Dani’s Diary

by Narinder Dhami

  ‘My dad!’ I croaked, almost unable to speak because I was so scared. ‘He must have decided to come home during his break!’

  My dad was at the front door now. We could hear the jangle of his keys outside the window.

  ‘Quick!’ Milly pushed me roughly out of the room into the hall. I could see the faint outline of Dad’s shape through the frosted glass in the top of the door and my heart beat even more loudly.

  Immediately Milly darted over to the front door and slid the bolt at the bottom across. Next second we heard Dad turn his key and push against the door. But the bolt held it fast.

  Milly turned to me. ‘Go on, Asha!’ she whispered. ‘Get out of here!’

  My legs suddenly came back to life and I dashed for the stairs. As I made it safely up to the second floor, I heard the front door open. I stopped, panting. I could just hear Milly apologizing for bolting the door, and Dad’s voice raised in anger. Feeling sick with relief I crept past the kitchen, where Mum was cooking, and into our flat.

  That was so close …

  Maybe I should stop meeting Milly. If Dad ever found out that I’ve disobeyed him, I know he’d be furious. He’d be upset too, and that would hurt me more than anything.

  But Milly is so interesting. She’s funny and charming and different to everyone else. I like her. I think I even want to be like her in some ways. And I do want her to be my friend. Dad just can’t find out, that’s all.

  I haven’t written in my diary for a few days because we’ve been very busy. Hardeep and I are starting school soon, and I can’t wait. My school is called Coppergate Secondary Modern, and I have to get on a bus to go there! Milly goes to Coppergate too. When she asked me which school I was going to and I told her, she smiled a lovely big smile. She seems to really like me, although I don’t know why.

  Today Mum, Hardeep and I went shopping to buy my uniform – a blue jumper, a white shirt and a brown skirt. Mum chose the longest skirt in the shop so that when I’ve got my knee-length socks on, you can’t see a single bit of my legs. The jumper has the school badge on it and I felt very proud when I tried it on. Hardeep just kept moaning though.

  ‘Why haven’t I got a uniform?’ he grumbled.

  ‘Because you’re going to baby school,’ I replied immediately. ‘Babies don’t wear uniform.’

  Hardeep pulled a horrible face at me. He doesn’t really want to go to school at all, and he’s not making a fuss only because he’ll be in his friend Manny’s class. Hardeep hates studying. He tells everyone (except Dad) that he’s going to be a footballer when he grows up. He didn’t know anything about football when we were in India, but Manny’s told him all about it and has taught him how to play. Now it’s football, football, football all the time. I can’t help feeling a bit sad when I see Hardeep’s cricket bat lying around our bedroom. I don’t think he’s picked it up once since we arrived.

  ‘Mum, can we go to the toyshop?’ Hardeep whined when we’d finished buying my uniform. He’s good at whining; so good that Mum gives in to shut him up.

  ‘Just to look then, beta,’ Mum said firmly. ‘Not to buy.’

  Hardeep nodded, but if it came to a contest, my money would definitely be on him.

  I liked the toyshop, even though I was too old for most of the toys, really. There were lots of different kinds of dolls. I liked touching their long curly blonde hair and their pretty sparkly dresses and tiny shoes. Some were baby dolls: they were the exact size and shape of real babies and they said Mama! You could buy prams and cots and bottles for them too, just like you can for real babies. I loved two dolls called Barbie and Sindy, who both had the kind of clothes I’d seen girls wearing in the street. There were furry teddy bears, toy cars and lorries and vans, balloons, spinning tops, pretend guns and boxes of games I’d never seen before. As Hardeep dragged Mum around the shop, I stood working out the names.

  ‘Snakes and Ladders,’ I spelled out. ‘Monopoly. Ludo.’ But my favourite was Tiddlywinks. Tiddlywinks! I love that word!

  ‘Asha!’

  I turned round. Hardeep was standing there pointing a shiny silver thing at me.

  ‘It’s a space-gun!’ he said, pulling the trigger. A red light flashed and there was a burst of loud noise which made my head ache. ‘I want it!’

  ‘Put it back,’ I warned him. ‘Where’s Mum?’

  ‘Over there.’ Hardeep jerked his head towards the back of the shop. ‘She’s talking to someone who comes to the gurdwara.’

  One of the assistants, an English lady, had come out from behind the counter when she heard the space-gun. She looked at Hardeep in horror and took the gun out of his hand.

  ‘A nice little girl like you shouldn’t be playing with boys’ toys,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘Here.’ She picked up one of the baby dolls and pushed it into Hardeep’s arms as he stared at her in shock. ‘You’ll like this lovely dolly.’ And she walked off.

  I burst out laughing at the look on Hardeep’s face.

  ‘She thinks I’m a girl!’ he screeched. ‘Because of this!’ And he pointed at his topknot.

  At that moment Mum came back to us. Hardeep dashed over to her, scowling all over his face.

  ‘I want my hair cut!’ he demanded.

  ‘Hardeep!’ Mum snapped. ‘I’ve told you before – no!’

  I explained what had happened.

  ‘It’s not the lady’s fault,’ Mum said soothingly, putting her arm round Hardeep. ‘She doesn’t understand our religion, that’s all.’

  Hardeep stuck his bottom lip out stubbornly. ‘I’m not going to school until I get my hair cut!’ he announced.

  He and Mum began arguing, which lasted almost the length of the whole street. But Mum was still refusing to give in, so after about two seconds I lost interest and began doing my two most favourite things: looking in all the shop windows and staring at the people passing by.

  As we neared the bottom of the street, I noticed with interest that there was a small crowd of people outside the greengrocer’s. Someone was shouting. I slowed down so that I could take a closer look.

  My heart skipped a couple of beats. Milly was standing in the middle of the crowd. Her mum was next to her, holding Milly’s hand tightly. Mrs Chaudhary looked frightened to death and I guessed that, like my own mum, she didn’t speak any English.

  The greengrocer, a big fat man, was standing in the doorway of his shop. It was he who was shouting. His face was red and angry as he glared at Milly and her mum.

  ‘Thieves! That’s what you lot are!’ he roared. ‘Coming over here and trying to steal from good honest people!’ And there was a murmur of agreement from some of the watching crowd.

  I stopped, a thrill of horror running through me. Mum and Hardeep stopped too, and we all stared across the road.

  ‘What’s that man saying?’ asked Mum. And of course Hardeep had to open his big mouth and tell her.

  ‘We didn’t steal anything!’ Milly cried. ‘We just forgot to pay for a few things, that’s all. I have the money right here.’ And she took a purse out of her pocket.

  ‘That girl again!’ Mum tutted loudly. ‘She’s always in some sort of trouble, isn’t she?’

  I wanted so much to say, But look at her! She’s so brave. She’s not scared of anybody. I wanted to run across the road and take Milly’s other hand and stand shoulder to shoulder with her against all those people.

  But I didn’t. I followed Mum and Hardeep down the street, looking back every few seconds. It was as if I was abandoning Milly, and it made me feel sick.

  ‘Your dad won’t be surprised to hear this,’ Mum remarked as we reached our house. ‘I hope that family move away soon. That girl causes nothing but problems.’

  I didn’t say anything. I wish, wish, wish that I wasn’t such a coward.

  It’s the next day. Something very strange happened last night. I was lying awake in the middle of the night when I heard footsteps. Of course, Milly and her family and Mr and Mrs Lawrence from the flat downstairs come up an
d down to use the bathroom and the kitchen and the outside toilet. But this was different. First the footsteps came upstairs. Then I heard them going up and down our landing. This person went into the kitchen and then into the bathroom. Whoever it was then went downstairs again. Then up to our floor. Then up to Milly’s floor. And then down again. It was all very odd.

  But I didn’t really think about it much after that because, of course, I wanted to talk to Milly about what I’d seen and heard yesterday in the street. I didn’t get a chance until late that afternoon when we went to watch TV. I was hoping that Hardeep would stay outside and play with Manny, but Manny had to go home so he came in with us. However, he was soon sitting cross-legged on the rug, glued to a programme called Blue Peter, and I don’t think he would have noticed if the house had fallen down around him. I wanted to watch Blue Peter too, but I wanted to talk to Milly more.

  I didn’t know how to start.

  ‘Are you OK?’ I asked timidly.

  ‘Yes.’ Milly looked puzzled. ‘Why shouldn’t I be?’

  I stared down at my shoes. ‘I saw what happened yesterday,’ I mumbled. ‘At the greengrocer’s.’

  ‘Oh.’ Milly was quiet for a moment. ‘So you think I’m a thief?’

  ‘No!’ I gasped, looking up in horror. But to my relief, Milly was smiling at me.

  ‘Our mum does,’ Hardeep remarked, his eyes still fixed on the TV. ‘So does our dad.’

  ‘Hardeep!’ I muttered, my face a flaming red.

  ‘Well, they do,’ he retorted.

  ‘But I don’t,’ I said quickly. Hardeep simply shrugged and went back to the TV. I stuck my tongue out at the back of his head and Milly grinned.

  ‘So what happened?’ I asked, trying to sound cool.

  ‘What happened when?’ said Milly.

  ‘At the greengrocer’s.’ I knew she wasn’t going to tell me anything, but I had to try.

  ‘Oh, that.’ She shook her head. ‘It was just a mix-up. A mistake.’

  ‘But that man was shouting at you,’ I said desperately. I could see Milly closing down in front of me, like a snail pulling itself back inside its shell for protection. ‘You were really brave.’

  ‘No, I’m not brave at all.’ Milly was staring at Blue Peter with great intensity. If she’d shouted, Leave me alone! at the top of her voice, the message couldn’t have been clearer. ‘It was nothing.’

  She suddenly looked quite unhappy, and I felt terrible. Quickly I thought of something – anything – else to talk about.

  ‘I heard footsteps in the middle of the night yesterday,’ I said. ‘It was very strange.’

  Hardeep ignored me, but Milly looked amazed.

  ‘Why is that strange?’ she demanded. ‘You know everybody goes up and down to use the bathroom and the toilet.’

  I shook my head. ‘No, this was different. It was the same person going up and down and up and down. Whoever it was was walking around for ages.’

  ‘Oh …’ Milly frowned. ‘I wasn’t going to tell you this, Asha, but there’s something you should know.’

  ‘What?’ I asked uneasily. Even Hardeep glanced up, alerted by Milly’s solemn tone.

  ‘I think it might have been the White Lady,’ Milly whispered.

  ‘The White Lady?’ I repeated. ‘Who’s that?’

  ‘A ghost,’ said Milly matter-of-factly.

  ‘A ghost!’ I sat up straight, and Hardeep leaped up from the rug where he was sprawled. ‘In this house?’

  ‘It’s haunted,’ Milly explained casually. ‘Didn’t you know?’

  Hardeep and I stared at each other in horror.

  ‘Y-you’re joking, Milly,’ I stammered.

  ‘I’m not.’ Milly sounded very serious. ‘This lady lived here in the olden days and she fell from the third floor down into the hall and broke her neck. Now she wanders around the house at night.’

  ‘I’m not scared of a silly old ghost,’ Hardeep boasted, but he was clutching my arm so tight, it was hurting.

  ‘Well, you should be.’ Milly stared hard at him. ‘The story goes that if you see the White Lady walking around at night’ – she paused for maximum effect – ‘then you die a horrible death too!’

  She glanced at the TV screen. Blue Peter was finishing.

  ‘So I’d stay safely inside your bedroom with the door closed.’ Milly jumped up and strolled out into the hall. ‘See you tomorrow, Asha.’

  ‘I don’t believe her,’ Hardeep said immediately. ‘Do you believe her, Asha?’

  ‘No,’ I replied bravely. But secretly I wondered.

  No one normal would walk aimlessly around a house at night, would they? So who was it? Could it really be a ghost?

  Hardeep didn’t say anything more, but he stuck close to my side as we went up the stairs to our flat. And he made me switch all the lights on along the way.

  ‘Put this light on,’ he said nervously as we reached our landing. I wasn’t going to argue because it was dark up there.

  I flipped the switch, but nothing happened.

  ‘The bulb must be broken,’ I said, trying not to shiver.

  Hardeep gave a frightened little moan. ‘Let’s run!’ he whispered.

  Holding hands, we blundered our way down the landing and round the corner towards the door of our flat. I could hear my heart roaring loudly in my ears, or maybe it was Hardeep’s I could hear! We tumbled headlong into our flat and Mum, who was sewing, looked up disapprovingly.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ she demanded.

  Hardeep opened his mouth to say something, but I gave him a secret little pinch, and he shut it again.

  ‘Nothing,’ I said.

  I wasn’t even sure I really believed Milly. About the ghost, I mean. One of the things I’m finding out about Milly is that she’s a very good liar. How can I want to be friends with someone who’s a liar? I don’t even understand it myself.

  I’m in bed and I’m supposed to be asleep now, like Hardeep is. I can hear him snoring through the curtain. But I can’t sleep. Dad and I had a long talk tonight when Mum and Hardeep were in the kitchen. He told me that although he wants me to get married and have a family, he really wants me to go to university as well.

  ‘I have to be a bus driver here because I can’t get a better job at the moment,’ he explained. ‘But maybe things will get easier in a few years’ time. You could be a lawyer or a teacher or anything you want to be, Asha. As long as you get a good education.’

  I nodded. I could see a big wide world opening out in front of me, where I could go to school and university and learn, and then keep on learning for the rest of my life. I felt dizzy with pleasure at the thought of it.

  ‘But you have to work hard at school,’ Dad warned me. ‘Don’t make friends with girls who are nothing but trouble, because they’ll distract you from your studies.’ He pointed his finger at the ceiling. ‘Like that girl upstairs. She’ll never do anything worthwhile with her life.’

  I didn’t say anything, of course, but I think Dad’s wrong (I can’t believe I just wrote that). I know I can work hard at school and be friends with Milly. And I have this strange feeling, I don’t know why, that somehow Milly really needs a friend right now.

  I’m still in bed, but it’s much later. Where to start? It’s hard to believe what’s happened since I last picked up my diary!

  I must have been asleep because it was about three or four o’clock in the morning. But suddenly I jumped upright, my heart thudding and banging. I strained my ears and, to my horror, I heard those same footsteps going lightly down the landing. Then they stopped, right outside the bedroom door.

  I had to clasp my hands over my mouth to prevent myself from crying out. But after a moment the footsteps moved away again towards the kitchen.

  I pushed back the blankets and climbed out of bed. Then I tiptoed over to the door and put my ear against it. I couldn’t hear anything.

  I was shivering and shaking all over, but I didn’t really believe Milly. It couldn’t be a ghost!
Someone was just trying to scare us, for a joke …

  I heard the footsteps come out of the kitchen again, and I made up my mind in an instant. Grasping the handle tightly, I pulled the door open and peeped out.

  The landing was almost in darkness. I’d forgotten the light at the far end wasn’t working. But then … I saw a flash of white as a dim, ghostly figure glided round the corner and out of sight.

  I screamed!!!

  I screamed as loudly as I could. I just couldn’t help it. I was so terrified, my knees collapsed underneath me and I had to hang onto the door for support.

  Everything started to happen at once. First Hardeep jumped out of bed and started yelling, ‘Is it the ghost, Asha?’ The next second, lights went on all over the house and Mum and Dad came rushing into our room from next door. Footsteps hurtled up the stairs and Mr and Mrs Lawrence rushed over to us, both in their dressing gowns. At the same moment there were noises overhead, and then Mr Chaudhary and Milly came down onto our landing.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Milly’s dad demanded in a very unfriendly way. ‘Who’s yelling and waking everyone up?’

  Dad stepped forward. Mum had turned pink at the sight of everyone in their nightclothes and had disappeared back into our flat.

  ‘Something frightened my daughter,’ he said coldly, glaring at Mr Chaudhary. ‘Asha, were you having a nightmare?’

  ‘It wasn’t a nightmare!’ I gasped, still shaking. ‘It was the ghost – the White Lady!’

  ‘What are you talking about, child?’ asked Mrs Lawrence in her rich, warm voice. ‘This house doesn’t have a ghost!’

  ‘I didn’t believe it either!’ I said breathlessly. ‘But Milly said—’

  I stopped, a thrill of horror running right through me. Dad pounced before I could correct myself.

  ‘I might have known she’d be involved in this somewhere!’ And he shot an angry look at Milly.

  ‘Don’t speak about my daughter in that way!’ snapped Mr Chaudhary.

  ‘Come on, guys, let’s keep calm,’ said Mr Lawrence soothingly.

  Dad ignored them both and turned to me. I was now feeling even more scared than when I’d seen the White Lady.

  ‘Have you been talking to this girl?’ he asked quietly.