Bhangra Babes (19 page)

“This will be our first night without Auntie at home,” Jazz said thoughtfully. “We'll be able to stay up late from now on, and do whatever we like.”

“Takeaway pizza for dinner tomorrow?” suggested Geena.

I sighed happily. “It'll be just like old times.”

“I can see you're going to miss Auntie heaps,” Kim said sarcastically.

“Of course we will,” I replied, “but we've got to make the best of it, haven't we?”

“Until Dad decides to get a housekeeper.” Geena frowned. “We've got to make sure that doesn't happen. Maybe we can get Auntie on our side.”

“Girls, are you having a good time?” Auntie and Mr. Arora were coming toward us, both looking flushed and happy. “Everything's going very well, isn't it?”

We nodded. Mr. Arora was staring at George with some surprise, but he didn't say anything.

“Auntie, has Dad said anything to you about looking for a housekeeper?” Geena asked. “Because, to be honest, we really think that we're old enough to look after ourselves now.”

“Well, that's a matter of opinion,” Auntie said with a smile. “But I can tell you that, no, your dad won't be hiring a housekeeper. He's decided not to.”

We glanced at each other in delight but tried to make sure we didn't look too pleased. Auntie was quite capable of going off and changing Dad's mind for him.

“The thing is,” Auntie went on, “we have some news for you.” She and Mr. Arora (or should I call him Uncle Jai now?) smiled starrily at each other. “We've just been speaking to Mrs. Macey—Gloria—and she wants to move down to Southampton to be closer to her family. Her house is going up for sale.”

“And guess who'll be buying it?” Mr. Arora added with a beaming smile.

We stared at them in disbelief.

“You two?” Geena squeaked.

Auntie nodded. “So I'll only be next door,” she said with a grin. “Keeping an eye on you, just like I've been doing.”

“Fantastic,” I said weakly.

Just then the band struck up a particularly catchy bhangra tune, and Mr. Arora whirled Auntie onto the dance floor.

“Aren't you pleased?” asked Kim.

“Yes and no,” I sighed.

“It will be great in some ways,” Jazz agreed. “And not so great in others.”

“Oh, well, so much for freedom,” said Geena. “That's the trouble with interfering aunties. They never give up.”

“True,” agreed Jazz. “I feel sorry for our children, Geena.”

“Why?” Geena wanted to know.

“Because their interfering auntie will be Amber,” Jazz replied. “What a horrible thought.”

“What you really mean is that your children will be the luckiest alive.” I leaned over and reached for George's hand. “Come on, George. If you want to impress my dad, the first thing you've got to do is learn to dance bhangra style!”

About the Author

Narinder Dhami was born in Wolverhampton and now lives in Cambridge, England. After earning an English degree from Birmingham University, she began teaching in London in the early eighties. She worked as a primary school teacher for ten years, but for the past twelve years she has been a full-time writer. At first she wrote almost exclusively for children's magazines, and she has had almost two hundred short stories and articles published. But after a few years she concentrated on writing children's novels. Her previous books (many available only in the United Kingdom) include
Angel Face, Animal Crackers, Annies Game, Changing Places
and the novelization of the hit movie
Bend It Like Beckham.
Check out her Web site at
www.narinderdhami.com
.