Chapter 23
‘Kate!’ Mike calls behind me as I reach the door to my class.
‘Mike. Hello.’
‘Would you have a moment during your lunch break? Mrs Ashford-Wells wants to have a word to discuss the situation.’
‘Again?’
‘I’m afraid so. I think we can put it to bed once and for all. Would you mind terribly? I’ll try to keep it to twenty minutes.’
I bite my lip. I can’t keep up with all this anymore. It’s too much. ‘Lunchtime isn’t ideal,’ I say. Not only do I have to take Teri shopping, but I also have a body to thaw. If I want to take him out on Saturday night, then I need to turn him off today. At lunchtime.
‘Oh?’ he says, watching me over his glasses.
‘It’s just that I’m helping a friend who is unwell. I promised to take her shopping. Could we do it another time?’
He sighs. ‘Let me see what I can do. I’ll give her a call and set something up. Come and see me when you’re back after lunch and I’ll let you know.’ The bell rings. ‘You’d better get in there,’ he says.
‘Thank you, Mike. Sorry about that.’
‘No problem. I’ll see you later.’
I spend the rest of the morning getting the children to play spelling games and word ladders.
Normally, I love being with the children, absorbing their enthusiasm, their laughter, their energy.
But these days I find I can’t focus. My brain is swirling with unwanted thoughts.
I bet that really was Teri last night in my bedroom. I bet she was looking for the money.
I bet she’s Max’s mistress.
Oh, God. Please no. Say it isn’t so.
At twelve fifteen exactly, I pull up outside Teri’s house. I’m about to call her to let her know I’m here when her front door opens.
I blink. She’s using a cane. I have never seen her use a cane before. I have never seen her need a cane, now that I think of it.
She hops on one foot to turn around and close the door. She gives a self-deprecating eye roll as she walks the few steps to the car. I lean across and open the passenger door.
‘What the hell happened?’ I ask.
She gives me an odd look. ‘I got hit by a car your stepdaughter was driving, haven’t you heard?’
I gasp out loud. ‘I know… I mean, you felt so much better.’
‘I guess going up and down the stairs made it flare up again.’ She tucks the cane next to her in the space between the seat and the door.
This can’t be happening. ‘I’m sorry,’ I say, vaguely, because I don’t know what else to say.
She sighs. ‘Can’t be helped.’
‘I’ll just be a few minutes,’ Teri says when we get there. Even the trip from the car to the inside of Tesco was excruciatingly slow, with Teri leaning on her cane, her free arm on mine, taking one small step at a time.
‘You sure you’re up to this?’ I ask when we get to the trolley area.
‘Of course. And anyway, what choice do I have? I have to eat, right?’ She hands me her cane, pulls out a trolley and leans on it. ‘I won’t be long,’ she says over her shoulder.
‘I’ll be right here,’ I say.
I sit on one of the benches by the checkout and look at the news on my phone without registering what I’m reading. After about fifteen minutes, I look up and look for her, but I don’t see her. I check my watch. By my calculations, we have another ten minutes, maximum, before we need to leave.
I scan the faces, and while I don’t see Teri, I do spot Mrs Ashford-Wells picking out a lemon. She doesn’t see me, but I drop my head anyway and pretend to be absorbed in my phone.
Five minutes later, with still no sign of Teri, I get up and go look for her.
I find her near the frozen section. The first thing I notice is how packed full of food her trolley is, and my stomach drops. How long will it take to scan all that? Didn’t she say, just a few things?
‘Teri, I don’t mean to rush you,’ I say, even though I most certainly do, ‘but I’ve got to go back to school. Are you—’
She looks at me, annoyed, like I’ve just interrupted her while gazing at the frozen peas. ‘Yeah, I know, Kate. I got it. But I need to stock up on food. That’s why we’re here. You understand that, don’t you?’
I recoil at the sharpness of her tone, loud enough that a handful of shoppers near us turn to take a look.
I blink. ‘Well, yes, of course, but you did say it would just be a few minutes, and I’ve got to be in class—’
‘And it is a few minutes, Kate, but the longer you stand there and talk to me, the longer it’s going to take.’
For a moment, I don’t know what to think. I’ve never heard Teri speak so sharply. ‘I need to get back. Can you get an Uber?’
‘I said, I’ll be right there,’ she snaps.
She’s not right there. Minutes tick by excruciatingly slowly, and by now my leg is jiggling and I’m gnawing on a fingernail.
Finally, I decide I can’t wait any longer. I stand, and that’s when I see her unloading her groceries onto the belt. I am shocked at how big the pile is. She’s bought enough to feed the whole town.
And I don’t understand what she’s doing.
She seems to pick up each item, study it and turn it over in her hands before putting it on the belt.
The young man at the till scans it, and then she picks up the next item and examines it.
Has she never been to a supermarket before?
Does she not see the people lining up behind her?
The young man says something to her, and she looks annoyed.
‘I’ll give you a hand,’ I say as I come to stand next to her and unload her trolley.
‘Careful!’ she says when I drop five packets of dried yellow lentils on top of two bags of dishwashing tablets.
‘Careful what?’ I ask, pulling out six tins of tomatoes and seven packets of cake mix.
‘You’re going to break things,’ she says.
Hardly, I think, loading up eight tins of beans and four packets of flour. ‘What are you doing with all this stuff?’
‘I’m stocking up,’ she says.
‘What for?’ I ask, putting down five packets of batteries. ‘Warfare? Another pandemic?’
Finally, he announces that it comes to ￡218.50.
Teri turns to me, her eyebrows raised in expectation.
‘Can you hurry up please?’ I say. ‘I’m already running late.’
‘Well, that’s two hundred and eighteen pounds fifty.’
I blink at her. ‘I know.’
‘Well, can you pay, please?’
I let out a half laugh. ‘Are you joking?’
‘No.’
‘Why would I pay for your groceries?’
‘Because I don’t have a lot of money, Kate. You know that. You’re working, earning money. I’m not working, and I have no money.’
I let out another half laugh. ‘Are you serious?’
She points at her foot. ‘I can’t work, Kate, do you not understand that? I would have found a job by now if I hadn’t been in an accident.’ She says the last part with intent, leaning towards me a little, her tone somewhere between patronising and dismissive.
‘Who are you?’ I almost say.
‘Excuse me, there’s a queue…’ the young man at the till says, vaguely waving in its direction.
A woman pops her head out behind Teri and says, ‘Can you two sort this out later?’
I grit my teeth. ‘I’m not going to pay your bill of two hundred pounds—’
‘Two hundred and eighteen pounds fifty,’ the young man clarifies.
‘I’m not going to pay it,’ I say firmly. ‘So, Teri, if we’re done here, I’m going back to my car and back to work.’
‘Hey! Can you move along and take this outside?’ someone shouts from the line.
‘I can’t work, Kate! I’m broke! I spent all my money on my house! I’ve got to eat!’
‘Not my problem.’ I loop my bag over my shoulder.
‘Not your problem?’ Teri says, the word bursting with outrage. ‘Your stepdaughter, Holly, who doesn’t know how to drive, got behind the wheel of a car and slammed into—’
I turn around and walk back towards her until I’m literally standing on her good foot. ‘Shut up!’ I hiss. ‘Don’t say that! Why would you say that?’
‘Because it’s true.’
‘Okay, that’s it,’ the young man says, picking up his radio. ‘You can’t be holding up the queue like this. I’m getting security.’
I catch Mrs Ashford-Wells narrowing her eyes at us halfway down the line.
‘Fine,’ I say. I dig through my purse, my hands shaking. ‘Fine,’ I repeat, throwing my Visa card on the belt.
The young man picks it up with a roll of the eyes. He inserts it into his machine and hands it to me to enter my pin.
‘And you can make your own way home,’ I snap, snatching my card back. I turn on my heels and get the hell out of there.