The Parent Problem (18 page)

What is going on?

‘I hope you have herbal, Rob?’ asks Yuki, rummaging through the cupboards.

Rob shakes his head. ‘Sorry. Only builders’,’ he says, rocking back on his chair to pick up a box of tea bags from the work surface behind him.

‘How apt,’ says Yuki, taking the box from him. ‘You being a builder and everything.’

‘I am not a builder any more,’ Rob says quietly. ‘I am a construction site manager.’

‘Whatever,’ says Yuki. ‘Just hot water with lemon for me then.’ She picks up the kettle and begins making tea for us. ‘I will have to rebalance my chakras after drinking unfiltered water, of course.’

Rob sucks his teeth. I don’t blame him for looking peeved. Yuki is starting to annoy me.

‘Ooooh,’ says Mum. ‘Hot water and lemon sounds so refreshing! I’ll have that too.’

I wince. Can’t Mum see how rude Yuki is being to Rob? I thought she and Rob were supposed to be friends and now she’s siding with his ex. What has got into her?

‘So what do you do, Hellie?’ Yuki asks.

‘Just a boring office job,’ says Mum. ‘What about you?’

‘I am no longer tied to the world of work. I live on an ashram – when I am not travelling, that is. I prefer not to be weighed down by possessions and home-ownership.’

‘Or family,’ Rob mutters. I am not sure Mum hears him, she is too excited by what Yuki has just said.

‘An
ashram
?’ she says. Her eyes are sparkling. ‘That
is
interesting. Is it very far away from here?’

‘Yes,’ says Yuki. ‘In India.’ She smiles and closes her eyes for a second, as though picturing the place in her mind. ‘I decided to renounce all possessions when I left Rob, so I went to live on an ashram where I could find myself spiritually and practise yoga in the traditional way. It is the only way to truly experience peace. I couldn’t do that inside the walls of a marriage and motherhood.’

‘How
interesting
,’ says Mum again, this time with even more feeling. She leans forward as if Yuki has all at once become the most fascinating person she has ever met.

‘I seem to remember you renounced all possessions except our old camper van,’ Rob says quietly. ‘The one we went travelling in together.’

Yuki ignores him and says, ‘You should try it, Hellie – living with nothing to tie you down. It is incredibly freeing.’

‘I can imagine,’ says Mum. ‘So when did you make this decision?’

I have no idea what this ashram place is but I don’t like the thought of losing all my possessions. I am worried that Mum is becoming fired up by the idea of being so ‘free’; the mood she is in, and knowing the way she changes her mind about her hobbies, she might decide we are selling all we own right now and following Yuki on her travels.

Harris would never give up the TV, though. And you would have to kill me before I would give up my books.

‘I left Rob and Finn ten years ago,’ Yuki continues. ‘As I say, family is a tie that constrains us. If we are to find the true meaning of our lives and remain individuals, we must break free from the bonds that hold us. In the ashram I can meditate, create, and use my own space however I wish.’

Rob gets up and collects the tea mugs, even though they are not empty. He makes a loud noise with the washing-up.

I have to say I am changing my opinion about Yuki pretty fast. She makes her life choices sound pretty selfish. Why would anyone have a kid and then decide that ‘family ties them down’? I’m glad Finn’s not in the room right now to hear what Yuki has just said. I can see why he is not that impressed with his mother.

My mum, on the other hand, seems more and more impressed by what she has just heard. She sits up. ‘Ten years ago, you say?’ she asks.

‘Yes,’ says Yuki. ‘I had to find a way of nurturing my artistic child,’ says Yuki.

‘Oh, you have another child?’ says Mum, her forehead wrinkling.

Rob gives a hollow laugh. ‘No, Yuki means she left to discover her creative side. Not easy being an artist when you live with a
builder
,’ he says.

Finn and Harris reappear as Rob is saying this. Finn looks so miserable I almost feel I should give him a hug. I’m not surprised he’s upset. It is bad enough that my dad died, but at least he didn’t choose to leave us to go off and do whatever he wanted.

I hate to admit it, but I am feeling really sorry for Finn Parker.

Mum became more and more cheerful in the days that followed. When I pointed out the fact, she went pink with pleasure and said, ‘I know! Must be all this dancing. So good for the soul! In fact,’ she said, as she rumba-ed around the kitchen table, ‘I think I shall have to go on having lessons once the competition is over.’

This news has not exactly filled me with joy, but it is nice to see Mum so happy all the time.

I have noticed something, though: the happier Mum becomes, the quieter and less happy Harris is.

I tried asking him what was up. He said he was angry with Mum because she said he couldn’t come to the dancing competition. I asked him why and he said, ‘Because it’s too late and she says it’s past my bedtime.’ I told him she was probably right. ‘Maybe kids aren’t even allowed to go,’ I pointed out. But he just shrugged and went back to watching cartoons. He didn’t even perk up when Mum announced her plans for more dancing lessons. I would have thought he would at least be thrilled that Finn would be coming round for even more babysitting.

Which, needless to say, I am not. I am going to have to talk to Mum about this. I really think I am old enough to stay home alone.

Sadly, my complaint is falling on deaf ears. It is the night of the competition and Mum is preparing snacks for us – for Finn – and going through the ‘Checklist of How to Behave’ yet again. As if I am not used to this after months of Finn coming round twice a week while Mum goes out.

‘Please don’t ask Finn round tonight,’ I beg. ‘It’s bad enough that I go to the same school as him.’

‘Skye, darling, don’t be like that,’ Mum says. ‘Rob is so pleased Finn is spending time here. He says it has helped him settle after their move.’

‘Well that’s just lovely. What about me? What about how I feel?’ I say. I did feel sorry for Finn the other night, it’s true, but Aubrey still isn’t speaking to me, and the more Finn is round at my place, the worse things get at school.

‘Why don’t you invite Aubrey round as well?’ Mum says. ‘She could keep you company while Finn and Harris play computer games together.’

I cannot believe Mum has just said this. She just hasn’t noticed a single thing about my life since she started those classes. Something inside me snaps and suddenly I am shouting at her, the words pouring out before I have a chance to check them.

‘Just so you know,’ I say, tears choking my voice, ‘Aubrey is not my friend any more. In fact, thanks to you and your stupid dancing, I don’t have
any
friends.’

Mum looks as though I have slapped her. I know I should feel guilty for blaming her, but I am so angry with her for putting her ballroom dancing before me that I plough on regardless.

‘You have just been so obsessed with your classes that you haven’t noticed what is going on right in front of you, have you?’ I say. ‘Because of you insisting we get friendly with Finn, I have lost Aubrey. And because of
that
, she has turned everyone else against me. It was the last straw when you got Rob round to unlock the bathroom to “save” me instead of helping me yourself. In fact . . . oh no!’ A shot of ice rushes through me as it dawns on me what must have really happened that day.

‘What?’ Mum is white-faced. Not as white-faced as I reckon I am, though.

‘Aubrey did it!’

‘Did what?’ Mum tries to catch hold of me, but I twist away. ‘Skye, darling, you are not making any sense.’

‘Aubrey put the video of me falling into the loo online and now I am the laughing-stock of the whole school,’ I shout.

I turn to leave the room, but Mum is too quick for me. She grabs my hand and pulls me to her. ‘Darling, this is awful!’ she says. She lets go of my hand, takes me gently by the shoulders and looks into my eyes, her brow crumpled with concern. ‘You shouldn’t have kept all this to yourself. Why didn’t you tell me? Oh, you poor love!’ She enfolds me in her arms and holds me tight. It would be quite a nice hug if she weren’t wearing a ridiculously long necklace with a large knobbly stone on it. ‘Are you sure Aubrey would do such a nasty thing?’ she mumbles into my hair.

I disentangle myself. ‘I know I saw her texting something when Rob broke the door down. It all makes sense. She’s been trying to find a way to impress the VTs and drop me for ages. Well, she’s done it now,’ I say.

‘Skye, this is serious,’ Mum says. She tilts my chin up to make me look into her eyes. ‘I can’t let this go without reporting it. Even if it is Aubrey. Bullies need to be shown they can’t get away with it – you know that.’

‘NO!’ I yell. ‘It’s too late. If you go charging into school and make a complaint you will only make it worse.’

‘I can’t just let this go,’ Mum says. She looks very anxious now. ‘There must be something we can do about this. Maybe I should talk to Aubrey’s mum instead?’

I shake my head. This is a disaster. Why did I open my big mouth in the first place?

Mum makes me sit down opposite her at the kitchen table. She holds my hand while she keeps talking on and on at me, repeating how serious this is and that she can’t stand to see me so upset, and I know she is there for me, don’t I, and surely there must be a reason for Aubrey’s ‘appalling behaviour’, and on and on . . .

In the end I can’t bear it any more. I snatch my hand away and push back my chair. Standing up, I blurt out:

‘You’re not listening to what I have been saying. I don’t want you to charge into school
or
talk to Aubrey’s mum. I have already lost my best friend, and that is bad enough.’

‘Skye—’

‘Listen! Aubrey isn’t interested in me any more. She wants to go out with Finn, OK? And she’s cross with me because he is always round here and I haven’t invited her round at the same time.’

‘I don’t understand,’ Mum says. ‘Would that be so bad?’

‘Yes!’ I cry. ‘I don’t WANT them to get together. It would be horrendous. It would be even worse than it is now. I would be completely left out and I couldn’t stand her talking about him all the time.’

‘Ah.’ Mum looks more troubled than ever. I can literally see every wrinkle on her forehead. ‘And – er – you have fought over this because . . . ?’ She hesitates, waiting for me to fill in the blanks.

‘Because he’s an
idiot
!’ I say, flinging my arms wide. Even as I say the words I am thinking, He’s not that bad. Not as bad as Aubrey, anyway. It’s not his fault she is crushing on him. Maybe I have been the idiot . . .

Mum’s frown clears and she smiles. ‘Oh, right!’ She sounds relieved and goes on to say, ‘I thought for one moment that you were going to say
you
fancied him too!’

‘Mu-um! Of course I don’t,’ I say. ‘And don’t say “fancy”. It’s gross.’

‘Well, these things happen – friends fighting over boys,’ she says. ‘I’m afraid romance can have a habit of getting in the way of friendships as you get older. But if you don’t both fancy him, then I can’t see what the problem is.’

‘PLEASE don’t say that word!’ I say. ‘You’re still not listening, anyway. I’ve just
told
you what the problem is.’

I am so exasperated. It is like we are talking two completely different languages.

‘Aubrey likes him, OK?
Aubrey
, not me. All she wants is to follow him around like some kind of love-crazed parrot that has swallowed a whole bottle of love potion. She is not interested in me any more. She has started hanging out with the cool gang so that she can impress him and she doesn’t want me holding her back. Get it?’ I say. How can I get her to understand how horrible this is for me?

‘Darling.’ Mum keeps her voice calm and comes round to my side of the table. She puts a hand on my shoulder. I shrug it off. I wish she would stop trying to hug me. ‘Please don’t worry,’ she says. ‘It’s only a phase, I promise. I’m sure Finn’s not interested in Aubrey anyway, is he? She’s a bit young for him. I thought it was uncool for Year 9s to mix with Year 8s?’ she adds. ‘Isn’t that what you told me?’

‘Yeah, well it turns out that this particular Year 9 doesn’t seem to follow the normal rules. He likes having an eight-year-old boy as a best mate and he hangs out at school with Year 8 girls. Maybe he some kind of weird obsession with the number eight,’ I add, with a dry laugh.

‘Who else does he “hang out” with then?’ Mum asks.

I wince at the way she says the words ‘hang out’, as though she is putting quote marks around them.

‘The school band. And Izzy and Livvy Vorderman,’ I reply. This is not strictly true: I don’t actually know that he hangs out with the VTs, but he must do, now he is in the band.

‘Ah,’ says Mum again. She nods. ‘Those two have always been nothing but trouble. Haven’t they always tried to make life difficult for you?’

‘Guess so,’ I say.

Mum puts her head on one side. ‘You don’t think maybe it was the twins who posted the video, not Aubrey? It doesn’t sound like her, to be honest. I could ask the school to at least look into it—’