brave enough to stand up to that bully.’
Gigi smiled. ‘Thank you dear. Now, let me cuddle Lucky one more time, and then I think I will retire. It’s long past my bedtime.’
As soon as Gigi was tucked up in bed, Ella and I tip-toed down the stairs. Nurse Witch was behind the reception desk, talking on the phone.
‘Let’s hope she doesn’t chat for too long,’ said Ella. ‘We need to get out of here.’
‘Shhh,’ I said, as I
tip-toed closer. ‘I wonder what she’s talking about.’
We stopped at the corner just a metre or two away from the desk, and settled down to listen.
‘Oh, Mammy,’ said Nurse Witch. ‘I thought this job would be easier than being in the army, but it’s not. I thought old people would like rules and regulations – I thought a strict regime would make them feel secure, but that’s not the case at all. Oh, Mammy, I’d sooner go into battle against tanks and guns than ever again face that man in his wheelchair and the old woman with the knitting needles. Oh Mammy, what am I going to do at all?’
Beside me, Ella was laughing madly. ‘Oh, Mammy, she mocked. ‘I think I’m going to die from laughing.’
‘But don’t you feel the teensiest bit sorry for Nurse Witch?’ I said. ‘Clearly she’s in the wrong job.’
Now Ella was serious. ‘I don’t care if she’s in the wrong job, she upset my granny, and no one gets away with that.’
Chapter Twenty
On Monday, Ella and I were doing our usual lunch-time sandwich swap when Aretta appeared.
‘Hey,’ I said as she sat down between us. ‘Where’ve you been?’
‘We were worried about you,’ said Ella.
‘I’m OK,’ said Aretta in a voice that seemed to be saying the opposite.
‘So where were you last week?’ I asked again.
‘I was sick,’ she said. ‘That’s the problem with living in a crowded place – sickness spreads quickly.’
‘I’m glad you’re better,’ I said. ‘But before you left last week, we were having a chat, remember?’
Aretta sighed. ‘You’re not going to give up and talk about the weather are you?’
I grinned. ‘No.’
‘You were starting to tell us about where you live now,’ said Ella.
‘Yes,’ said Aretta. ‘That.’
‘You’d got to the part with the “but,”’ I said.