Thrusting her hands into her pockets, she playfully ran her fingertips around the rough edges of the pound coin. One day, when she was older and she had children of her own, she would make sure they were treated equally; no special measures for the younger child. And both children would be allowed to choose whether they wanted to buy sweets or not. Joanna knew all about healthy diets, and very rarely asked for chocolate or sweets, but every once in a while couldn’t hurt, and that was why she was now determined to buy herself a treat. She wouldn’t use the entire pound right now. She’d use some of it, and keep some for the next time her sister got on her nerves. After all, she’d managed to find the newsagent’s shop this time without too much fuss, and so a return trip one day wouldn’t be out of the question.
Entering the shop, she was immediately hit by the wave of warm air that hung at head-height. It actually felt warmer in the shop than it had outside, where the sea breeze was pushing the few clouds in the otherwise crystal-blue sky. Clearly, the owner didn’t believe in the merits of air conditioning. The shop was about the size of her bedroom, but it was crammed full. Colourful magazines – like the ones her grandma read – lined the shelves, and above those were the magazines her dad would occasionally buy when Mum wasn’t around. The opposite wall, by comparison, was a thing of beauty. The shelves were chockful of colourful wrappers; could it be that every sweet ever produced resided here? So much choice; too much choice! And then, above the chocolate bars, was a shelf containing tall plastic cartons of sweets, including sherbet lemons, cola bottles, and her favourites: rhubarb and custards.
Maybe she wouldn’t bother saving any of her pound today; she could always earn another pound for tidying her room, or offering to dry the washed crockery after dinner. In fact, this Aladdin’s cave could become her secret place – somewhere she could sneak off to on the way home from school or when she was supposed to be walking to Grandma’s house. Her parents would never come in here, so it wasn’t like they’d ever catch her.
She was still deliberating over which chocolate bar to buy when she felt the dryness in her throat, and spied the tall fridge of ice-cold drinks cans and bottles. How hadn’t she realised just how thirsty she was? Walking to the refrigerator door, she looked in at the selection of Coke, Sprite, Fanta, and Lilt cans, but the sticker on the front of the door said all bottles were 80p, so she wouldn’t have enough money to buy a drink and a chocolate bar. If only she’d realised she would make this trip out today, she would have raided her piggy bank for another pound. Opening the fridge door, she pulled out the bottle of Fanta.
Returning to the wall of sweets, she ran her eyes over the selection again. If only she had another twenty pence, she’d be able to buy a Twirl and a bottle of Fanta. Picking up the Twirl, she turned the purple packet over in her hands. If only the shopkeeper would allow her to buy half the Twirl now, she’d have the drink and a taste of chocolate to keep her going. Or maybe, if she asked him really nicely, he’d let her have both if she promised to return and pay the extra twenty pence on another day. It was worth a try.
‘Hello,’ a deep voice said from behind her. ‘What’s going on here then?’
‘I wasn’t stealing it,’ she said, fear instantly gripping her heart, as she turned to see the tall man in the light-grey suit and tie, hovering over her. ‘I have money.’ She pulled out the pound coin to show him for good measure.
His eyes didn’t leave hers. ‘I know you, don’t I?’ he asked, his accent not local to the area. ‘You go to St Margaret’s with my daughter.’
Joanna thought there was something vaguely familiar about his face, but she couldn’t place him as one of the dads of her close friends. But why would he lie? And how else would he know she went to St Margaret’s?
‘What’s your daughter’s name?’ she asked.
He smiled harmlessly. ‘Kim. She’s in Year 4.’
She knew of a Kim in one of the other classes: a quiet girl with whom she’d had little engagement.
‘I think I know who you mean,’ Joanna replied forthrightly, ‘but we’re not in the same class.’
‘Ah, I see,’ he replied, looking down at the items she was gripping so tightly. ‘Well now, oh, it looks like you don’t have enough money to buy the drink and the chocolate.’
She looked down at the two items, deciding her thirst was greater than her hunger, and begrudgingly returned the Twirl to the shelf. She could feel his eyes watching her, but she willed her cheeks not to show her embarrassment.
‘I tell you what,’ the man said softly. ‘Twirls are my daughter’s favourite too, and look here, it says you can buy three for the price of two. How about I buy the three, and you can have the free one. That way, I can have one, Kim can have one, and you can have one; we all win.’
He reached out and picked up two Twirls, and opened his free hand, waiting for her
