said to me, and I cringed but she was dead right. You should definitely try to be happy all the time while you’re on this earth. I clapped my heels on the lino floor and pulled down my mauve top. While she talked she patted my hand, and I spotted the beardy paedo still staring at us across the brown room. The old blokes got ushered back in when the stripper finished, and I was surprised they were still interested in sex after that. I rolled my eyes up to the ceiling and tried not to look at them.
You okay, honey? Mam asked, rubbing a finger up her glass. I stabbed her with eyelashes, then went, Are you coming to Time with us? I just wanna get going, you know what I mean.
Mmm, yeah it should be fun, she replied. She was looking really well with her face made up and the fifties black-and-white hat – it was one of those nights you prayed you don’t get a maudlin-mouth and talk about the cancer.
I sat up in my chair then downed the rest of an Archers, wobbly as anything and looking forward to grooving at the club. I tried to think which boys would be out, but I hadn’t asked around – I thought about texting someone, but I was so pissed it didn’t really matter who I got off with. Before the minibuses, Natasha had to do a speech about not getting to fuck any other boys but Dean and having to clean up after him when they moved to Gresham, then Mam roped me, Laura and Natasha into singing ‘Like a Virgin’ together on the karaoke. I wondered if Mam thought we were still virgins, but we belted it out anyhow. Back in the day we’d all pretended to be Madonna in our rooms at least once – I wasn’t much of a singer, but I posed like a starlet as the ball thing bounced along the words. I didn’t look the way of the old men, but you could catch them all applauding as we came off the stage. It was a bit of a relief when the Boro Taxis started tooting their horns outside. We piled in and shot up Marton Road like randy girls on a hen night, me and Laura and Natasha and Mam and a few cousins and a few of Natasha’s mates squeezed in one, everyone else in the other. I held on for dear life as the bus swerved and bobbled my head around. I pushed the frilly boob bits off my shoulders, watching the town fly by as the driver put his foot down. I was feeling frosty, but I rocked around in a haze of Archers and tried not to keel over. When we got to Time we had to wait outside for the other minibus to catch up, and me and Laura and Mam huddled in a cuddle while Natasha chattered to her mates on the roadside. Someone had given her a banner saying DON’T TOUCH: I’M ENGAGED but she wasn’t looking too dishevelled yet in her chainmail dress – I was just happy there was no way she could get stabbed that night.
We got into Time at about ten o’clock, and Natasha swanned around with her best mates trying to conjure up phone numbers and plastic johnnies. Laura met up with a few boys from St Mary’s, dancing with them in the centre of the room and probably getting a few gropes. They weren’t bad looking actually. Me and Mam watched from the side of the dancefloor, spending the whole night together and getting bored a lot quicker than everyone else. I didn’t want to be the one to ditch her, but it was miles too loud to talk to each other and we couldn’t exactly go on the pull. Mam never wanted to hook up with anyone after our dad, especially after she found out about the cancer. With the drinks fading off, the hen night began to feel incredibly rubbish. Drained by boredom and old pervs trying to cop off with me, I didn’t want to socialise and me and Mam ended up getting a taxi home an hour after getting in. After all it was a school night, and the thought of my yellow ducks bedcover was starting to feel like heaven. I set my mind on that and we set off into the night. And I made sure I didn’t say one thing about the cancer.
Debbie
.sdrawkcab no erew stnap sih yllatnediccA. esuoh eht morf yawa klaw mih gnihctaw das
You okay, honey? Mam asked, rubbing a finger up her glass. I stabbed her with eyelashes, then went, Are you coming to Time with us? I just wanna get going, you know what I mean.
Mmm, yeah it should be fun, she replied. She was looking really well with her face made up and the fifties black-and-white hat – it was one of those nights you prayed you don’t get a maudlin-mouth and talk about the cancer.
I sat up in my chair then downed the rest of an Archers, wobbly as anything and looking forward to grooving at the club. I tried to think which boys would be out, but I hadn’t asked around – I thought about texting someone, but I was so pissed it didn’t really matter who I got off with. Before the minibuses, Natasha had to do a speech about not getting to fuck any other boys but Dean and having to clean up after him when they moved to Gresham, then Mam roped me, Laura and Natasha into singing ‘Like a Virgin’ together on the karaoke. I wondered if Mam thought we were still virgins, but we belted it out anyhow. Back in the day we’d all pretended to be Madonna in our rooms at least once – I wasn’t much of a singer, but I posed like a starlet as the ball thing bounced along the words. I didn’t look the way of the old men, but you could catch them all applauding as we came off the stage. It was a bit of a relief when the Boro Taxis started tooting their horns outside. We piled in and shot up Marton Road like randy girls on a hen night, me and Laura and Natasha and Mam and a few cousins and a few of Natasha’s mates squeezed in one, everyone else in the other. I held on for dear life as the bus swerved and bobbled my head around. I pushed the frilly boob bits off my shoulders, watching the town fly by as the driver put his foot down. I was feeling frosty, but I rocked around in a haze of Archers and tried not to keel over. When we got to Time we had to wait outside for the other minibus to catch up, and me and Laura and Mam huddled in a cuddle while Natasha chattered to her mates on the roadside. Someone had given her a banner saying DON’T TOUCH: I’M ENGAGED but she wasn’t looking too dishevelled yet in her chainmail dress – I was just happy there was no way she could get stabbed that night.
We got into Time at about ten o’clock, and Natasha swanned around with her best mates trying to conjure up phone numbers and plastic johnnies. Laura met up with a few boys from St Mary’s, dancing with them in the centre of the room and probably getting a few gropes. They weren’t bad looking actually. Me and Mam watched from the side of the dancefloor, spending the whole night together and getting bored a lot quicker than everyone else. I didn’t want to be the one to ditch her, but it was miles too loud to talk to each other and we couldn’t exactly go on the pull. Mam never wanted to hook up with anyone after our dad, especially after she found out about the cancer. With the drinks fading off, the hen night began to feel incredibly rubbish. Drained by boredom and old pervs trying to cop off with me, I didn’t want to socialise and me and Mam ended up getting a taxi home an hour after getting in. After all it was a school night, and the thought of my yellow ducks bedcover was starting to feel like heaven. I set my mind on that and we set off into the night. And I made sure I didn’t say one thing about the cancer.
Debbie
.sdrawkcab no erew stnap sih yllatnediccA. esuoh eht morf yawa klaw mih gnihctaw das
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