Ruby by Heather Burnside (sight word books .TXT) 📕

and the other with crooked teeth, their faces stern as they callously took possession of their things while her brothers cried and screamed and her mother looked so helpless. It would always stick in her mind; it was the first time she had heard her mother swear or seen her reduced to tears.

Eventually she went through to the kitchen to make herself something to eat, leaving the man in the lounge and listening for any movement from him. She hoped he would get tired of waiting and go away. But after fifteen minutes he was still there, and Trina was becoming increasingly unnerved, a tight knot forming in her stomach. She stepped tentatively back into the lounge to find the landlord still stony faced and sitting on the sofa.

‘How much does she owe?’ she asked.

‘Eight hundred.’

‘Wow!’ Trina was shocked, especially as she had been paying Shelley her share of the rent on time every month. She thought about the cash she had hidden in her room. Maybe if she paid him some of the rent he would go away and leave her alone. ‘OK, to save you waiting I could give you some of the money and then get her to give you the rest.’

‘How much can you pay?’ he grumbled.

‘A hundred.’

‘Pffft! Do you think I was born yesterday? Eight hundred quid she owes me, and you’re offering me a poxy hundred?’

‘Alright, it isn’t my fault!’ snapped Trina. ‘I’m just trying to help out.’

‘Well, it’s not enough. I want at least half of it and then the rest from her tomorrow. It’s your bloody mate’s fault for leaving you here when she knew I was coming round.’

‘I don’t have that sort of money on me. I can do one-fifty but that’s it.’

The landlord looked pensive for some moments. ‘OK, give me two hundred and I’ll collect the rest tomorrow.’

Trina frowned. ‘Give me a minute,’ she said before going to her room for the money and handing it over to him.

The landlord didn’t thank her. Instead he scowled as she passed the money over then said, ‘You can blame your mate for leaving you in the shit. So you’d better tell her to be here tomorrow when I come for the rest or I’ll be throwing her out.’

Trina wasn’t happy with her flatmate at all. Shelley had known the landlord was calling round yet she had left her to face him. Not only that but Trina had to pay him some of her own money to appease him when she had already given Shelley her share of the rent.

Apart from the issue with the rent, Trina had a more pressing problem. She had noticed over the weeks that money was continuing to go missing from her bedroom. The first time it had happened, she thought she might have made a mistake but now she was sure there was no mistake. Trina had taken to checking her money regularly and was certain that some of it had disappeared. It was usually ten pounds at a time, on two or three occasions a week.

The previous night she’d arrived home from work later than Shelley who was already in bed. Trina had automatically checked her money, a habit she had got into lately. She was disturbed to find that this time there was twenty pounds missing.

Trina was angry. There was only one person who could have taken the money. That person was Shelley, and Trina was determined to confront her about it. She’d have to tread lightly though as she didn’t want to risk upsetting her and having to leave after she’d invested so much time and money into turning the flat into a home.

Trina had been determined to make the most of her time living there. As well as making her bedroom look more presentable, she had also painted the hallway and bought some cushions for the living room and a modern television stand. Despite Shelley promising to pay towards the things she had bought, Trina never received any money.

She was beginning to see another side to Shelley, who was slovenly as well as irresponsible with money. Then there were the drugs. Since her awkward pass at Shelley, Trina had cut down drastically on her own drug and alcohol consumption, determined to maintain control so that she would never make the same mistake again. She had noticed over the weeks though that Shelley seemed to be taking more drugs, or maybe it was just more apparent to Trina now she was staying sober herself.

Shelley’s drug abuse was affecting her moods as well. Sometimes she would be on a high but at other times she was depressed and irritable, which made her unpleasant to live with. In fact, ever since the night when Trina had made her pass at Shelley, the atmosphere had been strained between them.

*

Trina didn’t get chance to confront Shelley till the following day as she was in bed when Trina got home from work. Shelley walked into the living room late that morning wearing a scruffy dressing gown and looking tense, her hair messy, and remnants of last night’s makeup emphasising the stress lines on her face. Trina took in her untidy appearance; the girl she had fallen for was no longer evident and she eyed her with distaste.

‘Alright?’ asked Trina.

Shelley muttered a moody ‘yeah’ in response while she dashed around the living room, pulling up cushions and opening drawers as though searching for something.

Trina guessed that Shelley was feeling irritable as she hadn’t yet had her first fix of the day. She was tempted to leave things till later but decided against it. She had psyched herself up now and wanted to get the conversation over with.

‘I need to have a word with you,’ she began.

‘Can’t it wait?’ asked Shelley.

‘Not really,’ said Trina. ‘I’ve been waiting for you to get up so we can talk.’

‘OK, just give me a sec,’ said Shelley, her tone sharp. ‘I haven’t even had a drink yet.’

Shelley went through to the kitchen then