End of the Alphabet

by Fleur Beale

  She flashed a brief, distracted smile at me. ‘Look at me!’ She spread out her arms. ‘Tell me what sort of person I am. I mean, what sort of job I do.’

  We looked at her. She had her curly hair pulled into bunches at the sides of her head. She wore a sloppy jersey over what looked like a man’s work shirt. Her pants were three-quarter length and she wore light tramping boots and socks that came up to where her pants ended. She looked cool and trendy. ‘I think you work in a travel place,’ I said. ‘Or some edgy advertising place.’

  Lucas laughed. ‘Don’t ask me! I know nothing.’

  Georgia groaned again, but not as loudly this time. ‘I’ve been sitting here for half an hour, watching people, looking at what they’re wearing. I’ve got a job interview at one o’clock. It’s for a finance job — dealing with banks and businesses.’

  ‘Oh,’ I said.

  ‘Exactly.’ She tugged on one of her bunches of hair. ‘I’ve been a student so long — I just didn’t think! Such an idiot. I’ve prepared for this interview. Done all the homework. I know my stuff inside out. But they won’t even listen to me once they see me. I just didn’t think about how I looked.’

  Lucas glanced at his watch. ‘You’ve got an hour and a half. Buy something.’

  Her eyes filled with tears. ‘I’ve got no money.’

  ‘Credit card?’ he asked.

  She nodded. ‘But it’s already got over a thousand owing on it.’

  He stood up. ‘Desperate times call for desperate measures. If you don’t get this job, you’ll have to have other interviews. You need the right clothes.’ He zipped up Cat’s jacket. ‘Come on, troops. We have work to do.’

  Georgia sat there, a miserable heap at the table. Lucas slapped his hand down in front of her. ‘Get your skates on, girl! You’re going shopping.’

  She looked up. ‘You’ll come with me? All of you?’

  ‘Yes.’ He laughed. ‘I’ll be useless, but the girls might not be. Now — where to?’

  She got to her feet. She looked winded, but she was smiling. ‘Back in town. Lambton Quay.’

  Lucas said, ‘Wait here.’ He dashed off, leaving us staring after him. Two minutes later, a taxi tooted and there was Lucas, waving from inside it.

  It didn’t take much more than two minutes to get to the shops Georgia could afford but I knew we’d do better without Lucas and Cat. I said, ‘Lucas — how about you and Cat go on the cable car. We’ll meet you at the bottom at 12.30.’ That gave us an hour. We’d have to do speed shopping.

  Lucas and Cat headed off in the direction of the cable car. Georgia stared at the window display of a clothing shop and wailed, ‘I don’t know what to get. Where do I start? I’m no good at this stuff.’

  I grabbed her arm. ‘I am. Come on. We’re going to get boots first. Which shop?’

  She stopped wailing and started running. ‘Along here.’

  We threaded our way through a river of people. She ran in front and I followed. ‘We’ll try here.’ She darted into a shop, stopped and stared around helplessly.

  I marched straight up to an assistant. ‘Please — can you help?’ I explained the situation. ‘So we’re in a huge hurry. She needs knee-length boots. Black with a mid-heel height. And not too expensive.’

  The assistant was great. She brought over three pairs. ‘Try these first. They’re the cheapest but the best.’

  Georgia, looking rather dazed, pulled them on and zipped them up. She walked the length of the shop. ‘They fit.’

  ‘Great.’ I smiled at the assistant. ‘She’ll take them.’

  We were out of there three minutes later and running back down the street. We had fifty minutes left.

  She led me into a shop. I shook my head. We had one of these at home, and she wouldn’t find what she wanted here. ‘Come on. Back up the street again.’ I didn’t give her time to argue, but led her to a place that wouldn’t bankrupt her.

  ‘Okay. You’re going to get a dress.’

  ‘No!’ she said. ‘I don’t do dresses.’

  ‘You do now.’ I sorted through a rack of them. ‘It’ll be cheaper than buying separates and you’ll look elegant.’ I pulled one out. ‘This’ll look great on you. Try it on.’

  While she was in the fitting room, I found a jacket and a pair of stockings that toned with the dress. I threw them over the door. ‘Don’t put the stockings on till I’ve seen you in the dress and boots.’

  Georgia grumbled. It wasn’t loud, but I caught the word bossy. I laughed.

  She came out — and she was a different person. Elegant and businesslike. Except for the bewildered look on her face. Her hair was a disaster too.

  ‘You look sensational,’ I said. ‘That dress makes you look taller because it’s all one colour. And the jacket’s good because it shows off your waist.’ I shooed her back into the fitting room. ‘Put the stockings on, and then we’ll fix your hair.’

  She was out and dressed in a couple of minutes. We went up to the counter so she could pay. Georgia grinned at the woman. ‘Can you do all this without me getting undressed again?’ She told her why we were in a hurry.

  ‘It’ll be a challenge,’ the woman said. ‘But never let it be said that we can’t rise to a challenge. You’ll have to bend a lot though.’

  Hmm, we probably should have done all that before she got dressed. She had to do a lot of bending, but she laughed about it.

  I made her sit down in the fitting room while I fixed her hair. She handed over her brush and I pulled out the bands from her bunches. ‘You’ve got pretty hair.’ It was light brown and curly. ‘But if you want to look like a businesswoman, you’ll do better to tie it back and keep it smoother.’

  She walked out of the fitting room when I’d finished and went to the mirror. She stared at herself, twisted one way and then the other, then she ran to me and hugged me. ‘I can’t believe it’s me! Thank you, Ruby! Thank you so much.’

  I towed her out of the shop. ‘We haven’t finished yet. You need eyebrow pencil and lipstick.’

  ‘No! I don’t do make-up.’ She stopped in the middle of the footpath and glared at me.

  I shrugged. ‘Suit yourself. But I’d say eyebrows and lips will just give you that professional edge. You don’t look quite finished at the moment.’

  Georgia swore and stomped off down the street. ‘All right. But I’m not spending a fortune on it.’

  We went to Farmers. I made her up, then dragged her to a mirror. ‘You’ll do.’

  She frowned. ‘Humph.’ Then she laughed. ‘Oh, all right. You were right.’ She looked some more. ‘Actually — I look amazing.’

  I handed her my phone. ‘Would you mind sending Lucas a text? Say we’ll meet them back where we met you. It seems silly to walk back up the street again.’

  She took the phone, but looked puzzled.

  ‘Oh!’ I grinned at her. ‘I should have told you — I’ve got a learning problem. Can’t read or write.’

  She keyed in the message and sent it. ‘You’ve got a learning problem. I’ve got a clothes problem. We should join up — together we’d be one awesome team.’

  We still had half an hour before her interview. We wandered back to the table in the courtyard. Georgia pointed to a high building. ‘I have to go in there.’ She stretched up to her full height. ‘And I feel good. No — I feel fantastic!’

  Lucas and Cat arrived five minutes later. Lucas made her stand up. He walked around her. ‘I’m impressed. Very impressed. Have to tell you, I didn’t think you’d be able to do it.’

  ‘Ruby did it,’ she said. ‘I couldn’t have done it by myself.’

  I frowned. ‘You can’t take all those bags in with you.’ The clothes she’d been wearing were in them. ‘What’ll you do with them?’

  Lucas scooped them up. ‘We’ll take them. We’re going to Te Papa and we can leave them in the cloak room there.’

  We swapped mobile numbers so she could text us. She stood up. ‘Okay. Time to go.’

  ‘Good
luck!’ we called, watching until she vanished into the tall building.

  ‘I’m hungry,’ Cat said.

  While we ate, I thought about Georgia. It was weird. I could do clothes as easily as she could read and write.

  Lucas broke in on my thoughts. ‘If she gets that job, it’ll be thanks to you, Ruby.’

  I thought about that as we walked along the waterfront to go to the museum. I’d liked helping her. I knew Lucas was right, too. She wouldn’t have got a job like that if she’d turned up wearing the clothes we carried in the bags.

  ‘Lucas — do you think I could do that for a job? Help people to buy their clothes, I mean? Would people pay me?’

  Lucas laughed. ‘You’re asking me? Ask Maria. She’ll know.’

  Chapter Twenty-five

  We were exploring the wetlands at Te Papa when I got Georgia’s text. I handed my phone to Lucas.

  ‘She’s here.’ He gave me back my phone and pulled out his own. ‘I can’t be bothered with texts. I’ll call her and tell her to meet us here.’

  Seconds later, Georgia came racing towards us over the bridge. She flung her arms around me, grabbed Cat and threw her up in the air, then she shook Lucas’s hand. ‘The interview was brilliant! Don’t know if I got the job — but I nailed the interview.’ She whirled around. ‘I felt good. I looked right. I walked tall.’ She laughed. ‘Sorry. It’s just such a buzz.’

  We went with her so she could collect her clothes from the cloak room. She clutched them in her arms and smiled at us. ‘Thank you! You’ve been amazing.’ She promised to let us know if she got the job. ‘I’ll tell you even if I don’t get it.’

  All afternoon as we explored the museum, I kept thinking about Georgia and her clothes. If I could do that for a career, if I could help people choose their clothes, it would be like a holiday every day. But could you get paid to help people shop? I wondered if Mum would think that was a proper job. How would you start doing a job like that anyway?

  We left in time for Lucas to get ready for the dinner he and Maria were going to. Maria didn’t need help with her clothes. She looked elegant and beautiful. I decided to ask her about the shopping job idea when she had more time.

  ‘Are you hungry?’ she asked us.

  ‘We’re starving,’ Cat said. ‘We could eat a whale and whales are huge.’

  Maria laughed. ‘You can eat here. There’s a good restaurant on the fourth floor.’ She smiled at me. ‘Just give them our room number and they’ll put it on our account.’

  I could get used to this life, but I wasn’t used to it yet. Butterflies skidded around in my stomach. I had no idea what to do in a hotel restaurant.

  Cat tugged my hand. ‘Come on, Ruby. My tummy is desperate!’

  Well, there wasn’t a lot of choice. I took a deep breath, picked up the card that would let us back into our room, and we left.

  We found the restaurant without any problems. I stopped in the doorway. It all looked so expensive — so posh. I wanted to run away, but Cat tugged on my hand again. ‘Come on.’

  I took a step inside and stopped again. There were so many tables and most of them had people sitting at them.

  A woman came up to us. She smiled and said, ‘A table for two?’

  ‘Oh, yes. Thank you.’ We followed her and I felt as though every single person was looking at me and thinking, She doesn’t know what to do. What an idiot.

  We sat down and she handed us the menus. ‘Your waiter will be with you shortly.’ She smiled again and left.

  I held the menu and stared at it. I hoped the words would make sense, but of course they didn’t. I put it down. I couldn’t ask the waiter what he’d recommend, because if Cat didn’t want it she’d make a huge fuss.

  ‘Can you read it, Ruby?’ she asked.

  I shook my head and pulled a face. ‘I’ll have to ask the waiter.’

  Right then, my phone rang. That was weird. All my friends sent texts, but only when they knew somebody else would read it for me. ‘Hello?’

  It was Georgia. ‘Ruby — I got the job! I got it! Thank you thank you thank you!’

  I grabbed Cat’s hand. ‘She got the job, Cat! Hey, Georgia, that’s awesome. Congratulations!’

  I put the phone away and Cat and I grinned at each other and did high fives. So what if I couldn’t read? I could do other things.

  The waiter came over. ‘Are you ready to order?’

  I smiled at him. ‘No — I can’t read the menu. I have a learning problem, you see. Can you please help us?’

  He said nothing for about ten seconds. Then he looked down his nose, and drawled, ‘May I suggest that madam eats at McDonald’s? Madam can then choose one of the pictures.’ And he walked away.

  My face burned. I felt as small as my little finger and I wanted to run away and bawl my eyes out. He didn’t scare Cat though. She yelled at him in Portuguese, ‘You’re a horrible man. I hope all your teeth fall out and bite your bum!’

  He kept walking. But her rage helped me find my backbone. I stood up. ‘Wait here, Cat.’ Before I could think about it and get too scared to move, I started walking. I felt the eyes on me again. I kept going. Cat had to eat. I couldn’t take her back to our room hungry.

  I went up to the nice woman. She looked surprised to see me, but she smiled and said, ‘Can I help you?’

  I nodded and pressed my hands together so she wouldn’t see that they were shaking. I told her what had happened.

  Her eyebrows snapped together in a frown. ‘I shall deal with him.’ By the look on her face, he wouldn’t enjoy being dealt with. Good. ‘I’ll help you myself.’ She took me back to our table and helped us choose what to eat.

  We didn’t see the horrible waiter again. Another man brought us our meals.

  The woman came over when we were eating our desserts. She apologised again and then she said, ‘He won’t be bothering you again.’

  I stared at her. ‘You’ve sacked him?’

  She looked surprised. ‘Of course! You don’t treat customers like that.’

  We went back to our room. I felt mixed up about the waiter. Sure, he’d been rude — very, very rude. But because I’d told on him, he’d lost his job. I felt bad about that.

  I put Cat to bed and told her a couple of stories — Cinderella and then the story of Maui catching the sun. She went to sleep and I sat at the window in the lounge and watched the city. I felt battered. The meal I’d eaten was an uneasy lump in my stomach. It was so much easier not to have backbone. If Cat hadn’t been with me, I could have walked out of that restaurant and not said anything.

  I should have felt good about standing up for myself. He hadn’t got away with being so rude. But all I felt was that I was an idiot who couldn’t read and would have to struggle for the rest of my life. My chest felt tight. I wanted to be at home in my own bed. I had to get through the next day as well.

  I felt more cheerful in the morning. We didn’t have breakfast at the hotel. Maria and Lucas hired a taxi and took us to eat at a place where we sat outside beside the sea and the waiters carried our food across the road from the café. It was pretty and restful, sitting there by the sea. I could get to like this city, although after breakfast, Lucas had the bright idea of going for a walk. I thought a walk would be a gentle stroll, but it turned out to be a hard slog up the hugest hill.

  ‘This,’ said Maria, ‘is torture. I won’t be able to move tomorrow, I’ll be so stiff.’

  ‘Ah, but think how much more you’ll be able to eat at the wedding,’ Lucas said. ‘All these calories you’re burning off.’

  In the afternoon, Cat and I were on our own. We wanted to go to the gardens. The man at the hotel desk said there was a nice play area there. He gave us a map, but I couldn’t read the street signs to check that we weren’t getting lost. I got the tight feeling in my throat and chest that always came when I just couldn’t work something out. In the end, I asked people. The first two were visitors like we were and didn’t know. Then a boy about the same age as
Georgia grinned at us and told us to go up on the cable car. That way, we could walk down through the gardens.

  ‘I like the cable car,’ Cat said. ‘It’s not long and boring like the train.’

  That had to be good. She was right, it was a short journey, but sitting there being pulled up the hill gave me time to relax. The tight feeling faded.

  We spent all afternoon in the gardens. We played in the playground and I didn’t care that I was supposed to be too old. We ran around all the paths — Maria wouldn’t have liked it because they were all up steep hills. Cat climbed four trees. We fed the ducks. We ate ice creams. An old man with a dog growled at Cat for walking along a wall. She smiled at him sunnily and told him, in Portuguese, that she hoped his dog would bite his nose off.

  I dragged her away and we ran up the hill, laughing.

  Before we went back to the hotel, I wanted to buy presents for the boys. We found a toy shop and I chose a Matchbox truck for Davey and a train for Theo. Then it was time to go back and eat at the restaurant again. I looked for the nice woman, but she wasn’t there. Instead, a man came up to us, smiled and showed us to a table.

  My heart sank. How many waiters would lose their jobs because of me? I smiled at Cat. ‘Do you want kebabs again?’ I could have the same as I’d had last night too and then there’d be no problem.

  ‘No,’ she said.

  Of course. Nothing was ever simple with Cat. The waiter came over. He was young and looked bored. My heart sank. Backbone. I needed a whole crate of backbone. I straightened it and glanced at him. He had his pencil waiting to write, and he looked polite but bored.

  I swallowed. Well, best get on with it. ‘I’m sorry,’ I said, ‘but can you help us? I have a learning problem and I can’t read very well. I don’t know what to order.’

  He didn’t sneer, but he didn’t look too stoked either. He read quickly through the menu. Cat waited till he finished. ‘I want sausages.’

  ‘Please,’ I said to her. They weren’t on the menu.

  She flashed me a smile, looked at the waiter and said, ‘Obridaga.’

  ‘Can you do sausages?’ I asked.