Invisible Threads by Annie Dalton
Author:Annie Dalton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
ISBN: 9780307433497
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2009-04-08T00:00:00+00:00
Naomi
âOh, God, Judd Nelson!â says Kumara.
Iâm in my favorite phone box in broad daylight, inhaling stale phone-box smells, twisting the telephone cord around my fingers, listening to Kumara rave about the video of The Breakfast Club.
âIt sounds great,â I say halfheartedly.
âCome round and watch it with me,â she offers. âWeâll have a Brat Pack orgy. Pretty in Pink. Sixteen Candles.â
âI canât. Mum would kill me if she knew I was even talking to you.â
âSo donât tell her. You neednât worry about my mum. She adores you. She was really worried about you after they had that row. She said she had a good mind to kidnap you and bring you up herself.â
I feel myself going hot with embarrassment. âMumâs heart is in the right place,â I say defensively. âSheâs just going through a bad patch. She and Maurice have split up. For good this time.â
âYou donât believe her, do you?â says Kumara scornfully.
Iâm not sure Iâm a hundred percent over my mononucleosis, because suddenly I have to lean my forehead against the smeary glass.
âI do believe her, actually,â I say. âShe met Maurice when she was feeling really vulnerable, but sheâs finally seen through him. But theyâve been going out together for three years, so naturally sheâs upset. Also weâve got to move house again, which adds to the stress.â
Kumara sounds horrified. âSheâs making you move in the middle of your O levels!â
âItâs not Mumâs fault,â I say quickly. âThe landlord put the rent up. But itâs OK, sheâs found a flat. And sheâs not taking our old phone number, so creepy Maurice wonât know where weâve gone.â
Mum and I have moved so often we could practically do it in our sleep. Wrapping crockery in newspaper, taking down pictures, packing books in Walkers crisp boxes, systematically stripping rooms of all the objects that make them home, and starting again somewhere new.
This latest move frightens Mum, I can tell.
She looks bewildered, almost like a little girl. And I can tell what sheâs thinking. Sheâs thinking, This is how itâs going to be from now on, slipping slowly downhill; each place smaller and more depressing than the last, until finally sheâs a lonely old lady watching soaps in a poky bedsit.
Iâm sorry for her. But Iâm careful to keep my distance. Iâm not a total sucker, whatever Kumara thinks. Besides, she hasnât seen my mother for ages. She doesnât know how much sheâs changed. For three years sheâs been under an evil Maurice spell, but itâs wearing off. Someday soon sheâll be her true self again.
Last time, we had two adults and three children to help. This time, we just rent a man with a van. Both are nerverackingly decrepit. The guy has some kind of heart condition. Twice he goes completely white and has to sit down. We end up shifting the heavy stuff ourselves. By the time he goes itâs almost dark.
We watch anxiously, as he drives off in the empty van, rattling and bouncing down the street.
âHope the poor bastard makes it back home,â Mum mutters.
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