Short Stories by Hope/The Doll/The Doll Chapter 5

When you get home, the pink bath is in the skip and there is the sound of banging and men swearing floating down the stairs. "Let's go out for dinner, Mum says.

You go upstairs to change and have to skirt around a man's bottom that's sticking out of the bathroom door. Mum follows with the bags of clothes and starts putting stuff away. Stevie is sitting on your bed again and seems to be watching. "You like Stevie" don't you," Mum says.

You shrug. "She's nice," is all you say as you strip off down to your knickers.

Just then, one of the men comes in the door. He is younger than you expected, with short curly hair, skin the colour of milk chocolate, and soft brown eyes. "I just wanted..." He stops when he sees you, almost completely naked, standing there. "Oops! Sorry," he says, but he gets a good look before he turns to Mum. "Could you just say where you want the bidet?"

Mum follows him out and you feel all shivery at the thought of a man seeing you like that. He was quite good-looking too. When you're dressed, this time in a pretty dress, you look in to see what they are doing. The bathroom is completely gutted, right back to the brick walls and several floorboards are up, revealing ancient pipes. An older version of the young man from before spots you and holds his hand up like a policeman stopping traffic. "Best not come in here luv," he says in a deep voice with a West Indian accent. The younger version, his son most likely, looks round and grins at you. You smile back as, for some reason, you feel a little tingle at the bottom of your tummy.

Aunty Jean used to bring me here," Mum says as she leads us into a small Indian restaurant hidden up a side street. There are only six tables and you and Mum are the only white faces. The food is yummy - you don't like it too hot, and the chicken whatever it is, is warm and spicy but it doesn't burn your mouth like some Indian food. Mum buys a bottle of wine in a shop nearby, and the restaurant supplies glasses. You get a glass of half and half which makes you feel quite grown-up.

In the taxi on the way home, Mum asks you if you are okay. "All this upheaval; new house, new people, new school. It's a lot for a girl to take in."

You want to tell her about how you feel different; about Stevie, the man on the bus and the plumber. Especially about Stevie, but somehow you can't. "I'm a bit nervous about school tomorrow," you say.

The school is close enough to walk and Mum comes with you to the gate. Your tummy is full of butterflies as you walk in. There is a girl waiting for you and she runs over to greet you. "Seems I drew the short straw. I'm your designated mentor for the rest of the term," she says with a gap-toothed grin that matches yours. She's called Cynthia but winces when she says it. "Call me Cyn," she says with a giggle. She's the same age as you but she has short, dark curly hair and brown eyes. Her skin isn't pasty white like mine and her nose is a bit squashed so I guess that she is partly black. It seems you are instant friends.

The day goes past in a blur. English first (your best subject) then maths (okay) and games on the field at the back in the afternoon. Fortunately Mum knew to pack your kit, so you didn't have to play hockey in your underwear like one girl did. There's a road at the far side and you can't help noticing that there are a couple of cars parked with men sitting in them, watching. "We play hockey in short skirts and long socks. Even though we have bullet-proof knickers on, it's no surprise that the local pervs like to watch," Cyn says when you ask about them.

"Pervs? Is that what they are? Men who 'like' little girls like you. What do they want? Just to look, or something more?" The thought makes you shiver.

When you finish, there is a communal shower. This is a first for you. The old school didn't have them and you had to go home to clean up. With twenty naked little girls all jostling to get under the half-dozen showers, there is a lot of laughter and giggles. Cyn stays close and you share a shower. She is very pretty, especially with her brown skin, and her tummy doesn't stick out like yours. As you grab a towel, a girl slips, or trips over with a squeal. She ends up on her back with her legs spread and for the first time, you get to see another girl's winkle. She lays there for a minute while her friends tease her before they help her up. You can't help thinking about what you saw.

When you come out of the shower, you are surprised to see the caretaker hanging around. He's an older man, tall and skinny, with short grey hair, thick glasses and a big beak of a nose. There's something a little creepy about him, but you shrug it off and head for the cloakroom to collect your stuff and go home. As promised, Mum's waiting at the gate and you let her hold your hand as you walk. She wants to know everything, but you don't mention the men on the road or the creepy caretaker, but you do tell her about the girl who fell over in the shower. When you get home, you get cake and milk, before going up to see how they got on with the bathroom. The bath, sink, toilet and bidet are all installed, and there are tiles on the walls. The young guy from yesterday is in the empty bath using some gooey stuff to seal the gap against the wall.

"Hello," he says, and smiles, revealing a set of white teeth.

"Hi. It looks real good in here now," you say. He says that there is just a bit of cleaning up to do and that he was 'volunteered' to stay behind and finish off. The way he looks at you makes you feel all shivery as if you are naked again. Mum comes up then and compliments him on the work and asks him if he'd like to stay for dinner. His name is Brian and he and Mum seem to get on well, even though Uncle Bob's not there. Afterwards, Mum sends you up to your room, saying that she needs to talk to Brian.

Chapter 6