Alice Next Door (9 page)

I
went into instant, total panic mode. I stood in the middle of the floor and flapped my arms like a frightened chicken who’d been drinking too much Cola. This could be the beginning of a major disaster. To get back to my room, Alice would have to run past the glass front door and Mum would surely see her.  

‘Quick, hide!’ I hissed.  

Alice looked really pale. ‘Hide? Where?’ Her voice was all squeaky and scared.  

I looked around the room. There weren’t
many choices. It was a small room, and Alice is a big, tall girl. ‘Behind the couch, quick!’

She’d just hidden herself, when Mum walked in with Rosie in her arms. She sat on the couch.

‘Oh, what a cross bunny this one is today. She must be teething.’

She looked at the game of Monopoly, still spread out all over the floor. There had been no time to clear it away.

‘Megan, what on earth have you been doing? Why is that all over the floor?’

I sighed, hoping it would keep the panic from my voice. ‘Oh, I got bored. I wanted to see if you could play Monopoly on your own. You can’t, actually.’

That was a fairly weak explanation, so I tried to change the subject. ‘You’re home early.’

‘Mmmm, I know. I couldn’t face the supermarket with Rosie like this. I’ll go later, after she’s had her nap.’

Luckily, at the mention of the word ‘nap’
Rosie cuddled into Mum’s arms and sucked her thumb. Mum got up slowly so as not to disturb her. ‘I’ll put her up now, poor little lamb.’

Mum had only got as far as the hall when the doorbell rang. ‘Get that, will you, love?’ she said over her shoulder as she went upstairs.

I went and opened the door. It was horrible, nosy old Mrs O’Callaghan from up the road.

What a treat!

Not.

‘Mum’s upstairs,’ I said, hoping she’d go away.

She gave me a stern look. ‘Why don’t I just come in and wait then?’

She didn’t wait for an answer. She swept past me and went into the family room, plonking her huge fat behind onto the couch. I winced. Alice must have felt the force of that.

Mum came back down. ‘Geraldine. How nice to see you.’

Hah! And Mum gives me grief for telling lies. I was convinced that she hated Mrs O’Callaghan
as much as I hate Brussels sprouts.

Mrs O’Callaghan settled herself further into her seat. ‘Well it’s not a social call, Sheila. I’m here on residents’ association business.’

I watched as Mum’s face fell even further. Mum believed in changing the world. For her the residents’ association was far too small and unimportant.

Mrs O’Callaghan wittered on for about half an hour about stupid stuff like leaves on
footpaths
and whether parking should be confined to one side of the street. I sat in the corner of the room and pretended to read. I didn’t feel it fair to abandon Alice even though there was nothing I could do to help her to escape.

Finally, Mrs O’Callaghan stopped talking. She stood up and went towards the door. Then she stopped and peered at Mum over her thick glasses. ‘Do you ever see poor Peter from next door?’

I looked up from my book, alarmed. Peter was Alice’s father.

Mum shrugged. ‘No, not that much.’

Mrs O’Callaghan took a deep breath, and then launched into a tirade. ‘Well, that poor, poor man. How that despicable Veronica could just up and leave him, I just don’t know. Of course she was always a nasty piece of work. I saw that the first day she moved in. Limerick was never good enough for her, with her designer-this and her designer-that, and her fancy Dublin ways. She thought she was better than the rest of us, and she’s nothing better than a tramp. Good
riddance
to her, is what I say. We’re all better off without her around.’

I sat still in my chair. I couldn’t move. All I could think of was poor Alice, listening to these awful comments about her mother. If this was a horror movie, Alice would leap from behind the couch, launch herself on top of Mrs
O’Callaghan
, and scratch her eyes out. Fortunately for Mrs O’Callaghan, this was real life, and Alice stayed hidden.

I looked towards my mum. I knew she shared Mrs O’Callaghan’s opinions about Alice’s mum, but could I rely on her not to say so?

I held my breath. Mrs O’Callaghan folded her arms, carefully holding up her huge floppy chest. She too was waiting for a reply.

Finally my mum spoke. ‘Well, Geraldine, I try not to judge others. I always found Veronica to be perfectly nice and polite.’

I could have run over and hugged my mum, but that might have aroused her suspicions, so I resisted. Mrs O’Callaghan unfolded her arms and rearranged her chest. She didn’t like to be disagreed with. ‘Well then, it’s time I left, I’m sure. Goodbye, Sheila. Goodbye, Megan.’

She went out, looking rather offended, and banged the front door behind her.

Mum went upstairs to check on Rosie. I ran back to the family room, and hauled Alice from behind the couch. We ran to my room and closed the door behind us.

Alice sat on the bed. She wiped her eyes when she thought I wasn’t looking, but I could see that she was upset. I put one arm around her. ‘Don’t mind that nasty old woman. She’s only jealous. She’s just a big ugly hag, and what does she know about anything?’

Alice shrugged. ‘You’re right. And I’m glad your mum defended my mum. It’s nice to know that my mum still has some friends around here.’

I nodded. Luckily Alice didn’t know that Mum only defended Veronica because she knew it would make Mrs O’Callaghan so cross.

Suddenly Alice looked really serious. ‘You know what, Megan?’

‘What?’

‘I don’t care what Mrs O’Callaghan thinks. I don’t care what anyone thinks. All I care about is getting away with this for two more days. All I care about is making this plan work, and shocking my mother into moving back to Limerick. That’s it. That’s all.’

She kicked off her shoes and lay down on the bed. ‘Now what?’

I sat down beside her. ‘I think we should stay in here out of trouble. I’ve had quite enough shocks for one day.

Alice nodded. ‘Yes, you’re right. Let’s stay here, and we’ll have a nice quiet afternoon.’

Sometimes it’s scary how very wrong you can be.

I
t was about two o’clock and Al and I were in my room playing cards when the front
doorbell
rang.

Mum called from upstairs. ‘Get that, Megan please, will you? I’m in the middle of tidying Rosie’s room.’

I sighed. ‘OK, Mum.’ I hoped it wasn’t that old battleaxe Mrs O’Callaghan back with more of her nasty opinions. I’d had more than enough of her for one day.

I got up and went out into the hall. I could see two adult-sized figures through the frosted glass of the front door. Maybe Mrs O’Callaghan had brought reinforcements. Maybe she was going to use brute force to threaten us into caring about the parking situation on our road. Then I thought not. Even she wasn’t that stupid.

It was probably political canvassers, I decided. Mum wouldn’t be pleased. She always felt she had to argue with these guys, instead of just
promising
them all she’d vote for them, like Dad did.

I wondered if I could get rid of them without Mum knowing they’d ever been there. I rehearsed a speech in my head. I opened the door. And then I felt like shutting it again very quickly, because there, in living colour, on my front doorstep, stood Alice’s parents. And they
didn’t look very happy. In fact they looked very annoyed indeed.

I looked at them and they looked at me. Then we looked at each other some more. I got a very sick feeling in my stomach. I wished I could be somewhere, anywhere else. At school. At the dentist. On the street being teased by Melissa. Anywhere would have been better than on my own doorstep, waiting for my world to crash down around me.

Al’s mum, Veronica, spoke. Her voice was cold and sharp. ‘Where’s Alice?’

‘Alice?’ I repeated.

‘Yes, Alice,’ she snapped. ‘My daughter.’

Alice’s dad, Peter, gave a small cough. ‘Our daughter actually.’

Veronica gave him an evil look, and repeated. ‘Where is Alice,
our
daughter?’

I stood there for a moment with my mouth open. I couldn’t think of anything to say. It didn’t matter anyway. I was too shocked to speak. I
openedmy mouth and closed it again. No sound came out, not even the usual babble that pops out when I’m nervous.

Veronica continued. ‘And if you’re trying to think of a silly little lie - don’t bother. You would only be wasting your time. We know she’s here. Get her. Now.’

Her nasty tone convinced me that this wasn’t a time for pretending not to understand what she meant.

‘OK,’ I whispered, and I went to my room. Veronica followed me.

Alice was sitting on the bed, pale-faced.
Obviously
she’d heard her mother’s voice. Veronica’s icy tones would cut easily through any walls. And when her mum spoke like that, Alice probably figured that hiding under my bed wasn’t going to be much use.

She spoke weakly. ‘Hi, Mum.’

Her mother didn’t answer. She caught Alice rather roughly by the arm, and led her towards
the front door. I followed, not quite sure what to do or say. As we arrived in the hallway, Mum appeared at the top of the stairs with an armful of dirty sheets. ‘Who was at the door, Meg?’ she began to say, before she spotted the four of us in the hall. She took a few steps towards us, and then she did something that really, really, annoyed me. She dropped the sheets on the stairs, and began to smooth her hair. I really, really, hated that. (Even though I’d often heard her mocking Alice’s mum behind her back for all the time she spent on her appearance, Mum always seemed ill-at-ease, and almost shy in her presence. As if secretly she felt bad for not being as glamorous as her.)

And anyway, smoothing her hair was a total waste of time. Mum still looked like she’d been dragged backwards through a bush.

Then she embarrassed me further, by
completely
misunderstanding the scene.

‘Veronica, Peter, how nice to see you. Hello,
Alice dear, have you come back for another few days? How nice. Megan has been missing you. Now, won’t you all come in and have something to drink? We have some very nice herbal teas. They have no caffeine you know.’

Veronica looked at Mum as if she were a complete, raving lunatic.

‘No, thank you, Sheila. This isn’t a social call, you know. These two girls have been very, very deceitful.’

Mum looked at me. ‘What exactly is
happening
here?’ she asked.

I thought it wiser not to answer that question. Anyway, Veronica seemed happy to speak for me. She looked at Mum. ‘I take it from your
reaction
that you didn’t know Alice was here?’

Mum shook her head, and Veronica continued. ‘Well, then it’s even worse than I thought. She must have been hiding.’

Mum looked puzzled. She was normally quite smart, but on this occasion, she was very slow to
understand what was going on. She spoke to Alice. ‘Hiding? But….’

Veronica interrupted. ‘She was supposed to be in Dublin with me, but instead she was here, hiding.’

Mum still looked confused. Then she nodded and gave a small smile as if she understood. Of course she didn’t. ‘Oh, I see, Alice. You were hiding next door, while your dad was at work. I suppose that was a bit bold. Your mother must have been worried sick.’

Veronica’s face began to go a very strange pink colour, a bit like my strawberry shower gel. Only without the sparkly bits.

‘No, Sheila. She wasn’t hiding in her house. She was hiding in yours. It might be news to you that my daughter has spent the last few days hiding under your roof. Though how you couldn’t have noticed, is quite beyond me’

Mum scratched her head vigorously. Great, as well as bad hair, now Veronica probably thought
Mum had headlice too.

Mum looked at me. ‘Is this true, Megan?’

I nodded.

Mum scratched her head again. Veronica took a small step away from her.

Mum spoke. ‘But why? You could have had Alice to stay if you liked. You only needed to ask. There was no need to hide.’

Veronica spoke coldly. ‘I wouldn’t have
permitted
it, Sheila. Her home is in Dublin now. Alice belongs with me. And I’d like to point out that I have a very busy schedule. I have lots more to do than driving down here to reclaim my errant daughter. I have to say this is all very inconvenient.’

That made me really, really cross. Alice’s world was falling apart, and all her mother could think of was her schedule. She probably had to cancel a hair appointment or a session at the nail bar or something. I felt like hitting her, or stamping my foot or something, but since I was in enough
trouble already, I just held my breath and looked at the ground.

Just then, Rosie appeared down the stairs. ‘Alith,’ she said, and she put her hands up to Alice, hoping to be picked up. Alice just rubbed her hair in a distracted kind of way. Rosie persisted, jumping up and down, repeating, ‘Alith, Alith, up.’ Mum picked Rosie up and cuddled her.

I put my head down. Suddenly it was clear to me that Alice and I had been wasting our time. Our plan was never going to work. There was no hope of her moving back to Limerick. Alice could have stayed hidden in my room for weeks, or even months, but still it would have made no difference. Nothing we did would ever change her mum’s mind.

And then I started to cry. I knew that Alice had more reason to cry than me, but she just stood quietly between her mother and her father, saying nothing. I couldn’t stop crying though. Big fat tears rolled down my face, and dripped
onto my sweatshirt. I felt sad and angry and small and stupid. Mum put one hand on my shoulder, and squeezed it gently.

That small gesture gave me the courage to speak. I took a deep breath and the words came tumbling out. ‘All we wanted was for Alice to come back here to Limerick. It’s not fair. All her friends are here. Her dad is here. She’s supposed to be at school here. This is her home. She shouldn’t have to leave. It’s wrong. It’s cruel.’

I looked at Veronica. ‘How could you do this to her? If you loved her, you wouldn’t make her leave.’

I stopped then. I wasn’t sorry I’d said the words, but I was very afraid at what would happen next.

Veronica took a step towards me. Her high heels clicked loudly on the wooden floor. She held up one hand. Her fingernails were painted with perfect black and white stripes. For a moment, I thought she was going to hit me. Then she stepped back again. ‘You’re two very
silly, immature, selfish girls. You only think of yourselves.’

Just like you then, you nasty cow.

This time I kept the words inside my head.

Veronica spoke quietly. ‘Come on, Alice, come with me.’

With that she pulled Alice by the arm, and they headed off down our garden path, and towards Alice’s house.

‘Bye-bye, Alith,’ said Rosie. But Alice didn’t look back.

Alice’s dad, Peter, was still hovering awkwardly in the hall. Mum looked at him. ‘I’m sorry about all this, Peter. I had no idea what was going on, you know.’

He smiled, a tired kind of smile. ‘Of course, Sheila. It wasn’t your fault, or Megan’s I’m sure. Alice is very strong-willed, you know. And the move has been very upsetting for her. It’s been upsetting for all of us. We….’

He stopped. Then he smiled a sad kind of
smile. ‘Well, thanks. I’d better go home and see what’s happening.’ I had a funny feeling he’d have been happier to stay there in our hallway, where it was warm and safe.

Mum spoke again. ‘Before you go, Peter, please tell me one thing. How did you know Alice was here?’

He shrugged. ‘I went to the tennis club for a drink last night, and one of the lads mentioned that his daughter had seen Megan and Alice on the Ennis Road, yesterday afternoon. Of course, I said he must have been mistaken, that Alice was in Dublin with her mother. But then Veronica phoned me at work first thing this morning, with a rambling story about Alice staying with me because she was sick. Well, it didn’t take us long to work things out. She was rather angry - well, you probably saw that for yourself. She left Jamie with a friend and she drove down immediately. She’s going back in a few minutes, I expect.’

Mum looked at me. ‘Megan, has Alice left stuff in your bedroom?’

I nodded.

‘Well, go and pack up her things and give them to Peter.’

I went without speaking. It only took a few minutes to roll up Alice’s sleeping bag, and put her clothes into her bag. Then I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote a quick note.

‘Bye, Alice. Sorry it didn’t work out. Hope you’re not in too much trouble. I’ll miss you. Meg.

A few tears even fell onto the page, which was really sad, but I had no time to write a new note, so I shoved it under her clothes, and closed the bag.

Peter took the bag from me and left. Mum closed the door behind him. She looked at me, and said nothing. I wasn’t quite sure how cross she was. She had a strange expression on her face that I couldn’t read. This time, even she couldn’t say, ‘something just like this happened me when I was about your age.’ So she said nothing. I
thought about all the lies I’d told her over the past few days. I wiggled my foot on the hall mat. There was a hole in my sock. I couldn’t help wondering if Mum saw it, would she want to darn it?

I said. ‘Maybe I should go to my room for a while.’

Mum looked at me.

‘Yes, maybe you should. We’ll have a long talk about this when your father gets home.’

I went to my room, and lay on the bed. I could see the flask of hot water on the windowsill, all ready for Alice’s tea. She wouldn’t need it now.

After a while, I could hear voices from the front of the house. I went out into the hall and opened the front door. Alice and her mum were just about to drive away. Peter was
standing
on their front step, looking very serious. Then he turned around and went back into the house.

Alice wasn’t crying, but she was awfully pale,
and sad looking. She looked up and saw me. She gave me a small wave, and I waved back. I could see her mum’s lips moving, but Alice didn’t turn towards her. She kept looking at me. We waved until they were out of sight, and then I went back into my room to wait until Dad got home.