The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle by Victoria Williamson
Author:Victoria Williamson [Victoria Williamson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781782504917
Publisher: Floris Books
Published: 2018-10-15T00:00:00+00:00
19. Caylin
Reemaâs crying again and itâs making me feel really bad.
âItâs not true,â I try to tell her, âand you havenât just got a headscarf, youâve got lots of good memories to remind you of your brother, donât you?â
Thatâs what people used to say when Grandad died. It didnât help me feel any better, and it certainly didnât help Mum, but maybe itâll help Reema. Itâs worth a shot anyhow.
âDonât think about all the bad times, think about something good. Whatâs the best thing you remember about your brother?â
Reema thinks for a minute, then her eyes light up through her tears.
âIce cream!â she smiles. âIn summer when the sun is shining, Jamal comes for me after school. Baba says to go straight home, but we stop at the café and he buys me ice cream with the money from his weekend job. It is our secret.â
âThatâs a bit like my grandad,â I grin. âI used to go to his house after school, and heâd give me money for the van and Iâd buy ice cream and eat it on his back steps while he was making dinner. Mum never let me have ice cream before dinner, but Grandad always said it didnât matter to my stomach whether I had pudding first or last. He was good that way, my grandad.â
I glance over to see that Reemaâs frowning again, struggling to understand what Iâm saying. I try not to feel disappointed, but itâs been so long since Iâve had anyone to talk to about Grandad that itâs frustrating she canât keep up. Itâs just typical that the only person I can trust with my secrets is someone who barely understands a word I say.
âMoney for the van?â Reema asks, looking confused.
âThe ice cream van. You know, the one that comes round the houses playing a tune and selling sweets to the kids at home time?â
Reemaâs face is blank. At first it makes me think that talking to her about anything important to me is a waste of time. Then I have an idea. I know how to make her feel better about her brother, and how to make myself feel better about all the memories of Grandad swirling round my head and driving me half-mad with missing him.
Iâm a genius.
âRight. Weâll wait at the gate after school for your wee sister, then Iâll show you what Iâm talking about, OK?â
Reema nods, still looking a bit confused, and the bell rings for the end of break. Reema gets up and starts walking to where our class is lining up to go back in, but I head off a different way. Iâve seen a bunch of wee kids from the junior classes sneaking round to play by the bins outside the kitchen. Theyâre not allowed near there because of the lorries that stop for delivery and pick-up, and that means they canât tell on me if I pinch their lunch money because Iâll just tell on them back.
I jog round to the bins and grab the nearest wee kid by his hood.
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