‘That’s so sweet, thank you.’ But I knew that Joyce and Val didn’t make a project on their own. I needed most of the residents to take part if it was going to be a success.
I clapped my hands together to get the bingo competitors’ attention. ‘Hello, everyone,’ I called.
Gradually the chattering stopped and they all looked at me.
‘We’re going to be starting bingo in just a second, but first I wanted to remind you to take five minutes and write in the book that’s been going round.’
Joyce had gone back to the table where she’d been sitting with Mr Yin. Now she held up the book with a flourish, like the ring girls at a boxing match.
‘What about data protection?’ one of the men from the end of the corridor called. He had a very red face and an aggressive manner.
‘I don’t think that’s relevant.’
‘You don’t think, or you don’t know?’ he said. Pleased with himself, he glanced to his friends and they all nodded in approval. I almost expected them to high-five him.
‘I know it’s not relevant. We’re not holding any data that needs protecting.’
‘Looks like data to me.’
‘Well it isn’t.’
‘But it does feel like a breach of privacy,’ one woman said softly. She was sitting alone at the front of the room with several bingo cards spread out in front of her.
‘Oh give over, Maud,’ Joyce said crossly. ‘Don’t write anything private then. It’s not blooming hard.’
Maud scowled at Joyce. ‘I’m worried about what you’re goingto do with our work. If you’re using it elsewhere then it should be copyrighted. I heard you were going to take our words and put them in your painting.’
‘I’m not using it anywhere,’ I said, beginning to get annoyed. ‘The only words I’m using on the mural are from Elsie’s book. Not this one. Look, I didn’t want to upset anyone. I just thought it was a nice way of recording memories or thoughts.’
‘So you’re not putting it on the internet?’ Kenny’s brows were knitted together.
‘No, not on the internet. Not on the mural. The messages you write won’t be anywhere except the book.’
‘Ah, I must have misunderstood.’
‘I think so. Who told you it was going on the internet?’
‘Tobias,’ he said, glancing to the red-faced man.
‘Who told you, Tobias?’
Tobias blustered a bit, because he didn’t like to admit to getting information from anyone else, and then admitted it had been Maud who’d told him.
I fixed Maud with my steeliest glare. ‘And where did you get it from?’
She folded her arms. ‘From that new woman, Helen. And she said she’d heard it from you. So it must be true.’
Helen? Again?
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake,’ I said. ‘Let’s not ruin this project for the sake of one disgruntled resident who’s upset because she’s got no one to write a message to, shall we?’
Maud looked annoyed. ‘You shouldn’t speak about the residents like that, Stephanie. We pay your wages, don’t forget.’
I gave her a thin-lipped smile. ‘I don’t ever forget,’ I said. My anger at Helen causing trouble again – not to mention my anger at myself for treating Finn the way I had – was bubbling away under the surface and I tried to push it away before it burst out of me.
‘Shall we get on?’ I said. I stuck my hand in the bag of number tiles and pulled one out.
‘Two fat ladies,’ I called half-heartedly. ‘Eighty-eight.’
