Score one to Sue.
‘Right!’ Flo wiped her hands briskly together and began tidying things up as if she’d known her way round Sue’s kitchen for years now. ‘Why don’t I leave it with you two girls to talk about, yeah? Tomorrow morning, when you’re having your first cuppa, how about you watch Kath together? See if it appeals. Riding a bicycle with a celebrity! Apparently she’s bringing along her trainer for “group morale and physio” if anyone needs it. A big strapping lad. Reminds me of Idris Elba, he does. Oh, girls.’ Flo went the tiniest bit misty. ‘We’ll be such a merry threesome!’ She tipped the rest of her fizz down the sink (I’ve got to drive home, haven’t I?), gave them both a tight, reassuring hug, shouldered her large canvas tote (from Vietnam, apparently) then disappeared.
Raven and Sue stared at the closed front door long enough to hear Flo’s car grind into gear then tear off down the street. Raven smiled at the door, then at Sue and said, ‘She’s like Mary Poppins, isn’t she?’
‘Yes,’ Sue smiled as well, feeling a rush of affection for both Raven and Flo. Her new friends. ‘So … for the morning. Are you a tea or a coffee person?’
‘Tea. White and one please,’ Raven said, the energy between them still shy, but less anxious. ‘If it’s all right, I think I’ll head up to bed now.’
‘Of course,’ Sue said, then added, ‘You can do what you like. This is your home now.’
Raven turned to head up the stairs then suddenly turned around, pulled Sue into a tight hug, muttered something that sounded like thank you sosososooo much, then ran up the stairs and into her room, shutting the door behind her.
Well, thought Sue. Let the new chapter begin.
Chapter Thirty
‘Can I help you with anything?’
Raven bit back the impulse to correct the shop assistant’s grammar because the real answer was no. No he couldn’t help her. But throwing shade on someone’s grammar first thing in the morning just seemed rude.
She gave him her best ‘not really sure’ smile and went back to looking at the long row of bicycles, wondering what would happen if she asked him to help her with what she really wanted.
Her parents’ support. That was the main thing.
Failing that, she wanted a job that didn’t involve people calling in desperate for help she was unable to give, but that paid the same amount and didn’t require anything beyond a college education.
She wanted the price tags on these bicycles to be half of what they were.
And world peace.
She wanted that, too. Gandhiji would’ve approved.
‘Are you looking for anything in particular?’
‘Ummm …’ She ran her finger along a set of handlebars hoping the gesture made her look even the slightest bit as if she knew what she was doing. ‘I’m just browsing, really.’
‘Right.’ The clerk went from nice to impatient in a nanosecond. He rolled his eyes in a display of world weariness that the fat, goth girl was considering, but not actually buying something that might help her not be fat anymore. Not that she was paranoid about her weight or anything (She’d eaten an entire pizza last night whilst Sue had picked at a piece or two with her fingertips and Flo had eaten maybe a slice). ‘Lemme know if I can help you with anything,’ he said by rote as he headed back to the counter where an ultra-fit looking blonde girl around her age was putting mark-down labels on several dozen bottles of anti-freeze.
To be honest, Raven couldn’t believe she was in an actual bike store looking at actual bicycles considering signing up for an actual, literal, bicycle trip. Not that they’d one hundred per cent decided they were going or anything, but she wouldn’t have believed she’d be living anywhere but her parents’ a week ago, so who knew what might happen? They might actually go.
As instructed, she and Sue had watched Brand New Day earlier this morning as Sue was getting ready for her early shift. Raven wasn’t on until noon but she wasn’t really one for lying in and there were all sorts of new noises at Sue’s house she wasn’t used to, like neighbours. They each admitted they’d seen the show occasionally but clearly not with the regularity Flo had. They’d watched silently as Kath rode on a stationary bicycle that lit up a lightbulb each time she amped up her revs. One watt for each thousand pounds that had been donated. She was up to forty-seven watts so far. They learnt that the ride wasn’t for another two and a half months and that each rider would be expected to try and raise five hundred pounds each that would also cover their expenses. They’d both drawn in quick, sharp breaths at that news. Fundraising definitely wasn’t Raven’s bag and, from the looks of things, wasn’t exactly Sue’s cup of tea, either.
When the segment was over and went on to something about Kev and volleyball and learning how to spike it over the net, they muted the telly, made toast and giggled about Flo’s enthusiasm (and a little bit about her bossiness), but in a nice way and it had felt fun, giggling with someone who could totally be her mum but blonde and wasn’t even the tiniest bit judgmental. Just … nice. Sue, Raven learnt, had trained to be a beauty stylist and, despite not having pursued it, still kept up with the latest hair trends and would happily, if Raven wanted her to, help redo her streaks that had already almost completely disappeared after just a couple of showers. Raven had instantly said yes, not because Sue seemed to be some sort of crazy fashion guru (her overall look
