Clean Break

by Wilson, Jacqueline

  ‘Ssh, kids, we’re all going to have pudding, and a main course too – but this is my special night out,’ said Mum, steering Vita and Maxie out of the fat man’s way. He smiled at Vita and rubbed his tummy back at Maxie.

  ‘We’ve just got to find somewhere nice to eat, that’s all,’ I said, trying to sound positive.

  ‘Well, we’ve been looking long enough,’ said Gran. She wiggled her foot out of her pink strappy sandal and rubbed a sore toe, wincing. ‘It’s obvious we’re not going to stumble across somewhere cheap but decent by chance. If only we could speak a bit of Spanish, then we could ask someone.’

  The fat man turned round to us and pointed at himself enquiringly. Gran was taken by surprise and wobbled on one foot. He caught her quickly by the elbow and steadied her.

  ‘Thank you!’ she said. ‘Sorry – gracias, señor.’

  ‘You’re very welcome,’ said the fat man, his blue eyes twinkling.

  ‘You speak wonderful English,’ said Gran, shoving her sandal back on.

  ‘I should hope so. I am English, though I’ve lived here for several years now. I was eavesdropping shamelessly. I think I know the perfect place for you all to have a lovely relaxed meal. It’s a real family restaurant, and they’ll make a big fuss of the children. It’s only down the next alleyway and round the corner. Shall I show you?’

  ‘How very sweet of you. Yes please!’ said Gran.

  She started chatting away to him while we trooped along behind. We heard Gran asking if his family all lived in Spain too. She made attentive cooing sounds of sympathy when he said his wife had died a year ago. Then she looked over her shoulder at Mum, giving her a wink. Mum looked appalled.

  ‘Oh God! She’s matchmaking again!’ Mum whispered. ‘What is she like?’ She saw I was looking anxious. ‘Don’t worry, Em, if this place of his looks out of our league we’ll just say we don’t fancy it. I’ve been thinking, I’d rather like to get fish and chips and eat them on the beach. Wouldn’t that be fun?’

  I knew Mum was just saying that because she was worried this fat man’s recommended restaurant was going to be too expensive. But it turned out to be the perfect place, a small friendly very cheap restaurant crammed with local families. They were sitting on wooden benches, with red candles on the tables and red-and-white place mats. A red-cheeked lady in a red-and-white checked apron greeted us as if we were long-lost relatives. She made Vita twirl round to show off her outfit, she tickled Maxie under the chin, and she stroked my long hair. She said in Spanish that she thought my hair was beautiful, definitely my crowning glory. The fat man translated for me.

  ‘Don’t you wish we could speak fluent Spanish, Julie?’ said Gran. She gave the fat man a big lipsticky smile. ‘You’re so clever. I don’t suppose you could translate the menu for us too? In fact, why don’t you join us for supper? We’d love that, wouldn’t we, Julie?’

  ‘Mum!’ my mum hissed.

  ‘Now then, don’t look so embarrassed. He can always say no,’ said Gran.

  ‘But I’m going to say yes please!’ he said. ‘I’m Eddie, by the way.’

  ‘I’m Ellen and this is Julie, my daughter. She’s separated, on her own now. Julie, make room for Eddie. Em, mind out the way. Come and sit beside me.’

  I glared at Gran. I didn’t want to be stuck sitting beside her. I didn’t want this Eddie muscling in on my special meal for Mum. I sighed meaningfully and started heaving myself up off the bench.

  ‘No, no, Em, you stay where you are. I’ll sit next to your gran,’ said Eddie, settling himself. ‘So, Ellen, are you single now too?’

  ‘Oh yes, I’m definitely single,’ said Gran.

  ‘I’m single too,’ Vita announced, knowing it would make them all chuckle. ‘I used to have this boyfriend Charlie right from when we started in Reception, but he wouldn’t play in the little house with me so I chucked him, and then in Year One I had two boyfriends, Paul and Mikey, and they kept fighting each other and they wouldn’t stop even though I kept telling them off, so I chucked them both and then . . .’ She went on and on and on. Eddie laughed obligingly, and then turned to me.

  ‘What about you, Em? Have you led a checkered love-life too?’

  ‘Em doesn’t like boys, she just likes her boring old books,’ said Vita, sighing at her sad sister.

  ‘I’m a total bookworm myself,’ said Eddie. ‘So what do you like to read then, Em?’

  ‘I’m really into Jenna Williams,’ I said.

  ‘What sort of books does she write?’ Eddie asked, unbelievably. He’d never ever heard of Jenna Williams!

  Before I had a chance to tell him all about her, Gran jumped in again.

  ‘Our Julie’s a great reader too, always got her head in a book,’ she said. ‘Isn’t that right, Julie? She reads all sorts, even classics.’

  ‘I don’t, Mum! I just had a go at Pride and Prejudice once, after it had been on the telly.’

  ‘She’s so modest, my Julie. She was bright at school, could have gone on to university, but – well – she had other plans,’ said Gran, shaking her head at me.

  ‘I didn’t go to university myself. Left school at sixteen, did an apprenticeship, worked my way up the building trade, got my own business, did very nicely, thank you, then when the kids were off our hands I sold off the business and planned to sun myself in Spain and live happily ever after.’ Eddie shook his head sadly. ‘But then my wife got ill, and it didn’t work out the way we wanted.’

  ‘How sad. Still, you never know what might be in the cards for the future,’ said Gran. She smiled at him and passed him the menu. ‘Right, Eddie, we’re in your hands. What shall we eat?’

  I glared at Gran again. I’d wanted to show Mum the menu and tell her to choose whatever she fancied. Gran and this Eddie seemed to have taken over completely. Eddie felt we should sample a proper paella, all of us sharing. Gran said she thought this was a splendid idea, though she looked a little taken aback when this huge sizzling plateful arrived and she saw it was seafood and rice. It smelled marvellous but we all wondered if there were tentacles and slimy fishy bits hidden in its depths.

  ‘Fantastic!’ Gran said determinedly.

  Vita and Maxie weren’t convinced.

  ‘I don’t like it,’ said Vita. ‘Can’t I have chips?’

  ‘Chips!’ said Maxie.

  ‘Now don’t play up, you two,’ said Mum.

  ‘Oh, let them have chips, if that’s what they want!’ said Gran, unbelievably. ‘Anything to keep them quiet!’

  ‘What about you, Em? Would you like some paella?’ Mum asked. Underneath the table she reached for my hand and gave it a quick squeeze.

  I ended up having a big plateful of paella and a huge portion of chips, and they were both delicious.

  ‘I like to see a child with a healthy appetite,’ said Eddie.

  ‘That’s our Em,’ said Gran, not breathing a word about my diet.

  I decided to make the most of things and ordered a big ice cream for pudding. So did Eddie. Vita and Maxie clamoured for ice cream too, but Mum asked the waitress if they could share one on two plates. Mum didn’t want an ice cream herself, or any other kind of pudding, though I tried hard to persuade her.

  ‘Surely you’re not on a diet, Julie, there’s nothing of you,’ said Eddie.

  ‘She’s lost a little weight because life’s been a bit of a struggle for her recently,’ said Gran. ‘But things are looking up now, aren’t they, dear? Though she does work ever so hard. She runs her own hairdressing business – she’s so enterprising. Tell Eddie all about the Good Fairy business, Julie.’

  ‘Oh Mum, give it a rest!’ said my mum.

  Eddie excused himself tactfully and went off to the gents.

  ‘Isn’t he gorgeous!’ said Gran, leaning forward, showing quite a lot of her chest above her pink lacy top. ‘Julie, for pity’s sake, talk more, try to impress him. He’s obviously very smitten but you’ve got to encourage him.’

  ‘I don’t want to,’ said Mum. ‘I kee
p telling you, I’m not interested in any other men. And he’s old, anyway.’

  ‘He’s mature. That’s what you need, a real man who wants to settle down, not some boyish fool who’ll play around and break your heart. Eddie’s still in his prime.’

  ‘And he’s fat.’

  ‘He’s just well built, and he obviously likes his food. He looks a fine figure of a man. He wears his clothes well too. His cream trousers are beautifully cut and I love his shirt, don’t you. Exactly the colour of his eyes.’

  ‘You’re just impressed with him because he’s got money,’ Mum snapped.

  ‘Well, money’s not such a bad thing, is it? Think of the difference he’d make to all our lives! And you would be giving him back a reason for living, companionship, fun, laughter. He even gets on well with the kids, so he’d be a good father to them.’

  ‘We’ve got a father,’ I said indignantly. ‘Stop it, Gran. You’re spoiling everything. This is meant to be our meal, me treating Mum and you lot. Now it looks like I’ve got to fork out for this Eddie too.’

  ‘Of course you haven’t, Em,’ said Gran. ‘As a matter of fact, I think Eddie’s over there sorting out the bill himself.’

  I could have burst into tears. I wanted to rush over, elbow Eddie out the way and pay myself, but Mum hung onto me.

  ‘We’ll have your meal tomorrow, Em,’ she said quickly.

  ‘I think Eddie might have other plans,’ Gran said. ‘Maybe he’ll want to invite you out for a quiet meal, just the two of you. Don’t worry, I’ll babysit the kids. You just go for it, Julie.’

  ‘I don’t want to go for him, Mum! And you’re wrong too, I don’t think he fancies me in the slightest,’ said Mum.

  But after we’d all finished thanking him for the lovely meal (I said it through gritted teeth) Eddie said how very much he’d enjoyed meeting us all – and that he hoped we could all meet up again before the end of our holiday.

  ‘What about tomorrow evening?’ Gran said quickly.

  ‘Well, that would be great,’ said Eddie. ‘But I was actually wondering about a quieter meal for two tomorrow?’

  Gran grinned triumphantly. Mum went bright red. She looked at Eddie, agonized. But he wasn’t looking at her.

  He was looking at Gran.

  ‘Would you care to come out with me tomorrow, Ellen?’ he said.

  12

  I COULDN’T WAIT to go back to school to see Jenny and Yvonne.

  ‘You’ll never guess what happened!’ I said.

  ‘Your dad came back and you all went on holiday together?’ said Jenny.

  I swallowed. ‘As if!’

  ‘Yeah, tell me about it,’ said Yvonne. ‘Mind you, I’m not sure I’d want mine back. He kept moaning he was tired because my new little half sister keeps crying at night. He’d only come down the swirly chute and swim in the proper pool once. Most of the time we had to stay in the boring little toddler’s pool with boring little Bethany.’

  ‘I went swimming heaps of times. I can swim freestyle now – and dive.’

  ‘You can do a proper dive?’ said Yvonne. ‘You mean just off the side?’

  ‘And off the springboard!’

  ‘Hey, will you teach me?’

  ‘Sure,’ I said airily. ‘Let’s go swimming together. You too, Jen.’

  ‘No, catch me, I hate getting my head under the water. I didn’t go in swimming properly all holiday, I just paddled. I suppose I’m a bit of a wimp.’

  ‘But you’ve got beautifully brown,’ I said. ‘Honestly, Gran kept smothering me in so much sunscreen you wouldn’t ever think I’d had a week in Spain. Listen, let me tell you about Gran! She’s got a boyfriend!’

  ‘She’s what? But she’s old!’ said Yvonne.

  ‘And she’s all grumpy and bossy, if you don’t mind my saying so, Em,’ said Jenny.

  ‘It’s true, though! Isn’t it amazing! He’s five years younger than her too, so Mum and I keep kidding her that Eddie is her toy boy. You think she’d get mad but she just goes all pink and giggly. She isn’t anywhere near as grumpy and bossy now.’

  ‘Does she see a lot of him?’ asked Jenny.

  ‘Well, he lives in Spain, but she went out with him while she was there, and now she’s home she keeps phoning. He’s coming over sometime this autumn and then she’s planning to stay with him sometime in the winter,’ I said.

  ‘Have you seen them snogging?’ Yvonne asked, giggling.

  ‘People their age don’t snog!’ said Jenny.

  ‘Oh yes they do!’ I said. ‘You should have seen them saying goodbye at the airport! Vita and Maxie kept going yuck-yuck-yuck – you know what little kids are like – but Gran and Eddie took no notice, going slurpy slurpy like film stars.’

  ‘Do you think they’ll get married?’ said Jenny. ‘That would be cool, then you’d get to be a bridesmaid.’

  ‘Oh ha ha, imagine me in a bridesmaid’s pink satin frock. I’d look like a giant meringue,’ I said.

  ‘You can have any colour bridemaid’s dress. Blue would suit you, Em. Or green.’

  ‘OK. Think blue whale. Think jolly green giant,’ I said.

  ‘What are you on about?’ said Yvonne. ‘Are you fussed because you’re fat?’

  ‘You don’t call people fat, Yvonne, it’s rude. You say big or large or overweight,’ said Jenny. Then she put her arm round me. ‘But actually, Em, you’re not as big as you used to be.’

  ‘Yeah, I thought you looked a bit different,’ said Yvonne. She pinged the waistband of my school skirt. ‘Look, it’s not tight any more. Maybe it was just puppy fat before. Or puppy big!’

  ‘Woof woof!’ I said, clowning about like a big puppy, making them both laugh.

  I really was losing weight, even though I didn’t always stick totally to any boring old diet. I just didn’t fill up all the time on chocolate.

  I started to go swimming regularly too. I went with Yvonne on Saturday and we had a great time. She was just as fast as me at breaststroke but I could beat her at freestyle! I taught her to dive too, though we couldn’t practise much as the pool attendant said diving wasn’t really allowed during public swimming sessions.

  ‘You could join our special Earlybirds club though, and come and train before school if you wanted.’

  Yvonne wasn’t keen because it would mean having to get up way too early. I wondered if I wanted to go by myself. It was so great to be good at something like swimming. I got such a thrill storming past heaps of other kids in the water. I was so used to being rubbish in any race and coming last. I wondered if I could ever come first in a swimming race if I trained hard.

  I asked Mum if I could join this Earlybirds club.

  ‘Oh Em, it’s such a rush in the morning as it is. I honestly don’t see how I could manage taking you all the way to the baths and getting Vita and Maxie ready for school and me off to my first hairdressing appointment.’

  ‘I could take myself there, Mum, you know I could!’

  ‘Well, I know you’re more grown up than any of us, but I’m sure they wouldn’t allow it.’ Mum paused. ‘Well, we’ll find out.’

  There was a notice up in the swimming baths. CHILDREN UNDER NINE YEARS OLD MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY AN ADULT.

  ‘It’s OK, Mum! I’m over nine! I can go!’ I said triumphantly.

  Mum still took me the first time, while Gran took Vita and Maxie to school.

  I started to get nervous as we got nearer the baths. My tummy was in a knot by the time I got in the changing rooms. I could see a whole bunch of kids under the showers. They were all much much much thinner than me. The girls all had sleek black costumes too, real serious swimmer stuff. No one else had a big blue flowery costume. I pulled it right down at the back to make sure it covered my bottom. I held in my stomach, so that the knot tightened.

  Mum walked with me to the edge of the pool. There were lots of children swimming. They threshed up and down, up and down, in lane after lane. They were all so fast, so fit, so fantastic. They could all swim much much
much better than me.

  ‘I want to get out of here!’ I mumbled to Mum.

  I was all set to scoot straight back into the cubicle, pull my clothes on and make a run for it. But a big blonde woman in a tracksuit spotted me and came bounding over in her bouncy trainers. She beamed at me cheerily. She was surprisingly fat herself, filling her tracksuit right up so that it clung as snugly as a wetsuit.

  ‘Hello there, chickie. I’m Maggie. Have you come for the Earlybirds session? Let’s see what you can do.’

  ‘I’m not good enough,’ I said, looking at the children splashing up and down the pool. ‘I can’t swim as fast as that.’

  ‘Don’t worry, neither can I, not nowadays!’ said Maggie. ‘Come on, jump in and show me.’

  I looked round at Mum. She gave me a little thumbs-up sign.

  I jumped in the water. I was in such a nervous state I kept my mouth open and swallowed a bucketful. I coughed and choked, going scarlet.

  Don’t worry, darling,’ said Maggie. ‘Take a few deep breaths, that’s the ticket. Now – swim!’

  I swam while she watched. Then she nodded.

  ‘I’m not as good as the others, am I?’ I said.

  ‘Not yet. But you’ve got potential. You wait and see. You stick at it, and you’ll be swimming like a little fish by Christmas, and maybe you’ll be the star of all my Earlybirds by next summer.’

  I wasn’t so sure, but I did stick at it. I went most days before school. A few of the prettiest, skinniest girls giggled and whispered when I was in the shower, but I did my best not to take any notice. Some of the boys were OK. I helped one very little boy sort out his locker when his key had jammed and he tagged round after me like I was his mum. He wouldn’t give his own mum a look-in, it was all ‘I want Emily to dry my hair’ or ‘I want Emily to tie my laces.’ I ended up having to fuss round him just like I did with Maxie and Vita but I didn’t mind. He was quite sweet. He was wicked in the pool, so fast and so strong. I knew I’d never get to be as good as him even though he was half my size. Still, after a few weeks I did get a lot quicker, and could just about beat some of the smaller girls.

  ‘You’re going great guns, chickie,’ said Maggie. She tweaked my upper arms. ‘Getting muscles just like Popeye too! My Emily Earlybird is getting mega fit.’