Read Emily Taylor - The Teenage Mum Online
Authors: Vi Grim
Tags: #coming of age, #pregnancy, #emily taylor, #pregnancy and childbirth, #vi grim, #age 14 to adult, #the teenage mum, #young mum
Emily Taylor - The Teenage Mum (6 page)
get no sleep, they smack their babies, they leave them at granny's
place and go out partying and make more babies. Lots of them don't
have a steady partner and that makes then sad. It's tough being a
teenage mum.
Then I look at the
thirty-something mums. They are fraught, they get no sleep, they
want to throw their babies out the window. Their parents are old
and usually live a zillion miles away so the mums and dads get to
bring up the babies on their own with no support. All in all, the
teenage mums do better and are happier, especially if the dad
sticks around. They don't spend their youthful years chasing a
career when they know there's something more important, more
fundamental that they should be doing first.
I hope they don't mind. They're really happy; their halos are
pinky-purple and sometimes even tending towards white. Ijju's got a
lovely rounded belly, which she strokes and talks to. Zula has to
go on a caravan. Things are different now in the desert, there's
drug lords and warlords and religious fanatics all fighting for
power. If things carry on as they are the caravans will not be able
to operate anymore. This might be their last desert crossing. It's
lucky that Saleem bought the land for them in Algeria.
I watch the caravan in the
evenings. Zula often climbs up the dunes and watches the stars just
like we used to. I wish I could be there with him. No one would
notice, would they?
He often thinks of me. When he
lies down to sleep he dreams that I'm there with him in his arms,
making love. He loves Ijju through and through, and misses her, but
in his dreams he's with me. Most of the time anyway, sometimes he
dreams of other girls, but then that's boys for you!
I start lying in my bed
and dreaming of him when he's dreaming of me. It feels good! Then I
click my fingers and he's in my arms. He starts a little, but I
kiss him gently and he seems happy to be with me. We make love. It
hurts the first time but when we do it again it feels so, so good.
Afterwards I kiss him tenderly and tell him that I love him, then
click my fingers and he's gone.
Over the next few weeks
Zula visits me often. I only do it when he's dreaming of me. The
moment anything doesn't seem right, I click my fingers and send him
back to the desert. I wonder what Zula makes of it all. He blows me
kisses from his camel, so my charms must be working! It's so nice
having him close and I fall in love with him again, not that I ever
fell out of love.
Then I think better of it.
Something could go wrong. He could get stuck here and not get back
to Ijju. I might steal his heart from her and they'll split up. Do
I really love him? If I do, I need to let him go. I fret about it
for days.
Then I click my fingers and the
worm is gone. Now I can't peek in on his life anymore, not unless I
watch from the sentry moon.
Weeks later, I
go and visit Castor. When I arrive, he already
has an image of Zula up on his screen. The
caravan is in Taoudenni picking up salt. It's very different than
before and there's trucks and soldiers and an air of danger. I
don't want him to be there. But it's man stuff; I'll leave him to
it.
blushes.
I look sheepish and blush.
'I'm sorry,' he says. 'I
couldn't help but watch your dreams.'
I slap him. 'You nosey so and
so,' I whisper. I want to scream but everyone will hear me.
'It's what we sentry slugs do,'
he says. 'You know that.'
'But it's my life, my private
dreams.'
'Dreams?
' he says,
giving me another wink. 'Don't worry, us slugs have as much
interest in watching humans making babies as you do in seeing slugs
mate. That is of course with the exception of David Attenborough,
who's too nosey for his own good. Us slugs have been arguing with
Zeus about whether we'll let him come up here and have resorted to
a disinformation campaign to keep him out. Otherwise we won't be
able to enjoy a good shag for the next ten thousand years for fear
he has set up hidden cameras and catch us in action, yellow on
yellow.'
The
slugs
are funny without even
trying; I do like them, even if they are nosey.
Castor, 'your secrets are safe with Pollux and me. Do make sure
that you visit him sometimes. He gets so jealous when you do all
the sneaky stuff with me.'
With a click of
my fingers
, I arrive in
Pollux’s moon, and give him a peck on the cheek. I like him too,
and what's more I need to stay on side with these sentry
slugs.
on my sofa thinking about how I can get David Attenborough up here.
We could have fun together trying to catch the slugs at it, yellow
on yellow. I haven't even managed to see one in my lettuce patch
yet so we'll have to be ever so sneaky.
birds start their dawn chorus even before the sun comes up. They're
too cheerful too darn early and I get up and slam the window shut.
The compost from the slimeball has made the soil super fertile and
my garden is flourishing; it’s full of tall weeds. With so much
happening since Christmas I haven't spent enough time in the
garden. Now it's spring, I need to get out there and get it
planted. Top of the list is lettuces for the slugs followed by
carrots for Trigger. I need to feed me for the next year; I’ll
plant potatoes, onions and carrots, and green beans and peas and
pumpkins, red peppers and tomatoes. Yummy things too, like
strawberries and raspberries. There's so much to do.
I should be spending a
few hours a day out there digging and weeding, composting and
planting, but I’m not. There's a lot of catching up I do if I'm not
going to be going hungry this year.
Jesus and Azziz and a team of
zinodes very kindly come and help and we spend a couple of days
getting it dug over and planted out.
I'm grumpy with myself
for having left it for so long and are all out of sorts. I've got a
splitting headache and snarl and grumble at my volunteers. I'm
surprised I don't chase then away. I wouldn't put up with me if I
was them. Normally they work with me, now they're all down the far
end of the garden, planting potatoes and celery and staying as far
away from my storm cloud as they can get.
Camillo. I could go to Juno and stay with Freud but Janice's offer
to come to Zwingly and learn to sing is much more tempting. I put
on my sexy green knickers and summer dress, pack my bag and wander
along the beach to see Azziz.
'Zwingly?' I say.
'Zwingly,' answers Azziz. 'I'm
not sure you are grown up enough to visit Zwingly.'
'You had a big party to
celebrate my womanhood and now I'm too much of a baby to go visit
Zwingly.' I snarl. I am a grumpy guts at the moment.
'Alright, alright,' says Azziz.
'But do behave, there's some very charming people there.'
I can't see that being a
problem. I'm no push over. Jesus and Azziz are very charming and
they are people some the time. I've resisted their charms so far.
No problem at all. Well not much anyway!
'Let's go, we'll start in the town of Mos Eisley.'
We arrive in
the desert on the fringes of a town made of rundown concrete
buildings and mud brick houses. The roar of space ships and
fighters coming and going from the town's spaceport is deafening.
The ground shakes as they pass low overhead and zoom off into
space. Walking into town along the rough dirt streets, we dodge
around space scooters and groups of aliens on foot. There's an
atmosphere of menace hanging in the air, like when the space
scooters came to Camillo. The place is familiar; I get a feeling
of
déjà
vue, like I've been here before.
puzzled expression he simply says, 'Star Wars.'
That's it, the frontier town
with the rough bar.
'Shall we go to Chalmun's, the
spaceport cantina?' asks Azziz.
'No,' I say bluntly, 'I don't
want a misadventure today, I just want out of here.'
'In a moment,' says Azziz. 'I
came here so you can see that Zwingly is a tough asteroid. The
misfits of the universe tend to hang out here. You need to be
careful. There's some lovely people, I hang out here lots. But be
careful, you can easily get your fingers burned.'
'Did they film Star Wars here?'
I ask.
'It
saved
a fortune in production
costs and casting,' says Azziz, giving me a wink. 'The biggest
problem was security to protect the crew.' He offers me his hand;
not a moment too soon either, I'm happy to be out of
here.
beach. The pinkish white sand is lovely and soft between my toes.
Ghost crabs scurry up and down the beach, playing tag with the
gentle waves. Palm leaves rattle in the wind and, looking up, I see
frigate birds hovering effortlessly high above, silhouetted against
the puffy clouds.
This is more like it.
The screech of feedback from a
speaker makes me jump, then a familiar reggae beat starts up from a
bright orange beach bar just along the beach. 'No woman, no cry,'
blasts out from the sound system.
'Great,' says Azziz, who has
changed to human form. He has a neatly trimmed growth of stubble on
his chin, and wearing white trousers and an expensive aqua blue
linen shirt, he looks like a millionaire playboy. 'Bob's playing,
there'll be a good crowd today,' he says, and we splash along the
beach still holding hands.
The beach bar is very basic
with rough wooden seats and a stone floor but is bright and
cheerful and oozes good vibes. All of the tables are taken, and
there's people dancing on the beach.
security guards sitting in the shade, polishing their weapons. They
look familiar. They are familiar! It’s Sarge and Clutch from
Abdullah's seedy penthouse. I surprise them by giving them a big
hug. It’s so neat to see them. They're as happy to see someone
familiar as I am. I like them but do wonder what virtues they have
which warranted Zeus bringing them up here. Maybe he just needed a
couple of tough guys. I buy them a beer and myself a coke and we
chat in Arabic. They're happy up here. It's paradise for them, just
as Allah had promised. They do the same job they have always done,
acting as bouncers and bodyguards but they get to do it on Zwingly;
there's lots of sunshine, beautiful people and plenty of
action!
worn leather jacket, jeans and shades comes and asks me to dance.
There's something of a rebel in him. He's hot! He's a good dancer
too and spins me around like a feather.
'What's your name?' he asks,
when we pause to catch our breath.
'Emily,' I answer shyly.
'Emily, what a lovely name. Is
it okay if I call you Em?'
'That's fine,' I stammer,
feeling all hot and flushed.
'I haven't seen you before,
you're new.'
'I'm just here for a singing
lesson. Do you know where Janice lives?'
'Of course, she lives down the
beach. I'm surprised she's not here, I'll walk you down to her
place if you like.'
I would like, very much!
ear and runs off down the beach.
He's fast, but
I catch him and push him in the water. He picks me up and throws me
in, then dives on me and we wrestle in the shallows. Before I know
it we're kissing, then we're making love in the sand. Oops! But
it
is
wonderful.
week later.
She has me
sing,
I'm leaving one a jet
plane.
It's wonderful watching
her face; she’s tries so hard to maintain an even smile but as I
hit the high notes, she cringes, pulling her neck in like a
tortoise.
have a little bit of work to do, but that's why you're here. I do
enjoy a good challenge.'
And a challenge I am. On
day two, she gives me a shot of Southern Comfort to loosen up my
vocal chords. 'It does the trick for me,' she says, taking a slug
from the bottle.
It's rough
stuff but
does loosen up my
vocal chords. She has me practicing my scales and does her best to
stop me yelling and screeching. My boyfriend, James, comes along
sometimes and sings too. He has such a sexy voice. When we all sing
together, if I don't sing too loud, we sound just great.
all over the place and my periods have stopped. I'm in a mess, a
very happy mess. It's falling in love that's done it, that's what
it is.
James. We go into Port Royal in the evenings and dine in
restaurants with all the famous people, then go dancing. It's
wonderful being a grown up and doing grown up stuff.
I see Azziz sometimes, he says
he's happy cos I'm happy but he doesn't look it. Him and James have
a fight. James is ever so brave and gets a couple of good punches
in, but does get beat up. I hit Azziz as hard as I can and won't
talk to him anymore. He's probably just jealous. James's pretty
face gets a fat lip and a black eye, which makes him look like a
panda.