Eva's Journey (10 page)

What was Mum going to say when I got back, having spent two hours in the market buying nothing?

I pulled the five euro note from my pocket.

‘How many apples and bananas can I buy with this?'

Ruby didn't answer. She took the money from me, and slipped it into her pocket. Then she pulled a huge paper bag from the pile. She filled it with apples, bananas, pears and oranges. After the morning I'd just spent, I knew a bit more about shopping for fruit, and I could see that there was much, much more than five euro's worth of stuff in the bag.

Ruby folded the top of the bag and held it towards me.

‘That's too much,' I said.

‘Just take it,' she said almost roughly.

I could see that she was embarrassed, so I took the bag.

Ruby turned around and locked the shed door.

‘Bye, Eva,' she said quietly, and then she was gone.

‘Bye, and thanks,' I said to the empty space where she had been standing.

Just then, the man from the deli stall next to us came over, holding a small tub of olives towards me.

‘For you,' he said.

‘But what …?' I began.

He started to laugh.

‘I've been working here for seventeen years, and I've never once seen anyone get the better of Mamie. You've made my day, you really have.'

I took the olives.

‘Thank you. My mum loves olives.'

The man patted me on the shoulder and left, and I smiled all the way home.

‘You were gone a long time,' said Mum when I got home.

‘I walked slowly,' I said, as I handed her the bag of fruit.

Mum took it and peered inside.

‘Wow,' she said. ‘You did well. The market must be even cheaper than I thought.'

‘Er, I had to haggle a bit,' I said. ‘Oh, and I got something else.'

I reached into my handbag and pulled out the tub of olives.

Mum didn't say anything. She opened the tub, took out an olive and bit into it. A slow smile spread across her face.

‘I was afraid I'd never again eat an olive,' she sighed.

I thought with regret of how often I'd seen our housekeeper, Teresita, throwing out olives that had been going mouldy in the fridge, after Mum had bought more than we could manage to eat.

Mum ate one more olive, and then resealed the
tub and put it into the fridge, like it was the most precious thing she'd ever owned.

Then she came over and patted my head.

‘That's my clever girl,' she said. ‘I'll have to send you to the market again next weekend.'

‘Great,' I said, trying to sound sarcastic.

But the weird thing is, I found that I was totally looking forward to it.

Chapter Sixteen

T
he next week went by faster than I could have thought possible.

Dad still hadn't found a job, and he spent his days manically running around the house fixing stuff.

‘I think you're fixing things that aren't even broken,' said Mum one day.

‘I think he's breaking stuff just so he can fix it again,' I said.

Dad laughed, and Mum gave a big sigh. ‘Well, I suppose it's good to keep yourself busy.'

I thought that she was talking to him like he was a child, but he didn't seem to mind. He put down his hammer and went over and gave her a hug and a kiss.

‘Stop being gross,' I moaned. ‘And anyway you two are very cheerful for poor people.'

They just laughed.

‘And you're very cheeky for a small person,' said Dad.

Then the three of us laughed, and for a few minutes we were all happy.

On Friday, Mr Gowing came in to the class looking a bit flustered.

‘Today we're having a very important visitor,' he said.

He went on to tell us how the school had applied for a big grant to buy new computers, and that the chairperson of the grant committee was coming to tour the school.

‘Will she ask us questions, Sir?' asked Chloe.

‘Possibly. And if she does, only put up your hand if you're
absolutely
certain of the answer.'

As he said that, he stared at Shannon who always puts up her hand, even when she hasn't the faintest notion of the answer.

‘Anyway,' said Mr Gowing. ‘This is an important day for the school, so I need everyone to be on their very best behaviour – especially you, Petronella. See if you can behave yourself just this once!'

Ella gave a big sigh, and the rest of us laughed.

In the middle of maths class the classroom door opened and the principal, Mrs Parker came in with the visitor, Mrs Connery.

Mrs Connery was a huge woman. She was wearing a very ugly, very tight flowery dress, and so much jewellery that she rattled every time she moved. She was like a walking wind-chime. She spoke in a sharp, loud posh voice.

‘I
loooove
mathematics,' she said. ‘Can I ask the children a question?'

Mr Gowing nodded.

Mrs Connery thought for a minute and then smiled, showing a huge mouthful of horse-like teeth.

‘If I had three cakes and my friend gave me four more, what would I have?'

Most of the class looked at each other, puzzled.
That seemed like much too easy a problem for our class. Maybe it was a trick question.

Suddenly Shannon's hand shot up. Mr Gowing didn't look too worried. He must have thought that even Shannon couldn't get this one wrong.

‘Well, little girl,' said Mrs Connery, treating Shannon to a close-up of her horrible teeth. ‘If I have three cakes, and get four more, what would I have?'

Shannon beamed at her.

‘You'd have a huge, big, fat belly,' she said.

We all fell around the place laughing, while Shannon looked hurt.

‘What?' she said.

Mrs Connery's face went very pink and angry for a minute, and then she recovered.

‘Oh, Mr Gowing,' she gushed. ‘What wonderful work you are doing with these daaaahling little children.'

‘Maybe it's time to move on to the next class,' said Mrs Parker, heading for the door.

Just then Ella nudged me and pointed at Joshua.
He was tearing a large strip from the page of his maths book. He crumpled it up, put it into his mouth and chewed for a second. Then he took it out, and balanced it on his thumb.

‘He wouldn't dare,' breathed Ella.

‘He—'

Before I could finish, Joshua lined up his middle finger and took aim. The gross squishy ball sailed through the air. It seemed to hover for a long moment, before descending and ending up right down inside the front of … Mrs Connery's dress.

Mrs Connery screeched like she'd been shot.

Mrs Parker looked like she was going to explode with anger.

Mr Gowing put his head in his hands and groaned.

It was the funniest thing I had ever, ever seen.

That night I phoned Victoria to tell her the story.

‘So I take it your school won't be getting the computer grant?' she said, as soon as she'd stopped
laughing.

‘That's the best part,' I said. ‘Amy heard Mrs Connery telling Mrs Parker that it was clear we needed all the help we could get. The new computers arrive next week.'

‘So your new school isn't all bad?' she said.

‘No,' I admitted. ‘And I forgot to tell you, I came top of the class in Geography yesterday.'

‘But you've always been rubbish at Geography.'

I smiled to myself.

‘Not any more. Mr Gowing manages to make it so interesting, it seems easy now.'

Victoria sighed.

‘Sometimes my school seems very boring compared to yours,' she said.

‘Be careful what you wish for,' I warned her.

‘Anyway,' she said. ‘I'd better go. Mum's shouting at me to do my piano practice. See you tomorrow at Po—'

She stopped.

‘Sorry, Eva,' I forgot,' she said.

‘That's OK,' I said, even though it totally wasn't.

You see, pony club was paid for six months in advance, and the time I'd paid for had run out a few weeks earlier. There was no way I could afford to go any more.

‘It's not the same without you,' she said.

I could feel tears of self-pity gathering in my eyes, but I shook them angrily away.

‘Give Jewel a hug for me,' I said, and then I hung up, not trusting myself to say any more.

Chapter Seventeen

N
ext morning, Mum handed me five euro. ‘Here, Eva,' she said. ‘Go and do your magic in the market again.'

I put the money into my pocket, and grabbed my hoodie.

‘I might be a while,' I said. ‘I might meet up with some of my friends.'

‘No problem,' said Mum. ‘Just be home in time for lunch.'

Once again, there was a big crowd around Ruby's stall.

Who ever would have thought that potatoes and carrots and onions would be so popular?

Without saying anything, I slipped behind the stall, and took my place beside Ruby. She glanced
at me but didn't say anything. She didn't smile either, but her face didn't look quite as closed and suspicious as usual. I decided to take that as a good sign.

We quickly fell in to a routine. I weighed and packed the fruit and vegetables, while Ruby took the money and gave the change.

‘Uh-oh,' said Ruby after a while.

I looked up to see Mamie advancing towards us.

‘She doesn't look happy,' I said, suddenly feeling guilty about the bad apple I'd given her the week before.

‘Don't worry about it,' said Ruby. ‘She never looks happy,'

Mamie pointed a bony finger in my face.

‘You gave me a bad apple last week,' she said.

I smiled my best innocent smile.

‘I wasn't here last week. It must have been my identical twin sister. She's very naughty. How about I make it up to you by giving you a special deal on bananas?'

She narrowed her eyes.

‘How special?'

‘Seven for a euro, ‘I said, looking her straight in the eye. ‘This is a special deal, just for you. I swear to you, no one else has got bananas at this price today.'

I wasn't telling a lie. It
was
a deal specially for Mamie. You see, Ruby's uncle had ordered extra bananas by mistake. We had to get rid of them before they went bad, so all that morning we'd been selling nine for a euro.

Mamie had a cunning look on her face.

‘How about eight for a euro?' she said in a pathetic, whiny voice.

I gave a big theatrical sigh.

‘You drive a very hard bargain,' I said.

Mamie smiled, showing a mouthful of rotten brown teeth.

‘I know,' she said happily, as she paid for her bananas and went on her way.

The man from the stall next door came over.

‘You're better than a pantomime,' he said. ‘This is for you!'

He handed me a small paper-wrapped bundle. I half opened it to see a small chunk of crumbly cheese with blue lines running through it. The strong smell attacked my nostrils at once.

‘Thank you,' I said, turning and putting it safely into my handbag.

My handbag would smell of stinky socks for weeks, but I knew it would be worth it to see Dad's face when I gave him a present of his favourite cheese.

Hanging around the market was turning out to have lots of unexpected advantages.

The morning passed very quickly, and before I knew it, Ruby and I were once again packing up the stall for the day.

‘Do you want some fruit?' asked Ruby.

‘Oh, yes, please,' I said fishing in my pocket for the five euro, and handing it to her.

She waved the money away. ‘You've helped me,' she said. ‘I can't take your money.'

‘But––' I began.

‘No,' she said, almost fiercely. ‘I can't take your money. I should be paying you for all the work you've done this morning, but I can't afford to. So at least let me give you some stuff.'

I put my hand on her arm. ‘It's OK, Ruby,' I said. ‘I don't mind helping, and I don't have anything else to do on Saturday mornings.'

Now that I can't afford to go to pony club any more.

Ruby pulled her arm away.

‘It's easy for you,' she said. ‘You don't know what it's like to be poor.'

Ha.

I hadn't a whole lot of experience in the past, but I was learning quickly.

Then I looked closer at Ruby. Her clothes were cheap and old-fashioned. I wouldn't be buying new clothes any time soon, but my old ones were a whole lot nicer than anything I'd ever seen Ruby wear.

By now Ruby had filled a huge bag with fruit and vegetables. I knew this wasn't a time for arguing, so I put my money back into my pocket,
and took the bag from her.

‘So can I help you again next Saturday?' I asked.

She looked up, and her hair fell back from her face, giving me a rare look at her huge brown eyes.

‘If you want to.'

I nodded.

‘I do want to.'

‘Thanks,' she said, and as she turned away, I thought I could see the tiniest hint of a smile on her face.

I thought I was getting used to my new life, but that all changed when I went to visit Victoria at her place the next day.

She led me through the huge hallway, where I walked extra slowly so I could enjoy the beautiful smell from the big bowl of lilies on the hall table.

The carpet on the stairs was so thick, that I could feel my feet sinking in to it. If Victoria hadn't been right in front of me, I think I'd have bent down and rubbed my hands all over its rich softness.

I'd always liked Victoria's bedroom, but now it seemed even nicer than before. One wall was painted in swirls of bright pink and purple, and her bed was covered with a huge heap of matching fluffy cushions. Her wardrobes were painted white, with cute heart-shaped handles. I didn't need to look inside to know that they were full of all the clothes she'd bought on her recent trip to London with her parents.

I wanted to live like this.

I deserved to live like this.

And I was still being nice.

I was helping loads of people.

I was helping Ruby.

So why weren't Madam Margarita's words coming true?

Why wasn't I back where I belonged?

Why wasn't I back in my real life?

I sat on Victoria's bright pink inflatable chair, and she threw herself on to the fluffy purple rug.

‘How was pony club?' I asked.

‘OK,' she said cautiously, like owning up to
enjoying it would have been a crime.

‘It's OK,' I said. ‘Just because I can't go, that doesn't mean you can't have fun.'

She smiled at me gratefully. ‘So what did you do yesterday?' she asked.

‘I went to the market and spent the morning helping a girl from my class to sell fruit and vegetables,' I said.

‘Yeah right,' she said laughing. ‘But really, what did you do?'

I didn't answer. I couldn't blame Victoria for not believing me about the market. After all, if someone had told me a few months earlier how my life would have changed, I wouldn't have believed them either.

Only trouble was – it was all too true.

But some things are much too complicated to explain.

So I just shrugged and said, ‘Not much really.'