Can I crash at one of your places
Please?
I wouldn’t ask unless it was an emergency
Shirin
come to mine
I’ll prep mum
27
‘Have you been dragged through a bush or something?’ Shirin asks after letting me into her house.
‘Nice to see you, too, Shirin.’ I try to flatten my curls with the palm of my hand but realise that’s not going to do the trick. I couldn’t stop running my hands through my hair on the bus as I replayed the fight with Ma, and now I have more knots than I can count. ‘What did you tell Auntie?’
‘I said it was a sleepover emergency and not letting you stay the night would be against the Geneva Convention.’
I can only blink rapidly in response. Shirin doesn’t seem to notice. She’s walking up the stairs towards her bedroom.
‘Do you even know what the Geneva Convention is?’ I ask, running after her.
‘No. But I’ve heard it in enough films to know that it’s probably to do with some humanitarian laws.’ Shirin pauses at her door. ‘Though that’s probably not what got her to agree. I did also tell her that Lipi did a reading and said that bad things would happen if you stayed at your house tonight.’
Sometimes I don’t understand how Shirin comes up with half the things she says, and at times I’m not sure whether I should be impressed or scared by the depths of her imagination.
‘Have you ever considered becoming a writer?’
‘Too much work, not enough pay unless you’re one of the lucky few, an influencer or white.’ Shirin pauses at her door, then turns to face me with a thoughtful look. ‘Mum did callAuntie though – hope that’s OK.’
I figured Auntie would. I don’t mind Ma knowing where I am. Even if I am mad at her, I don’t want to frighten her. ‘That’s fine, don’t worry about it.’
‘Cool. Because my head was hurting from it and I could really do without that,’ she says and then opens the door to her room, which is in complete disarray. Most of her clothes cover the floor and it’s difficult to navigate through.
‘Please tell me I won’t actually be sleepingonyour clothes tonight.’
She raises a brow at me and walks over to her desk, moving through the clothes as if she was walking through an ocean. ‘What do you take me for? Of course you’re not sleeping on the floor tonight.’
Phew.
‘Lipi is, duh. No chance in hell am I sleeping next to her.’
I snort. Lipi’s suffered from restless legs for as long as we’ve known her, and no matter how big the bed is, she still manages to karate-kick you in the middle of the night.
‘I hadn’t realised Lipi was coming too,’ I say. ‘She didn’t say anything on the thread.’
‘She messaged me privately.’
I furrow my brows. I wonder why Lipi didn’t message in the chat with the three of us. Again, I can’t help feeling that the bond they have is much stronger than the bond we have as a three, and it makes my throat constrict.
I want to ask Shirin about it, prod her further, but Auntie chooses that moment to walk into the room. Well, as much of the room as she can without touching any clothes.
‘Hi Auntie,’ I say with a shy wave.
‘Hello, my sweet Poppy. How are you?’ she asks, her soft eyes filled with empathy. I wonder what Ma told her when they were on the phone.
‘I’m OK. Thank you for letting me stay.’
