Unbroken, Chapter Four, Part One.

‘So lying underneath those stormy skies.  She said;  I know the sun must set to rise.’ Coldplay – Paradise.

    It’s raining when I walk to the bus stop.  I could have ridden my bike to my nan’s place, but there’s nowhere to

store it when I’m inside, and the last time I left it on the grass the groundskeeper shouted at me.  I don’t like him much.

After having a job for the past four months, it feels strange to have time to myself.  The walk’s peaceful and I’m grateful for it until I reach the bus stop and see two girls sitting on the bench.  They must be seventeen or eighteen.  They’re both stick thin and pretty, even without all the make-up they’re wearing.  I feel my palms start to sweat as I linger on the other side of the shelter, ducking out of the rain.  The water makes a pitter patter sound on the glass roof but I can still hear the two girls talking.  Something about Jason and his muscles.  I roll my eyes but bite my tongue.  This isn’t the time to start anything.  I’m not going to do something stupid.  Again. 

It probably seems pathetic, but I’m so awkward when it comes to social situations that I do things, stupid things, just to distract myself from how uneasy I’m feeling.  Like the time in school when I could hear one of the popular girls commenting on my hair to her friends, so I stood up, swore loudly and got sent out.  Being in that corridor and getting detention after school was worth it compared to having to listen to the in-crowd pick on me.  That’s why I’m thinking of running away now, so I don’t have to listen to the girls on the other side of the bus stop titter about some guy.

Looking down the road there’s no sign of the bus so I rock back and forth on my heels, trying to concentrate on staying put. 

It’s at times like these, when I’m itching to get away from people who make my skin crawl, that I realise that if Mum and Dad were still together my life wouldn’t be like this.  I wouldn’t be standing at a bus stop in the rain.  I’d be in my own car, something new and worth money, because that’s the way things would have gone if Dad still had the slightest of influence on my life.  But he doesn’t so I’m stuck where I am, using what’s left of my final pay packet to go see my nan.

“Oi.  Girl with the awesome ass!” 

I turn to look at the two girls, ready to ask them what the hell they’re on about, but it’s only when I hear a car horn sound that I realise it wasn’t them who’d spoken.  I peer out into the drizzle and a smile breaks out onto my face when I spot Niamh’s car.  Sure enough, she’s got the driver’s side window rolled down and she’s waving at me to come over.

I don’t hesitate, running across the road after checking it’s okay to cross, of course, and then climbing in next to her.

“You got Murphy back!”

Niamh grins.  “Dang right.  It’s been long enough.”

I smile at my surroundings.  There are junk food wrappers in the foot-well, stickers on the ceiling and the back of the sun-visors, and an array of colourful air fresheners hanging from the mirror.  It’s your typical first car.  Unless you live on the right side of town, of course.  My thoughts return to where they were just now.  Via Morgan’s first car was brand new.  The sport’s car is her third; she wrote off the second within a week.  If Mum and Dad were still together, and I’d actually bothered to learn to drive, then I’d probably have a sports car or something new.  I would have sold it for the money though.  I prefer my skateboard or BMX, even if that’s more of a teenage guy way to travel.

Niamh pulls out and turns on the radio, increasing the volume when she finds a station she likes. 

“It’s been three months since the fire, already?”

Niamh gives me a quick cheeky grin before nodding.  “Yep.  Though I had to remind Mum to unban me from driving.  I convinced her that I hadn’t done anything bad since then, if you don’t count the things she doesn’t know about.”

“Like the other night?” I say.

“Shush, okay.  Mum freaked me out when she kept looking at the scratches.  For a second I thought she’d figured out what had happened, but then she gave me the keys.  I was mega relieved.  Poor Murphy’s been all alone for so long.”  She pets the dashboard affectionately.  “Did you miss Mama, Murphy?”

I roll my eyes and Niamh swats at my arm.  I’m glad Niamh can drive, especially on a day like today when the sky is just one big, black cloud that seems to stretch over the entire town.  I look out of the window to see people rushing along the streets, hunched under umbrellas or shrunk back into the hoods of their coats.  There’s one man jogging along the road in just shorts and a t-shirt and I decide he must be mad. 

We drive in silence for a while, listening to the radio and watching the rain pour down the windscreen.  It really is turning into a miserable day.

“Where am I taking you anyway?”

“Nan’s place,” I say.  “Why?  Where are you off to?”

She pulls a face; sticking her tongue out as she comes to a stop at a zebra crossing.  “Work.  Neil rang this morning, asking if I could cover Gaby’s shift.  That girl is always off sick.”  She leans in towards me and raises her eyebrows.  “I reckon she could be preggers.”

I whistle through my teeth.  “Who by?  Derek?”

Niamh snorts.  “Or Cullum.  Or Shane.  Or it could even be Kelvin.”

“Busy girl,” I say as we start moving again.  The old ladies who had been crossing the road have finally got to the other side.  A million years later.

“Serves her right if she is.”  Niamh sounds all serious.  “I mean, I’d feel sorry for the kid.  Having half a dozen potential fathers.”

I frown.  “Why couldn’t Neil have asked someone else in?”

Niamh shrugs just as I spot the familiar building where Nan lives.  “Maybe no-one else is stupid enough to say yes.”

“Maybe,” I reply, unclicking my seatbelt.  “But the money makes it worth it.”

“I suppose.  Are you getting withdrawal symptoms already?”

It’s my turn to shrug as she stops the car at the gates.  “It sucks knowing I’m living on pennies.”

“No train tickets to London then?”

 I shake my head.  “Nope.”

Niamh looks disheartened for all of two seconds before her face brightens again.  “So has he text you?”

“Who?”

“Chace Milligan?”

I smile.  “You mean Declan and Dave.”

She nods.  “So?”

“Nothing.  Not even an insult.”

“Oh.” 

I lean across to hug her before ducking out of the car.  I pat Murphy on the roof and smile.  “Thanks for the ride.”

“No probs.”  Niamh grins.  “You wanna go out later?  Drinks in the park?  Lovely day for it.”

I jut out my lower lip.  “I’m poor, remember?”

She waves a hand.  “Yeah, but I’m not.”

                                                                           ***

The rain pounds against my rain mac as I jog up the driveway.  My feet crunch on the gravel and my shoes splash through puddles, sending water soaking up the bottom of my jeans, but I keep my eyes on the wooden doors underneath the sign for Jasmine Villa, home for the elderly.

It’s not a nice a place as it sounds.  It’s not a health spa or anything, but it isn’t a dump either.  Dad could have sent her to a worse place.

My shoes squeak on the lino as I step into the entrance hall.  There’s some shitty classical music playing, giving off the aura that this place is the finest you’ll ever see.  It’s not though.  Not judging by the smell of bleach and moth balls.  They could have at  least stretched to buying some air freshener or candles.

“Can I help you?”

I don’t recognise the woman behind the desk.  She must be new.

I pull down my hood and run my hands though my hair.  I’m dripping water into a puddle at my feet.  I must look a right state as the woman scrunches up her nose like the way Niamh does when she laughs.  This woman isn’t laughing though.

“I’m Sadie Parker,” I say.  “I’m here to see my nan, Vera.”

The woman’s rounded face turns white at my name and I look behind her at the photographs pinned to the notice board, pretending not to have noticed.  The pictures are of the residents on days out.  My nan isn’t in any of them.  Must have been from before Dad dumped her here.

“Sadie Parker?”

I nod and glance at her name badge.  Gertrude.  Oh dear.  Looking at her appears to make her nervous and she shifts in her plush leather chair.  My nan doesn’t get a leather chair. 

“Uh, your nan’s been moved. She’s in room fourteen now.”

I frown which seems to make Gertrude even more nervous.  Mum didn’t say anything about this.  “Oh.  Okay.”

“Third floor.”

“I know where it is,” I say with a sugary smile.  “Can I go up?”

Gertrude nods, her wiry eyebrows up near her hairline. 

“Thanks,” I reply.  I squeak over to the lifts and jab at the buttons for a second before turning back to look at her.  “Oh and Gertrude?”  Her eyes widen from behind her thick rimmed glasses.  “Don’t believe everything you hear about me.”  The doors to the lift open and I step inside, glad to get away from the music.  “I’m not all that bad.  Honest.”

Author's note - Okay.  So I know not a lot happens in this part but it would have been too long if I'd posted the whole chapter at once.  I guess this part kind of explores a little bit more about Sadie's awkwardness and the way she reacts in social situations.  It kind of touches on how she feels about her life too, since her dad left her mum.  Although she's hesitant to admit it, I guess she misses the fact that her life's not how it used to be -- more on that later though.

Enjoy!

xDudettex