The Girls from See Saw Lane (10 page)

‘Do you know,' said Mum, ‘you're getting a nice little figure, Dottie Perks!'

Mary and I giggled about this all the way into town.

Before we went into the cafe we went across the road to check our hair in the mirror of the Flick 'n' Curl and put on a bit more lippy. We knew by the smell of fish when we opened the cafe door that Christine and Angie were in there. They were playing on the football machine and Mary nearly squeezed the life out of my arm when she saw that they were playing with Elton and Ralph.

We went up to the counter and ordered two iced milkshakes, then sat down and sucked at the drinks.

Ralph looked across at us as we sat down. His face coloured and I could tell by the heat that mine did too. Angie scored a goal and jumped up and down cheering and Elton punched his arm, but he took no notice of either of them.

Ralph said something to Elton that I couldn't catch

‘Oh right, so I'm supposed to control the whole table on my own, am I?' asked Elton. 

Ralph's eyes scanned the room. 

‘Mary!' he called. ‘Come and be my defence!'

She couldn't have moved quicker if he'd asked her to marry him right there and then.

Ralph and I sat back down at the table. I sipped at my drink and tried not to make a noise with the straw and pushed a bit of spilled salt around the tabletop with my fingernail. Ralph watched me with a little smile on his face. After what seemed like forever, he said ‘I was hoping you'd be here.' 

‘So was I,' I said. ‘I mean, I was hoping
you'd
be here, not that
I'd
be here.' I coughed, ‘Obviously.'

‘Dottie,' he said.

And at exactly the same moment I said ‘Ralph' and we both laughed.

Ralph started fiddling with the sugar bowl. Spinning it round so that some of the sugar sprayed onto the plastic cloth that covered the table, then he said, ‘Do you want to go out with me on Saturday?' The words tumbled out of his mouth like they had been sitting on his tongue for ages and needed to escape.

I smiled at him and then I remembered. ‘Mary wants to go to the club on Saturday,' I said.

‘Elton's got a date on Saturday,' he said softly.

‘He's not taking her to the club, is he?'

‘I expect he will,' said Ralph.

‘But he said he might see Mary there.' I looked down. I felt furious for Mary, and hurt for her, and humiliated for her. Okay, she knew what Elton was like. He'd told her he didn't want to go steady, but that wouldn't have made any difference to Mary.

‘Poor Mary,' I said.

Ralph didn't comment.

Suddenly things seemed awkward between us and I wasn't sure how that had happened, maybe he just felt bad for Mary.

‘Elton likes Mary,' he said, ‘he just doesn't want a permanent girlfriend.'

‘I know,' I said, ‘he told her, sort of.'

 ‘How about Saturday then?' said Ralph, breaking into my thoughts. ‘We could go for a walk on the Downs.'

‘Could we make it Sunday?' I said. ‘I think I should spend Saturday with Mary.'

‘Sunday, then,' said Ralph. Then we just sat there looking at each other and smiling and all the ice melted into my milkshake, but I didn't mind. It was just like one of those dead romantic films.

Just then Mary and Elton walked past us. Elton had his arm around Mary's shoulder; she winked at me as they went out the door together. Maybe Ralph was wrong about Elton. Maybe he really did want to be with Mary. I crossed my fingers under the table.

M
ary was really
quiet at work on Saturday, which I guessed was because we weren't going to the club. I hadn't told her about Elton's date, I had just said that Elton wouldn't be there.

We were sitting on the steps outside the staff room eating our lunch in the sunshine and waving away the wasps that kept bothering us.

‘We could go to the cafe tonight if you like,' I said, trying to cheer her up.

She started wrapping her sandwich back up in its paper.

‘Not hungry?' I said.

‘Not really,' she said, putting the sandwich back in her bag. ‘Did Ralph say why Elton wasn't going to the club?' she asked.

I knew I was going to lie to her, I couldn't tell her the truth. I couldn't hurt her like that, and anyway Elton might change his mind one day and decide he did want to go out with Mary, and only Mary, so what was the point of hurting her now?

‘No,' I said, crossing my fingers behind my back.

It was really warm on the steps. We were well into September but the sun continued to shine every day. Mary had taken her cardigan off, but I kept mine on because I didn't want the sun bringing out the freckles on my arms. Right now I wanted to look the best I could. I wanted to look the very best I could for tomorrow.

Some boys from the stockroom were kicking a ball round the yard, bouncing it off some empty crates that were stacked along the wall. I felt like getting up and joining in. I wanted to run about and be silly. I wanted to tell everyone about Ralph.

‘The thing is,' Mary said, ‘I never know where I am with Elton, sometimes he wants to be with me and then at other times he acts as if I don't exist.'

‘It was the same at school though, wasn't it?' I said, taking a banana out of my bag and offering her half. She shook her head.

‘I suppose it was,' she said.

‘So he hasn't really changed, has he? Maybe he still has some growing up to do.'

‘Do you remember that teacher that used to take us for History?' she said.

‘Mrs Dicks?'

‘No, Mrs Roberts. Do you remember that story she told us about a bloke called Achilles?'

‘Vaguely,' I said.

‘I've never forgotten that story,' she said. ‘It was about this bloke who was really strong, except for his heel.'

‘I remember,' I said. ‘I thought it was a bit daft, I mean why would you be strong everywhere but your heel?'

‘Well, I think I'm a bit like Achilles.'

‘What, with a weak heel?'

And that made Mary giggle, which set me off. I was laughing so much I got a pain in my side, and tears were streaming down Mary's face.

‘I'm serious,' said Mary eventually, wiping her eyes on her cardigan.

‘Okay,' I said, trying to compose myself, ‘I'm listening.'

‘I think,' said Mary, ‘that Elton is my Achilles heel.'

I had a feeling that actually Mary could be right, because in every other part of her life, she was brave and strong and funny, but where Elton was concerned she seemed to lose herself and quite frankly become a bit... strange.

‘Still,' she said, sounding like the old Mary. ‘What are you going to wear on your date with Ralph?'

‘I haven't got a clue,' I said.

‘Well, that's what we can do tonight,' she said, smiling. ‘I'll come round to your house and help you choose an outfit.'

‘Thanks, Mary,' I said.

‘Come on,' she said, grabbing my arm. ‘Let's give the boys a run for their money.'

We both jumped up and started wrestling the boys for the ball.

W
hen I opened
my eyes the next morning I had this warm tingly feeling in my tummy. Today I was going to see Ralph. Today would be our first date, just us, the two of us, on our own, with nobody else to worry about. I snuggled back down under the covers, smiling. I wanted to bottle this feeling and keep it with me forever. I could hear Rita snuffling away in the bed next to me. She was lying on her back with one arm dangling down the side of the bed, she looked quite serene lying there. Pity she couldn't stay like that.

I pushed back the covers and opened the curtains. I wanted to make sure it wasn't raining; I needn't have worried, sun streamed into the bedroom.

‘Bloody hell,' screamed Rita from the bed as the light fell across her face. ‘Some of us are trying to sleep, you know!'

‘Sorry,' I whispered, letting the curtain fall back. I took my dressing gown from behind the hook on the door and went downstairs. Mum was in the kitchen sitting at the table, a cup of tea in front of her.

‘You're up early,' she said, smiling at me.

‘I couldn't sleep,' I said.

‘Cup of tea?' she asked, standing up.

‘Thanks, I'd love one,' I said. I opened the back door and sat on the step. It was a perfect day. The sun was warm on my face and a soft breeze was rustling the leaves on the trees. There was a cool softness to the air and everywhere looked fresh and new. I know that spring is supposed to be a time of new beginnings, but for me, from now on, it would be forever autumn.

‘Here you are,' said Mum, handing me a mug of tea and sitting down beside me. I pulled the sleeves of my dressing gown down over my hands and cradled the hot mug.

‘Isn't it a lovely day?' I said, smiling at her.

‘And it's even lovelier having you all to myself,' she said, smiling.

I took a deep breath, and turned to her. ‘I've got a date today,' I said.

‘That's nice,' said Mum. She didn't seem surprised. ‘Who's the lucky boy?'

‘Ralph Bennett,' I said.

‘Have you known him long?' said Mum.

‘I've known him forever,' I said. ‘We were at school together.'

‘So that's why you couldn't sleep,' said Mum, linking her arm through mine.

‘He's nice,' I said.

‘Has he by any chance got rather beautiful red hair?' said Mum.

‘How did you know that?'

‘Because he was always hanging around.'

‘Where?' I said.

‘Round the street,' said Mum. ‘You know, cycling up and down outside the house.'

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. ‘Really?' I said, smiling.

‘Especially in the holidays,' said Mum. ‘I said hello to him once. I've never seen anyone go that red, that quick.'

‘That sounds like Ralph,' I said, laughing.

‘My little girl is growing up eh?' said Mum.

‘Not so little,' I said.

‘Actually you're a lot littler than you used to be, I told you that puppy fat would drop off you.'

‘Me and Mary used to laugh about that, imagining all the places where the fat could drop off,' I said.

‘You and Mary Pickles,' said Mum. ‘You've had a wonderful friendship, haven't you?'

‘I've been lucky,' I said.

‘You've both been lucky,' said Mum. ‘Does she know about Ralph?'

‘Yes,' I said.

‘So she's happy for you then?'

‘I think so,' I said, sipping at the hot tea.

‘Things may start to change,' said Mum.

‘In what way?' I asked.

‘Well, if you continue seeing Ralph, things will be different between you and Mary, and that's normal.'

‘I don't want things to change,' I said.

‘You've got a big heart, Dottie,' said Mum. ‘And there's plenty of room in it for both of them.' 

‘I hope so,' I said.

‘When you were born,' said Mum, ‘Rita was only three, so I made sure that my lap was big enough for both of you so that she wouldn't feel left out.'

‘I'm not sure I want both of them on my lap,' I said, giggling.

‘I think Clark got his sense of humour from you,' said Mum, smiling. ‘Now why don't you have a bath, before Rita surfaces, you can use my Ashes of Roses bath salts.' 

‘Thanks,' I said, standing up. I bent down and kissed the top of her head.

It was lovely lying in the bath. The room was all steamy and it smelt lovely. I lay there wondering what our date would be like, what we would talk about and whether we might actually kiss. I stayed there dreaming until the water was cold and my fingers had turned into prunes.

When I got back downstairs, Rita was sitting in the middle of the kitchen with a towel round her shoulders staring into the mirror which was propped up on the sink. Mum was practising different ways of doing Rita's hair for ‘The Wedding'. It was the First Rehearsal at the church the next evening and we had to practise walking down the aisle.

‘Waste of flippin' time,' said Dad. ‘I mean, how difficult can it be, walking down an aisle? I know how to walk, I don't need to practise.'

I agreed with Dad that having a rehearsal this far ahead of the actual wedding was an awful lot of fuss and bother for one day and also I agreed with Clark that it was really, really boring, and that made three of us who would be really glad when it was all over. But another part of me was actually, secretly, enjoying all the preparations. I was a bit excited about the day itself and there was one thing that I was
really
looking forward to. After ‘The Wedding', Rita would be moving out, which meant I could have a bedroom all to myself for the first time in my whole life! I would finally, at last, have some privacy. I would be able to have the dressing table all to myself! And when Mary came round we could go up to my room without Rita coming in and sneering at us for being immature. I could hardly wait!

Mum ignored Dad as she quite often did. She had curled two strands of Rita's hair so that they sort of twizzled down either side of her face and if my big sister hadn't been scowling so much she might actually have looked quite nice.

Mum stepped back to admire her handiwork.

‘Oh, you look lovely!' she said. Rita peered at her reflection this way and that.

‘I don't know…' she said, pulling at one of the twizzles. ‘It's still a bit ordinary.'

‘Flowers,' said Mum. ‘Once we've got those plastic flowers in your hair you'll look like a princess.'

I rolled my eyes and unfortunately Rita saw me in the mirror and she pulled a troll face back.

‘What about you?' she asked. ‘What are you going to do with your hair?'

‘Funny you should mention that, Rita,' I said ‘because I'm thinking of dyeing it “Tantalising Tawny”. It says on the box that it turns heads.'

‘No you're not,' she squealed. ‘She's not, is she, Mum?'

‘Oh I don't know, it might be nice for Dottie to have a bit of a change.'

‘Not on my wedding day she's not,' said Rita, glaring at me. ‘If anyone's going to be turning heads it's me.'

‘I expect you'll both turn heads,' said Mum, winking at me.

‘This is the most important day of my life and I'm not having her ruining it.'

‘She won't ruin anything. I'm sure you will both look lovely,' said Mum.

‘Well I'm not having her spoiling the photographs with a tawny head.'

‘I think it will bring out my eyes,' I said.

‘Which one?' said Clark.

‘Enough now,' said Mum.