Lifted (16 page)

‘Yeah, but if you come forward then everyone will know about your stealing. You might get a criminal record. What about your parents? What about school? What about your mates?’

‘I know all that. But maybe I don’t care any more. Maybe it’s worth it. This could be my only chance in the whole of my life to make it big, to have people take notice of me. Everyone soon forgets why you’re famous, anyway. In the end they just remember your name, not why they know it.’

‘I don’t think it’s a good idea, Rubes,’ he said. He held out his hand to her. She glanced around, self-consciously, and took it, loosely.

‘But if I don’t come out, someone else is going to get all my publicity!’ she cried, then laughed out loud at herself. ‘God, I sound like a real diva now, I know. Sorry. It’s just the girl on the radio, she was such a bimbo. I don’t want people thinking I’m like her.’

‘But you didn’t start the blog to get famous, did you?’

‘Course not. I write a blog because it means I can be me, without being me. It means I can confess everything, blurt it all out, without getting into trouble. I didn’t dream anybody would read it, let alone that all this would happen. But now it has happened, maybe it’s fate. I can’t make it go back to the way it was.’

‘Honestly, you don’t have to do anything,’ he
pleaded. ‘It’ll all die down soon. I can help you make Robyn Hood disappear, and start up a new blog for you, if that’s what you’d like. You don’t have to get into trouble with anyone. I’ll help you make it so you can just be you again.’

‘But I don’t want to be plain old Ruby Collins again,’ she said, dropping his hand. ‘I wish you understood that.’

Pam was at her office desk, sorting through her emails, when her phone rang.

‘Hello, is this Mrs Collins, Mrs Pam Collins?’ said a voice she didn’t recognise. An officious, rather nasal voice, Pam thought. ‘Yes, speaking,’ she said brightly.

‘Mrs Collins, my name is Bob Owen. I’m the head of security at Kelly’s Department Store. I’m afraid we’ve got your daughter here. She’s been caught shoplifting.’

Pam didn’t understand. ‘No, I’m sorry, there must be some mistake. My daughter is at school today. You must have the wrong number. Or the wrong name.’

‘Is your daughter’s name Ruby, Mrs Collins? Is she fifteen years old?’

‘Yes … but it’s not possible. I saw her leave for school myself. She was wearing her uniform.’

‘Mrs Collins, I regret to tell you it’s definitely not a mistake. Ruby is indeed wearing a school uniform. She gave us this number herself. She’s been very cooperative. If you like, we can put her on the phone for you to confirm it.’

‘Yes, please,’ said Pam. She still believed that this might be a hideous error, and that some other girl would come on the line, so she could say, ‘But you’re not my daughter!’

There was a click and then Pam heard, ‘Muuuuum,’ in between heavy sobs and what sounded like, ‘I’m so sorry. So sorry.’ It was definitely Ruby’s voice, however much Pam wanted it not to be. Now she felt nauseous.

‘It’s OK,’ she said, although she didn’t mean it.

Bob Owen came back on the line. ‘Was that your daughter Ruby?’

‘Yes,’ said Pam. ‘I still don’t understand. I’m sure there’s an explanation.’

‘I think you should come down to the store now, Mrs Collins, if that’s possible. We’ve already tried to contact Mr Collins, but he’s unobtainable.’

No change there, then, Pam thought. It was selfish, but it hurt that Ruby had suggested calling him first. What did he ever do for her, except let her down? ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I’m at work. I’ll just let my manager know and then I’ll be straight there.’

Pam had only ever been into Kelly’s at sale time, and only then to buy gifts. She found the store far too
expensive and frivolous for her needs and she couldn’t imagine what Ruby was doing there, when she should have been at school. Bob Owen had told her he’d meet her at the office at the back, by the changing rooms, and as she walked past rows and rows of beautifully folded cashmere scarves, jewellery and cosmetics, she thought about Ruby, and wondered whether she had been a bad mother. Ruby had always been a good girl, not perfect, but she’d never been a worry, never got into drugs or joyriding or any of the other things teenagers might do.

Had something changed, something that she hadn’t noticed? Yes, Ruby had been quiet lately, caught up in her thoughts, and she’d suddenly become interested in the news, which hadn’t preoccupied her before, but Pam had thought that was a good development, that it meant she was growing up and becoming aware of the world around her. She must have heard about all that Robyn Hood stuff. Pam had read about copycat shopliftings and thought how foolish those girls were; could Ruby have been influenced by them? Was it peer pressure that had turned her into a thief? The media had a lot to answer for, she thought.

Bob Owen was waiting for her by the information desk, just as he’d said he would be. He was a tall man, wearing a dark suit, not a uniform, as she’d expected, and he had a rather world-weary expression on his face.

‘Mrs Collins?’ he said.

‘Yes,’ said Pam. She tried to smile, and took his hand
when it was offered to her, although she didn’t feel much like shaking it.

‘Follow me, please,’ he said.

Without another word he led her into a back office. Ruby was sitting on a chair, behind a desk, her head in her hands. She looked up when Pam came in. Her eyes were puffy and red, and it was obvious she’d been crying for a long time.

‘Mum,’ she said.

Pam wanted to be angry, to shake her and say, ‘What on earth have you been doing?’ She tried to look stern, but she couldn’t. Ruby was still her baby, her only child, and all she could do was walk over to her daughter and hug her, while she sobbed quietly in her arms.

‘Mrs Collins,’ said Mr Owen, pulling up another chair. ‘We need to discuss what happened.’

Pam let Ruby go. ‘Of course,’ she said.

‘Ruby stole some hair accessories and a lipstick,’ he said. ‘We found them in her bag when she tried to exit the store. We’ve got it all on CCTV, if you’d like to see.’

He pointed to a monitor on the desk and Pam watched the grainy footage of a girl who was unmistakably Ruby, walking around the shop floor, picking things up and then putting them down. At one point, she appeared to look right into the camera, and then she looked away, and put something into her school bag. This went on for a few minutes, until Ruby walked out of view.

‘This is when we apprehended her,’ said Mr Owen.
He pointed to the screen, and Ruby came back into the frame. She was being led by a security guard, her hands above her head, as she was marched through the store in front of the other customers. When Ruby witnessed this, her humiliation on film, her sobs grew louder.

Mr Owen opened a drawer and took out a plastic bag containing the items he’d talked about: some sparkly, jewelled hair slides, and a lipstick in a gold tube. ‘They’re worth about thirty pounds,’ he said. ‘She’s removed the price tags, which constitutes criminal damage, so they need to be paid for.’ Pam nodded. ‘You’re lucky it’s not more, or we’d have called in the police. And as she hasn’t been violent, either, or foul-mouthed, or tried to run, we’ve decided we’re going to let her off with a warning.’

‘Thank goodness,’ said Pam. ‘Thank you so much. I am absolutely sure it’s the first and last time she’ll ever do this.’

‘Good,’ said Mr Owen. ‘She’ll also be banned from the store for the period of a year. If she tries to enter, we can prosecute her for trespass.’

Ruby half climbed up from her chair, then sat back down again. ‘But I told you, I want you to call the police,’ said Ruby, her voice cracking. ‘It’s not the first time. I’ve done it loads of times. I’ve done it here!’

‘Sorry?’ said Pam.

‘Not this again,’ said Mr Owen, impatiently. ‘She keeps saying she wants me to involve the police because she
wants to confess to being that Robyn Hood girl, the one in the news. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that over the past few weeks. It’s extremely tiresome.’

‘But I am Robyn Hood,’ said Ruby. ‘I can prove it.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ said Pam. She wanted to pay for the goods (the money could come out of Ruby’s pocket money), and then get Ruby out of there, and home, as quickly as possible.

Ruby started to cry again, but she had no tears left. What came out was more of a snotty snivel. ‘Why won’t anyone believe me?’

‘I am not prepared to waste police time,’ Mr Owen said. ‘And believe you me, you wouldn’t get such soft treatment from them.’ He studied Ruby closely. ‘You look like a nice girl, clearly you’re from a nice family. I’m guessing you’re going to do fairly well in your GCSEs, maybe go to university. Well, however many A stars you think you are going to get, with a conviction for shoplifting you would have a criminal record too. And that would make it very hard for you ever to get a job.’

Ruby sighed loudly. ‘I don’t care. I don’t need a job. I am Robyn Hood. I am the mystery blogger. Listen …’ She started to try to recite portions of the blog, but she was in such a state she got her words muddled up.

‘Anybody could go on the web and learn a blog off by heart,’ said Mr Owen. ‘Mrs Collins, I suggest you take your daughter home and perhaps find someone for her to talk to.’

Pam nodded. Poor Ruby, she was such a mess. How could she, as her mother, not have realised? She got up and put her hand on Ruby’s shoulder. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘We need to go home now. And we need to talk to your father.’ She paid for Ruby’s stolen items and then, in silence, led her daughter back through the store to the exit. Ruby walked with her head down, sulking, just like she did when she was three and had been told off.

Pam’s car was parked in the car park. She tried to give her daughter a hug across the seat, but Ruby sat stiffly and wouldn’t respond.

‘Why don’t you believe me?’ she said. ‘Don’t you understand? I wanted to get caught. I took that stuff deliberately in front of the cameras, so they’d catch me and get the police, and I could reveal who I was. If I’d really wanted to take that stuff and get away with it, it would have been easy. I’ve done it loads of times before. Just read my blog, you’ll see.’

‘Don’t talk nonsense, Ruby,’ said Pam.

‘Is it so hard to believe that I could possibly write that blog? Aren’t I smart enough? Aren’t I interesting enough?’

‘You’re really scaring me,’ said Pam. ‘I’m going to ring your dad.’

Two hours later, Ruby’s family was gathered in her kitchen, the atmosphere so heavy with tension and emotion that it formed an almost visible cloud. Pam and James could barely look at one another and Ruby was monosyllabic. She was exhausted and angry that, despite her repeated protests, nobody would believe her claim. She’d hoped her dad would be more understanding but, if anything, he was even less sympathetic than her mum. It didn’t help that he was irritated he’d been pulled out of an important business meeting. He kept telling Ruby how stupid she was, and how disappointed he was in her behaviour. He said he and her mum would have to discuss the appropriate punishment, but it was likely that at the very least, she’d be grounded. They hadn’t decided whether or not to
inform the school; her truancy still needed to be explained.

‘What I don’t understand is why you need to shoplift,’ he said, sighing deeply. ‘I’ve always given you everything you could ever want, haven’t I? I buy you nice things all the time.’

Ruby nodded. ‘I know, Dad. It’s not about that. Read the blog, then you’ll see.’

‘As for this Robyn Hood nonsense, you should be a big girl and take responsibility for what you’ve done, instead of finding excuses and making up stories.’

‘It’s not an excuse Dad,’ Ruby said, close to tears again. ‘It’s the truth. Please, let me prove it.’

‘OK, so let’s see some of these things you’ve stolen, then.’

‘I don’t keep any of them. I give them all to charity shops, that’s the whole point. Don’t you read the papers? Come down to the cancer charity shop with me now, or any of them. The volunteers all know me! I’ve always been careful to go to lots of different shops, so no one suspects, but if I tell them who I am and what I brought in, they’ll remember. I know they will!’

‘Of course they will,’ said Pam. ‘We’re always taking things in there.’

‘Wait!’ cried Ruby, desperately trying to think. ‘Actually, I do have some earrings, that I took when we were shopping for Helen. Dad, remember, that jewellery shop, the expensive one? I took these amazing pendant
earrings and the charity shop wouldn’t have them because they were for pierced ears.’

He laughed. ‘You’re expecting me to believe that you stole pricey jewellery from right under my nose? Come on then, let’s see these earrings.’

‘OK. And then you can ring the shop and ask if they remember them going missing. They’re bound to remember. I’ve got them upstairs … They’re …’ She whirled around in frustration. Of course, she didn’t have the earrings any more – she’d given them to Noah to hide. ‘Look, I know this sounds like an excuse, but I don’t have them now. I can get them for you later, I promise. In the meantime, please just bring me your laptop and I’ll show you my blog. When you read it, you’ll know I’m telling the truth.’

Exasperated, James went to fetch his briefcase from the hall. ‘OK,’ he said, when he returned. ‘Here’s my laptop. Now, get this silly nonsense over with once and for all.’ He placed it on the table, brought up the internet and slid it across the table to Ruby.

Ruby smiled. She felt re-energised, the adrenalin surging back to her body. I’ll show them, she thought. Now they’ll see! She found the blog log-in page and typed in her password, pushing return with a triumphant prod of her thumb.

Username or Password not recognised.

She must have been too hasty and mis-typed. She tried again.

Username or Password not recognised.

It wasn’t possible. She knew her username and password as well as her own name and date or birth. ‘I think there must be a fault,’ she pleaded. ‘Something wrong with the internet!’ She saw her parents roll their eyes at each other. ‘Please let me bring up my blog from the outside, so at least I can show you it and talk you through it.’