My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece (25 page)

S
CHOOL STARTED AGAIN
the next day. I kept expecting Roger to rub his body against my shins when I got out of bed, or jump onto my lap while I ate my Coco Pops, or twist his tail around my ankles as I brushed my teeth. The cottage felt empty without him. I felt empty without him.

Dad got out of bed in time to take us to school. He was a bit hung-over but it didn’t matter one bit. Dad’s not perfect. And neither am I. He’s trying, and that means everything. He hasn’t always done a good job but he’s done a million times better than Mum. He hasn’t abandoned us. He’s just sad about Rose and that’s fine. Having a cat killed is bad enough. Having a daughter blown to bits must be horrid.

When we pulled up outside school, Dad saw Sunya on the pavement. I could see his face in the mirror. He clenched his jaw but he didn’t shout
Muslims killed my daughter
or anything like that. He didn’t even tell me to keep away from her. He just said that he wouldn’t be home until six ’cos of work. Jas squeezed his arm and Dad smiled in a proud way and then he said
Have a good day. You got an excellent report so keep it up
.

I walked into school. I was still wearing the Spider-Man t-shirt, but not for Mum ’cos she didn’t send it. Roger’s blood had soaked into the material so I didn’t want to take it off. I know I must have looked like a murderer or something but I didn’t care. I wanted to be close to my cat.

Here comes sissy boy
shouted Daniel down the corridor. He was standing outside the classroom with Ryan. I was scared but I didn’t go red or start shaking or run off. I walked towards them.
Sissy boy in his sad Spider-Man t-shirt
. They sniggered and did a high five in the air. I walked right underneath it. Daniel kicked me on the back of the leg and it hurt and I wanted to punch him in the face, but I didn’t want to get beaten up again. Daniel smirked like he had won and I thought about that tennis player that always comes second in Wimbledon, and for some reason that made me cross. My heart growled in my chest like an angry dog.

What a loser
Daniel shouted so that everyone in the classroom could hear. I sat down next to Sunya and waited to see if she would glare at him or say something back. She shrank into her chair as though she was trying to hide. She didn’t even look in my direction. I wanted to ask if she’d read my special card. I wanted to ask if she’d seen the snowman that looked like her and the snowman that looked like me and if it had made her laugh. I wanted to ask why she hadn’t come to the talent contest, and I wanted to tell her all about it, how Jas had been brilliant and how I’d been brave enough to sing and dance on stage. But then I remembered that night in her garden and how she’d said
My mum thinks you are bad news
. So I didn’t say any of it. I just stared at my pencil case while Mrs Farmer did the register.

First we did English and we had to write about Our Fabulous Christmas and try to use paragraphs. Nothing fabulous had happened but I didn’t want to lie. So I told the truth. I wrote about the football sock full of all the things that Jas had bought me. I described the chicken sandwiches and microwave chips and the chocolates that we ate. I explained that the best bit was when we’d sung Christmas carols at the top of our voices. And at the end I wrote
It wasn’t exactly a fabulous Christmas but it was good ’cos I was with Jas
. It was my best piece of writing yet. When I read it out, Mrs Farmer said
That was an excellent piece of work
and my ladybird hopped onto leaf one. The angels had been replaced over Christmas.

After English we did Maths and after Maths we had Assembly. The Headmaster told us that the Ofsted Inspectors had given the school a grade and it was Satisfactory, which meant that we were doing okay but not brilliant. He said we would have got a Good but there was An Incident that upset one of the Inspectors. Mrs Farmer looked at Daniel and shook her head. Daniel’s chin slumped onto his knees. There was a flash in my direction. I looked up. Sunya caught my eye and for a millisecond I thought she was going to giggle. But then she turned away and nodded her head a few times as though she was really listening to the Headmaster’s talk on New Years’ Resolutions. He said
Aim high this year and give yourself a challenge. Don’t just make a boring resolution like I must stop biting my nails, or I must stop sucking my thumb
. Everyone started to laugh. The Headmaster smiled and waited for silence.
Set a target that excites you. Even frightens you a bit
. I knew what mine was straightaway.

At playtime I couldn’t find Sunya. I waited on our bench and I looked around the playground and I went through the secret door but she wasn’t in the storeroom. She must have been in the toilets hiding from Daniel ’cos she was scared. The dog in my chest growled louder than ever. We all went inside and we did History and Geography but I couldn’t concentrate. I kept trying to look inside Sunya’s pencil case to see if I could spot the Blu-Tack ring. I was wearing mine and I tapped the white stone on the table a few times to try and get her attention. Sunya didn’t look up from her books.

At lunchtime I didn’t hurry outside ’cos I hate standing by myself. I missed Roger too much to eat my sandwiches so I went to the toilet and played that game where the hand dryer is a fire-breathing monster. I was just taking it and taking it and being tough and I didn’t even scream when the flames burned off my skin and made my bones go all black.

I heard a voice outside. Not in the game but in real life. It was shouting. It was spiteful. And the words it said were
Curry Germs
. I looked out of the window. Daniel was following Sunya, yelling things at her back as she tried to walk away. He was with Ryan and Maisie and Alexandra and they were laughing and cheering him on. He shouted
You stink
and
Curry Breath
and
Why do you wear that stupid thing on your head
. He touched the hijab. Actually tried to pull it off. That’s when my heart roared. Louder than a dog. Louder than the fire-breathing monster in the toilets. Louder, even, than the silver lion in the sky.

The noise of it vibrated in my head and in my hands and in my legs. I didn’t even realise I was running until the door smashed against the tiles and I’d left the bathroom and was halfway down the corridor. I charged outside and screamed
Leave her alone
. People started to laugh. I didn’t care. I looked one way, then the other, searching for Sunya. I spotted her in the middle of the playground, her hands on her hijab, trying to stop Daniel from showing her secret hair to the whole school.

LEAVE HER ALONE
.

Daniel spun around. He saw me and his lips stretched into a nasty smile.
Come to save Curry Germs
he said. He pulled up his sleeves to fight. Ryan looked fierce. I skidded to a stop and waited for my mouth to say
Yeah I have come to save her
, or
Get out of my way
, or something else that sounded brave. Nothing came out. I waited for my legs to walk forward so I could kick Daniel, but they were paralysed. More and more children were gathering around in a circle, everyone’s eyes on me.

You’re a loser
Daniel said and everyone said things like
Yeah
and
What a gay boy
. And they were right. I took a step backwards. I didn’t want to get my head kicked in. It hurt too much last time. Daniel turned back to Sunya. He grabbed the hijab with his fat fingers. Sunya started to cry. The crowd chanted
Off off off off
.

It reminded me of something. Of being on stage. Of the audience at the talent show.

I wasn’t in the playground any more. I was in the theatre, watching Jas. And those words, the words of her song, thundered through my veins.

The playground came back in full sound and full colour. Sunya was sobbing. The hijab was half off. The crowd were cheering. Daniel was laughing. And I was letting him.

NO
.

I shouted it as loud as I could. Screamed it.
NO
. Daniel turned around in surprise. I pulled back my fist. Daniel’s jaw dropped. I charged at him with all the anger that I’d ever felt. His eyes widened in fear. And when my knuckles hit his nose, Daniel collapsed on the floor. I hit him again, even harder, my fist smacking against his cheek. Sunya looked up. Stared at me in amazement. I kicked Daniel three times and each time my foot crunched against his bones I said a different word.
LEAVE. HER. ALONE
.

Ryan ran off. The crowd backed away. They were scared. Daniel was lying on the floor with his hands over his face. He was crying. I could have kicked him again. I could have stamped on him, or elbowed him, or thumped him in the stomach. But I didn’t want to. I didn’t need to. I’d just won my Wimbledon. The fat dinner lady blew the whistle.

M
RS FARMER SENT
me to the Headmaster but it was worth it and I only missed a bit of History. When it was time to go home, I got my coat and four people said
Bye
. They’d never talked to me before. I said
Goodbye
and they said
See you later
and one boy asked
You coming to football training tomorrow
. I nodded my head really fast.
Definitely
I replied and he said
Cool
. Daniel heard all this but kept quiet. He didn’t even dare look at me. His nose had stopped bleeding but it was bruised. And his cheeks were red ’cos he’d been crying all afternoon. Tears had dripped all over his fractions, smudging the answers.

I only did four questions in Maths. I felt all light and fizzy, lemonade in my veins, and my thoughts popped and bubbled in my brain. My leg kept twitching and it brushed against Sunya’s five times in one hour. Three times by accident. Twice on purpose. She didn’t say
Stop it
, or
Your leg is bad news
, or anything like that. She just gazed at the fractions and bit the top of her pen and I got the feeling she was trying not to smile.

I walked out of school and the sky was turquoise and there was a massive golden sun. It looked like a huge beach ball floating on a perfect blue sea. I hoped the sun was strong enough to shine right underground. I hoped Roger could feel it all warm on his body. I hoped he wasn’t scared or lonely in his grave. I had a sharp pain in my chest then, like indigestion when you’ve eaten too many slices of pizza at one of those All-You-Can-Eat things. I leaned against a wall and put a hand on my heart and waited for it to pass. It faded to a dull ache but it didn’t go away.

I heard footsteps and the tinkle of metal. I turned my head to see Sunya running towards me.
Walking off without saying goodbye
she said, putting her hands on her hips. The sparkle was back and it was brighter than ever. Her hijab was brilliant yellow and her teeth were dazzling white and her eyes shone with the strength of a million suns. She climbed onto the wall and sat next to me and crossed her legs and I just stared at her as though she was a nice view, or a good painting, or an interesting display on the classroom wall. The freckle above her lip jumped about ’cos she was talking.
Walking off without letting me say thank you
. I bit the inside of my cheeks to keep from smiling.
Thank you
I asked, as if I had no idea what she was talking about.
For what
. She leaned forward and put her chin on her hand. That’s when I noticed the thin blue circle wrapped around her middle finger.

If envy is red and doubt is black then happiness is brown. I looked from the little brown stone to the tiny brown freckle to her huge brown eyes.
For saving me
she replied as I tried to act cool.
For smashing Daniel’s face in
. She was wearing the Blu-Tack ring. She was actually wearing the Blu-Tack ring. Sunya was my friend.
It was nothing
I said.
It was amazing
Sunya replied and she started to laugh. And the thing about Sunya is, once she starts, she just can’t stop, and it makes you laugh too.
Don’t thank me, Girl M
I said, my sides aching and my smile bigger than a banana.
Thank Spider-Man
. Sunya put her hand on my shoulder and stopped giggling.
You were better than Spider-Man
she whispered in my ear.

It was too hot and there wasn’t enough air. I looked at the snow melting on the ground and it was suddenly dead interesting and Very Important to kick it with my foot loads of times.
I’ll walk back with you
she said. She stood up on the wall and jumped really high and landed by my side.
Your mum
I said, looking all around in case she was watching.
She said I’m bad news
. Sunya linked my arm and grinned.
Mums and dads don’t know anything
.

On the way back, I told Sunya about Roger.
I’m so sorry
she said.
He was a nice cat
. She’d never met him but it didn’t matter. Roger was a nice cat. The nicest cat. Everyone knew that. We bumped into the old man with the flat cap. Fred wagged his tail and licked my hand. It left a trail of sticky spit but I didn’t mind.
You okay, lad
the old man asked, sucking his pipe. The smoke smelled like Bonfire Night.
How’re you feeling
. I shrugged.
I understand
the old man replied seriously.
I lost my old dog Pip last year and it still hurts now. Got this rascal four months ago
he went on, pointing at Fred.
Damn hard work he is
. Fred jumped up and put his paws on my tummy.
Seems to like you though
the old man said, scratching his head with the end of his pipe as if he was thinking.
Now here’s an idea. Why don’t you come and give me a hand with young Fred. You can help me walk him
. I stroked Fred’s grey ears.
That would be the best thing ever
I said and the old man grinned.
Good. Good. I live in that house over there
. He pointed at a white building a few metres away.
Make sure you ask your mother
he said.
I haven’t got a proper mum
I replied.
But I’ll ask Dad
. The old man patted my head.
You do that, lad
he said.
Down, Fred
. Fred ignored him so I grabbed his feet and pushed him off gently. His paws were fat and squishy. The old man clipped a lead on Fred’s collar and hobbled off down the road, waving his pipe to say goodbye.
I’ll come too
Sunya said as we started walking again.
I’ll bring Sammy and we will have adventures
.