Blood Sisters(13)

‘Here she is, here she is,’ chanted Duncan.

Kitty could have screamed with frustration. Barbara was hers! No one else’s. She felt a burning jealousy that reminded her of another time. There was someone else she had wanted all for herself. Who was it?

‘Hi, everyone!’

Barbara had her hair done up in a ponytail today. How she would love to have one too. Instead, her hair was hidden underneath the black helmet that was keeping her skull together.

‘Look who I’ve brought!’

There were some other schoolkids with Barbara. All wearing the same colour blazers. Red. As though someone had dipped them in blood.

‘We’re going to form a band. The supervisor thought you’d like it.’

‘Hah!’ scoffed Margaret. ‘Free … entertainment.’

‘A band!’ Duncan began clapping and grinning madly, showing a wide expanse of fleshy red gum and grey teeth.

‘Fuck off,’ hissed Kitty. ‘This isn’t about you. It’s about me. I hum and Straight Fringe Barbara plays the mouth organ. It’s what we do. It’s our game and no one else can join in.’

‘Don’t look so worried, Kitty.’ Barbara was squatting down next to her chair. ‘We’ll still carry on with what we’ve been doing before. But it will be even better. Look, one of my friends has brought a cymbal. She and Duncan can bang it together. And this other friend of mine has brought a guitar.’

‘I … can … sing,’ butted in Margaret.

Over my dead body, thought Kitty. That woman’s voice was worse than her snoring.

‘Come on, Kitty. Don’t sulk. Let’s have a go, shall we?’

It’s as though Barbara knew exactly how she was feeling. Still, that’s what sisters did, didn’t they? Kitty had decided that Barbara was exactly the kind of sister she would have liked, if she’d had one. Someone who played with her. Someone who liked her. Someone who stuck up for her. Like those twins on telly.

They were all sitting in a circle now. The girl with the guitar had started. ‘She’ll be coming round the mountain when she comes!’

Duncan was slumped in his wheelchair; a manic grin on his face and a shiny cymbal on his lap. One of the other schoolgirls was holding the stick for him.

BANG.

Duncan looked so ecstatic that it was as if he’d banged it himself.

‘Bugger the mountains,’ he beamed.

One of the girls began giggling.

‘Don’t be shocked,’ whispered Very Thin Carer. ‘People who have head injuries often act in inappropriate ways.’

What did that mean, wondered Kitty.

‘Coming round the mountain …’

‘Coming?’ roared Duncan, slapping his thighs. ‘That’s rude!’

‘Nice humming,’ whispered Barbara encouragingly to Kitty as if she hadn’t heard the outburst.

There was a loud burst of clapping from the staff. ‘Bravo,’ said Tea Trolley Lady. She was one of Kitty’s favourites because she always gave her an extra bun if it was going.

‘One more time!’ laughed Smiley Carer. This was great! Maybe they could be a proper group one day like that one that was always on television.

‘And this is the kind of community interaction I’ve just been talking about.’

They all looked up as Bossy Supervisor walked into the room. At least those of them who were capable of doing so. A very tall pretty blonde woman stood next to a short man with round spectacles, a very thick neck and a square haircut. He was staring down at the ground as though something interesting was going on there.

‘A band!’ The woman’s voice rang out. ‘That’s marvellous, isn’t it, Johnny?’

The man with the thick neck continued to stare at the ground. He looked about Kitty’s age, although she wasn’t quite sure what that was exactly. At her last birthday, she’d had one candle on her cake. They all did. ‘It’s more democratic that way,’ Bossy Supervisor had said.

Something moved inside Kitty’s chest. She liked this man! He was like her. She just knew it. For a start, she tended to watch the ground too. It was friendlier than some people’s faces. But somehow she had to get his attention.

‘Hummmmmm,’ she sang.

The man’s head jerked up to look at her. Those thick glasses and his solemn expression reminded her of an owl from one of the children’s books that Dawn was so fond of.

‘Hummmmm.’ Kitty hummed again. A little higher this time.

‘That’s nice,’ he said. His speech was slow and plodding. His eyes were a lovely deep brown. They were also quite narrow – almost slits – as if he’d just woken up and was getting used to the light.

‘Very pleasant.’ Bossy Supervisor’s words were clipped. It was the first nice thing she’d said about Kitty since the running away from the man with the flabby face.

‘Would you like to try it out here, Johnny?’ the blonde woman was saying. ‘Just for a night or two to see if you enjoy it?’

Kitty couldn’t remember anyone asking her that. ‘Maybe.’ The newcomer was staring at her as he spoke. Kitty could feel her cheeks getting hotter and hotter.

‘Time to pack up now,’ announced Bossy Supervisor. ‘Thank you very much, everyone.’