Fighting Back

by Cathy MacPhail

  Tess Lafferty had been beaten by a wimp and the daughter of a marshmallow. If I hadn’t been so afraid I might have giggled at the thought of it. But Tess wouldn’t think it was funny. I had a feeling I had only made things a lot worse.

  Now I had to decide whether to tell my mother. She could hardly fail to notice my bleeding knees, or my hair pulled all over the place. If I told her, though, I didn’t want her going to the police. That was the last thing we needed!

  In fact, I didn’t tell her, not straight away. What I found when I went home put Tess Lafferty and our fight completely out of my mind.

  I could hear her sobbing as I opened the front door.

  ‘Mum, is everything all right?’

  She was sitting on the floor in the front room, tears streaming down her face. The table was all set for our celebration tea. She had even placed candles in the middle. It looked really nice.

  ‘What kind of people are they, Kerry? What kind of people?’

  ‘What’s wrong, Mum?’ I sat down beside her and put my arms round her. ‘What is it?’

  ‘The television was delivered this afternoon … it had been raining … the men … their feet were covered in mud … I wasn’t going to let them in the house, not on the new carpet, Kerry.’

  She sobbed between each little sentence. I could almost smile. Imagining her, insisting they take off their muddy shoes before entering.

  ‘I told them to leave it at the door, I’d get it in myself … but the box was too heavy for me, so I thought I’d take it out of the packaging and wheel it in.’ There was another sob before she continued. ‘I went into the bedroom just to look for some scissors to cut the tape. I was only gone a few minutes. I left the door open … I didn’t think. Oh Kerry … ’

  Now she could hardly tell me for crying. ‘Oh Kerry – look what they did.’

  She stood up and pulled me back into the hall where the box for the television still stood. The top of the box was already open, and when I looked inside I gasped.

  I couldn’t believe it. How could anyone be so rotten?

  Someone had poured bleach all over the new television. Someone had deliberately slit open the packaging, and emptied a bottle of destructive, eye-nipping bleach all over it.

  Chapter Sixteen

  ‘I bet it was her next door!’ Mum kept insisting. ‘I can imagine her sneaking across the landing, ripping open the box, doing THAT!’

  The packaging had been sliced open expertly, by someone with the tools to do it, a Stanley knife perhaps. I shook my head. ‘No, Mum, not Sandra.’

  She mimicked me. ‘Oh, Sandra is it now? Friend of yours, is she?’

  ‘Mum, this is another warning. From the Laffertys.’

  ‘All this because of that silly business with the girl. I don’t believe it.’

  She looked at the television set once again, and the tears began rolling down her cheeks. She had been so happy yesterday, so determined that things were going to get better, and now …

  ‘What’s the point of trying? No one is ever going to accept us here. They’re all just nasty people. Well, the police are going to know all about this.’

  I began to protest loudly. But nothing was going to stop her.

  ‘I know they’re useless. They haven’t protected us at all. But they’re going to know about this!’

  The police arrived fifteen minutes later, Sergeant Mait-land and the Gorgeous Grant. And we hadn’t even called them.

  ‘How did you know?’ Mum asked as soon as she opened the door.

  The Sergeant looked baffled. ‘Know what?’

  ‘About my television … ’

  I could see a little frown appear on his brow. Mum almost pulled him into the hallway.

  ‘Look what she did! Look!’ And she yanked off the cardboard packaging dramatically.

  The Sergeant looked really angry when he saw what had been done to our television. Then he asked, ‘Who do you mean, she?’

  Mum answered that at once, no doubts at all. ‘Mrs Ramsay did this.’ She glanced at me. ‘Sandra to her friends.’

  The Sergeant was already shaking his head. ‘No,’ he said. ‘Sandra wouldn’t do anything like this.’

  ‘NO? She tried to strangle me in the laundrette the other day! What do you think of that!’

  ‘She what?’ Sergeant Maitland looked baffled.

  ‘It’s another warning from the Laffertys,’ I said, and both the policemen and Mum looked at me.

  ‘That’s why we’re here,’ PC Grant said. He looked a little stern.

  Mum suddenly remembered she hadn’t even called them. ‘Yes. Why are you here?’

  The Sergeant answered her. ‘I’m afraid we had a complaint. It would seem you, young lady,’ the young lady was me, ‘set upon Tess Lafferty and left her bruised with a black eye and three stitches in her leg.’ He held up my tie. ‘And we have this to prove it.’

  I had done all that? He could see the thought pleased me and he scowled, really scowled. ‘It’s not funny!’

  ‘It is when you think there were four of them. All ready to get into me. And I beat her.’

  Mum looked worried. ‘You were in a fight?’ She took in swiftly my bleeding knees, my hair and pulled me close. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ Suddenly she turned on the police. ‘So the Laffertys just snap their fingers and they have you running here to complain to us – isn’t that amazing? Perhaps, of course, Ma Lafferty owns you too!’

  Oops! Wrong thing to say. The Sergeant looked angry. ‘Mrs Graham, I didn’t think for a minute that your daughter had set upon Tess Lafferty, I came here because I wanted to make sure she was all right. As for your television, I can understand how you must feel about that. But we have a real problem with vandalism up here. What happened to your television might have nothing to do with the Laffertys.’

  ‘Ha!’ Mum almost yelled at him.

  He looked angrier than ever. ‘Or it might. We’ll take a statement from you and we’ll be talking to them again. As for you, young lady –’ Before he could say another word, Mum stepped in.

  ‘Don’t you dare tell her to behave herself. We need protecting from the animals up here. And you’re doing nothing about it. They all say the cops are useless! And now I know they’re right. This will be the last time I expect any help from you!’

  The Sergeant and PC Grant took a statement from my mother in silence. An angry silence. There was no answer to what she’d said, and they didn’t even bother to try.

  She closed the door on them and burst into tears. ‘Oh, Kerry. What have I done? We’ve got to get away from here. We’ve just got to!’

  Chapter Seventeen

  ‘That was rotten,’ Ming said when I told him about the television. We were standing outside the Wee Hippy. ‘But you know who did it, don’t you?’

  ‘Of course I do. The Laffertys. But I’ll never convince my mother. Sandra’s the guilty one, according to her.’

  ‘What has your mother got against my maw anyway?’

  That made me laugh. ‘Oh, well, that strangulation in the laundrette didn’t help matters.’

  That only amused Ming. ‘I take it she’s not going to change her mind, then?’

  ‘No. Why should she? She thinks your mother’s responsible.’

  Ming was quiet for a moment. ‘Ma Lafferty’s been in our house asking.’

  ‘Has she?’

  Ming went on thoughtfully, ‘She’s been in our house a lot lately.’

  ‘Is everything OK, Ming?’

  He shrugged his shoulders. ‘Och, it’s just with my maw losing her job – she’s finding it harder to keep up the payments.’ Then he brightened again. ‘But my maw’ll be OK. My maw’s always OK.’

  One thing about Ming. He had complete faith in his mother.

  As for mine, I was never sure of what she was going to do next.

  I didn’t have to wait long to find out.

  She was waiting for me one afternoon when I got out of school. She was looking brighter than I’d
seen her for a long time. She’d unpacked one of her dresses, though unfortunately she hadn’t bothered to iron it. Still, it was nice to see her dressed up for a change.

  ‘We’re going out for a meal,’ she said, linking her arm in mine as if we were sisters. I hate it when she does that. I glanced around to make sure none of my classmates were looking.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘We’ve been through a lot. We deserve to spoil ourselves.’

  I didn’t ask any more. Not then. It was nice just to have my old mum back again for a while.

  We ate spaghetti at a little Italian restaurant and Mum had a glass of red wine.

  ‘I went into the Job Centre today,’ she said, ‘and I filled out an application form. There’s a job vacancy in an estate agency. I could do that. A nice office job dealing with the public.’

  ‘Great, Mum.’ I couldn’t believe the change in her.

  I was glad she waited till I’d finished my ice cream before she told me why she was so happy.

  ‘I also went to the Housing Department,’ she said. ‘Spoke to a very nice woman. Told her everything. About all the trouble we’ve been having with her next door.’ That was when I saw the anger flash in her eyes. ‘I told her about the incident in the laundrette.’ She hesitated, still hardly able to talk about it. ‘And about what she did to our television.’

  I started to protest but she wouldn’t listen.

  ‘I said I refuse to stay next door to that evil woman.’

  ‘Sandra,’ I said.

  ‘And Ming! What a name!’

  I tried to ignore the sinking feeling I had in the pit of my stomach. What had she done now?

  ‘Anyway,’ Mum went on, ‘I told her we want out. Another house. Anywhere’s got to be better than where we are.’

  ‘And … ?’ I prayed she was about to tell me we were moving, lock, stock and bleached television, back to civilization.

  ‘She’s going to look into it. It’s all to do with something called “points”.’

  ‘Sounds like ballet,’ I said. I couldn’t hide my disappointment.

  Mum reached across the table and touched my hand. ‘She seemed to think we had a very good case. But what she is going to do, right now, is send someone up to warn HER NEXT DOOR – Sandra – to stop bothering us!’

  She sat back, with a grin on her face. ‘You see, your mother’s not useless. She gets things done!’

  Sandra threatened with eviction, thanks to my mum? She was about to get us strangled again, couldn’t she see that? And how could I tell her?

  ‘Well, haven’t you got anything to say?’

  Help! was the only word that sprang immediately to mind.

  * * *

  Mum’s good mood lasted well into the next day. She left

  the house with me in the morning, and planned to

  spend her day choosing the exact area she would ask to be moved to.

  ‘I was so naïve, Kerry. I should have held out, insisted on somewhere a bit more upmarket.’

  I didn’t dare remind her we only took this because we’d been told it was the last offer they would make.

  When I came home from school she was unpacking boxes, or just one to be exact. The one with the books in it. She was half-way through Pride and Prejudice when I came in. It was obvious she’d done nothing else. I made myself a ham sandwich and joined her.

  Suddenly, there was a fanatical scream from next door.

  We looked at each other. ‘Is that a horror film on satellite?’ I asked.

  It wasn’t. It was Sandra on the warpath.

  ‘Couldn’t we just ignore her?’

  ‘I’m not afraid of her!’ Mum opened the door with a flourish. There stood Sandra, magnificent in her anger.

  Ming was close behind her, shaking his head, exasperation written all over his face. One by one I noticed the neighbours coming out. They brought chairs to sit on; one or two even had cups of tea with them. I was beginning to think nobody on this landing had televisions that worked. We were the entertainment.

  I was impressed by Mum’s aplomb. ‘Can I help you?’ she asked casually.

  Sandra let out a bloodcurdling scream. ‘I’ve had a man up. From the Housing. You complained about me! You!’

  ‘I did. I’ve had trouble from you since I moved here.’

  ‘Well, I’ve complained about you back. You’re the troublemaker.’

  Sandra looked around for someone to back her up. All the neighbours nodded agreement. ‘So you’ll have a man up in the mornin’.’

  ‘Good!’ Mum said. ‘I hope they have me evicted. I’d do anything to get out of this place. Do you hear me … ANYTHING!’

  Sandra turned shocked eyes on the neighbours. ‘Hear that! You think you are somethin’. You’re nothing but a blinkin’ snob!’

  Still, Mum didn’t get angry. I was proud of her. ‘I can hold my head up anywhere. Which is more than you can say. They told me at the Housing Department all about you. A string of complaints. They’ve had enough of you, they said.’

  I felt this was a lie, a dangerous lie. She was getting a shade too cocky. I tugged at her sleeve.

  She pulled away. ‘Respectable people like me, they said, deserve a better class of neighbour than any of you. Now, I’ll thank you to get away from my door.’

  Sandra was almost blue in the face. This was not what she had expected. The neighbours looked disappointed too. They had been hoping for a little hand-to-hand combat at least. Mum slammed the door in Sandra’s face.

  She grinned at me. ‘That told her.’

  Suddenly, the letterbox flew open. ‘You’ve not heard the last of this. You’re goin’ to be sorry you tangled with Sandra Ramsay.’

  In answer, Mum slammed the letterbox down on Sandra’s fingers. She yelped and used a few words I hadn’t heard before.

  Mum was pleased with herself. She’d had another good day, and went to bed happy.

  I wasn’t so happy. I felt sick to my stomach. I had an awful premonition something was going to happen.

  I awoke in the middle of the night. The house was silent. But something had awoken me. What?

  There was no sound. Nothing. It was my imagination. I turned over, ready to go back to sleep when it hit me.

  The smell. Smoke! I could smell smoke! The flat was on fire!

  Chapter Eighteen

  I scrambled out of bed, shouting, racing for the front door.

  ‘Mum! Mum!’ I screamed. When I saw the front door was ablaze I really began to panic. How were we going to get out? Mum was bleary-eyed as she opened the door of her bedroom, but her eyes snapped open when she saw the flames. Her scream joined mine.

  ‘What are we going to do?’ I yelled at her.

  I ran to the balcony and threw open the doors. Ming was already on his balcony in his pyjamas. His face was chalk-white.

  ‘Fire!’ I screamed at him. ‘Our house is on fire!’

  ‘My maw’s already called the fire brigade.’

  ‘We can’t get out, Ming,’ I couldn’t keep the panic out of my voice. ‘The front door’s blazing.’

  He reached out a hand. ‘Come on then. Over here.’

  I think my heart stopped beating then. I was sure of it. I looked down. Thirteen floors. I couldn’t. I knew I couldn’t jump from my balcony to his.

  ‘Come on!’ He screamed at me through clenched teeth. ‘I’ll get you. I promise.’

  His hands were already reaching out to me. Both of them, thrust towards me. ‘Jump, Kerry,’ he said, his voice urging me. ‘I promise I’ll not let you drop.’

  For a moment, I almost did. I almost reached out and leapt for his hands. Then I thought of Mum here in the flat and I began to back away, shaking my head. I was staying with Mum, no matter what.

  I turned back into the flat and coughed as the smoke hit me again. I couldn’t see Mum anywhere, until suddenly she appeared from the bathroom.

  ‘Wet all the towels, Kerry. Wet everything you can find. Throw them over the fire … and bucket
s of water too. Get them.’

  Already I could hear shouts from the landing. Mum didn’t shout back. She was too busy throwing wet towels over the blaze and running back to the bathroom for more.

  I was choking with the thick acrid smoke. Too afraid to move. Mum returned and threw more towels on the flames. She glanced at me. ‘KERRY!’ I had seldom heard such force in her voice. ‘Get more towels NOW!’

  That made me move. I ran to the cupboard, pulling towels from the pile and running back to the bathroom with them. Mum had the bath running and I threw the towels into the water while Mum carried each one, soaking, back to the blaze.

  By the time the door was broken down, the fire was out. Mum was standing with me, her face black. All her energy had gone again. She stood motionless, her eyes vacant.

  ‘Mrs Graham … are you all right?’

  Mr McCurley was first in the door. His arms encircled my mother. Mum pulled herself roughly from his touch. He looked hurt and surprised.

  ‘I’m fine!’ Mum snapped. She glanced at me. ‘We’re both fine.’

  ‘Well, let’s get you out of here. Come into my place. Get some tea.’ It was the first real kindness we had been shown here, and it sent me into floods of tears. Mum hugged me close.

  ‘The poor wee thing’s in shock,’ Mr McCurley said, leading us out of the smoking flat and on to the landing. The neighbours had all gathered there. There was shock on their faces, and something else. Something I couldn’t understand … not then.

  In the distance I could hear the fire brigade wail towards us.

  Suddenly, I felt Mum stiffen beside me and I looked up at her. Her eyes were alive again, and angry. I followed her gaze. Sandra was at her doorstep, a mountainous marshmallow in her pink fluffy dressing-gown. She was white with shock. Had our fire affected her so much?

  Mum broke from me and ran to her. Sandra took a step backward and almost tripped.

  ‘You!’ Mum screamed. ‘You did this!’

  Mr McCurley tried to hold Mum back. She struggled to break free of him, free to get to Mrs Ramsay. ‘Somebody put something through our letterbox and started that fire. It was you! YOU!’ She looked round at the neighbours. ‘You heard her threaten me. “You’re going to be sorry you tangled with Sandra Ramsay!” ’ Mum mimicked her voice perfectly. ‘You heard her.’