Read Online Star Crazy Me by Jean Ure - Free Book Online Page A

peoplejust loved it! After a couple of hours my tin doggy bowl was full almost to overflowing, and I decided I could afford to take a bit of a break and even buy myself a sandwich. After all, I had earned it! I had come by it honestly, and felt that I deserved every penny of it. Far more satisfying than nicking stuff out of Superdrug.
    At one o’clock I wandered back and took up my position again. I figured by now there would be a whole new bunch of people out there. Earlier on, before I’d had my lunch break, I’d noticed an old lady standing listening. I mean, there were lots of old ladies, but the reason I noticed this one in particular is that she stood out from the rest. She had this look , like she was someone to be reckoned with. She was dressed to kill, in some sort of silk outfit, which you could just tell had cost a fortune. And her face was all made up, to go with it. Blusher and mascara and bright red lipstick. Even her nails were red. She’d stayed for a few songs, then gone off across the square towards the shops. Shedidn’t put anything in the doggie bowl, so I thought perhaps she wasn’t impressed. Either that, or she was just plain mean.
    But round about two thirty she appeared again, and this time she came up and spoke to me. “You’re still at it.”
    Yup! I was still at it. Don’t say she was going to have a go at me… You’re too young to be doing this, why aren’t you at school, you’re breaking the law , etc. etc. You can just bet there’ll always be some law you’re breaking.
    â€œHow long have you been here?”
    Guardedly I said, “Since about ten o’clock.”
    â€œTen o’clock? Singing all this time?”
    I muttered that I had had a break for lunch.
    â€œAll the same… it’s far too long. You need to rest your voice.”
    I told her that I couldn’t afford to. Coins were still pattering into my bowl. I didn’t want to give up before I had to!
    â€œ There .” The old lady opened her purse and tookout – gulp! – a five-pound note. She placed it in the bowl, beneath a pile of coins to keep it from flying off. “Now you can afford to. Let me invite you for a cup of tea.”
    I nearly said that I don’t drink tea, but it would have seemed ungracious after what she’d just done; and in any case, I must admit, I was a bit curious. Why should this posh old woman with her silk dress and her designer bag want to have tea with a nobody like me?
    â€œCome!” She made this imperious gesture, wafting her hand like the Queen. “I’m just over there, in the flats.”
    I wouldn’t have gone with her if she’d been a man; I’m not stupid. I probably wouldn’t have gone if she’d been younger. But she was really ancient and I couldn’t honestly imagine she was going to poison me or anything, so I picked up my bowl and the money, slung my guitar over my shoulder, and followed her across the road to her block. Oakwood Court. Classy!
    She had a flat on the ground floor. It was a bitdifferent from the one me and Mum lived in. For a start it was colour-coordinated. All green . Lime green paper on the walls, dark green carpet on the floor; pale green sofa, pale green chairs. As well as being green, it was what I would call fussy . Bits and pieces everywhere. Ornaments and bowls of flowers; lamps in strange shapes, with weird dangling lampshades, and lots of little tables dotted all about. The main room was huge. There was a grand piano in one corner (white, not green) and every single bit of wall space was covered in big glossy photographs and posters.
    I wondered who this woman was. She had to be someone ; ordinary people don’t live like that.
    She told me to take a seat while she made us a cup of tea. “Do you drink tea? I have Earl Grey or herbal.”
    I asked her if she had a Coke, but she said no; Coke was bad for you.
    â€œI’ll