Star Sullivan

by Binchy, Maeve

  ‘But you have a career,’ Star cried. ‘You do a bit of this and a bit of that.’

  ‘Star, I help to run a cycling club, I store dodgy things in that shed, I drive even more dodgy things in a big van, I work hours as a barman in one club and as a bouncer in another. Is that a career?’

  ‘It’s a lot of careers,’ she said, her eyes shining.

  ‘Don’t you want to learn more things, know more?’ he said.

  ‘Not really. I just want things to be all right for everyone, that’s all I want.’

  ‘It’s a pretty big wish,’ Laddy said.

  Lilly was still in hospital and barely knew who Star was. The boys were too busy and Dad was too upset about the people who had lent him money. Only Mam knew about Star’s new yellow coat and her yellow and white hat and how she went to work at the bakery section of the supermarket, handing out rolls and scones to people, with little pincers. Only Molly Sullivan saw the way people smiled at her kind, willing daughter who looked so pretty and eager to please. Some day someone would break Star’s heart into pieces. She was the kind of girl to trust anyone who said anything nice at all.

  At last the hospital were sending Lilly home. Molly and Star were getting her room ready for her. There were only three bedrooms at number 24 Chestnut Street, one for Mam and Dad, one for the boys and one for the girls. But Lilly would need a room of her own now. Kevin was hardly ever in the house but Michael was still around, so where did that leave Star?

  She told Laddy about it as she told him everything. Topper didn’t seem to be round so much any more. Laddy said he had the perfect solution. He needed someone to keep an eye on things in their shed at night. Michael could have a bed there, and he would set it up straight away.

  So before Lilly was back from hospital it had all been done. Laddy had given the boys a tin of white paint each to freshen up all the bedrooms, and he supervised the job. He got Kevin to move all his gear over to Gemma’s flat. Kevin didn’t like it.

  ‘But how can Star sleep in your old room with all your weight-training stuff and trainers?’ Laddy asked.

  There was no answer. Kevin complained that Gemma would want a ring on her finger if much more of this went on.

  Star looked around her bright, clean, new room. Laddy had even put up shelves for her in the corner and given her a blue rug for the floor. From the window she could see the garden shed where her brother Michael was now sleeping. The shed that Laddy had told her was full of dodgy things.

  Michael now made breakfast for Mr Hale and Laddy in the mornings. Big mugs of tea, just as they liked it, and two pieces of toast each. Star’s mam was amazed that Michael would do that in someone else’s house when she had never been able to make him do it in his own.

  ‘I wasn’t hard enough on him, I suppose,’ she told Star.

  ‘But you wouldn’t have wanted a row,’ Star said, as if it was very clear and simple.

  ‘That’s it, Star, I never wanted a row,’ her mother said.

  Michael didn’t want anyone coming into his shed. ‘It’s the Hales’ business, that shed,’ he would say, if anyone asked. So Star and her mother had given up. Kevin didn’t ask and Lilly didn’t care.

  One night, Star stood behind her curtain and watched as Michael and Laddy carried what must have been fifty boxes from the shed into a waiting van. Then Michael got into the driver’s seat and headed off. Michael, who had no driving licence, driving a van full of stolen goods!

  And then when he had gone she saw Laddy sweep out the shed carefully and put the rubbish in a black plastic sack. He went back into the house, leaving the shed door open. This was a chance for Star to see what it was like so she stole downstairs and peeped around the open door.

  It was empty of boxes now. All it contained was just Michael’s single bed, a red rug on it and a red reading lamp beside it. A coat-stand too where he hung his clothes. Very simple, certainly. Her heart thumping about the danger they must be in, she crept back to her room.

  At dawn there was a lot of noise. The bin men were due to collect the rubbish that day. Without thinking, Star went and took Laddy’s black rubbish bag from next door and added it to their own bags.

  An hour later two police cars arrived. Laddy was being questioned about his movements on the previous night. Over and over he claimed to have been at home in Chestnut Street.

  Where was Michael Sullivan?

  He said the boy had gone off somewhere on a train.

  ‘Not in a van?’ the sergeant asked.

  ‘No, I don’t think he has a driving licence.’ Laddy looked innocent.

  ‘And your father was asleep, your stepmother was away, so there are no witnesses of where you were last night?’

  Star Sullivan stepped forward. ‘I was with him all night,’ she said in a clear voice.

  ‘And you are . . .?’

  ‘Star Sullivan, Laddy’s next-door neighbour and girlfriend.’

  ‘Where did you spend the night?’

  ‘In the shed, in a single bed with a red rug and a red light.’ Star spoke very definitely.

  ‘This is so, Mr Hale?’

  ‘This is so,’ said Laddy.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  AFTER THAT EVERYTHING CHANGED. Star was the centre of a lot of attention in the Sullivan home.

  ‘Did you know she was sleeping with that fellow next door?’ Shay asked Molly.

  ‘No idea on God’s earth,’ Molly said, still shocked by it all.

  ‘Well, it’s up to you to make sure she’s . . . all right, you know.’

  ‘It’s a bit late to be thinking about that now,’ Molly said. ‘Either she’s being sensible or she isn’t, and you know Star.’

  But apparently they didn’t know Star.

  Kevin her eldest brother was also shocked. ‘Making herself cheap with everyone all over the place,’ he said.

  ‘I wouldn’t say that,’ Molly began.

  ‘What would you say, Mam?’ Kevin asked.

  ‘Not much,’ Molly agreed.

  Lilly was astounded. How could someone who was as old as Laddy and as good-looking have gone for little Star who was fat and foolish? Nice, of course, but boring.

  ‘Men don’t always look for brains, you know,’ Molly said ‘And I’ll have you know that Star is far from fat, she’s grand-looking.’

  Only Michael knew that it wasn’t true. When he came back from his trip to hear that he had just missed being put in gaol again, and this time thanks to his little sister, he sat down with the shock.

  ‘She was here in my bed with you?’ he said to Laddy.

  ‘Of course she wasn’t. She just said that.’

  ‘She’s very young for you, Laddy.’

  ‘God, Michael, I wasn’t near her, she just came out of a clear blue sky and said it, and got us both off the hook. You had dropped me in it, you know that.’

  ‘It’s not like Star to think so quickly.’

  ‘I know. She even got rid of the black rubbish bag, gave it to the bin men and all.’

  ‘Well, wouldn’t people surprise you?’ Michael said, delighted.

  He gave Star a very smart mobile phone. As a thank-you present.

  ‘Ah no, really, Michael, thank you, but no. I don’t really have anyone to phone.’

  ‘What would you like then?’

  ‘I’ve got everything, Michael, a lovely room of my own and a nice job. I’m fine.’

  He looked at her. She meant it.

  Laddy also asked her what he could give her to thank her for thinking so quickly. She told him she didn’t need anything at all.

  He was puzzled by her. Years of odd jobs here and there and time spent in nightclubs had not prepared Laddy for a girl like Star, who truly could not think of any present she might like. Topper would have known, so would Biddy, so would almost everyone Laddy had ever met.

  ‘What would you like best in the world, Star?’ he asked.

  Star thought hard about the question. ‘I suppose I’d like Dad to have one big win that wo
uld pay off all that he owes and for him never to gamble again,’ she said, after a while.

  ‘But that’s not going to happen. If he did have one big win, then he’d think he would have another, and it would just start all over again.’

  ‘He might have learned his lesson,’ Star said.

  ‘What else would you like?’

  ‘I’d like Lilly to eat properly and not to have her bones sticking out. She doesn’t eat anything. I try to hide it from Mam.’

  ‘That’s not sensible,’ Laddy said.

  ‘I know, but I don’t want more fights. And then I’d like someone to look after Michael and keep him out of trouble. It’s not much to ask, but it’s kind of hard to organise.’ She looked very young and innocent. Her eyes were big and full of hope. Her red-brown hair was shiny.

  Laddy stroked her face. ‘All right, we’ll see what we can do. Give your father one big win, for example,’ he said.

  ‘He has no money, you see,’ she began.

  ‘I’ll lend it to him. Not today, in a couple of weeks. Not a word, right?’

  ‘Not a word,’ Star said.

  ‘And we’ll see what we can do about Lilly and Michael,’ Laddy promised.

  They were surprised in number 24 that Star didn’t seem to go out with Laddy. Sometimes they asked her.

  ‘Has he dropped you, then, now that he’s got what he wanted?’ Lilly wondered.

  ‘If he’s treating you badly, just tell me,’ Kevin said, with a great frown.

  ‘Not going out with your fellow, then?’ her father would ask.

  ‘He’s a good bit too old for you, Star, you’d be much better off finding someone of your own age,’ Molly would say.

  Star never said anything. Other people brought it up. Like Biddy, who lived in the Hales’ house and everyone assumed was the girlfriend of Laddy’s dad.

  ‘You do surprise me,’ Biddy said to her one day. ‘But then, they always say watch out for the quiet ones. He’s a bit of a handful, our Laddy, but he’s worth waiting for, they tell me.’

  Star tried to look as if Laddy had been well worth waiting for.

  Topper, the girl in the short skirts, came round. Star was working in the garden, as she often was. Topper sat on the wall as she talked.

  ‘You didn’t take long to move in when I left,’ she said.

  Star tried to look as if she was someone who was used to moving in quickly.

  ‘He won’t be faithful to you, he doesn’t know how,’ Topper said, in a pleased voice. ‘I just thought you should know. I was only going out with him for three weeks when he found someone else.’

  ‘Oh dear,’ Star said.

  ‘And when I made a fuss, he said that’s the way he was. Has he said that to you?’

  ‘No, no, he hasn’t.’

  ‘But you haven’t made a fuss yet, have you?’

  ‘No, no, I didn’t make any fuss,’ Star agreed.

  ‘You will,’ said Topper, ‘and it will do you no good.’

  At the supermarket, Kenny who worked at the fish counter asked her out. Star was about to say no when she realised that maybe Laddy would take more notice of her if he believed her to be the kind of girl who had real dates. So she agreed to go to the pictures with Kenny and then for a Chinese meal.

  But none of it mattered to Star, except to tell Laddy. She had a real date. He would have to be impressed.

  Laddy said the movie was brilliant. He had seen it on a dodgy DVD and it was first class. He said she should go for prawns and sesame toast at the Chinese restaurant. ‘We must make a good impression on this Kenny,’ he said.

  Star felt tears of rage in her eyes. This was not the response she had expected or wanted. What had happened to good old-fashioned jealousy?

  Then Laddy remembered something. ‘Your father’s big bet will be coming up in a week or so. Start talking to him about this trainer. Say you heard about it at work, don’t let it get back to me.’

  ‘I wish now I’d never told you about my dad,’ Star said. ‘I’m starting to worry all over again.’

  ‘No, it will be fine when the time comes. I’ll lend him a thousand euro and he’ll win a fortune.’

  Star nearly fainted. ‘A thousand euro on top of what he owes! Oh, Laddy, this is terrible.’

  ‘Just keep me well out of it. I’m simply his banker, better that way.’

  Star hardly remembered her date with Kenny, except that he was nice but very dull.

  She said she couldn’t go out with him again as she had family problems, which was very true. She was worried sick about what she and Laddy were planning for her father.

  He had been interested enough when she spoke about the trainer, said he had two good horses in a race next week. One was called Lone Star, that was the more heavily fancied. Then the day before the race, Laddy told her to tell her father that she had heard in the supermarket that Lone Star was limping, but that Small Screen was home and dry.

  ‘Where do you hear all these things? They never tell me anything like that,’ Molly complained.

  ‘That’s because, unlike little Star here, you wouldn’t bring the news home with you,’ Shay said.

  ‘Well, it’s not going to be any use to you, Shay, you don’t have any money,’ Star’s mother said. Shay’s mouth went into a hard, sad line.

  Later that evening Laddy came in to know if he could borrow Shay to help with some furniture that had to be shifted upstairs. Young Michael was off having a driving lesson before his test next week. Laddy’s father was out at the pub. Laddy said he would be so grateful and there would be twenty euro in it in case Shay wanted a bet.

  Star could see them from her bedroom window. Arms waving, assurances being given. Life and hope had returned to her father’s face again.

  He came back holding the twenty-euro note, but Star could see a bulge in his hip pocket where he had the wad of extra notes. Molly, glad to see Shay so happy again, said he could also have the fifty euro she had been saving for a treat.

  ‘No, no, you’re all right,’ Shay said, gruffly.

  ‘Go on, Shay, take it, then that’s a real bet for you,’ Molly said, and Shay looked embarrassed and a bit red in the face.

  They sat and watched the race next day, Shay, Molly, Lilly and Star. Small Screen was ten to one.

  ‘Imagine! That would be seven hundred euro if you won, Shay!’ Molly said.

  Star couldn’t speak. She knew that it would be 10,700 euro if he won. And that he would owe Laddy Hale 1,000 euro if he lost. She could barely watch, until she heard them cheering.

  ‘What happened to Lone Star?’ she asked weakly.

  ‘Your friends at the supermarket weren’t wrong, my angel, though how they knew I’ll never know. Poor little Lone Star stumbled after a hurdle and went lame. Jockey couldn’t get anything out of her after that.’

  Star’s dad went out for a pint with Laddy to collect his winnings and celebrate. Star watched them with anxious eyes. Had she made a pact with the devil? Laddy must have known that Lone Star was going to fall. Was he a fortune-teller? Could he tell the future? Or did he know something about the race that he should not have known?

  Whatever the reason, did it now mean that her father was more addicted than ever to the horses? Star bit her lip and said nothing while her mother and sister planned how they would all ideally spend the 700 euro that they believed were the winnings.

  Then her father came home with what seemed like a fistful of money.

  ‘Your mother gets five hundred, that was her investment, so that’s fair,’ he began. They looked at him open-mouthed. ‘And one hundred each for Star and Lilly. That’s it, fair and square.’ He handed it out.

  ‘But what about you, Daddy? It was your bet.’ Star was hardly able to get the words out.

  ‘No, I had a good race, and a good lesson. I realised how nearly I had put it all on Lone Star, how very, very nearly. All that huge amount of money.’

  ‘It was only seventy euro in the end, Shay, it wasn’t the biggest bet
you ever had,’ Molly said.

  ‘Enjoy your winnings, girls,’ he said, and went to watch a sitcom.

  ‘Whatever they say or write about it,’ Molly said eventually, ‘there’s no way to understand men. No way at all.’

  Star got herself a new hairstyle and bought a new outfit with her 100 euro. The dress was copper-coloured, just like her hair, with a big cream collar. It was oddly old-fashioned but it suited her perfectly. The girl in the shop said it made her look like someone in a painting. Even Lilly, who normally never said anything nice, praised it.

  Laddy was full of admiration. ‘Is that to dazzle Kenny the Fish?’ he asked.

  ‘Who?’ Star said.

  ‘You know, the guy who took you for the Chinese meal,’ Laddy said.

  He had remembered. That was good. ‘No, no, not at all, just spending my father’s winnings before he changes his mind about them and wants them back for the three-thirty somewhere tomorrow.’

  ‘He won’t do that,’ Laddy said.

  ‘How do you know?’

  ‘I told him how the race was fixed, I told him how I knew. I told him how you all worried about him, laid it on a bit thick, but it worked. He’s cured. So say, “Thank you, Laddy,” and give me a kiss.’

  ‘Thank you, Laddy.’ Star closed her eyes and held her face near his. Laddy kissed her. She opened her mouth slightly like people at school had said you should do, but he didn’t put his tongue into her mouth so she closed it again. Eventually Laddy pulled away from her and looked at her.

  ‘You are one lovely girl, Star Sullivan,’ he said. ‘One day you’re going to make a man very, very, very happy.’

  ‘One day?’ she said, disappointed.

  ‘Well, not yet, surely?’ he laughed. ‘You’re not even seventeen. You have the world to see, the Kenny the Fishes to go out with, lands to visit, things to do, all before you settle down.’

  To Star it all seemed a great waste of time. She was so ready to settle down. Now. This minute.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  EVEN THOUGH SHE HAD come home from hospital, Lilly still had to go to the special clinic there twice a week and keep a food diary. The doctor said she was getting on fine.