by Jean Ure
“It’s ‘cos of Titch we didn’t go to France,” said the Afterthought.
“Not just because of Titch,” I said, quickly.
“Yes, it was! ‘Cos Dad wouldn’t let us take him.”
“You mean, if you could have taken Titch, you would have gone quite willingly?” said Mum.
“No!” I kicked out, crossly, at the Afterthought. Stupid insensitive child! “We thought we had to go. We didn’t want to! But Dad said you were going to make a new life for yourself.”
“That man,” said Mum. And then she stopped and bit her lip, because I think maybe she had been on the point of saying something really bad. About Dad, I mean. In some ways, in spite of everything, I don’t think Mum has ever quite learnt to stop loving him.
“Let’s go home,” she said.
Home! That sounded so good. But there was something that was niggling at me. Something Mum had said. In the end, I just had to ask her.
“Mum, you know what you said just now?” I said. “About Titch getting on with —” I waved a hand. “Whoever.”
“Yes,” said Mum.
“You didn’t mean… Romy, did you?”
“Romy?” The Afterthought bawled it at about a thousand decibels. “You’re not going to marry him?”
“What if she was?” I said. “We wouldn’t mind, Mum! Honest.” Not even if he did have ginger hairs up his nose. I wouldn’t ever begrudge Mum anything, ever again!
“Mum, are you?” said the Afterthought.
“Well, I have no plans right at this moment,” said Mum. “But I’ll certainly bear it in mind… it’s always nice to have your approval!”
There was a pause.
“But if you didn’t mean Romy —” I said.
“Which I didn’t,” said Mum.
What did she mean? She wouldn’t tell us! It wasn’t till we got home that we discovered Mum’s secret.
“There you are,” said Mum. “What you were clamouring for… I think I must be going soft in the head.”
She’d got us a kitten! A dear little stripey one, even tinier than Titch.
“I booked him before I went away,” said Mum. “He’d just been born. He was going to be your coming-home present.”
“Can’t he still be?” begged the Afterthought. “Can’t we have two?”
“Oh, have as many as you like!” said Mum. “I told you, I’m so relieved to have you back safe and sound I’d say yes to almost anything… just make the most of it, because I can assure you it won’t last! Yes, yes, you can have two! One each. It might stop you quarrelling!”
It didn’t, of course. I don’t think anyone could live with the Afterthought and not quarrel. She can be just so annoying! But most of the time, these days, we are good friends, and at least we don’t quarrel with Mum. Certainly not like we used to. Mum still won’t let me read Babe, or stay out till midnight, or go to wild parties, and I still have occasional spats with her on the subject of clothes (inappropriate) or boyfriends (unsuitable), and the Afterthought still throws the odd screaming fit or goes into the sulks. But on the whole we would rather make Mum happy than have her mad at us, and one thing the Afterthought never does any more is use Dad as an argument. I can’t remember the last time I heard her shout that “Dad would let me!” She now says that she hates Dad and doesn’t ever want to see him again. Mum has tried to get her to be less extreme.
“What your dad did was criminally irresponsible, and it’s certainly very difficult to forgive him for it. I’m not sure that I shall ever be able to. Not completely. But for all that, he’s not basically a bad person. Just a weak one. He does love you both, very much, in his own way.”
But with the Afterthought it is all or nothing. She says she doesn’t care. “Titch would have died if we’d done what he said!”
It is quite true. We heard later that Dad’s friend never did go back to collect the car. Poor Titch could have starved, or suffocated, before anyone found him.
We called the little stripey one Tiger. Tiger and Titch! They play together all the time, and sleep in each other’s arms. Titch belongs to the Afterthought and Tiger belongs to me, but I think they love us both equally.
We had a postcard from Dad the other day. He’s not in Nice any more – if he ever was. He’s in South America. I can’t imagine what he’s doing there; he doesn’t say. He just sends his love and promises that he will “be in touch” The Afterthought says “Not with me, he won’t!” She says if ever she picked up the telephone and it was Dad, she would slam the receiver down. She was always willing to forgive him everything, until that moment at the airport. Dad really blew it. Mum says, “Well! That’s your dad for you.”
I don’t know what I would do if he rang; I think I would talk to him. But I don’t know what I’d say! I’m sure one day he’ll turn up on the doorstep, trying to make like nothing ever happened. Because, as Mum says, that’s Dad for you.
I still have my passion flower that he got for me. My beautiful tattoo has worn off, but I shall keep my passion flower for ever. It will always remind me of Dad.
Also by Jean Ure
Lemonade Sky
Love and Kisses
Fortune Cookie
Star Crazy Me!
Over the Moon
Boys Beware
Sugar and Spice
Is Anybody There?
Secret Meeting
Passion Flower
Shrinking Violet
Boys on the Brain
Skinny Melon and Me
Becky Bananas, This is Your Life!
Fruit and Nutcase
The Secret Life of Sally Tomato
Family Fan Club
Ice Lolly
Special three-in-one editions
The Tutti-Frutti Collection
The Flower Power Collection
The Friends Forever Collection
And for younger readers
Dazzling Danny
Daisy May
Monster in the Mirror
Copyright
HarperCollins Children’s Books
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Text copyright © Jean Ure 2003
Illustrations © Karen Donnelly 2003
Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2012
The author and illustrator assert the moral right to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work.
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Source ISBN: 9780007156191
EBook Edition © JUNE 2013 ISBN: 9780007480357
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