Diamond Girls (19 page)

Mary sat still, tears streaming down her face, her cheeks bulging with crusts. I went to run for Mary's dad. He was standing behind me.

‘Well done, Mary,' he said.

I didn't know if he'd seen or not. I knew there was no point in telling.

I grabbed my Barbies and then ran back to my own house. I threw the cake under a bush in the garden. I kept shaking my head, trying to pretend it hadn't happened. I didn't know what to do.

I went running to Mum.

‘Here's my little helper,' said Mum. ‘Are you hungry, sweetheart? Your best pal Bruce has gone off to get us all pizzas.'

‘Mum …'

‘What?'

‘Why are some mums so horrid?'

‘Do what, love? You mean me?'

‘No!'

‘Some of those nosy interfering cows back at Bletchworth used to say I wasn't a good mum. One of them even called in the social workers when you were little, thinking I wasn't feeding you proper. Blooming cheek! I didn't half give her an earful.'

Sundance started whimpering in Mum's arms.

‘What's up with you, darling? More milky? There's nothing wrong with
your
appetite, is there? You'd feed all the time, wouldn't you, my son? What a little greedy guts! Still, that's boys for you.'

I backed away from Mum. I hated her going on like that. Mums weren't
supposed
to pretend.

‘Are you feeling OK, Dixie?' said Bruce, when I only
nibbled
at the edge of the giant pizza he'd bought for tea.

‘I'm fine,' I lied.

Martine wasn't hungry either. She only ate half a slice of pizza, picking out button mushrooms and slices of tomato and peppers and arranging them on her plate: two mushroom eyes, a blobby pepper nose, a grinning tomato mouth, making a weird baby face. It was the sort of game
I
usually played.

‘Stop playing with your food and
eat
the flipping thing,' I said in Mum's voice.

Martine didn't laugh.

Rochelle didn't eat much either, because she was hoping Ryan would treat her at McDonald's.

‘You girls are so picky,' said Bruce.

‘I'm not,' said Jude. She wolfed slice after slice, scarcely swallowing.

‘Well, you've been working hard,' said Bruce.

Jude grinned at him. ‘Do you think I'm any good at Wing Chun?'

‘You know you are. You're a natural,' said Bruce.

He thrust his clenched fist towards her chest and she immediately blocked it. They both laughed.

‘You shouldn't encourage her,' said Martine. ‘She'll only get in more fights, and the boys round here are really scary. They probably carry knives.'

‘They're not all scary. Some are pretty cool looking,' said Rochelle.

Jude frowned at her. ‘You're such a fool, Rochelle. Why are you all tarted up, eh? Where are you going?'

‘Just because you like to dress like a scruff doesn't mean we all have to do the same. I felt like putting on my decent clothes, OK?'

‘You look a sight. You've got half a vat of make-up smeared all over your face.'

‘Take a look in the mirror if you want a
real
fright,' said Rochelle. ‘I'm off.'

‘You're not going out, Rochelle. Martine, stop her,' said Jude.

Martine wasn't paying attention. She was texting Tony, her finger going stab stab stab at the buttons on her phone. Jude yelled at her. Martine sighed.

‘
You
stop her, Jude. I've got other stuff to think about.'

‘You're the eldest.'

‘I'm not going to be here much longer. Then
you'll
be the eldest. See how
you
like it.' Martine marched off upstairs, still texting.

‘OK, I'm in charge now,' said Jude. ‘You're not allowed out the house, Rochelle, do you hear me?'

‘I hear you. I can hardly
help
hearing you, you're bellowing right in my ear,' said Rochelle. ‘But I don't have to do what you say.'

‘She's talking sense, Roxanne,' said Bruce. ‘You can't go off by yourself. You're not old enough.'

Rochelle stood up, tossing back her golden curls. ‘Number one – my name is
Rochelle
. Number two – I'm a teenager, very nearly, and can do what I please. Number three –
you
certainly can't boss me about, Mr Weirdo Guy.' She flounced out of the room.

‘I'll tell Mum,' Jude called.

‘And I'll tell Mum you've been fighting,' Rochelle yelled.

She slammed right out of the front door, banging it hard. There was a second of silence. Then we heard the baby start wailing.

‘
Shall
we tell Mum?' I asked.

‘I think so,' said Jude.

‘I
know
so,' said Bruce. ‘I'll tell her, and then I'd better go after Miss Fancy Pants, though she certainly won't thank me for it.'

He knocked on the living-room door and then tried to go in. Mum was starting to change Sundance. She told Bruce to go away. She used short, sharp words.

Bruce looked very put out when he came back. ‘Your mum was very rude to me,' he said.

‘She's not herself,' I said quickly.

‘I'm only trying to help,' said Bruce. ‘Roxanne – Rochelle – whatever – shouldn't be strutting round an estate like this all by herself. Look what happened to Jude, and she's older and got a lot more sense.'

Jude looked pleased at this. ‘Let's go after her in your van, Bruce.'

I went with them. We drove up and down Mercury Street. Our end was the worst, with many of the houses boarded up. Some of the houses at the other end had curtains at the windows and neat grass at the front. Several even had flowers and little white picket fences.

‘Maybe it's not too bad round here after all,' said Bruce.

Then he drove through the tower-block entrance. We looked up at the stained concrete and rusted railings, up and up and up, to the very top.

‘I wonder if you can get out on the roof?' said Jude.

‘I've just said you were a girl with common sense,' said Bruce. ‘How could you have such a crazy idea?'

‘I went up on the roof heaps of times in our old flats,' said Jude. ‘It was my territory.'

Some boys went rattling past on skateboards, bashing on the van and making rude signs at us.

‘It looks like it's their territory, Jude, like it or lump it. You try going up those stairs again and they'll likely toss you right over the balcony.'

‘Wait till I get the hang of this Wing Chun,' Jude muttered. ‘I'll go anywhere I want and no one will dare lift a finger.'

‘Dream on, girl,' said Bruce. ‘There's a limit, even with martial arts. It's fine in the movies – Bruce Lee can take on any number of opponents and
chop-chop-chop-kick
they all go flying. Their weapons hurtle up into the air and circle back and they get sliced to ribbons with their own swords. But it's fantasy, Jude. A little game of Let's Pretend.'

I was playing my own game of Let's Pretend. I played Bruce was our real uncle and he was taking us out for a drive in his van and we were going to Disneyland, a brand-new one conveniently situated down the road and round the corner. We'd hurtle up Space Mountain and whiz round the Indiana Jones ride and all the other stuff the kids at my old school showed off about. I'd maybe get a little bit scared. Uncle Bruce would sit me on his knee and tell me he'd look after me, and I didn't have to worry about anything any more. I didn't have to worry about my new friend Mary, I didn't have to worry about my mum, I didn't have to worry about any of my sisters – not even my brand-new baby sister in her blue boys' outfits.

When we were done with all the rides we'd go and have tea in McDonald's, and Uncle Bruce wouldn't nag me about eating meat; he'd buy me a portion of french fries and I'd share them chip for chip with Bluebell.

I thought of Bluebell without her head. I could see the stuffing, the sad dead body.

I couldn't tell.

But what if something bad really happened to Rochelle?

‘I don't think Rochelle's round here,' I said. ‘I have a feeling she might just be in McDonald's.'

‘You have a
feeling
?' said Jude. ‘Oh, Dixie, you're impossible. Why didn't you
say
?'

‘You hate telltales.'

‘Yeah, but that's only if you tell tales on
me
,' said Jude. ‘You must always always always snitch on Rochelle because she's so stupid she'll get up to anything. So why McDonald's? Is she meeting someone there? Dixie,
tell
!'

‘She said she'd tear Bluebell's head off if I did,' I said, clutching Bluebell tight in both hands. I could feel her small bird-heart beating under her feathers. She gave tiny cheeps of terror.

‘I won't let her, don't worry, Dixie,' said Bruce.

‘She
is
meeting someone?'

I wriggled my shoulders. ‘Maybe.'

‘But she doesn't know anyone here.' Then Jude clapped her hand over her mouth. ‘Oh God. Not the guy with the earring, the one I beat up?'

Jude didn't beat up any of them the way I remembered it, but maybe she liked pretending too. I nodded.

‘I can't believe she could be such an idiot! And you're an idiot too, Dixie, keeping quiet about it.'

‘Hey, hey, that's unfair! It's not Dixie's fault,' said Bruce.

He drove out of the Mercury block, passing Neptune and Mars and Saturn and Venus and Jupiter, all as towering and terrifying. He headed towards the town.

‘It's quite a walk. Rochelle was wearing her wibble-wobble heels. Maybe she won't have got there yet,' said
Jude
. She reached over and took hold of my hand. ‘Sorry, Dix. Of course it's not your fault.'

‘Do you think he might hit her, like the boys hit you, Jude?'

‘No,' said Jude, though she didn't sound sure.

‘Might he do worse things?' I whispered.

‘Stop it,' said Bruce. ‘You're just frightening yourselves. He's not going to do anything untoward in McDonald's, for goodness' sake.'

‘But he could take her off anywhere afterwards,' said Jude. ‘Can't we go any quicker?'

‘It's not going to help if I get done for speeding,' said Bruce, but he put his foot down on the accelerator.

We drove round the streets in the town centre, Jude staring at one side, me the other, straining to see the familiar golden M.

‘There it is!' I cried.

Bruce parked the van on a double yellow line while Jude and I went running inside. There was no sign of Rochelle. I chewed on my fingers, panicking. Jude spotted a sign to the seating upstairs. She went rushing up and up, past the toilets and into the big room above. I went charging after her.

We saw Rochelle sitting in the corner, side by side with Ryan. Their heads were close. They were gazing into each other's eyes. Rochelle had her favourite McFlurry ice cream but her spoon was poised in mid-air. She was obviously so entranced she was forgetting all about eating. Ryan didn't look at all like he wanted to hit her or hurt her. He was gazing at her as if she was a princess with a jewelled crown on top of her long fair hair. Rochelle and Ryan seemed to shine in their own little
spotlight
, as if the McDonald's yellow arch was giving out its own golden glow.

I stopped still. I felt we should tiptoe away. Jude hesitated too, but then she marched over to them.

‘Leave my sister alone!' she yelled, though Ryan wasn't even touching Rochelle.

‘Oh God, it's not you again,' said Ryan. ‘What your
problem
?'

‘Take no notice of her. She's just my crazy sister,' said Rochelle. She spotted me hovering in the background. ‘And there's my
other
crazy sister who's going to be very very sorry she's told on me.'

‘Come home at once, Rochelle,' Jude shouted, a little too loudly. Everyone upstairs in McDonald's was starting to stare at us.

‘We haven't
got
a home any more,' said Rochelle. ‘I don't want to go back to that messy dump, thanks very much.'

‘You're coming home
now
,' said Jude, tugging at Rochelle's arm.

‘Leave her be!' said Ryan.

‘Don't take any notice of her. I suppose she just can't help being jealous,' said Rochelle smugly.

‘How
dare
you!' said Jude, tugging harder.

Rochelle tried to pull free. Jude hung on grimly. Rochelle's arm got a little bit twisted. She started shrieking loudly.

‘Don't you dare try to push me about!' said Jude, letting go of Rochelle. She squared up to Ryan. She did her best to position herself feet apart, knock-kneed, all set to trap her goat. ‘So you want a fight, do you? Come on, then!'

‘I don't want to fight you. I don't fight girls. Especially not Rochelle's sisters,' said Ryan.

Rochelle fluttered her eyelashes at him adoringly. Jude was left hovering above them, at a loss.

‘Just go home, Jude. I'm fine. Ryan's going to see me home. I won't be late. There's no need to get so worked up. You're just making a complete fool of yourself,' said Rochelle.

‘Jude, please, let's go back to Uncle Bruce,' I begged.

‘Yes, both of you bog off back to creepy Uncle Weirdo,' said Rochelle.

‘He's
not
creepy Uncle Weirdo!' I shouted. ‘Don't you dare call him that!'

Rochelle dared say worse things.

I flew at her, beating her chest and pulling her long golden hair. Rochelle yelled her head off.

‘Oi, that's enough! Out of here!' yelled the McDonald's security guy.

He seized me in one big hand, Jude in the other, and dragged us both across the room and down the stairs.

Bruce came rushing in the entrance, looking anxious. ‘What are you doing with these girls? Don't drag them like that!' he said to the McDonald's man.