Another Life Altogether: A Novel - By Elaine Beale Page 0,62

I never thought of that,” he said. “But, even if I had, I probably wouldn’t do it. She scares the life out of me. You’re a lot braver than I am.” He gave me a gentle shove, then chewed on his lip a moment, as if considering something. “You know, if you wanted you could come with me to Bleakwick. You could come to the main library and you wouldn’t have to worry about sneaking things out. They let you take six books out at a time.”

“Really?” Just the idea of getting out of Midham to somewhere as busy as Bleakwick would make a welcome change, but going to the main library, having the chance to borrow whatever I wanted, that was definitely something to look forward to.

“So you want to come?” Malcolm beamed.

“All right,” I said. “I’ll just have to … well, I’ll have to check with my mum.” I had no intention of missing this opportunity, but I wanted to make sure that at least my mother had started eating before I went off to Bleakwick.

“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t be going until after school starts, and you can let me know when I see you there. You will be going to Liston Comprehensive, won’t you?”

I nodded.

“Good!” He grinned. “So you want to come with me for a walk on the beach? I can show you the spot where that chunk of cliff fell down.”

I wanted to walk on the beach with this odd, interesting boy along the tide line, examining the sea’s debris—seaweed, bleached wood, seashells, and all the other fascinating items the waves churned up and disgorged onto the shore. It would be nice, too, to take off my shoes and socks and wade out into the water, leaving behind the colorful little gatherings of holidaymakers and that narrow ribbon of sand. I remembered the story my mother had told of my three-year-old self charging, oblivious to any restraint, into the water. For a moment, I let myself imagine doing it again, racing down the beach, galloping into the waves, gasping at the sudden cold, my heart sent racing, my body light and buoyant in the liquid vastness of the sea. And then swimming, sleek and slippery like a sea mammal, farther and farther from the shore.

But, just as I was about to take up Malcolm’s invitation, I remembered my mother’s cream cakes and that she was waiting, helpless, for them under the bedclothes. “I’m sorry, but I have to go,” I said. “I’ve got some shopping that I’ve got to take home for my mum.”

“All right,” he said, shrugging. “Well, I suppose I’ll see you at school, then, Jesse Bennett.”

“Yes,” I answered. “I’ll see you at school.” And with that I hopped on my bike and, feeling a lot happier than I had when I set out, began pedaling toward home.

CHAPTER TEN

THE SATURDAY BEFORE I WAS DUE TO START AT LISTON COMPREHENSIVE, my father drove me into Hull to buy my new uniform. That morning, I’d asked my mother if she wanted to come with us, but she’d told me no. Unfortunately, although I’d succeeded in luring her out of bed with the Mr. Kipling cakes and her appetite had soon returned to normal, she hadn’t taken up her gardening as I’d hoped. Instead, she spent her days lying on the settee in her nightclothes, indiscriminately watching whatever was being shown on television. In the afternoons, it wasn’t unusual for me to come upon her staring blankly while the hyperactive presenters of Play School or Romper Room pranced about the screen, their big-gestured antics and exaggerated enunciations making my mother appear even more lethargic, like a limp cloth draped across the furniture. Still, I felt it was probably all right to leave her alone while we went to buy my new uniform. I was going to have to leave her on Monday, anyway, since I had no intention of missing the first day at my new school. After all, those first few days were crucial if I was to have any hope of making friends and establishing myself somewhere above the bottom of the student pecking order.

While I’d always considered shopping for clothes with my mother something akin to torture, going with my father was relatively uncomplicated. We went to one shop, the one recommended in the letter sent to us by the school secretary at Liston Comprehensive listing all my uniform needs, I picked out what I needed, and my father bought it. The