Gypsy Wedding (27 page)

‘I suppose. I’ll be about half an hour. Is that okay?’

Vicky checked her watch. ‘I don’t know if they’ll still be open after six but if they’re not I’ll be waiting in the bus shelter outside.’

‘I’ll be as quick as I can.’

Vicky dragged out her muffin and coffee as long as she could, but as she feared, the café closed before Kelly arrived.

‘I’m not hanging out in a bus shelter,’ said Kelly firmly when she found Vicky. She grabbed Vicky by the arm and steered her into a nearby pub. ‘What you drinking?’

‘A Coke please.’

Kelly ordered the Coke and a large white wine for herself.

‘But you’re not eighteen,’ said Vicky, horrified.

‘Barman’s a mate,’ she replied. ‘You can have a proper drink if you’d prefer.’

Vicky, even more horrified, shook her head. She might have kicked over the traces but some rules were just too ingrained. And drinking alcohol as a single girl was one step too far.

‘So what’s this about? Why are you in town on your own?’

Vicky took a deep breath. ‘I needed to see you to really convince you how sorry I am. And, well … I’ve run away from home.’

Kelly, who’d just taken a gulp of wine, splurted it across the table in shock. Wiping it up with the sleeve of her top, she stared at Vicky. ‘Fucking hell, Vicky!’

‘I know, but I had to.’ She explained about Liam refusing to let her see Kelly again and then catching her on the phone to Jordan.

Kelly shook her head in disbelief. ‘But running away, Vick. That’s one hell of a step to take.’

‘And I can’t go back. I’ve been out unchaperoned. I could have got up to anything. I’m fallen, ruined … as far as everyone on the site will be concerned when they find out, I’m now nothing better than a harlot.’

‘Don’t be daft.’

‘It’s true.’

Kelly’s eyes widened. ‘But you’ve only been gone a bit and it’s broad daylight. Besides, you’re a Catholic. Can’t you just go to confession and get absolution or something?’

‘It won’t wash with Liam’s family. He won’t want me now. Damaged goods, that’s what I am.’

Kelly shook her head. ‘Blimey.’ She took another slug of her drink. ‘So I suppose you need somewhere to stay.’

Vicky nodded her head.

‘I expect Mum’ll be cool. We’ve got a spare room you could have. And I see you’ve got some kit with you.’

Vicky nodded again. ‘Will your mum mind that I’m a …’

‘A pikey?’ said Kelly with a wicked grin. ‘She won’t know, will she. She knows I’ve got a mate called Vicky but she’s never asked where you live or nothing. No, it’ll be fine. Our little secret,’ she added.

Vicky sagged back in her chair. Things weren’t perfect, far from it, but at least she wasn’t facing the prospect of sleeping rough on top of everything else.

Her phone bleeped at her. She checked the messages – a text from Shania.

‘Where r u.’ She stared at the message.

‘Problem?’ asked Kelly.

Vicky turned the phone round so her friend could read it. Kelly took it out of her hand and switched it off.

‘It’s how I dealt with a situation I couldn’t cope with.’

As if Vicky didn’t know. ‘But it doesn’t solve anything, does it?’

‘It gives you time to think. Come on, drink up. I want some supper even if you don’t – I expect Mum’ll be able to make whatever we’re having stretch.’

‘I’ll get chips on the way. I can’t put your mum to any trouble.’

‘Don’t be daft.’ Kelly drained her glass. ‘A nice supper, an early night and I bet things’ll look a bit better in the morning.’ Vicky finished her drink too and followed Kelly out of the pub.

Better in the morning? She very much doubted it but she’d made her decision so however things turned out she was stuck with it.

‘Mum, this is Vicky. Vicky, Mum.’

‘Hello, Mrs Munro. Lovely to meet you.’ Vicky stuck out her hand, which Mrs Munro took and shook.

‘Nice to meet you, and it’s Betty.’

‘Betty,’ repeated Vicky.

‘Vicky needs a bed for a couple of nights,’ said Kelly. ‘Her parents have had to shoot off to look after a sick granny.’ She shot Vicky a warning look not to contradict the story. ‘It’s okay if she stays with us till they get back, isn’t it?’

‘I suppose.’

‘I’ll make up the spare bed,’ volunteered Kelly.

‘I don’t want to put you out, Betty,’ said Vicky.

Betty gave her a look that implied that she was, but didn’t say anything.

‘And there’ll be enough supper,’ said Kelly hopefully. ‘If there isn’t, Vicky and I’ll go to the chippy.’

Betty sighed. ‘I could have done with a bit of notice. I don’t mind having your friends to stay, really I don’t, but if I know a day in advance it’s a help.’

‘I knew I should’ve bought chips on the way here,’ said Vicky. ‘I am really sorry, I’ve put you out.’

Now Betty had made her point she backtracked. ‘No, it’s fine. Don’t mind me. Kelly, you take Vicky upstairs and show her the spare room. I’ll put some more spuds on.’

Kelly led Vicky to where she’d be staying and shut the door behind them.

‘I should have warned you. Mum always likes to play the martyr for a minute or two, just to make sure none of us take her for granted. Once she’s made her point she’s fine.’

Kelly went out of the room and returned with an armful of bedding. A few minutes later the bed had been made up and Vicky’s few possessions were stowed in the chest beside it.

‘Time to give you the guided tour,’ said Kelly. She showed Vicky the bathroom and loo, ‘And don’t worry, you’re only sharing it with me. Mum and Dad have an en suite,’ and then took her downstairs to show her the kitchen, sitting room and dining room. Vicky couldn’t believe how much space the three people in the Munro family had to rattle around in. When she thought about the place she shared with four siblings and her parents, this semi seemed palatial.

‘It’s not that big,’ said Kelly. ‘Mum says it would be so much nicer if we had a conservatory.’

Vicky raised her eyebrows. What the hell did they want with yet another room? They already had plenty to spare. And couldn’t they turn the heating down? It was tropical in the house. She returned to her bedroom and slipped off her jacket before she passed out with heat exhaustion and then joined Kelly in her room where they lay on Kelly’s bed and watched MTV until her dad got in from work and Betty called them down for supper.

Vicky was introduced to Brian, who seemed more interested in pouring himself a beer than meeting one of his daughter’s friends, which suited Vicky because she was having to deal with too many new things all at once. If he ignored her it was one less.

Betty called them into the dining room for supper and they sat down at the table.

‘You been away on holiday?’ said Betty, eyeing Vicky’s tanned bare arms, after she had dished up a chicken casserole and mash.

‘Holiday?’ Apart from trips to Stow horse fair and going shopping with her mother and sister, Vicky had hardly ever shifted off the trailer park in her life. And she’d certainly never been anywhere for any length of time.

‘You’re very brown given that we haven’t seen much of the sun yet this year.’

‘It’s fake,’ said Kelly, quickly.

‘And are you sure you’re warm enough?’ asked Betty, who was wrapped up in a thick sweater, as were both Kelly and Brian, despite the radiator that was throbbing with heat in the dining room.

‘I’m fine, honest,’ she replied, wondering why on earth with central heating they needed jumpers as well. What was wrong with these people? Soft or what?

The chicken casserole was delicious but by the time Vicky had finished eating the combination of hot food and an exhausting and traumatic day caught up with her completely. She was shattered but it was in her DNA to help with the housework.

‘Let me help you with the dishes, Betty,’ she offered.

‘Mum can cope,’ Kelly assured her before Betty could accept or decline the offer for herself. ‘She’ll just bung them in the dishwasher. Come on, let’s you and I go upstairs to watch TV.’

Stunned, Vicky allowed herself to be dragged into Kelly’s room.

‘Don’t you help your mammy clear the table?’ she said.

‘Help her? Why? Mum’s just a housewife so what else has she got to do all day?’ Kelly mightn’t have meant to sound callous but Vicky was horrified.

‘But what about the housework and all, don’t you lend a hand?’

‘I’ve got school work.’

‘Not now you haven’t, or not much, your exams are finished. Don’t you ever do the cleaning or anything, even in the holidays?’

‘No, that’s Mum’s job. Why should I?’ Kelly sounded bewildered by the notion.

Vicky couldn’t believe her ears, but being desperate not to fall out with Kelly again she shut up. A monster yawn threatened to dislocate her lower jaw. ‘I’m sorry, Kelly, I’m going to hit the hay soon.’

‘But I thought we could go out on the town together, have a bit of fun.’

The idea of anything other than sleep made Vicky feel even more exhausted. ‘Kelly, I’d love to,’ she lied. ‘But I’m shattered. Today has been a mare, the weekend was knackering and I’ve not slept through the night for ages.’ She saw the look of disappointment on her friend’s face. ‘Maybe tomorrow.’

Kelly shrugged. ‘Whatever.’

‘And tomorrow I’ve got to think where I go from here. I’m too tired to plan tonight but we’ll have to think of something soon. You’ll help me, won’t you?’

Kelly nodded and then gave Vicky a hug. ‘Yeah, of course I will. You sleep well now and I’ll see you in the morning.’

Vicky cracked another yawn, hugged Kelly goodnight and went into her own room.

The double bed in the spare room seemed awfully big and she was going to be sleeping in it on her own. Without Shania. Vicky couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t shared a room. And she missed the faint roar of the dual carriageway and the other normal noises of life on the trailer site. Suddenly she felt desperately lonely. The world seemed big and scary and she was all alone – cut off from her family, her traveller friends and all her other relations. Sitting on the edge of her bed, she wondered what the hell she’d done.

‘I’m going to have to find a job, aren’t I, Kel?’ said Vicky through another yawn as she sat on the end of her bed after breakfast the next morning. Despite how tired she’d been was the evening before, she hadn’t had a good night and had spent a lot of it wide awake, feeling terrified and cast adrift in equal measure. And the trouble was that in the dead of night, with nothing else to think about, her situation had become more and more monstrous and the consequences more and more dire until she’d been been in a complete panic. And maybe it had been a mistake to check her phone before she went to sleep. There were about twenty messages from Shania, getting more and more frantic, and a load of missed calls from Liam. She didn’t dare look at any of the messages nor ring Liam back. Maybe if she ignored it all, as Kelly had already advised her, it would all just go away. Miserably she switched her phone off and then felt even more lonely.

If she’d had Shania next to her she would have been comforted but she was never going to have Shania next to her again. So she’d lain under the covers, rigid with fear and unable to sleep, until the sky had lightened. As the sun rose her fears seemed to shrink into the corners of the room and she’d finally slept but too late to get any real rest. Then Kelly had come bouncing in, full of life and plans, and all Vicky had wanted to do was put her head back under the duvet. And she would have done but Kelly insisted that they had to sort out Vicky’s immediate future and they’d get down to it just as soon as Vicky had showered and eaten.

So now Vicky was being forced to face up to her situation and find solutions to the fact that she was jobless, penniless and virtually homeless.

‘Yup, I’d say a job is your first priority. If you don’t plan to go home, I’d say you have to find one. And get somewhere to live.’

Vicky nodded. ‘How long do you think I could stay here with you?’

Kelly wrinkled her nose and pouted as she thought about it. ‘Maybe a week. If you got a job and offered Mum some rent money we might be able to persuade her to let you stay a bit longer.’

‘You reckon?’ Vicky was doubtful. It was a lot to ask.

‘Dunno. Worth a shot.’

‘So, jobs …’

‘What can you do?’

‘Sew.’

‘Obviously. Anything else?’

‘Cook, clean. I’m not afraid of hard work.’

‘Maybe we could get you a job as some sort of home-help, or office cleaner.’

Vicky shrugged.
That’d be okay
, she thought.

Kelly flipped open her laptop and began tapping the keys. ‘Let’s see,’ she said, peering at the screen, ‘what’s available round here. Of course, what would be ideal would be a job as a live-in housekeeper but you’re probably too young for anything like that and you don’t have any references.’ She prodded a few more keys and then scrolled down the screen using the touch pad. ‘Nothing much,’ she pronounced after a few moments of silence. She tried again and again. Then she sighed. ‘We might have to get the bus to go to the job centre, see what they’ve got. There must be someone round here who needs a bit of unskilled labour.’