Page 20 of Knowing You
Before school the next morning, I draw another picture of Uncle Kevin standing next to a tall pile of books. He’s wearing his silly Christmas jumper and laughing. I’m going to school today. Mum is going back to work.
People look at us when we reach the playground. Mrs Warham takes me inside early. She asks if I’m okay. She must have heard that Mum’s been behaving oddly.
The day carries on as usual. Assembly. More maths. Painting. Except Mia with red hair gives me a chocolate bar. Her mum thought I might like it. And the headmistress comes in. She admires my picture. Then Mrs Warham gives me a gold star for tidying up the pencil pots.
At break, Alice comes over with her friends to where I’m standing in the playground, near the boys playing football. I’m hoping to get hit again so that I can go indoors and read. Alice’s face looks pinched as if she’s eaten something disgusting.
‘Bet you think you’re special with all this attention just because your stupid uncle died.’
Where did she hear about that? ‘He’s hasn’t. My mum’s got it wrong.’
Alice laughs. ‘Of course he has. My older brother told me all about it. Mum wouldn’t let me watch the telly so he showed me on his computer.’ She shakes her head. ‘His tower got hit by a plane. Bad people were flying it. There was a fire. It fell down. Another tower did too.’
‘It’s not true,’ I say and jam my hands in my coat pockets.
Her bottom lip juts out. ‘Tis so. I watched it happen. Mum thought it would scare me but it didn’t. Not even the people jumping out of windows or the scared faces with flames behind them. What a horrible way to die. I’m never going to America again.’
Her friends pull her away and I run – run as fast as I can down to the bottom of the field. I hide my head in my lap until I hear footsteps approaching.
Mrs Warham sits down. ‘Everything okay?’ she says, gently.
‘Alice says it’s true,’ I whisper. ‘Uncle Kevin’s tower fell down. She saw people jumping out of windows.’
Her face colours for a moment.
‘Is she making it up?’
‘What did your Mum say?’
‘She said the same as Alice – without the jumping bit. She said the police couldn’t save him.’
Mrs Warham bites her lip. ‘It’s true, Violet. Lots of people from the tower went to heaven yesterday. Your uncle wasn’t alone.’
I stare at her. She looks well and doesn’t seem like the sort of person to lie.
‘Do you think he was with his new friend Cindy?’
‘I’m sure he was with people he knew.’
‘I want to hug him.’
Mrs Warham hugs me instead. We sit in silence for a moment.
‘What if Mum dies? What will happen to me?’
Mrs Warham thinks for a moment. ‘I don’t expect your mum will die for a long, long time – but if she did, there would be lots of kind adults to make sure you were okay.’
I crush the blade of grass in my hand. ‘Secretly I didn’t want Uncle Kevin to go to America. Do you think this is a punishment for me being selfish? Am I a bad person?’
‘No, Violet. No, and you mustn’t ever think that. These things happen.’
‘Well, I’m never going to die.’
Mrs Warham doesn’t argue with that and I feel a bit better.
I thought last Wednesday when I started school was the worst day of my life, but it’s not. It’s the second.
Chapter 9
