The Arabella Conundrum

Part Five- The Disintegration Malfunction.

I hated walking through the estate at dark. I lived here but I even got scared when the place was plunged into darkness. The tower blocks around me moulded into the sky and were only distinguishable because of the glow of light that came from the tiny windows high above my head.

I managed to get into the tower block I resided in and walked up the twelve flights of stairs because nobody trusted the lift which would often drop unexpectedly and it made some awfully suspicious noises. It was safe to say that I avoided it at all costs.

The twelve floor was the same as all of the twenty two floors that made up the tower block. Each floor had six flats but a few varied in size. There was two sets of stairs on each of the floors, coming up at different ends of the building and the lift was sandwiched between them opening up in the foyer area of each floor. There was a door on the exit of the stairs for each level so that noise could be kept to a minimum. I pushed the door open with my foot and walked into the hallway and headed towards my front door. I inserted the key into the door and stepped into the tiny space that was my home.

I smelt food, delicious food.

And when I cleared the small space between the front door and the living room I saw Ben half sitting half lying on the sofa with Teddy sat on his lap. Ellie and Seb were both sat on the floor holding hands which was actually really cute. I lifted my eyes and saw my grandma and granddad stood in the kitchen making food. It wasn't really a kitchen, well it was but because of the small nature of the flat we had an all in one living room, dining room and kitchen. It was all open planned and not because it was thought to be chic or modern but because there was literally no way you could put walls up between each area to separate them into individual rooms and still be able to move. Outside the main room there was a small corridor that led from right hand side of the room and looped back to the front door. In that corridor laid three bedrooms and one bathroom. It was a very cramped living quarters but you get used to it in the end.

"ARABELLA!" I snapped my eyes towards my Grandma.

"I know, I'm so sorry," I started but she cut me off.

"Now you know I don't have anything against Benji here but when I walk into my house," She insisted in referring to this small place as a house.

"I am a more than a little surprised to see that my granddaughter has turned into a tall lad," She stirred the pot that was she hovering over. "Why was he looking after the little ones and not you? You know this is the only day of the week you have to pick them up early. You know that this is the only day I work late," Her Indian accent was coming through and you can never take her seriously when she starts to shout at you. It's weird how even though she lived in Britain for like 40 odd years she is still such a strong accent. I knew she preferred to speak in her native tongue but I knew she was trying to make a point and I was likely to listen to her more in English.

"I know," I ran a hand through my hair. "I had detention, I swear it wasn't even my fault."

"Arabella," sighed my Grandpa, looking up from the sports section of the newspaper.

"You've got to trust me on this," I pleaded truthfully.

"Don't make this happen again," Grandma warned and turned back to the oven and that ended her confrontation with me. I was surprised by how lightly I had gotten off.

"Hey Ellie," I smiled down at my sister who was holding her arms up, wanting me to lift her up. I bent down and picked her up. She snuggled into my chest and her tiny arms gripped onto me tightly.

"You're a lifesaver Ben," I looked over towards him once I finished gazing at my sister.

"Don't worry babe, I've had a lot of fun with these three monkeys," he nodded towards the three of them. He patted the place next to him whilst Teddy pulled at his hair.  "Ouch! You little...." he groaned and tried to pry Teddy's hand out of his prized hair. He gave up though when the tiny hand clenched in his hair even tighter. Having given up he sighed.