And Baby Makes Two - Dyan Sheldon [50]
“I’m sorry,” I said, before she could say anything. “Shanee and I went for a coffee after the film.” I casually squeezed past her. “God, I’m tired.”
“You drank coffee till nearly five in the morning?” asked my mother.
I took off my jacket. “We were having such a good time that we went back to hers. Since it’s the weekend.” I hung my jacket on a hook. “It was really great. I haven’t had a chance to really talk to Shanee in ages.” I gave her a smile. “Thanks.” I turned towards my room.
“Not so fast,” said Gruppenführer Spiggs. “I rang Shanee’s at midnight. Her mother said Shanee’d been home for nearly an hour. Alone.”
I laughed. “You know Mrs Tyler. There are so many people in and out she never knows who’s there.”
Hilary Spiggs snorted like the old hog she was.
“Well, you weren’t.”
I looked her in her beady eyes. “Yes, I was.”
“No, you weren’t. Lucy went and checked. Shanee was sound asleep.”
“All right, all right … I ran into some friends I hadn’t seen in ages, and I went with them. Shanee didn’t want to come.”
She smiled. “Oh, really?”
I kept looking at her, but I got ready to make a quick retreat.
“Really.”
“And might one ask why you’ve got your dress on inside out?”
I went numb for a second. I didn’t have to look down, though, to know that she was right. I could feel the seam of my dress with my hand.
“It’s not inside out. It’s meant to be this way.” I said it like I thought she’d lost her mind.
And then she did.
She knew where I was. I was out with him. Wasn’t one baby enough for me? Did I want more? Couldn’t I see that he was only using me?
That was when I lost it. “You don’t know anything about it!” I screamed. “We happen to be in love.”
“Love?” she screamed back. “You think this is love? If he really loved you he’d do more than take you to bed when he fancies.”
“Shut up!” I wanted to shake her. “Shut up and mind your own business for a change.”
She went dead calm. “Fine,” said my mother. “I’ll mind my own business. Because I’ll tell you one thing, Miss All-grown-up: I’m not going to mind your brats while you tart yourself around town. If you want to play house, you can play house on your own. I’m moving down to Charley’s for a while. You’re sixteen now. Sort yourself out and then you’re on your own. I’ll leave you housekeeping money in the blue teapot and I’ll talk to you in a couple of days.” She looked like she wanted to shake me. “Don’t ring me; I’ll ring you,” and then she banged past me and into her room.
Shinola started crying the second the door slammed shut.
Home Alone
When she lived with us, Hilary made me get up when she got up for work, even if I’d been awake half the night with Shinola. She said it was so she could see I had a proper breakfast, but I knew it was just to torment me and make me suffer like her. If she had to get up at seven, then I had to, too. The first thing she’d do when she got back from work was check to see that I’d done everything she thought I should’ve done in the day. “Did you do the washing… Did you tidy your room… Did you do the washing-up?” Nagnagnag. Supper was at seven-thirty, unless I hadn’t got round to starting it, when it was more like eight. Tea and biscuits were at ten, bed at eleven. Which is another example of how much living with Hilary Spiggs was like being in prison.
But now she’d gone I didn’t have to live by her schedule. Except for being on twenty-four hour call for Shinola, there was nothing I had to do at or by a certain time. I could have cereal for supper or eat breakfast at noon if I wanted. I could stay up watching telly till it shut down. I could fall asleep on the couch. I could do the housework when I felt like it. I could do as I pleased.
Which wasn’t all that much. We’d watch the morning kids’ programmes, and then we’d go out if it wasn’t raining too hard – down to the shops or the post office or whatever – and then the rest of the day we