I dash over te the press an bring the stuff.
‘Where’s the pins I asked ye te get?’
‘Wha pins, Ma?’
‘The pins fer the nappy!’
‘I don’t know where ye put them, Ma.’
‘They were wit the dirty nappy I gave ye.’
‘No, ye didn’t, Ma. Jackser took tha.’
‘Ask him where he put them pins!’
Jackser comes runnin over from the sink an grabs the back of me neck an pushes me head down te the floor. ‘Do ye see them, Mrs? Do ye see them now?’
‘Yeah, Jackser. I have them, they were on the floor beside me ma’s chair.’
He releases me head from the floor, an I hand the pins te me ma. She takes them an looks away from me, an she looks far away. Then the little babby gave a jerk an kicked his legs out an squealed. He was fed up in this position. An me ma remembered him an looked down at him as much as te say, are ye still here? Then she looked away again, gone te her own world. An I knew then I was never goin te have me mammy ever again.
I looked over at Charlie, an he was still gapin at the little babby. His mouth was open, an his eyes were starin. An every time the babby moved his tiny hands an head an made a noise, me little Charlie lifted his hands in a fist an looked at me like he wanted te get a better look. An maybe he could play wit it. But there was nothin I could do fer him, we had te stay away from Jackser’s babby.
The little babby is called Teddy, an Jackser has a photograph of the three of them. He calls it the family photograph, an his babby is in the middle of them. It sits in a frame on the mantelpiece, an Jackser can’t stop lookin at it an admirin it.
I have te be sent back te school, so I’m sent te Rutland Street School. When all the childre get inta school, they lock the doors. Tha’s te stop us escapin. There’s a lot of other kids, an they look a bit like me. So they’ll talk te me, but I have te be tested before they will decide if I’m one of them. There’s a few who are put sittin in the back of the class. I’d prefer te be wit the ones who behave themselves. They are not as hard as the dunces at the back. But I don’t know anythin, an I don’t know me letters or numbers or about anythin te do wit school. The teacher just asked everyone a question. But I don’t know wha she’s talkin about. A few of the childre are jumpin up an down wit their hands in the air, an one young one is holdin up the leg of her knickers an hoppin off the desk, an she’s lickin her snots comin outa her nose. ‘Miss! Miss! I know! I know!’ she shouts.
The teacher finally asks her, an she takes a big gulp of air, an then a big lick of her drippin snot, an shouts out the answer. The teacher is satisfied an says, ‘Now, you lot! Pay attention. Good girl, Lilly! You were the only one listening.’ Lilly looked aroun at the rest of us an made a face an gave a big sigh of breath, an we were ragin. The dunces at the back called her names an said they were goin te get her, an they were laughin. The teacher heard them an roared at them te, ‘Come up here, you ignoramuses!’ An she made them all line up an hold out their hands high in the air, an she brought the cane back an it came flyin down on their hands wit a whoosh through the air an a whack on the hand. She watched their eyes te see if they showed fear, but the brazen ones were like a block of ice. She put all her mighty strength inta the cane, but she didn’t get the better of them. When the five of them went back te their seats wit their hands roastin, they had a smirk on their faces, an everyone looked te see if there was any giveaway signs of softness. But they held their ground, an not one of them gave a sniffle. I could see tha’s how ye got te be tops an had everyone afraid of ye. Then ye’d have people admirin ye, no one would fight ye, an ye’d have lots a friends.
I was in the yard eatin me bun. On Friday, ye get a currant bun an a little bottle of milk. I prefer the other days, when ye get a sambidge, cos I don’t like currants. But I’m hungry. So I’m sittin on the ground wit me back te the wall an tryin te keep me legs in, cos the other kids are goin mad, tearin aroun an pullin an draggin each other. An I don’t want te get kicked, cos me legs are always painin me. I’m sortin the currants outa the bun, an Lilly comes over. ‘Do ye not want yer bun? I’ll take it if ye don’t want it!’ Lilly says.
‘Ah, yeah! I’m eatin it meself, but ye can have me currants.’
‘Lovely!’ Lilly says, an sits down beside me. ‘Ye’re new,’ she says. ‘Where were ye at school before here?’
‘Gardiner Street,’ I says. ‘What’s it like here? Them young ones who was hit by the teacher look vicious.’