Ruby by Heather Burnside (carter reed txt) 📗

her friends always have more fashionable clothes than her? Why did she always have to tell them her mam couldn’t afford for her to go to the cinema with them? And why did she always have to be in as early as her brothers?

Since she had started secondary school Trina was becoming more and more rebellious, not only in the home but at school too. She wasn’t interested in study, only in enjoying herself and being popular. And if being popular meant getting into trouble then that was what she would do.

Once she had exhausted all negative thoughts and calmed down, Trina became bored. She had been looking forward to meeting Nicole and some of the other girls later. Nicole was great fun to be with and Trina enjoyed getting up to mischief with her and having a laugh. But if her mother insisted on making her stay in her room then she’d miss out on meeting her friends.

Trina wandered over to her bedroom window and looked out at the tiny patch of garden, which her mother kept neat. She saw the washing still lined up meticulously on the line and for a moment she regretted not helping. It wouldn’t have taken her two minutes. But no, why should she? Most of the clothes didn’t belong to her anyway.

Her eyes drifted back towards the house, which had a back extension to the downstairs with a flat roof. It had been added before they moved in to give the house more kitchen and dining space. As she looked through the window, Trina saw her mother go out into the garden and start bringing the washing in. While she worked, she hummed a tune but it wasn’t a cheerful tune; it sounded melancholy. Trina felt a momentary stab of guilt but quickly pushed it aside.

An idea was beginning to form in her head, but she couldn’t act on it until her mother was back indoors. She lay back down on her bed and waited till she could no longer hear her mother humming. Then she went to the window again to check her mother was out of sight. She’d gone back indoors. Good!

Trina eased the window open and looked down. There was only a short distance to the extension roof. It would be easy to drop down onto it. The extension was a lot higher up from ground level though so that might prove difficult to climb down. She carried on looking for a while, trying to decide whether it was worth the effort.

Why not? she thought. At least it would mean she would get to meet her friends so, to her mind, it was worth taking the risk. She eased herself out of the bedroom window and straddled the ledge. Then she swung both legs over it. She gripped the ledge with her arms and hands, and slowly lowered herself so her feet touched down lightly onto the roof.

Next she tiptoed across till she was at the outer edge of the extension. She lay down softly, peering over the edge to see through the kitchen window. There she spotted her mother who was chunnering away to herself, as usual, something about the magpies creating a racket again. Trina stifled a chuckle, knowing that her mother would be blaming the magpies for the noise she had made while walking across the roof. At least that meant she had done a good job of keeping her steps light.

Trina looked around her, assessing her options. Then she spotted the guttering and noticed that it led to a drainpipe at the far corner. The window finished about two thirds of the way across the extension wall, so the far corner would be the best place at which to descend to ground level without being spotted. She tiptoed across the roof again, this time making her way to the drainpipe, away from the window.

Easing herself over the edge proved a bit trickier this time. But Trina was a tall, athletic girl and she knew she could do it. At only twelve, she was also light enough for the drainpipe to support her weight. She swung her legs down, her feet gripping tightly onto one of the drainpipe brackets. She heard a bang as her feet hit the drainpipe and cringed, hoping she hadn’t raised her mother’s suspicions.

Trina waited a few seconds but couldn’t hear anything so she climbed down the wall, holding onto the drainpipe with her hands and feet till she had safely reached the bottom. Then, without waiting to see if her mother had heard her, she ran. She continued running till she was safely out of her street and on the way to Nicole’s home.

A feeling of euphoria swept through her, and she grinned to herself. She’d done it! She’d got out of the house and her mam hadn’t been able to stop her. There was every chance her mother would find out later when she came upstairs to check on her. But Trina wasn’t bothered.

She felt a sense of freedom. It wasn’t just about defying her mother. That was the easy part. No, it was also about becoming her own person.

21

August 1996

It was a lovely summer evening in the school holidays and Trina was hanging out in the local park with Nicole. They had been firm friends ever since they had started secondary school almost three years ago, and now they were both fourteen. Trina had grown into a very attractive girl, still tall and slim but with ample curves.

Her striking eyes were a deep, dark brown with a brilliant sheen which lit up her face. She also had full lips, a perfectly formed nose and high cheekbones and, although the scar was still visible, it was no longer repulsive, forming a smooth fine line across her left cheek.

Nicole was on a similar wavelength to Trina; they were both tough, athletic girls who liked to push the boundaries. Lately they had started drinking after dark.