Escape From Evil - Cathy Wilson [18]
The policewoman was lovely though. She put her arm around me, said she’d find me a nice cup of juice and told me everything would be all right. I had no reason to doubt her.
‘Where’s Mum?’ I asked.
‘She’s helping my colleagues.’ The WPC’s smile was warm. ‘Nothing to worry about.’
‘Helping them do what?’
‘Oh, they’re just asking your mother a few questions, that’s all.’
‘Can I ask you a question?’
My police babysitter couldn’t have looked more pleased.
‘Fire away,’ she said.
‘How did you know to look in the panda?’
The policewoman chuckled. ‘Oh, it wasn’t any magic, if that’s what you’re wondering,’ she said. ‘One of the officers was peering through the letterbox and saw everything.’
‘Oh,’ I said. What else was there to say?
We sat there in silence for a couple of minutes. Every time I tried to say something, the policewoman looked over from the other side of the desk, then away again as no words came out. Finally, I said, ‘I’ve got another question.’
‘Okay.’
‘Will we be allowed to leave soon?’
‘Yes, very soon.’
‘You won’t lock Mum up?’
‘Not today, no.’
That was all I’d wanted to hear.
‘Good.’
The policewoman smiled again. I could almost see a thought forming in her mind.
‘How would you like to have your fingerprints taken?’
Fingerprints? Like a criminal? I’d heard about that. That was how the police caught robbers and baddies.
‘Yes please!’
‘Come on then,’ she said, and led me out of the room.
It had been terrifying being driven through town to the police station. Partly because I didn’t know what we’d done wrong. Mainly, though, because I was worried about what would happen to Mum. On the way home it was a different matter. I couldn’t wait to tell Mum all about my fingerprints and she was lapping it up. When I showed her the black smudges on my thumb, she held her own hand up.
‘Snap!’
I hadn’t seen Mum laugh like that in ages. She didn’t seem tired for once, or distracted. I didn’t know what the police had said, but it was good to have her back.
The mood soon altered when we got home. Mum had called Granny and Grandpa from the station and they were waiting in their car as we pulled up. From the looks on their faces, they weren’t happy. As soon as we stepped through the front door Grandpa wanted to know the full story. They were whispering on the other side of the lounge, but I could tell they were talking about the package and the panda. I think Mum tried to deny everything at first because her dad raised his voice.
‘So the police came all the way round here for that tiny little packet?’ Grandpa said.
Mum nodded.
‘They sent four officers for that?’
Another nod.
‘Well, it seems a bit heavy-handed to me,’ he concluded. ‘Are you sure you’re telling me the full story?’
Mum was adamant, but you could tell from Grandpa’s face that he didn’t believe her.
‘It’s like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut,’ I heard him tell Granny as they left.
Like so many things, it was only years later that I appreciated how deeply this latest episode must have upset Mum’s parents. After three or so years of relative quiet they’d dared to hope she was going to settle down and, if she couldn’t win Daughter of the Year, at least be a responsible adult at last. Apparently not. But what was she doing getting involved with the police? Hadn’t she brought enough shame on the family? And why did it have to be drugs?
This was all kept from me. I knew nothing of the marijuana Mum had been smoking openly around the house for months. I knew nothing of her history with Yellow Dollies, or of how she’d sworn to Grandpa years ago that drugs would never be a problem again. All I saw were the angry exchanges between them, and that just made me sad.
The fallout from the police’s visit didn’t end at the froideur between Mum and her parents. A short while later, maybe a couple of days, there was another knock on the door. I swear my heart stopped.
The police have come to take Mum again!
Then