A Bit More of You

Chapter Six: Sorrow

(Photo from Scrapbook: Me, listening to records in bed)

Serenity turned out to be fairly good company. She asked me heaps of questions about myself and listened carefully to the rather long answers, a look of awe on her peachy-pink face. I even deigned to tell her some more private stuff, some of which I hadn't told anyone other than my own mother. I was certain Serenity would laugh at me, or screw her finger into her forehead or call me weird.

Amazingly, she didn't. She remained quiet, yet completely spellbound. It was actually a little endearing the way she hung on to my every word.

"Do you have any pets, Georgia?" Serenity asked, out of the blue.

I shook my head. "No, Mum thinks I'm allergic to cats and dogs because of my asthma, but I think it's really because we live in such a poky little flat. The landlady wouldn't let us keep a dog or anything."

"That's a shame," Serenity said. "I was hoping to bring my own little kitty-cat here next time Dad and I come visiting. She's a fluffy white cat, and her name is Marwa. Dad chose the name because he likes all things Indian, and a marwa flower is a special Indian flower."

"Oh," I said, unsure of how to respond. "Your dad named your cat?"

"Yeah. Isn't it a lovely name, too?"

"Very lovely." I sighed wistfully. "Both you and your cat have wonderful names. Mine is just plain and ordinary. Nothing special at all."

"No, it's not!" Serenity said quickly. "Georgia is a beautiful name! And it's very special because it has meaning behind it. Mine doesn't. Dad just picked it because I was a peaceful baby and hardly ever cried."

"Ha, if that had been the case with my name, Mum would have called me Siren!" I said, laughing. "Apparently I was a really noisy baby."

Serenity giggled, then she paused. "Georgia? Can I ask you a silly question?"

"Sure. Go ahead."

"What's it like having a real mum?"

This caught me by surprise.

"Don't you have a mum back at home, Serenity?" I asked suspiciously.

"No, I don't."

"What happened to her? Did she clear off?"

Serenity hesitated. "It's... complicated. You see?"

I didn't see, but I didn't really feel like questioning her further. "Is it just you and your dad at home?"

"Yeah. Well, no. There also Marwa, the cat, and there's Uncle Ringo."

My head suddenly jerked. "Isn't that the guy Mum and George were talking about before? It didn't sound like Mum liked him very much. Who is he?"

Serenity scuffed the tip of her pink pump on my faded bedroom carpet, creating a small dent. It looked like she really didn't want to talk about this uncle of hers. 

"He's... He's just... He's just a friend of Dad's," she said eventually. "We've been living with him in his house since I was around four years old. He's like my dad's best mate."

"Uh huh. And is this Ringo guy kind to you?"

Serenity's eyebrows knitted together. "Of course he's kind. I love him just as much as my own dad." She paused. "I mean, our own dad."

Hearing that phrase made my skin crawl. I still wasn't used to it.

"He's not really my dad," I said bitterly.