Page 16 of The New Girl

By the time Ruby had finished chewing her mouthful of cornflakes, Dad was asleep at the table. All these extra shifts he was working were wearing him out.

Ruby was worried about him. She was worried he’d fall asleep at the wheel and crash the taxi.

Clara crunched her apple loudly, while Denise bit into her second ham and cheese roll.

‘Did this boy not come to your house to ask your parents’ permission to take Orla out and show commitment?’ Safa asked.

Ruby, Denise and Clara burst out laughing.

‘Come to our house? No way. Are you mad?’ Ruby said.

‘Commitment? You only commit when you want to get married,’ Denise said.

‘In my country a boy has to come to ask the parents before a girl can go out with him alone. They have to show commitment.’

‘Orla would rather die than have a boy come to our madhouse,’ Ruby said.

‘My brothers would never go and talk to a girl’s parents before asking her out. That would be, like, way too serious,’ Denise laughed.

Safa shrugged. ‘I think it shows that they care.’

‘Look,’ Clara raised her hands. ‘Safa comes from a different culture and we should respect that.’

Ruby was getting a bit sick of Clara’s lectures on Syria and Safa’s culture. ‘We know Safa comes from Syria and they do things differently. It’s just weird, that’s all.’

‘Well she probably thinks the fact that Orla goes out with loads of boys is weird,’ said Clara.

‘Orla doesn’t go out with loads of boys. She’s only had a few boyfriends.’ Ruby defended her sister. She didn’t like Clara being all judgemental.

‘Different strokes for different folks,’ Denise said. ‘That’s what my mum always says. Come on, let’s play football. Safa, will you go in goal?’

Safa and Denise walked over to the playing field. Ruby and Clara walked behind them.

‘I didn’t mean to slag Orla. I was just saying.’

‘Well, it didn’t sound very nice.’

‘Sorry,’ Clara said.

‘It’s OK.’

Clara bit down on her thumbnail. It was bitten down to the skin. Ruby thought it was strange. Clara seemed so strong and confident, but she bit her nails, which was a sign of nerves. Ruby’s mum said that sometimes even people who seemed confident weren’t. She also reminded Ruby how hard it was on Clara to have never known her dad and that it was something that Clara probably thought about, and was sad about, a lot.

Ruby, herself, had been thinking about something a lot, and now she had the opportunity to talk to Clara about it alone. ‘You know the way your mum is really intelligent?’

‘Yes?’ Clara chewed her nail.

‘Well, do you think she might be able to help get Safa’s dad to Ireland so he can live here with her?’

Clara took her thumb out of her mouth. ‘My mum is a lawyer for people setting up businesses and stuff. She doesn’t do refugee papers and visas and all that kind of thing.’

‘Oh, I thought lawyers could do anything that was to do with the law and government and stuff.’

‘No, different lawyers do different things.’

Ruby’s shoulders drooped. ‘Oh well, maybe her dad will get here soon.’

‘I could ask my mum, though. She might know who in the government deals with refugees and visas and all that.’

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