Mother.
'I'd rather go where I won't hear comments like that,' I replied. 'And I thought Meggie was once your friend?'
'I didn't mean it,' Mother said instantly. 'I just don't understand you, Persephone.'
'You never tried to in the past and it's too little too late now,' I lashed out.
Silence.
'I see,' Mother said at last.
'Mother, I don't want to fight with you. I'm too tired. I'll come and see you as soon as I get settled,' I told her.
'Goodbye, Persephone,' said Mother.
'Bye, Mother.'
Mother put the phone down first – but not before I heard her sniff and caught the catch in her throat. She was crying. It made me want to cry too. Mother was crying.
I'd done that.
* * *
So Callie, here I am at Meggie's. I've been here for almost a month now. She lives in a two-up, two-down house but it's warm and clean and better than I've been in recently so I can't complain. Meggie sleeps in the smaller bedroom upstairs. I have the bigger one. We argued about that until Meggie put her foot down and said that there were two of us and only one of her so it was only right we had the bigger bedroom. The bathroom is opposite my bedroom which is handy. Downstairs, there's a kitchen and a living room with a burgundy sofa and a light beige armchair which don't match – but who cares? The TV sits selfconsciously in one corner. The ancient music centre sits in another. Meggie has a courtyard garden. It's smaller than her living room, but it's enough to dry your clothes when they've just come out of the washing machine. So the house is fine. The area is something else again though.
When I phoned Minerva to ask about her new job at the Daily Shouter and to check that Mother was OK, she was horrified when I told her where I was going to live.
'But it's really rough around there,' she told me.
'No rougher than anywhere else,' I replied.
'Are you kidding?' Minerva scoffed. 'My first assignment was to interview a woman just a couple of streets away from where you are now. On the way back to the office I was ambushed.'
'What d'you mean?' I asked sharply. 'Are you all right? Were you hurt?'
'No. Some nought creep pushed me against the wall and asked me what I had for him,' Minerva said with disgust.
'What happened?'
'He took my purse and my mobile phone, then ran off,' said Minerva. 'Bastard! But it could've been worse.'
'You were unlucky—' I began.
'Sephy, the majority of the rapes and murders in this country are committed by noughts. You remember that,' Minerva told me.
'That's such a simplistic argument – and you know it,' I shot back at her.
'It's the truth.'
'The truth or manipulated statistics? Besides, even if that's true, which I don't believe it is for a second, that doesn't mean that every nought is a criminal.'
'But the ones that are don't walk around with the word stamped on their forehead,' said Minerva.
'So you're saying I shouldn't trust any nought?'
'I'm saying you should be careful,' said Minerva.
'I prefer to trust people no matter who they are until they give me a reason not to – not the other way round,' I told her.
'Which is why you always end up getting hurt,' Minerva told me.
And I couldn't think of a single thing to say to that. I decided to change the subject before we ended up screaming down the phone at each other.
'Congratulations on getting your job,' I said.
'I'm on six months' probation,' Minerva told me. 'I won't get the really big stories for a while yet. Like I said, I'm only a junior reporter at the moment.'
'You'll breeze through it,' I said.
'I hope so. I've reported on two nought assaults and a fire at a warehouse so far – as well as a kitten stuck in a tree and the local sweet shop being flooded out.'
'Two assaults? They're launching you in at the deep end, aren't they?'
'Not really. They were both nought-on-nought crimes and no Crosses were involved, so they were minor league stories,' Minerva dismissed.
'Not to the Noughts involved,' I replied.
Couldn't Minerva hear
'I'd rather go where I won't hear comments like that,' I replied. 'And I thought Meggie was once your friend?'
'I didn't mean it,' Mother said instantly. 'I just don't understand you, Persephone.'
'You never tried to in the past and it's too little too late now,' I lashed out.
Silence.
'I see,' Mother said at last.
'Mother, I don't want to fight with you. I'm too tired. I'll come and see you as soon as I get settled,' I told her.
'Goodbye, Persephone,' said Mother.
'Bye, Mother.'
Mother put the phone down first – but not before I heard her sniff and caught the catch in her throat. She was crying. It made me want to cry too. Mother was crying.
I'd done that.
* * *
So Callie, here I am at Meggie's. I've been here for almost a month now. She lives in a two-up, two-down house but it's warm and clean and better than I've been in recently so I can't complain. Meggie sleeps in the smaller bedroom upstairs. I have the bigger one. We argued about that until Meggie put her foot down and said that there were two of us and only one of her so it was only right we had the bigger bedroom. The bathroom is opposite my bedroom which is handy. Downstairs, there's a kitchen and a living room with a burgundy sofa and a light beige armchair which don't match – but who cares? The TV sits selfconsciously in one corner. The ancient music centre sits in another. Meggie has a courtyard garden. It's smaller than her living room, but it's enough to dry your clothes when they've just come out of the washing machine. So the house is fine. The area is something else again though.
When I phoned Minerva to ask about her new job at the Daily Shouter and to check that Mother was OK, she was horrified when I told her where I was going to live.
'But it's really rough around there,' she told me.
'No rougher than anywhere else,' I replied.
'Are you kidding?' Minerva scoffed. 'My first assignment was to interview a woman just a couple of streets away from where you are now. On the way back to the office I was ambushed.'
'What d'you mean?' I asked sharply. 'Are you all right? Were you hurt?'
'No. Some nought creep pushed me against the wall and asked me what I had for him,' Minerva said with disgust.
'What happened?'
'He took my purse and my mobile phone, then ran off,' said Minerva. 'Bastard! But it could've been worse.'
'You were unlucky—' I began.
'Sephy, the majority of the rapes and murders in this country are committed by noughts. You remember that,' Minerva told me.
'That's such a simplistic argument – and you know it,' I shot back at her.
'It's the truth.'
'The truth or manipulated statistics? Besides, even if that's true, which I don't believe it is for a second, that doesn't mean that every nought is a criminal.'
'But the ones that are don't walk around with the word stamped on their forehead,' said Minerva.
'So you're saying I shouldn't trust any nought?'
'I'm saying you should be careful,' said Minerva.
'I prefer to trust people no matter who they are until they give me a reason not to – not the other way round,' I told her.
'Which is why you always end up getting hurt,' Minerva told me.
And I couldn't think of a single thing to say to that. I decided to change the subject before we ended up screaming down the phone at each other.
'Congratulations on getting your job,' I said.
'I'm on six months' probation,' Minerva told me. 'I won't get the really big stories for a while yet. Like I said, I'm only a junior reporter at the moment.'
'You'll breeze through it,' I said.
'I hope so. I've reported on two nought assaults and a fire at a warehouse so far – as well as a kitten stuck in a tree and the local sweet shop being flooded out.'
'Two assaults? They're launching you in at the deep end, aren't they?'
'Not really. They were both nought-on-nought crimes and no Crosses were involved, so they were minor league stories,' Minerva dismissed.
'Not to the Noughts involved,' I replied.
Couldn't Minerva hear
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