Page 41 of The New Girl

Denise’s brothers came over. ‘Only two goals? You’re rubbish.’ They lifted Denise up in the air. ‘We want a hat-trick next time, sis!’ The oldest and biggest brother turned Denise upside down and began to shake her. The other three began to wrestle each other.

‘Put your sister down! Stop behaving like savages!’ Denise’s mother roared. The she turned to Safa. ‘Well done, Safa, you’re a brilliant goalie. You saved some unbelievable shots today. Hello, Mrs ... Mrs ... gosh, Safa, I don’t know your second name.’

‘It’s Karim,’ Safa said, smiling.

‘Mrs Karim, it’s very nice to meet you. I’m Denise’s mum and mother to these four lunatics too. Safa is fantastic.’

Rima smiled at her. Safa translated. Mama laughed and replied in Arabic.

Safa grinned. ‘Mama says that one child is hard work – how do you manage with five?’

Denise’s mum laughed. ‘I shout a lot.’

Denise and Safa walked back to the dressing room arm in arm. It had been a good day, a great day. If only Baba had been there to see her shine.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Ruby

Clara’s mum, Annabelle, ushered Ruby, Clara and Denise into her office building.

‘Right, girls, you can get on with your project in my secretary’s office. Don’t mess about with the files on her desk or move anything. She’s cleared some space for you, and you can grab some extra chairs from the board room. I’ll be on a conference call for the next hour or so, so keep the noise down, OK? When I’m finished I’ll take you all for hot chocolate.’

‘Cool,’ Denise said.

‘Thank you,’ Ruby added.

‘OK, Mum.’ Clara pushed Ruby and Denise into the secretary’s office and shut the door. ‘Right, Ruby, have you got your phone?’

Ruby pulled it out of her jacket pocket. Clara went over to the desk, took her laptop out of her backpack and plugged it in. ‘You need to email me all the photos of the documents and then we’ll print them out and see if they look OK.’

‘They look blurry on the phone,’ Denise noted.

‘Yeah, well, her mum was coming, and I didn’t have much time, did I?’ Ruby snapped. She was annoyed that the girls hadn’t been more impressed with her story of diving under the bed and hiding. All they commented on was the fact that the photos looked blurry. They had given her some praise for getting the photo of Mr Karim, though, which was something.

Ruby sent the photos to Clara’s email address.

‘You guys are so lucky to have phones,’ said Denise. ‘I wish I could get one. Mum says I have to wait until I’m thirteen.’

‘I only have one because my mum is always at work,’ Clara muttered.

‘I have one in case there’s a problem with Robbie, which happens a lot,’ Ruby said.

Denise was the lucky one, Ruby thought. She didn’t need a phone. Her mum was always at home. She didn’t get calls to say, ‘I’ve had to go to hospital with Robbie, and I don’t know when I’ll be back,’ or ‘Can you skip athletics after school and come straight home? I need help with Robbie,’ or ‘Can you go to the shops and pick up food for dinner?’ Ruby wished she didn’t have a phone.

Denise looked embarrassed. ‘Yeah, OK, I guess that’s not so great.’

Clara looked up from her laptop. ‘Got them.’

The three girls peered at the screen as Ruby’s photos appeared. The documents were a little blurry, but you could make out the words and the writing much more clearly on the laptop than the phone. They’d be OK. Ruby felt tension and worry leave her body. Thank goodness she wouldn’t have to go back.

‘I’ll print them out. Now we have to write a letter to put in with the forms. It needs to sound really professional,’ Clara said.

Denise picked up a file from the desk and opened it. ‘Look at this, this is formal. We can copy some of the words.’

Clara took out paper with her mother’s company name on the top and began to write what Denise read.

‘Dear Sir, I refer to my phone conversation with you, dated twelfth of November. As I mentioned in the phone call I am willing to pay you –’

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