My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece (9 page)

T
HE LEAVES IN
the puddles look like dead goldfish. And all the green has turned brown and purple, as if the hills have got bruises. I like the world this way. Summer’s a bit too bright for me. A bit too happy. Flowers dancing and birds singing like nature’s having a big party. Autumn’s better. Everything’s a bit more droopy and you don’t feel left out of all the fun.

It’s almost the end of October, which is just about my favourite time of year. Of all the festivals like Christmas and Easter, Halloween is my best. I love dressing up and I love getting sweets and I’m quite good at playing tricks. Mum didn’t let me buy any tricks when I was little so I had to invent my own. She said
Everyone will give you a treat and no one will ask for a trick
, which was the biggest lie she ever told apart from the one about Dad. On the third anniversary of Rose’s death, Dad got drunk and had a go at Mum. Same stuff as always about Trafalgar Square and pigeons and how if she’d been stricter then it might never have happened. Mum was painting in the kitchen but she couldn’t see the colours through the tears in her eyes. She’d painted a heart jet black by mistake. I pointed it out and I got a brush and went round the outline in brightest red.
Are you and Dad breaking up
I asked when I had finished. Mum sniffed.
We’re already broken
she muttered. I dropped my brush into the sink.
Is that a no
I said, just to be sure, and Mum paused then nodded. So that was the biggest lie, but the one about Halloween was almost as bad ’cos it meant I wasn’t prepared and it was embarrassing.

When the scary neighbour with the bulldog said
Trick
, I didn’t know what to do. He said
Are you deaf
and I shook my head and he said
Do a trick then
. So I asked him to close his eyes and I just pinched his arm. He said the f-word and the bulldog barked as I ran away. I didn’t dare go to any more houses that year in case the same thing happened again. But the year after that I didn’t want to miss out on all the sweets so I made up some tricks of my own.

This Halloween’s going to be better than ever. Sunya’s got more imagination than the most imaginative person I can think of, which right now is Willy Wonka. I still can’t get over that trick with the devil. No one ever found out it was her and Daniel was suspended for three days. His angel was taken off the display and put in the recycling box.

I didn’t know Muslims celebrated Halloween. I said to Sunya
I thought it was a Christian thing
. 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. So there we were, sitting on our bench in the playground, laughing our heads off, and I had no idea what was funny. She said
Halloween is a British tradition and it has nothing to do with being a Christian
. I almost said
Why do you celebrate it then
’cos I always forget that she was born in England.

We meet again, Spider-Man
she said. And I replied
How many people have you saved today, Girl M
. She pretended to count on her fingers.
Nine hundred and thirty-seven
she shrugged.
It’s been a quiet day
. We started to giggle.
How about you, Spider-Man
. I scratched my head.
Eight hundred and thirteen
I said.
But I started late and finished early
. We exploded into laughter. We do the same joke every single day and it never ever gets boring.

It felt strange seeing Sunya outside school at the weekend. She was sitting under a conker tree with a white blanket by her side and a plastic bag in her hands. Before I sat down next to her, I peered into the trees. They looked orange and shrivelled, like old men after too long in the sun. Dad had gone out to buy alcohol nowhere near the woods, but I was still nervous.

I almost hadn’t come. It is one thing to be friends with a Muslim in school and another to meet up with one at the weekend. Sunya asked me to go trick-or-treating and I said yes without worrying about Dad. All I could think about was how many sweets we would get, and what tricks we could play, and how it’d be so much better than all the other Halloweens in London ’cos this time I wouldn’t be on my own. But this morning when I stole some bandages to dress up like a mummy, I felt guilty. We ate our cereal in front of the TV and a lady with the same skin colour as Sunya read out the news. Dad said
Bloody Paki on the BBC
like it was a bad thing.
She might not be from Pakistan
I replied, before I could stop myself. Jas’s eyebrows disappeared beneath her pink fringe. Dad switched channel. A cartoon came on.
What did you say
. His voice was calm but his knuckles went white as he squeezed the remote. I coughed.
What did you say, James
. Jas pulled a finger across her lips, telling me to shut up. Even though she wasn’t wearing her white make-up, her face had gone pale.
Nothing
I said. Dad nodded.
Thought not
he said and he gave the urn a little nod.

It was a relief when Sunya put the blanket over her head. She’d cut holes for her eyes and a long sausage shape for her mouth and you couldn’t see any of her skin through the gaps.
Cool costume
I said and she replied
You too
. Mine was a bit weird as I’d run out of bandages and had to use pink toilet paper instead. I said
I just hope it doesn’t rain
and she giggled
Or you’ll get flushed away
.

Three hours later, we’d done every single house we could find and had two bulging bags of sweets. We sat under the conker tree to eat our stuff. Everything looked black apart from the sky, which glittered with a million stars. They looked like tiny candles and for a millisecond I wondered if they’d all been lit for me and Sunya and our special Halloween picnic. My sides ached from laughing too much and it had probably been the best day of my life. I wanted to tell Sunya but I was scared she’d think I was soft so I just said
That man
and we collapsed all over again. He’d been the last person to say
Trick
and I’d pulled the water pistol out from behind my back. The man had ducked but of course nothing came out. This was what Sunya called the decoy, which means it distracted him while she did the real trick. She threw a stinkbomb into his house. The man didn’t see it ’cos his eyes were closed, waiting for the water. Then Sunya yelled
Got ya
and the man closed the door in our faces but we didn’t leave. We tiptoed to his lounge window and watched him sit on his sofa. One minute later, his nose wrinkled. Ten seconds after that, he tipped back his head and sniffed the air. Ten seconds after that, he looked at the bottom of his shoes as if he was worried he’d stepped in dog pooh. Sunya put her hand over my lips ’cos I was laughing too loud and, even though her fingers were freezing, my mouth seemed to burn.

Why do you wear that
she asked, her mouth full of sweets.
I’m a mummy
I replied.
They wear bandages but I ran out so I had to
— She shook her head.
Not that
she said, pointing at the toilet paper.
That
. Her fingers touched the Spider-Man t-shirt.
I’m a superhero
I said.
I fight crime
. She sighed and it smelled of cola bottles. Through the holes in the blanket I could see her shiny shiny eyes and they were brighter than all the stars in the sky.
Why do you really wear it
she said. She drew her legs to her chest and rested her chin on her kneecap. She was sucking a lollipop really slowly like she had all the time in the world to hear my story. I tried to speak, but nothing happened.

When we left London, Dad spent about an hour trying to push his wardrobe through the bedroom door. He turned it on its side. He tried it upside down. He tilted it one way and then the other but it just would not fit. Words like Mum and Affair and Dad and Drinking were just like that wardrobe – too big to get out. No matter what I did, I couldn’t fit them through the space between my teeth.

The lollipop was almost gone when I said
I just like it, that’s all
. To change the subject, I said
Why do you wear that scarf thing on your head
and she said
Hijab
and I said
Who jab
and she said
That’s what it’s called. A hijab
. I said the word over and over again. I liked the way it sounded. And then I wondered what Dad would say if he could see me sitting underneath a conker tree with a Muslim dressed like a ghost, whispering Muslim words in the darkness. And all of a sudden I knew exactly what he’d say and what’s more I could see him say it, with his face all screwed up, his eyes full of tears and the urn trembling in his hand.

I stood up. The sweets were making me sick. I’d only eaten a quarter of my bag but I dropped it onto Sunya’s lap.
You have them
I said.
I’m going home
. I walked down the road, tearing the bandages off my face and ripping the toilet paper off my body. Half of me never wanted to see Sunya again, but the bigger half wanted her to run after me and say
What’s wrong
. I got to a bend. If I walked five steps further, I’d disappear out of sight. I slowed right down and tried not to look back, but my neck wasn’t obeying my brain. Before I could stop it, my head had twisted right round and there was Sunya, hurrying after me.

Are you scared, Spider-Man
she said.
Superheroes shouldn’t run off like that
. As soon as she was by my side, I started walking faster like I wanted to get away, which I did and didn’t all at the same time.
I’m not scared
I said.
I’m late. Dad said I had to be home by eight
. Sunya stuffed my bag back into my hands.
You are the worst liar in the whole world
she said.
Want to trade your cola bottles for my chocolate mice
.

Headlights swung around the corner. I recognised the car. Grabbing Sunya’s hand, I tried to pull her somewhere safe. Dad was slowing down. My pulse was speeding up. There were no buildings. No walls. Nowhere to hide.
What’s wrong
Sunya asked. I wanted to shout
RUN
but it was too late. Brakes squealed and the window whirred and the car stopped right by my side. Dad leaned out of the window and stared.
Trick or treat
I said, dropping Sunya’s hand. I held out my arms like a zombie and made my face all lifeless.
Trick or treat trick or treat trick or treat
I chanted, desperate to distract Dad. Sunya still had the material over her head and, if Dad didn’t look too closely, he might not guess a Muslim was hidden underneath the costume.

Who’s your friend
he said, slurring his words, and Sunya replied before I could make up an English-sounding name.
I’m Sunya
she said. Dad actually smiled.
Nice to meet you
he said and his breath smelled of beer.
Are you a friend of James’s from school
. Sunya said
We are in the same class and we sit next to each other and we share sweets and secrets
. Dad looked surprised but pleased.
I hope you get your work done too
he teased and Sunya laughed and said
Of course, Mr Matthews
and I just stared and stared as Dad grinned at a Muslim and offered her a lift home.

We fastened our seatbelts. Mine pressed against my chest, making me hot. If Sunya’s parents were outside her house, or if the curtains were open, or if they popped out to say thank you, Dad would see their brown skin and go mental. He swerved in the road and I kept thinking about those drink-driving adverts on TV where everyone ends up dead and I felt bad that I’d let Sunya get in the car when Dad was obviously over the limit. But she just ate sweets and chatted away and I could hear the smile in her voice as if all her words had happy faces. She said she’d lived in the Lake District all her life and her dad was a doctor and her mum was a vet and she had one brother at high school and another brother at Oxford University.
Clever family
Dad said, sounding impressed.
It’s the house on the right
Sunya replied and we pulled up outside a big gate. Lights glowed behind curtains but there was no one on the driveway.

Thanks for the lift
Sunya said as she hopped out of the car with the plastic bag swinging in her hand. All I could see were her dark dark fingers and I prayed harder than I’d ever prayed in my life that Dad wouldn’t notice. But he just smiled and said
Any time, love
and Sunya ran off, the white blanket blowing in the wind.

Dad turned around and drove away from Sunya’s house. I looked out of the back window and watched Sunya disappear through the gate. Dad glanced at me through the rear view mirror.
Is she your girlfriend
. I blushed and said
No
and Dad laughed and said
You could do a lot worse, son. Sonya seems like a nice girl
. And all of a sudden I wanted to shout
HER NAME’S SUNYA AND SHE’S A MUSLIM
, just to see what he would say. ’Cos I knew full well that if Dad had seen Sunya covered by a hijab instead of a blanket, he wouldn’t have thought she was a nice girl at all.