Chapter 23
EVIE
Then
Evie knew she had to get away from Bournemouth.
She just couldn’t stand it any longer living at Auntie Maureen’s house with her and her mother.
They were driving her mad. They had already enrolled her at the local college for a January start to do a secretarial course and were encouraging her to retake her A Level History to get a better grade.
Thankfully with the birthday money that her dad had secretly given her together with the money from Emma and her emergency fund which she had managed somehow to hide from her mother, she now had enough to plot her escape.
Brighton was somewhere that Emma had suggested, and it wasn’t too far away, she decided that travelling by coach would be her cheapest option.
She felt that it would be too risky to try and hitchhike as a girl on her own.
She’d had a bag packed for ages with just the essentials which she’d hidden at the back of her wardrobe.
She pretended to be ill, so her mother had to do her shift at the church, and she did a runner when Auntie Maureen went to the toilet.
She might just have slipped a laxative or two into her tea, so she spent ages in the toilet.
She left a brief note, saying that she couldn’t take living in Bournemouth anymore and not to look for her.
Evie ran as fast as she could out of Auntie Maureen’s soulless cul-de-sac, her small hessian rucksack digging into her shoulders through her thin denim jacket.
She reached the bus station and paid for a one-way ticket to Brighton which was due to leave in twenty minutes and used the time to buy herself an overpriced sandwich and a drink from the little kiosk close by.
She located a phone box and dialed Emma’s telephone number carefully.
Thankfully she answered after a couple of double rings.
‘Hi! It’s me! I just wanted to say that I’ve only gone and done it. I slipped a couple of laxatives into Auntie Maureen’s tea and Mother is at the Church doing my shift because I pretended that I was ill. The plan worked!’ she gushed with excitement.
‘Well done! I’m so pleased that you got away. How long before your bus leaves?’ Emma asked anxiously.
‘Just over ten minutes. I don’t think Auntie Maureen is going to leave the bathroom anytime soon to try and stop me!’ she laughed.
‘Listen, take care of yourself. Don’t tell me where you end up staying as my parents are bound to get it out of me and will definitely tell your mother.
Good luck! I hope we get to meet up again one day.
’ Emma said, her voice slightly breaking, as she forced herself not to cry at the thought of her friend finally leaving for good.
‘Thanks Emma, for everything. You’ve been such a good friend to me. I really appreciate all the help that you’ve given me in planning my escape.’ she replied.
‘You’re welcome. I still think you are so brave Evie. Good luck with Brighton.’ said Emma starting to choke up.
‘Bye Emma. Take care and please do look out for my baby on the off chance she ever appears at church with her new parents.’ she asked, wiping the tears away from her eyes.
‘Of course I will. Bye Evie. Safe journey.’
‘Thanks Emma. I’m sure our paths will cross again.’ she replied.
She placed the phone back on its’ cradle and walked towards the coach and made her way to her seat.
Thankfully she had a seat near the window and just up until the last minute it looked like she was going to be lucky and get the whole seat to herself when a young woman and her baby clambered on board.
She managed with some help from a couple of young men to accommodate her small rucksack on the shelf above and then proceeded to rock the baby to sleep who was swaddled in a large, tie-dyed sheet which was wrapped around her waist.
‘Sorry about being so last minute but I had to change his nappy. Didn’t want to stink out the coach!’ she apologised to Evie with a smile.
‘Oh, don’t worry. I was half asleep anyway.’ Evie replied, horrified to be so up close and personal to a baby so similar in age to ‘Milly’.
‘Hope you managed to catch up on your beauty sleep as little Rex hardly ever sleeps on coaches.’ she continued. ‘I’m Margie by the way.’
‘Err. Hi Margie. I’m err Genie.’ She replied, not wanting to reveal her real name.
‘Nice to meet you, Genie!’ Margie said sticking her hand out to shake hers. Evie returned the handshake, hoping to God that Margie had washed her hands after changing Baby Rex’s nappy earlier.
Margie very deftly managed to not only breastfeed Rex but also read Pet Sematary by Stephen King at the same time.
She could never have coped like Margie was, Evie thought.
Margie seemed like a natural and she must have only been a couple of years older than her.
Baby Rex contentedly slept after his feed, all the way to the coach terminal in Brighton.
‘I can’t believe he slept all the way!’ Margie exclaimed.
‘It must be your calming influence. You’ll be good once you have your own baby.
But don’t make my mistake and have a baby too young.
Live your life first that’s my advice but saying that I wouldn’t swap him for the world!
Would I? My little chubby chops?’ Margie continued talking in that high-pitched voice that all new mothers seem to talk to their babies with.
‘He’s gorgeous.’ Evie replied. ‘You’re very lucky to have him and he’s so lucky to have a mum like you.’ she added, desperately trying not to cry, thinking about her own baby that she had let her mother give away.
‘Ahh thanks darling. Are you on your way home or just visiting?’ asked Margie.
‘Oh, um I’m moving here to work.’ she stammered.
‘Ooh what do you do?’ Margie asked.
‘Anything that pays me!’ she laughed nervously.
‘Do you mind cleaning?’ Margie continued.
‘No. I’ll consider anything that pays!’
‘I saw a note in the window of one of the local pubs the other day. They’re looking for a cleaner. It’s called The Hidden Snicket. It’s quite near The Lanes.’
‘Thanks. I’ll check it out.’
The coach parked up and Evie helped Margie retrieve her rucksack from the luggage rack as she secured Baby Rex in his swaddling which she expertly secured around her waist.
‘Thanks for your help. If you ever fancy a free portion of chips, I work at the little fish and chips kiosk at the start of the pier on Sundays as that’s the day that my mum has Rex. It’s nice to earn a little bit of money and it gets me out of the house!’ Margie explained.
‘I might take you up on your kind offer. Thanks.’ Evie replied, handing Margie her battered rucksack.
‘Thanks doll. I’ll look out for you. You should definitely check out that job. I think you get your meals and accommodation thrown in too.’ Margie said.
‘It sounds better by the minute.’ Evie said with a smile.
She waved goodbye to Margie and Baby Rex and asked the bus driver for directions to The Hidden Snicket.
After the bus driver had said cross the road here and take a series of turn lefts and turn rights, she was so confused she decided to just take a few minutes to enjoy the sight of the sea and the magnificent pier.
She breathed in the fresh sea air and she just knew that she’d made the right decision to leave.
She noticed the fish and chips kiosk where Margie worked and made a mental note to drop by to see her on a Sunday.
At least she now knew one friendly face in Brighton.
After what seemed an eternity, she managed to locate the pub that Margie had mentioned.
It was a small little bar just off The Lanes, blink and you’d miss it.
It was very quirky with a selection of gothic candles on the tables with two huge black chandeliers that hung from the ceiling and just as Margie had mentioned there was a small card in the window advertising the cleaning job.
Evie pushed the heavy wooden door open and walked up to the bar to be greeted by a curly red-haired woman.
‘Can I help you darling? You look a bit too young to be served.’ the red-haired woman said with a broad, friendly smile.
‘Oh hi. I don’t want a drink. I’m almost eighteen, but I am interested in the cleaning job.’ Evie said, cursing herself that she had revealed her real age.
‘Do you have any cleaning experience?’ the red-haired woman asked.
‘Umm well I always used to help my mother clean our house and I used to help clean at our local church.’ Evie bluffed, although there was certainly an element of truth there.
‘That all sounds good. You know that the job comes with accommodation above the pub, basically so you can start early in the morning before I have to deal with the deliveries and paperwork and then we open at 11:00a.m.’ she continued.
‘It all sounds great. I’m a hard worker and a quick learner.’ Evie eagerly replied.
‘Well, you sound perfect, but I don’t even know your name! I’m Maura by the way.’
‘I’m Genie. Great to meet you, Maura.’
‘When can you start Genie?’
‘Now!’ Evie replied somewhat over enthusiastically.
‘Great! Pop upstairs and see the room. It’s small but you’ve got your own sink. You’ll only have to share a bathroom with me as my last live in barman just went back to Australia.’
Maura called through to the back of the pub and a skinny young guy with a mohican and assorted piercings appeared.
‘Dom. Be a love and keep an eye on the bar while I show our new cleaning lady to her room.’
‘Sure Maura. Do you mind if I change the music?’ he asked, smiling which showed off a couple of gold teeth.
‘Of course you can my love. Nothing too hard core though. I don’t think my head can take it! It was a bit of a late one last night!’ she said with a smile and a wink.
Maura lifted the hatch at the end of the bar, and she led Evie up a narrow wooden staircase.
‘You’re right up at the top I’m afraid.’ Maura revealed as she continued walking up the stairs.
‘No problem.’ Evie replied, following behind.