End of the Alphabet

by Fleur Beale

  Megan shoved him. ‘Stop it! You’re making me nervous.’

  I swallowed. I was nervous too. Damn — when had the butterflies got into my gut? I knew they wouldn’t pick me, so why worry? But I knew why. It was because the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to go.

  Tia asked if I’d taken Mr Vine’s job.

  ‘The cleaning job?’ Carly asked. ‘That notice has been in his window for weeks. Mum reckons he never cleans his floors. She doesn’t like him.’

  ‘She’s right. About not liking him, I mean,’ I said. I told them what happened when I turned up for work that morning.

  Tia said nothing. She grabbed me, turned me around and prodded my back. ‘Ha! Backbone!’ She laughed. ‘And your reward is — you get to come shopping with me on Saturday!’

  In a perfect world, my reward would be a trip to Brazil.

  I would look for another job after school.

  I picked Davey up and we went home. I needed to grab Max when he breezed in, and talk to him before he breezed out again. That gave me the few seconds it took him to chuck off his uniform.

  When he came in, I called through the door of his room, ‘Max — can you help me? I want to ring places about a job.’

  He was charming Max again. ‘Sure, Ruby. I’ll just pop over to Justin’s. Won’t be long. I’ll do it as soon as I get back.’ He flashed me a smile as he rushed past me.

  I snatched hold of his T-shirt and hauled him to a stop. ‘Just listen a mo, bro.’

  He gave a Hollywood sigh. ‘What now? I’m in a hurry.’ He used his calm, reasonable voice. The one that meant: You can’t argue with me.

  Yes, I can. ‘Max, we both know that means you won’t do it.’ I held up a hand to stop what he was going to say. ‘So will you do it? Now? It’s okay if you won’t. Tia will help me. You can stay here with Davey. And put the dinner on.’ Actually, that sounded like a good idea.

  He shrugged. ‘Sorry. Gotta go.’

  I felt backbone right through to my front. ‘No, you don’t. Help me for five minutes, or stay here with Davey. And do the dinner.’

  ‘Make me!’ He stalked off.

  I was shaking. Five minutes — he couldn’t even spare five minutes to find a few numbers in the phone book for me. It wasn’t fair. My eyes got hot and the choked-up, helpless feeling welled up in my chest.

  ‘Ruby! Can we play with the hose? It’s so hot.’

  Davey. I couldn’t even have a good cry. ‘Okay. Put your togs on.’

  ‘You too, Ruby. You have to too. It’s more fun.’

  I did as he asked. We both got changed in our bedroom. Doing that, I felt something flick on in my brain. Damn Max! He was not going to get away with the make me thing.

  ‘Come on, Ruby! It’s hot.’ Davey ran from the room.

  I followed more slowly. I did plenty of work that Max benefited from. What if I left him out?

  Splat! I walked straight into a spray of water. Davey shrieked, ‘Got you!’ He dropped the hose and fled. I picked it up and squirted him.

  By the time Mum rang with dinner instructions I’d made a plan. She did the How was your day, darling? It’s fish fingers tonight. Can you do the veg?

  I said, ‘Mum, could we have chops? I’ll do those ones coated with breadcrumbs.’

  ‘That sounds delicious, darling. There’s some cash in the drawer. You’ll need to go to the butcher.’ She laughed. ‘I’m feeling hungry already.’

  Davey and I went to the butcher’s. The shop was next to Mr Vine’s. The notice was still in the window. I bought the chops.

  Mr Vine saw me as we walked out. He came to his door and yelled, ‘Hey! You! You still want the job?’

  Davey slid his hand into mine. I smiled at him, then looked at Mr Vine. ‘I’m still looking for a job.’

  A man in his shop rang the bell. Mr Vine snapped, ‘Wait there.’

  Davey whispered, ‘He’s horrible.’

  We waited. He came back. ‘Well? Do you want it?’

  ‘Not for five dollars an hour.’ I started walking away.

  ‘All right, all right. I’ll pay you nine bucks. Start tomorrow.’

  He turned away, and I found myself saying, ‘Ten dollars. Take it or leave it.’ Wow! Where did that come from? I kept walking. He wouldn’t want me now.

  It was probably stupid of me. I’d turned down a job that would get me almost enough money to go to Brazil. Well, I’d just have to find a different job. And quickly.

  Did I really think I had a chance of being chosen to go to Brazil? Did girls with backbone have a better chance? I swung the bag with the chops in it. They just might.

  Davey helped me when we got home. He cracked and beat the eggs then dunked the chops in them.

  ‘Excellent job! Do you want to put them in the breadcrumbs now?’

  We had them ready to cook by the time Calvin came home. The table was set (by Davey, Theo and me) when Mum got home. Max timed his run to the exact second. He breezed in, said, ‘Mmm, that smells good. I’m starving.’ He plonked himself down in his place.

  There was no plate or cutlery for him.

  He didn’t say anything.

  I told Mum to sit down, I’d serve the dinner. I served up hers, Calvin’s, Davey’s, Theo’s and mine. Then I sat down.

  ‘Where’s mine? Max asked. He was calm, reasonable and not worried.

  ‘Oh, Max,’ I said, smiling at him. ‘I’ll cook it for you in a minute. I’ll just eat mine first. Won’t be long.’

  His mouth fell open.

  Calvin gave a bit of a smile. He started eating. ‘Yum! This is delicious, Ruby.’

  ‘Davey helped,’ I said.

  Mum ate a mouthful. ‘This is even nicer than last time you made it.’ She smiled at Davey. ‘It must have been because you helped.’ She was upset. She was trying to hide it, but not doing too good a job of it. Calvin touched her hand, and smiled at her. She took a deep breath and ate another mouthful.

  Max put his hands flat on the table. ‘I’m hungry. I want my dinner. Now.’

  I smiled at him, just the way he did at me. ‘Don’t stress, Max. I’ve said I’ll do it. Later.’

  ‘Max wouldn’t help Ruby,’ Davey said. ‘But I did.’

  Calvin ruffled his hair. ‘Thanks, buddy.’ He grinned at Theo and asked him about his day.

  Mum told us where the strike talks were at.

  Max fumed. He tried to grab food off my plate. Calvin held his wrist. ‘Keep your hands to yourself, Max.’

  ‘But I’m hungry! It’s not fair. Just because I didn’t do what she wanted at the exact second …’

  ‘Be quiet, Max,’ Mum said.

  He went to get up. Calvin said, ‘Sit down. And do some thinking.’

  Max threw himself back in his chair and scowled. I didn’t look at him. I was glad I’d hadn’t cooked for him. It was the right thing to do. I’d found some backbone and that had to be good. It didn’t feel good, though. I felt mean and guilty. Mum was upset. Max was hungry and it probably wouldn’t make any difference anyway. He was going to hate me more than ever now. Mum followed him into his bedroom for a talk. He’d blame me for that too.

  I did the dishes.

  I still had no job.

  I really wanted to go to Brazil.

  Chapter Nine

  Max gave us the silent treatment in the morning, except for when he yelled at the kids. Mum snapped at him. He ignored her.

  Davey and I left the house ten minutes early just to get away from him. It made me sick whenever I thought about it. I didn’t talk about Max at school and I tried not to think about him.

  Instead, I told the girls about Mr Vine and how I’d told him I’d only work for ten dollars an hour. ‘Dumb, though, because now I haven’t got a job.’

  ‘He’d be the pits to work for,’ Carly said.

  Tia shook her head at me. ‘Wow! You sure do things properly once you get started!’

  We ambled in to our form room. Wiremu, Maisie and Tom sat with us. They were the oth
er three from our class applying for the Brazil trip.

  Wiremu said, ‘Bring it on!’

  Maisie said, ‘It’ll be amazing.’

  Tom said, ‘It’ll be cool, man.’

  They didn’t seem worried that they mightn’t be chosen. Megan and I didn’t say much. The butterflies did flying practice in my gut.

  I picked Davey up after school. We did the chores. Max arrived home five minutes before Mum did. ‘Max home?’ she asked. ‘Did he help?’

  The answer didn’t make her happy. At dinner, her face wore the worried look, but she took a deep breath and said, ‘Max, I told you yesterday to come straight home. You need to do your share.’

  Max picked up his fork and started eating. He gave me the make me look. ‘Sweet. I’ll do that. Don’t stress.’

  Calvin put his knife and fork down. He said nothing, but the way he looked at Max said plenty. Mum swallowed. Then she straightened up — straightened her backbone. I stared at her. I hadn’t thought that she needed backbone. ‘All right,’ Mum said. ‘I can see that you don’t intend to help. So we’ll do this a different way. From now on, you’re on dishes. This way, you help and I can make sure you do.’

  She turned to me. ‘It’s still not fair, Ruby — but will that be okay with you?’

  I nodded. ‘Yes. That’s great. Thanks, Mum.’ The tightness in my chest that hit me whenever Max was around eased slightly. She was on my side. She had asked how I felt!

  We all knew how Max felt. I left the room before I could start feeling mean and guilty again. I shut the door, but even so I could still hear the crashing of dishes as he cleared up.

  I sat at my work table and started designing a fashion spread. I liked to make fashion posters by cutting out photos from magazines. I put complete outfits together. Sometimes I had to search for weeks before I found exactly the right shoes or necklace. The magazines I used were old ones I bought cheap from op shops or the library.

  Tonight I looked for clothes that would suit Tia. The stuff she liked made her look short and square. We’d argue about it tomorrow. We always did. Sometimes she listened to me, but often she didn’t. I rolled up the poster and snapped a rubber band on it. She might look at it. She probably wouldn’t.

  Theo came running in just as I finished. ‘Ruby! We can watch a DVD.’

  Mum called out, ‘Ruby, would you mind popping down and getting one?’

  I rode to the video store, thinking about my Friday nights. I always stayed home and watched a DVD with my little brothers. Max and Justin went to a movie in town, or hung out at Justin’s house. I needed a life as well as a backbone.

  When I got to the shopping centre, I rode past Mr Vine’s shop to check out the notice. It was still in the window. I went into the video store and looked for a DVD. I chose one that had trains and cartoon bears on it. I hoped it would be okay for the kids. I never asked the assistant to read it for me. You can usually tell by what’s on the case.

  I left the shop, and almost walked slap bang into Mr Vine. ‘You still looking for a job?’

  I nodded.

  ‘All right. Start tomorrow.’ He turned away.

  ‘Ten dollars an hour, Mr Vine.’ I’d need it, working for him.

  He had his back to me. I saw his shoulders move as he breathed in a big chunk of air. ‘Ten dollars. You’d better be worth it.’

  Ten dollars an hour! That would earn me most of the money I’d need for Brazil. Butterfly city in my gut. I had to pass the interview first.

  I rode home. My life was different now, thanks to bossy old Tia. I’d have to make sure she bought something tomorrow that made her look hot.

  Mum laughed and slapped her hands together when I told her about my job. ‘Good for you, Ruby! That’ll show the old skinflint.’

  I set my alarm for 5.30.

  Saturday morning was cool. It had the feeling of summer fading away. I got to work at two minutes to six. Mr Vine grunted and shoved a broom at me. ‘Get started.’

  He hadn’t asked my name.

  ‘Mr Vine, please can you pay me each day?’ Mum had told me to ask that. She didn’t trust him.

  He shrugged. ‘You’re all ask and no action. Get working.’

  ‘But will you pay me each day? In cash.’

  ‘All right! Now get started.’ He thumped a hand on the counter.

  I got started. I swept the floor. He must have swept it reasonably often because it wasn’t too bad. But I don’t think he’d washed it since he’d been there. The lino was a dirty grey colour that got darker at the sides.

  I scrubbed hard with the mop. Washing made it look a bit better but not much. He wasn’t happy. ‘You can’t even make a floor clean. I’m not paying good money for that.’

  Before I even thought about it, I was holding out the mop. ‘Show me how to make it clean then.’ I glared at him.

  He snatched it, splashed it into the bucket and slapped it on the floor at the edge of the aisle where the grey was darkest. Swish, swish. Back in the bucket.

  The colour didn’t change. He tried again. No difference. He thumped the mop back in the bucket and stalked off. Horrible, nasty man. Thank goodness the hour was up. I took the mop and bucket out the back and put them away.

  He was opening the doors when I came back. ‘Can I have my pay, please?’

  He tugged a display of vegetables into place. ‘There’s still the toilet to do.’

  My heart thumped, but I managed to say, ‘I’ve worked the hour. The floors took a long time today. They were filthy. They won’t take so long next time.’

  He didn’t even look at me. ‘You get your pay when the job’s done. Final.’

  A man came in for a paper and a pie. I waited while Mr Vine joked with him.

  I dug my fists into my gut. I felt sick.

  The man left. Mr Vine turned into Mr Grumbleguts. ‘Get working or get out.’

  I ran out the door, trying not to cry. I’d worked hard this morning and I’d done a good job. I stopped on the footpath and tried to calm down. A man went in and came out with bread and milk. I heard Mr Vine doing the lovely guy act again.

  The man was laughing when he came out. He passed me and said, ‘He’s a hoot, that guy. A good bloke.’

  No, he wasn’t. He’d cheated me. Mum would roar down here and yell at him when she heard. That started my brain working. If Mum could yell at him, then so could I. Well, not yell — I couldn’t imagine myself doing that. But I could say the things I knew Mum would say. I’d need backbone, but that had worked before. Anyway, what did I have to lose?

  But I was shaking when I went back into the shop. He was serving a truckie and the jokes were flying. The second he finished — and before the truckie was out of the shop — I said, ‘Mr Vine, if you don’t pay me my wages, then I’m going to phone my mother. She’ll call the Labour Department.’ I looked right at him. My heart bumped around in my chest. I hoped I wouldn’t be sick. Then I almost laughed. If I was sick all over his floor, I wasn’t going to clean it up.

  The truckie turned to stare at us.

  Mr Vine sent him a huge smile, then he hissed at me, ‘You didn’t finish. You didn’t clean the bloody toilet.’

  The truckie was still there. A woman was walking down the aisle nearest us with a basket over her arm. I said in as loud a voice as I could manage, ‘I worked the whole hour. I washed the floor. It took the whole hour because it was so filthy.’

  ‘Get out,’ he hissed.

  The woman had heard me. ‘I thought there was something different!’ She smiled at me. ‘You’ve done a good job.’ She shook a finger at Mr Vine. ‘You should pay her double. I wouldn’t have washed this floor for a truckload of money.’

  ‘That’s right,’ the truckie said. ‘She’s done a damn good job. Pay her double.’ He leaned a hand on the counter. He was big — taller than Mr Vine and strong.

  Mr Vine opened the till. He gave the truckie a sick smile. He pulled out a ten dollar note and slapped it down. I picked it up.

 
‘Pay her double,’ said the truckie.

  I grinned at him. ‘Thanks, but it’s okay. I don’t want to cheat him. I just wanted what I’d earned.’

  The truckie shook my hand. ‘You’re a good kid.’ He tipped his head at Mr Vine. ‘If he’s got half a brain in his head, he’ll keep you on.’

  The woman put her basket on the counter. She spoke to Mr Vine, ‘That’s right. This girl’s one in a million. If you’re damn lucky, she might agree to keep working for you.’

  I wanted to hug her and the truckie.

  I left the shop with the truckie. When we were out of earshot, he asked, ‘You going to go back?’

  That was a good question. I shrugged. ‘Don’t know. Thanks for your help.’

  ‘You’re welcome.’ He climbed into his truck.

  I walked home. I had the money, but I felt shaky and I wanted to bawl my eyes out. Life was so much easier when you didn’t fight and stand up for yourself.

  Did I want to stop fighting? Did I want to go back to being a doormat? I sighed. Sometimes I did. Max hated me. Mum hated having to make Max help with the work. Mr Vine yelled at me. I’d probably argue with Tia this morning when we went shopping.

  ‘Bugger it all!’ I yelled — and made a group of sparrows fly up in fright.

  Chapter Ten

  I gave Tia the poster. She waved it away without looking at it. ‘I’ll get what I like.’

  ‘Why ask me to come, then?’

  She grinned at me. ‘To save you from a life of slavery.’

  ‘Kind of you.’ She was in one of her stroppy moods. That meant she’d buy what she wanted no matter how bad it looked on her.

  We rode into town. ‘How was it with Jed last night?’

  ‘It was okay.’

  Interesting. Maybe I’d had a better night than she had. ‘He’s a dick, then?’

  We stopped at the traffic lights. ‘Pretty much. I dumped him this morning. By text.’ She grinned at me. ‘Those boys from Brazil can’t get here soon enough!’

  The lights turned green. ‘But Tia — they’ll only be in the country for three weeks. We’ll only get to see them for about three days.’