Game Girls by Judy Waite

Author:Judy Waite [Judy Waite]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9781849398268
Publisher: Andersen Press

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ALIX DIGS HER FEET in the sand, scooping up handfuls and sprinkling it down over her toes. She'll lie out again in a minute, but it's cooler than she'd thought it was going to be. It's windier too and she has goose bumps on her arms.

She could have gone to Italy of course – 'Darling, you must come for Christmas.' Aaron is there even though she'd tried to bribe him to be with her instead.

'Gran Canaria? But Mum wants us with her. She'd be gutted if we did that. And even more hurt if we asked her to pay for it.'

'She doesn't need to know. And I'll pay.'

'With what?' He'd laughed at her, so suddenly innocent, a hundred years younger than her now.

She thinks of Mum and her bulging belly, and the image makes her cringe. There was no way she was going out to Tuscany for Christmas. Mum thinks she's at Fern's but she's told her not to ring because the phone might wake Fern's dad. 'He's in a bad way,' she said. 'I'll call you on my mobile.'

'My legs ache so much,' Mum sighed. 'The extra weight. I'll send you a picture of the latest scan . . . '

Alix cut her off then. She does that a lot. Mum never rings back.

There are other people on the beach – a honeymoon couple from the same hotel. They are holding hands, paddling in the sea. They have a glow around them – an invisible circle that cuts out the rest of the world. Alix would like to catch the husband alone in the lift.

There are oldies too, all leg veins and cellulite. There should be laws about baggy-skinned women in bikinis.

Sitting near her – too near – is a family. Mum and dad. Two boys. A pin-thin girl. The pin-thin girl is grizzling, whining that she has sand in her eyes. The mum rubs the girl's closed lids with a towel. 'No, Mummy. No. It hurts, it hurts.'

'Take her back to the hotel.' The moustached dad is angry. The whole holiday is a painful chore.

Alix slid glances his way all through breakfast. He seemed distant – shut out from all the others. Just once, he looked her way. She held the look and saw him warming. Stirring. It was like watching someone come out of a deep sleep.

She'll have to move in a minute. The grizzling is annoying. No, Mummy. No.

She remembers another Christmas – years and years ago – they were staying at some 'Uncle's' house, helping him pin cards among the wreathes of holly on the wall. Stepping backwards, a sting of pain had stabbed the sole of her bare foot. When he'd seen the drawing pin, the round head flat against her skin, Aaron had gone white and screamed. But Alix didn't cry. The 'Uncle' wrenched the pin out with tweezers and when it was finished Mum promised her an extra present for being so brave. She forgot, of course, but Alix hadn't minded too much.

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