Fighting Back

Amita followed the Deputy Head along the corridor. It didn’t seem too bad. It was neat and clean, brighter than her old school, even in the gloom of late January. Her father hadn’t looked pleased, but nothing pleased him these days.

A classroom door opened and a boy came out. He had a self-satisfied smirk on
his face. She could hear a raised voice from inside the room.

The boy looked Amita up and down.

‘Nice,’ he said loudly. ‘Very tasty!’

Amita was glad her father had already left. She blushed and turned her face away. The teacher glared at the boy.

‘I’ll talk to you later,’ she said as she went through the door. The boy pretended to shake as if he was afraid.

Amita followed her into the room.

‘This is Mrs Soames, your form tutor.’ She looked at the teacher. ‘You’ve had all the information, haven’t you? Amita will be in top sets for English, Maths and Science.’

Amita looked round the class. A blur of faces. Some looked friendly, others just stared at her. There were several Asians, including a couple of girls wearing veils.

The Deputy Head went out, closing the
door firmly behind her. She stopped to speak to the boy who had been sent out.

‘Go and sit with Catherine,’ said Mrs Soames. She pointed to a very blonde girl sitting in the middle of the room. ‘You’re in the same sets as her. She’ll give you a copy of your timetable and show you where to go.’

There was a snort of laughter from the back of the room.

‘I’ll show her where to go if you like, Miss!’

‘Be quiet Tony, I’m not talking to you.’

A girl leant over to Tony and whispered something. He gave another snort.

The teacher ignored them and looked down at the register.

‘Right. Settle down Year Ten. Now, there are a couple of notices. Pay attention. Tony! Sit down and face the front. Maddy, turn round please.’

Just like my old school
, thought Amita, as she tried to follow what Catherine was telling her.

A bell rang and Catherine led her off to the first lesson.

‘Everybody calls me Cath, not Catherine,’ she said. ‘Except my mum, of course. She’s fussy, but aren’t they all?’

Amita liked Cath. The teachers seemed nice too, and the work was interesting. She decided that school was going to be OK.

The morning went very quickly and soon it was lunchtime.

‘We’ve got half an hour tutor time next,’ said Cath. It’s the worst part of the day.’

‘Why?’

‘Because of Brian and the others. They’re just so stupid.’

‘Who’s Brian?’

‘He got sent out just as you came in,’ said
Cath. ‘He’s always getting sent out, but it doesn’t make any difference. There’s him, Tony, Maddy and Luke. They mess around all the time.’

Back in their tutor room Amita soon understood what Cath meant.

‘Settle down.
Now
!’ Mrs Soames raised her voice above the hubbub.

‘This week we’re going to be working on the citizenship module.’

‘What’s that then?’ called Tony Banks.

‘I know; it’s about immigrants,’ said Brian, nodding towards a thin boy sitting by himself in one corner.

Amita looked at Brian in surprise. He noticed her glance.

‘What about you then? Where’re you from?’

‘Lancashire.’

‘Where’s that then? India?’

‘No! It’s in England. Up north.’

‘That’s why you talk funny then.’

‘He should talk,’ whispered Cath. But Brian was off again.

‘Why don’t you dress like them, then?’ He pointed to the two Muslim girls.

‘Because I’m a Hindu, not a Muslim.’

‘So? It’s all foreign innit? My dad says you should all go home.’

‘That’s enough!’ Mrs Soames moved to the middle of the room. ‘For your information Brian, citizenship is about responsibility as much as anything. If you listen and try and take a proper part in the lesson you might even learn something.’

She started giving out worksheets, then went back to the front and began to lecture the class. They settled down, more or less, and Amita turned round to Cath.

‘Why’s he going on about immigrants?
He’s black.’

‘Be quiet please, get on with your work,’ said Mrs Soames to the class in general. For a while there was relative peace and quiet.

Maddy Smith decided that it had been quiet long enough.

‘’Ere,’ she said to Amita, ‘Luke fancies you – d’you wanna go out with ’im?’

‘Just ignore them all,’ whispered Cath, loudly enough for them to hear.

‘Don’t stick your nose in, posh cow. She can answer herself, can’t she?’

Amita shrugged her shoulders and settled to her work. Brian’s mates continued to make comments to both her and Cath in voices low enough for Mrs Soames to ignore. She was relieved when the session ended and they could finally escape to their last lesson.

‘Where do you live?’ asked Cath at the end of the afternoon.

‘It’s about twenty minutes walk away,’ said Amita, explaining where it was. ‘But my uncle’s meeting me today so that I don’t get lost.’

‘It’s just down the road from me. What’s your uncle’s name?’

‘Javin Desari. He’s my dad’s younger
brother. He’s lived in Southampton about two years now.’

‘He runs a business selling to Asian shops doesn’t he? My dad knows him quite well.’

Amita didn’t want to start talking about her family. She liked Cath, but she wasn’t sure she’d really understand.

‘Tell me about Brian and his gang,’ she said to change the subject. ‘How come he’s so racist when he’s black?’

‘It’s not about race with Brian,’ explained Cath. ‘It’s about living in Southampton. Brian’s dad’s family were from the Caribbean but they’ve been here for years and years. Because Southampton’s a port there’s always been a changing community and some families think they’re special. Brian’s dad’s like that. It’s worse because Brian’s mum ran off with an Asian guy about three years ago, so he really hates Asians.’

Amita thought about it. She supposed it made some sort of sense.

‘Don’t let Brian get to you. It’s just words with him. But you need to watch out for Tony. He’s a real menace. He was cautioned by the police last year for carrying a knife in the street. People say he’s into drugs. Anyway, see you tomorrow?’

Cath waved at Amita and went off down the road.

Amita looked around. She wasn’t sure where she was supposed to wait. Oh no! Luke and Maddy were heading her way. She didn’t want to have to face them again. Then she spotted Uncle Javin’s car. Rajeeb was with him, looking very pleased with himself. She supposed it was because of the car. Rajeeb was impressed by cars like their uncle’s.

She ran over to the car and got in
quickly. She didn’t notice the nasty look Maddy gave her.

Rajeeb was Amita’s elder brother. He had been really pleased when it had been decided that they would move to Southampton to live with their uncle. He knew his uncle had always been the one with ideas. Just look at the way he had built up the new business. It was only two years since he’d moved and he’d got a big house and a flash car. He employed six men and a secretary. He’d come a long way since the corner shop he’d run with Dad.

Javin was fond of his niece and nephew. He wasn’t married. He had been once, but things hadn’t gone well. That was one of the reasons he’d moved away. He was fond of his brother, Gayan, and had done all he could to help when Amita and Rajeeb’s mother had died, but living with him was
another thing. They’d only moved down a few weeks ago and already the disagreements were starting again. Gayan had never been a good businessman, and Javin just didn’t want his comments and advice.

‘How did it go then?’ Javin asked.

‘OK. I suppose.’ Amita shrugged her shoulders, then grinned, ‘Yeah, not bad. Most of the teachers are OK and there’s this girl, Cath, who’s in most of my sets. She says her dad knows you.’

‘What’s his name?’

‘Davis, but I don’t know his first name. They live quite close to you.’

‘Close to
us
,’ said her uncle. ‘It’s your home now too. Yes, I know Mark Davis quite well. He’s a good businessman.’

Rajeeb couldn’t wait any longer. He burst out with his own news.

‘Uncle’s given me a job too.’

‘Driving a delivery van like Dad?’

‘No. Much better. I’m going to go round to shops and restaurants and get them to buy from us. I’m going to be the official company rep. And I get to use the car.’

‘That’s great, Rajeeb!’

Amita was really pleased for her brother, but she wondered what her father would think about it, if the job really was better than his. Family life was just so complicated sometimes.

When they got home her father was already waiting.

‘Well? What did you do? Do they make you work hard? What’s the discipline like?’

‘Give her a chance, Gayan,’ laughed Javin. ‘You know the school’s got a good reputation. I’m sure she will work just as hard as always. The important thing is for her to make friends, and she seems to be
doing that. Cath Davis is a nice girl, and they live quite close.’

‘I don’t want her making friends with white girls. She’d have been better off staying where we were if she’s going to do that. At least there were plenty of our own people there.’

‘Dad!’ Rajeeb and Amita spoke together.

‘Cath’s really nice – I’m going to be friends with her and you can’t stop me!’

Javin tried to calm things down.

‘Gayan, how ever are you going to settle with that sort of attitude? There are children from all sorts of places in that school; and they’re all working together.’

‘You don’t understand! Any of you! I don’t want my daughter mixing with these racists and that’s final. You make friends with our own people or you don’t make friends at all!’