One Mary O’Hara was walking up her street to the house she lived in with her parents and her brothers The school bus had dropped her at the corner at the bottom of the hill The street was long straight and quite steep and there were huge old chestnut trees growing all along both sides It was raining but Mary wasn’t getting very wet because the leaves and branches were like a roof above her Anyway rain and getting wet were things that worried adults but not Mary or anyone else under the age of twenty-one Mary was twelve She’d be twelve for another eight months Then she’d be what she already felt she was a teenager She came home at the same time most days and she usually came home with her best friend Ava But today was different because Ava wasn’t with Mary Ava had moved to another part of Dublin the day before with her 3
family Today some of the neighbors looked out their windows and saw Mary alone They knew all about it of course These were people who looked out windows They’d seen the removals lorry outside Ava’s house They’d seen Mary and Ava hug each other and they’d seen Ava get into their car and follow the removals lorry As the car moved slowly up the street they’d seen Mary wave and run into her house They might have heard the front door slam They might have heard Mary’s feet charging up the stairs and the springs under Mary’s mattress groan when she fell facedown on the bed They probably didn’t hear her crying and they definitely didn’t hear the softer sound of the bedsprings a little later when Mary realized that although she was heartbroken she was also starving So she got up and went downstairs to the kitchen and ate until her face was stiff Today Mary walked alone up the hill She was nearly home There were just a few houses left before she got to hers There was a gap between the trees for a while so the raindrops fell on her But she didn’t notice them or care Someone had once told her that people who’d had their leg cut off still felt the leg even a long time after they’d lost it They felt an itch and went to scratch and remembered 4
that there was no leg there That was how Mary felt She felt Ava walking beside her She knew she wasn’t but she looked anyway and that made it worse Mary knew Ava was somewhere else in Dublin only seven kilometers away But if she’d been acting in a film or a play and she was told she had to cry she’d have thought of Ava and crying would have been easy Feeling angry and looking angry would have been easy too Mary couldn’t understand why people moved house It was stupid And she couldn’t understand why parents Ava’s parents said no when two friends Mary and Ava asked if it was okay if one of them Ava didn’t move but instead lived with the other friend Mary You won’t have to feed her if she lives with us Mary had told Ava’s mother the day before they’d moved It’ll like save you a fortune No Especially with the recession and that No Why not Ava asked Because you’re our daughter and we love you Then do the noble thing and let her stay said Mary If you like really really love her It’s not funny 5
I know said Ava’s mother It’s just so sweet Which was exactly the sort of stupid thing that adults said They saw two best friends clinging to each other wanting to die rather than be separated and they said it was sweet I suppose you think war and starvation are sweet too like do you said Mary You’re being a little bit rude Mary said Ava’s mother Whatever said Mary She stood at Ava’s front door Then she tried to slam it But she couldn’t There was a thick rug in the hall and it seemed to grab the bottom of the door So she’d shouted it instead Slam And she’d stormed off to her own house where the slamming was easier That’s a wet one Someone had just spoken to Mary But she couldn’t see anyone She was alone on the street just outside her house Then she saw the woman She must have been behind one of the trees Mary thought The woman was old But actually she wasn’t Mary 6
