Two Worlds. Rosie, ‘a forgotten child of England’
by marzanna_eight_thirty on February 28, 2008
in stories, students
Eight o’clock in the morning. Mary’s cry woke me up. She always cries and screams when she’s hungry. Mom came back home late at night completely drunk, she couldn’t hear her daughter cry. I had to get up and feed my sister. The kitchen looked like a dustbin: leftovers and stubs on the table, empty bottles of cheap wine and beer all over the place, stinking clothes on chairs. I felt the sticky, dirty floor under my bare feet. The refrigerator was almost empty except for a bottle of milk, gone off cheese and rotten vegetables. Thank God the milk wasn’t sour, we could have cornflakes for breakfast. When I entered mom’s room she was lying on the bed, sleeping. I heard her heavy breathing. She hadn’t even taken her shoes and clothes off. I wasn’t surprised, I saw her like that many times. Mary stopped crying and started to play with her undressed dirty doll. She loved that toy, it was the only one she had.
Suddenly I heard somebody knock at the door. I realised they came to make a documentary about me. I jumped into pants and ran to open the door. I saw a young woman and a man standing behind her. The man kept a heavy camera in his hand. They looked so nice and fresh. Sometimes I saw people like them in that posh part of Docklands. I smelled expensive perfume on the woman. My mother never had any perfume.
We gaped at each other for a while. I felt strange and embarrassed. I invited them inside, although I was ashamed of that mess and afraid that my mother would wake up. I ran and closed the bedroom door. They looked around strangely and then suggested that we go outside. Karen offered the zoo, a river trip or going to a museum or gallery. Then she promised to buy me something to eat. I wasn’t sure if I should go with them and leave my sister at home. She was just a little girl and something bad could happen to her. I thought for a while and then decided to go to the gallery. Many times I tried to get there without a ticket, but the staff didn’t let me in. Now I had a real chance to know what people were enchanted with. The curiosity to see the place and a chance of getting food were stronger.