Damaged Goods by Diane McNab - HTML preview

BRADBURY PARK

A fortnight passed after that and I stood in the driveway saying goodbye to my Parents. My Father had arranged a car for me to be taken to the boarding school.

My Mother clung on to me as a drowning person does going down for the third time. Father barked “That is enough Alice.”

Lily put her arms around me, kissing me on the cheek, while slipping something in to my coat pocket.

In the car I checked my pocket and found a new mobile phone with a note from Lily explaining how to top it up. I blessed her with all my heart.

On my arrival at the school forms had to be filled out, dietary requirements, any allergies and so on and so on.

The House Mistress took me to my room and introduced me to my room mate Fiona adding that she had already arrived a couple of days earlier before me so she had already settled in. “Perhaps Fiona you could show Jane the ropes around here?”

Fiona gave a dazzling smile, showing the most pearly whites I had ever seen and said “Sure Ms Lovett, I am to happy to”.

“Here” said Fiona “ I will help you unpack your bags” and without waiting for me to assure her I could do it myself she opened one suitcase and starting throwing things in to a cupboard. Having been brought up to place items in neat and tidy piles I was aghast.

Fiona seeing the expression on my face sat cross legged on her bed and said “Whoops. Don't worry about me. I will just sit here and watch how it is done properly. My Mum was never a stickler for that sort of thing.”

After emptying my suitcases and placing my belongings in a neat and tidy state Fiona said it was time for her to take me to the dining area so I could explore the culinary delights on the menu.

I followed her with trepidation, thinking plastic cups and plates, but oh no, that wasn't the case. The dining area was beautiful. Each table was made of light wood with matching chairs and comfortable inlaid cushions.

The meals were set up as a foodie's delight. There were bain maries full of an array of different dishes. There was a salad bar and next to that was a desserts table that would make Willy Wonka's treats tour die a quick death. “Didn't believe me did you, huh” asked Fiona and I answered honestly no.

Our friendship blossomed. However I did come to realise Fiona was not particularly fond of study or any form of school work. When I asked her if her Parents had forced her to attend the school she had laughed and said it had been her idea.

“I thought having time to myself would be great. I have six siblings and God they never shut up but I miss the little fuckers.” The swear word came out of her mouth as easy as saying thank you.

Jane laughed and couldn't help but say “Fiona you wake up talking, you go to sleep talking and all the hours in between.”

She looked at me and “What can I say it runs in the family.”

When I asked what her Father did she replied he was a Dentist. “Every time he opened a new practice Mum would have another kid, I used to dread hearing about new premises being looked at” she said laughing and I laughed with her.

I realised then her Father was obviously wealthy. It did not take strings to have your Daughter attend this elite establishment, it only took money. Therefore my Father had purposefully taken me away from my Mother.

A YEAR LATER

I had dutifully gone home on holidays noticing that my Mother was becoming more thinner and frailer each visit, almost as if she was fading in to the wall paper.

“Jesus does she even eat?” I asked Lily.

“Well I don't know what she eats during the bloody infernal dinners with your Father, otherwise I do encourage her to eat more during the day. I don't know what to do more than that” said Lily sadly.

Jane hugged Lily and said “Thank God she has you in her corner.”

On returning to school my Mother would hold on to me like a vice. I would wave from the cars rear window until I lost sight of her. A part of me felt guilty for leaving and another part of me just glad to have left the bloody place.

One morning Ms Lovett knocks on my room door suspiciously looking as if she had been crying. She addresses me with a hesitant smile on her face saying I have to go home and that a car had been arranged to pick me up within the hour and with that leaves. I wildly open the door and shout “Ms Lovett what has happened?” She turns and looks at me and gently says that I am needed at home.

Fiona hugs me before I get in the car and says “God go with you” a strange thing for her to say but I can feel her hairs on her arms are standing upright.