Old Porters

Chapter Eleven

Eleven

Without much enthusiasm, Kate and Sandra flicked through the sale items hidden at the back of the shop. They had just spent two hours walking around the shopping centre looking for a bag, and now it was the half an hour time slot designated for Kate’s shopping. Not that the teenager had been timing them or anything. She just knew the routine of their Saturday morning shopping trips.

“Found anything?” Kate asked as her mother hunted through a rack of clothes.

“I don’t know what you’re looking for,” Sandra replied, feeling sour because all the bags this season were covered in cute little flowers that made her feel sick. The mother pulled a pair of jeans from the rack. She held them between her fingers, pulling the waist band. Kate’s hips would never fit in these, but Sandra got the feeling that she would be able to pull them off.

“Fun, I’m looking for something fun,” Kate said for at least the fifth time. It was her job to know exactly what sort of bag her mum wanted, but heaven forbid Sandra should pay attention to her daughter’s desires for five minutes.

“I said no!”

     The raised voice of a mother, one of the sure fire signs that you were in a shopping centre. Kate would have ignored the shouting parent across the room if she had not recognised the voice. She looked over her discount rail, and saw her arch nemesis. Charlotte Rayner. The cow was with her mum, Helen, and her brother, Andrew.

Kate spun on her heel, the rubber soles of her classic black and white All Star Conversions squeaking against the floor, and grabbed her mum by the elbow.

“Come on,” Kate said, tugging her mother away from the sale items.

     “What?” Sandra asked as she was dragged towards the expensive shoe department. They did not sell Jimmy Shoos here so what was the point?

     “Sandra!”

The call echoed across the shop, above the hum of the air conditioning, the beeping tills, the chattering customers, the scraping of hangers against rails, and the funky music pumped in over the radio. Kate’s blood went cold.

“Hello Helen,” Sandra said cheerfully. Kate knew that she was stuck now, and envied Andrew more than she could express as he slowly backed away from the scene.

“I’m going to have a look around on my own for a while,” the thirteen year old said quietly. “Call me when you’re ready to leave.” He slipped away, practically unnoticed by his mother and his sister, which was how he preferred it.

As Sandra and Helen started to chat, Kate and Charlotte stared daggers at each other.

“What do you think of this top?” Helen asked, and the pair of mothers walked over to a rail full of very expensive floral print clothes. Sandra hated it, but Helen liked it so the ballet teacher nodded and smiled at the accountant.