Lola Rose (8 page)

I started crying. Mum started crying too. She put her arms round me.

‘I'm sorry, sweetheart. I didn't mean it. Of course you won't get sent home.'

‘We won't any of us have to go home, will we, Mum?'

‘No way, darling. We can't go back. Your dad was always quite clear what he'd do if I ever tried to leave him.' Mum was shivering in her thin nightie.

‘I'm scared.'

‘Me too, sweetheart.' Then Mum took a deep breath. ‘No, sod it, I'm not
going
to be scared. I'm Lady Luck now, right? And my luck's changed. Hey, maybe I'd better buy some more scratch cards? That's what we'll do, buy a whole load of scratch cards every day and eventually we'll get lucky again.'

I didn't know if Mum meant it. It seemed a crazy idea but I couldn't come up with anything better.

We went back to bed and it took me ages to get to sleep. Then I swam among sharks – but when I awoke Mum was already up, dressed in a new blouse and skirt and her white leather jacket. She was pacing the floor in her new high heels.

I wished I could walk properly in mine. I'd tried to wear them out and turned my ankle so badly the heel snapped straight off the shoe. Mum said we could take them back and get a replacement.

‘Can we see about my shoes today, Mum?'

‘Maybe. If we've got time.'

‘We're not going boring old shopping again, are we?' Kendall said, sitting up in bed. His hair stuck up like dandelion fluff. ‘Can we go and see Big George being fed, Mum?'

‘Perhaps, pet. But we've got a lot else to do today. We're going to start getting organized, right? I'm going to get a job. And find us a place to live. And get you two into schools. Simple!' said Mum, laughing.

Kendall thought it really was simple and laughed too.

I knew it wasn't simple at all. I was so worried I couldn't eat much breakfast, though Mum told us to tuck in. Mum didn't eat anything at all. She just had cup after cup of tea, going sip sip sip. Her voice still sounded dry and croaky when she asked for our bill at the reception desk. She went white when she saw how much it was, but she counted out the five-pound notes as nonchalantly as she could.

Then we went upstairs to pack. We had to nip out to the shops for another suitcase because we'd bought so much.

The nice fat maid was hoovering the corridor when we came back. Mum told her we were going, and tucked a couple of five-pound notes in her pocket. ‘Thanks for looking after us so well,' she said.

‘It's been a pleasure. I shall miss you lot ever so,' she said, stooping with difficulty to give Kendall a big hug. She put her arm round me too and cuddled me close. ‘You're a lovely girl, Lola Rose,' she said. ‘Have you enjoyed your holiday?'

I looked at Mum.

‘We're not exactly on holiday,' said Mum. She raised her eyebrows significantly.

‘Aha,' said the maid. ‘I get you.'

‘We're going to make a new life for ourselves,' said Mum. ‘I'm going to need to find some work. There aren't any maids' jobs going here, are there?'

‘Well, I could find out,' she said. ‘But it's a rubbish job, dear, especially for a pretty little thing like you. The money's lousy, and very few people give a handsome tip like you did. You could get a good office job somewhere really smart. What are you trained for?'

‘I'm not trained for anything. I used to do a bit of modelling—'

‘There! I
said
you were pretty,' said the maid.

‘But I've gone off a bit. I couldn't get that sort of work now, not after having the two kids. And I'm not that great at computers or figures or stuff. I don't think I could work in an office, I'd just get in a muddle.' Mum nibbled at her thumbnail.

‘Well, it strikes me office work would get boring,' she said comfortingly. ‘You seem like a
people
person. Maybe shop work might be more in your line? Showing off pretty clothes?'

‘Well maybe,' said Mum, still biting her thumb. ‘There's the tills though. I don't know how you work them. Honestly, I'm just so thick.'

‘No, you're not, Mum,' I said, patting her.

It wasn't her fault. Dad never let her do anything. He kept on telling her she was thick thick thick as a brick and she believed him.

‘Don't worry, pet, they'll teach you,' said the maid. ‘They give you training. They even trained me how to make a bed, though I've been making six a day all my adult life.'

‘Six?'

‘My family. Well, there's eight now, because my Junie's here with my little grandson Marvin, bless him, though his little cot don't count.'

‘So you don't live in the hotel?' said Mum. ‘I thought if I got a job as a maid then they'd let me have a room for me and the kids.'

‘You're not much more than a kid yourself,' she said. ‘The staff don't live in here. They'd never let you keep the children here anyway. Look, maybe you should go down the social?'

‘No fear! I'm not having them poking their noses into my past.'

‘They won't. They'll help. Still, maybe you know best. Are you going to put yourself down on the housing list?'

‘I don't see how we can. I mean, I lived in a council flat back home. I had to walk out, see. But they'll say I deliberately made myself homeless. And I'm scared they'd take the kids into care.'

‘Well, try one of the special housing associations. They found my sister Elise a lovely place when she left her husband. Well, she's made it lovely now, her and her kids. Shall I give her a quick ring, find out the association address for you? It's a charity but they don't make you feel bad. And they'd never try to take your kids away. Anyone can see you're a brilliant mum.'

She was so kind Mum tried to give her more money but she wouldn't take it. She stowed our bags away when we got packed up and kissed us all and wished us luck. ‘You're going to be lucky in life from now on, I can tell,' she said.

Mum's face lit up. ‘Yeah, that's me, Lady Luck,' she said.

She took me by one hand and Kendall by the other and we set off. Mum sang all the lucky songs she could think of while we got the tube to the housing association place.

We were on the tube so long it was like we'd made a journey into the centre of the earth. When we emerged at last I pretended to Kendall that we were in Australia now and told him to watch out for koalas and kangaroos.

‘And sharks!' said Kendall. ‘They have sharks in the sea in Australia. Let's go to the seaside.'

‘Will you quit winding him up, Lola Rose,' Mum snapped.

She was looking at the tacky parade of shops and the scattered French fries on the pavement and the boys goofing around outside the video shop.

‘It's a bit of a dump, isn't it? Maybe it's a bit daft wanting to live here. There must be heaps of housing associations.'

‘Yeah, but it's so out the way, Mum, it feels kind of safe. Dad wouldn't ever come looking for us here, would he? And yet all the time we're wandering around the West End you feel there's a chance he might come barging round the corner.'

‘I
want
Dad to come round the corner,' said Kendall. ‘I want Dad. I want to go home. I don't like Australia.'

‘It's not Australia, you nut,' I said, laughing at him. ‘It was just a
joke
.'

‘
Don't
joke, Jayni!' said Kendall, and he started hitting me with his fists, with George, with his hard little head.

‘Hey, hey! Ouch! Stop it, Kendall!' I said, scooping him up and whirling him round and round.

I could usually cheer him out of a tantrum that way. It didn't work this time. He just sobbed dismally.

‘Don't, Kendall,' I said, shifting him onto my hip.

‘I'm Kenny!' he wept.

‘Poor little kid, he doesn't know who he is or where's he going,' said Mum. ‘You shouldn't have got him all wound up with that Australia lark.'

‘I know. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Kendall.'

‘Kenny!'

‘No. Not any more,' said Mum, cupping his damp face and looking straight into his eyes. ‘This bit isn't a joke, darling. You and me and Jayni, we've all run away. Run away for good. We've run away from your dad because he kept hitting me.'

‘Because you were bad,' said Kenny.

‘Mum's
not
bad, you stupid little boy!' I said, giving him a shake.

‘Leave him be, Jayni. He's only parrotting your dad. He doesn't really mean it,' said Mum. ‘Now listen, sweetheart. No one ever deserves to get hit.
You
shouldn't ever hit anyone. You're a good boy. And Jayni's a good girl and I'm not going to risk either of you getting hurt. So we're starting our new life and we're going to make it work, right?'

‘Right!' I said. I nudged Kendall. ‘Say right!'

‘Wrong,' Kendall mumbled into the pink fur of my denim jacket, but now he was joking.

He behaved like a little lamb in the housing association office. ‘I'm Kendall Luck and I'm five years old,' he announced to everyone. His eyelashes were still wet and his little peaky face looked very earnest.

Everyone smiled and said, ‘Bless him!'

It was Kenny who got us a home. We waited for ages and then a lady with glasses took down all our details. Mum was fine at first, making up all sorts of stuff, sounding so convincing, even though she was going nibble nibble on her thumbnail. But then we were led into another big room full of waiting people. It took another age before it was our turn to see anyone and then Mum had to start all over again saying the same stuff to a man with a beard while he filled in another form.

I knew Mum wouldn't be able to remember every little detail of her story. She'd been making it up as she went along. She had a stab at it, gabbling quicker and quicker to get it over with, but she got stuck when they asked about our schools. She'd made up a name before and they'd written it down. Mum tried to remember it, a vein standing out on her forehead. She looked at me desperately.

‘Tell them the name of your school, Jayni,' she said.

Jayni
.

I started saying something quick but the man wasn't listening. He put down his pen. ‘Jayni?' he said. He looked at me. ‘I though you were called Lola?'

‘She is; Lola Rose. Jayni's just a silly nickname – Jayni-Payni, we've called her that for fun since she was little,' Mum said.

It was clear the man with the beard didn't believe a word she was saying. ‘Mrs Luck, I get the feeling you've been a little economical with the truth,' he said. ‘Some of your details don't quite add up. You need to be completely frank with us about your previous domestic circumstances. Now I'm sure you've got your reasons—'

‘Yes, I've got my bloody reasons,' said Mum, going red. She yanked at her blouse and showed the man the bruises, still as purple as pansies. ‘We're running away from the guy who did this to me, right? He's started on his daughter too – there'll be no stopping him now. I'm trying to make a fresh start and do my best for my kids. There's no going back. He'll kill us.'

‘Have you been to the police?'

Mum snorted. ‘What are they going to do?'

‘Lock him up?'

‘For how long? And what about his mates? And what happens when he's let out? What happens to us then?'

‘I take your point, Mrs Luck. I do understand.'

‘No you don't. You can take my point and shove it straight up your bottom,' said Mum, standing up. ‘I suppose you're not going to find us somewhere to live now?'

‘That sort of abuse isn't helpful, certainly. I will still try to help you but I can't work miracles. I'll put your family on our waiting list.'

‘And what are we supposed to do meanwhile? Sit in the gutter for six months?'

Mum called him a very very rude name and then stood up. ‘Come on, kids, we're going. This is a waste of time.'

Kenny looked at his hands. He looked at the chair he'd been sitting on. He looked under it. His mouth went into a letter-box shape and he started howling.

He howled and howled and howled. He wouldn't stop when I picked him up. He wouldn't stop when Mum picked him up. He wouldn't stop when the lady with glasses brought him a biscuit.

‘What's the
matter
with him?' said the bearded man.

‘He can't take any more,' Mum bellowed above the wails. ‘It's all too much for him. We've been on the run for weeks now. I promised him I'd get him a home today. He just wants to feel
safe
.'

Everyone fussed over Kendall and looked at the bearded man as if he were deliberately torturing my little brother. Luckily Kendall was crying too hard to draw breath and say what it was he wanted.

‘Well, I suppose we might be able to put you in the emergency category. There
is
a property available – it's not ideal, and it's not in good decorative order, but if it'll act as a stop-gap . . . ?'

We were given the key to our new home just like that. We had to whizz Kenny away sharpish before he started going on about George.

We hunted for him all the way down the road back to the station but we didn't catch a glimpse of furry fin. He must have been left on the tube.

Mum took Kenny into the hotel to thank the lovely fat maid and collect our suitcases. She furtively pressed three fivers into my hand. She didn't have to tell me what to do. I ran all the way to the aquarium, begged to be let straight into the gift shop, and bought George the Second.