Read Online Separation, The by Dinah Jefferies - Free Book Online

the skinniest boy, and the one that I fought, took his trousers down right in front of my eyes and then weed in the corner where I could see. I sneaked a look, and blushed to see his little tassel poke up like a stick. He called me horrid names when I refused to join in. The others pointed at me, but I stuck out my chin. I wanted to be one of them, but nothing would make me do it.
    When the other children left early, he sat beside me, smelling of mud and rotting wood. It wasn’t so bad. He had nice conker-coloured eyes and a big grin, once you got used to the teeth, and now his hair was grown a bit, he had a short straight fringe and you could see it was blond.
    He grinned at me, and got out a grubby pack of cards.
    ‘Your hair’s changed,’ I said.
    ‘Nits,’ he said, not bothered. ‘Mum chopped it off before. Sorry I said you’re an immigrant. You’re not. Just foreign. Want one of these?’
    I nodded and he passed me a large purple gobstopper.
    ‘Where do you live?’ he said.
    ‘At my gran’s, but you’re wrong, I
am
English.’
    ‘All right. All right. Keep yer hair on.’ He scratched his head. ‘They call you
stuck up
, you know, the kids.’
    ‘I know. And they call you
stink
.’
    We both laughed.
    ‘Tell me about that place. Where you come from. What’s it like?’
    ‘There’s a rain storm every day and there are millions of animals in the jungle. ’
    ‘Monkeys?’
    I nodded.
    ‘Never saw a monkey for real. Got a picture though.’
    He pulled out a dog-eared card and handed it to me. His face was all bright, but his fingernails, and the skin around them, were bitten raw.
    ‘There’s hundreds of monkeys in Malaya. All sizes. The little monkeys hang on their mothers’ furry tummies, and howl like real babies.’
    ‘Cor!’
    We sat in silence, sucking the gobstoppers.
    ‘Can you whistle?’ he said.
    ‘I can.’ To show him, I took my gobstopper out, and then whistled a song Mum taught me about coins in a fountain. ‘Mum says I whistle like a man.’
    ‘Where is she? Your mum.’
    I felt a lump in my throat and swallowed hard, not wanting him to see. ‘She’s coming soon.’
    ‘Want to help me make a go-kart?’
    ‘You bet.’
    We climbed down the ladder. He charged over to the corner where he’d hidden some bits of old wood, a set of bent pram wheels, some rusty metal and a crate. He poked under the hay and brought out a hammer and some nails.
    ‘Dad’s,’ he said, and we set to work, arguing about how to do it.
    When it was nearly finished we stood back, covered in scratches and splinters, and inspected our kart. It didn’t look pretty, but it worked, and we were happy.
    I looked at my watch. Half past five. Veronica was due at four. I should have waited at home, watched television, but then Iremembered there were no programmes in the day. Dad rarely spoke, except to tell me off, and despite what he said about fresh air, spent evenings stuck to Granddad’s television set. Dad bought it for him, even though he and Granddad didn’t see eye to eye.
    I’ll really catch it now, I thought.
    ‘See you at school tomorrow,’ he said with a grin.
    ‘Yup,’ I said, and turned red, pleased I’d made a proper friend.
    I arrived home as the coal merchant was coming up the road.
Wilson’s
it said on the side. Everyone was out on the pavement. A cold wind blew, and my eyes watered, as I watched Veronica with Dad and Fleur. Dad kissed Veronica on the cheek. She blushed, patted her pin curls down, and tied a headscarf over her hair, while her skirt swished round in the wind. Then Mr Oliver came out of the house.
    ‘Ah, there she is,’ he said, and grinned at me.
    Dad spotted me. I’d hoped I could pretend to have been there all along, but the apple in his throat jumped, and his lips went thin. ‘I’ll speak to you later, young lady,’ he said under his breath. ‘Come to the car to see Sidney and Veronica off. At least you can manage that.’
    I hung back, wanting to keep away from