Are we eating today? Dad stumbled into the kitchen and collapsed onto a stool at the table. Its legs scraped the floor unpleasantly. Mum stayed silent, and Emma tensed up in her room.
“Who am I talking to? Look at me!” he barked, slamming his fist on the table.
Emma knew Mum had turned around; fear was seeping from her eyes.
“What are you staring at? Get me some food! A man’s home from work. I know you women – always gossiping and flirting around,” he grumbled, quieter now.
Mum clattered the dishes, hastily grabbing a plate from the drying rack over the sink.
“Pasta again? I’m sick of it,” he snapped. Emma shrank in her room, waiting for the sound of a smashed plate. It didn’t come. For a while the kitchen was silent. She slipped out and peeked in. Dad sat with his back to her. Mum waved her away, and Emma vanished from the doorway as if she’d never been there. She shut herself in her room and buried her face in a textbook, but after every sentence she stopped and listened. Quiet. Tonight Dad was behaving calmly. Then she heard him walk past her door to their bedroom, muttering under his breath, and fall silent.
She heard this almost every day. By the sounds she could tell what was happening in the kitchen. Dad never held a steady job. He couldn’t stay in one place because of his drinking, so he scraped by with odd jobs. When Mum wasn’t home, Emma tried not to be alone in the flat with him. She’d go to friends’ after school or sit on the stairs waiting for Mum.
“Hi. Why are you sitting on the stairs? Lost your keys?” Jack stopped in front of Emma. He lived on the fifth floor.
“Something like that,” she mumbled, embarrassed that he’d caught her there.
Jack walked past, climbed two steps, then stopped. “You’ll get cold – you can’t sit on concrete steps. Come to mine.”
Emma didn’t answer.
“Come on,” he said firmly, and she obeyed. He was a senior, and she was used to listening to older kids.
Jack opened his flat door and let her in. “Mum, I’m home. And I’m not alone!” he called, closing the front door.
“Who’s with you?” Mary came into the hallway, Jack’s mother.
“Hello,” Emma said softly.
“Hello. Emma, is it?”
“Guess what – I was coming up the stairs and she was sitting on the steps,” Jack said, taking off his coat.
“Lost your keys?” Mary asked. “Take off your coat and wash your hands. I’ll heat up lunch.”
Emma went into the living room and looked around. The flat was just like theirs, but cosier and nicer. Lunch tasted really good, even though it was just chicken soup and pasta with sausages.
“Thank you, it’s delicious,” she said.
“Next time, don’t sit on the stairs. Come straight up to us,” Mary said. “Deal?”
Emma nodded.
“Thanks, Mum. We’ll go to my room. Come on.” Jack stood up and motioned to Emma. She glanced at Mary, who nodded.
Entering Jack’s room, Emma was surprised – it was tidy, no clothes lying around, clean. Posters of famous bands and colourful bikes hung on the wall.
“Do you like racing?” she asked.
“Not really, just nice posters.”
“I don’t have a computer. Well, I do, but Dad smashed the monitor. No money for a new one.”
“I have a tablet – want to borrow it?” Jack offered.
“No, Dad would see it and sell it.”
“Then come here and use it when you need to.”
“Have you decided where to go after school?” Emma touched a model plane. “Did you make this?”
“Of course. I want to go to the aviation institute.”
“You’ll be a pilot?”
“No, design planes,” he said with a knowing smile.
All her classmates liked him. Handsome. Tomorrow she’d tell the girls she’d been at Jack’s place – they’d be jealous.
Time flew as they talked. Emma glanced at her watch and jumped up.
“I have to go – Mum’s probably home.”
She didn’t want to leave, but she didn’t want to overstay her welcome either. Jack walked her to the hallway.
“Come over. Don’t sit on the stairs,” he said as she left.
Emma stepped into her flat and saw Mum’s coat on the hook. From the kitchen came the clatter of dishes – Mum was making dinner.
“Where have you been so late?” Mum peered out from the kitchen.
“I was on the fifth floor, flat fifteen.”
“You shouldn’t be wandering into other flats. What will people think? Want dinner?”
“No, Auntie Mary fed me. I’ll go do my homework. Is he home?”
“Can’t you hear? Snoring like a train. Where did he get the money? Drunk again,” Mum sighed.
After that, Emma visited Jack often. If she saw him during break, she’d nod and blush. He’d say hi and walk past.
Sometimes Jack wasn’t home – he had sports club in the evenings. Then Auntie Mary would talk about her son, about her husband who had died a few years ago.
Winter turned into spring, and summer arrived. Emma stopped going up to Jack’s; she hung out with friends or sat on a bench outside the building.
“Why don’t you come over?” Jack asked one day when he met her on the street. Emma shrugged.
“Have you taken your exams? When are you leaving to apply?”
“I’m not going. I’ll study here at the polytechnic. I don’t want to leave my mum alone.”
“That’s great!” Emma said happily.
In autumn, she went to his place once, pretending she couldn’t solve a problem. But somehow they didn’t chat like before. Emma felt shy around Jack, awkward and stiff. He’d changed, grown up, and become even more handsome.
That winter, her father died – poisoned by cheap vodka. Mum didn’t cry even at the funeral, but Emma felt sorry for him. Now there was no need to wait for Mum after work, no reason to go up to Jack’s.
Mum still flinched at doorbells, fear flashing in her eyes.
“Mum, what’s wrong? He’s gone,” Emma said.
“Just habit,” Mum replied.
Emma was in her final year of school. One evening she stood at the window, waiting for Jack.
“What are you doing in the dark? Still watching for Jack?” Mum came in and flicked the switch.
“Just looking out the window,” Emma said angrily, caught off guard.
“He’s grown up. He has a girlfriend. A pretty one. You should be doing your homework,” Mum sighed.
Jack has a girlfriend! Emma’s heart ached with jealousy and grief. She hadn’t seen Jack’s girlfriend, but she already hated her. Then one day she ran into them in the courtyard.
“Emma? Hi, why don’t you come over?” Jack asked cheerfully. His girlfriend stood beside him, looking at Emma with icy eyes. Because she was tall, she looked down on Emma, almost contemptuously, like a mouse. Jack was tall too, but he looked at Emma differently.
“What year are you in now?”
“Final year.”
“Time flies. You’ve got prettier, grown up – hardly recognise you. Where are you applying?”
“Jack, let’s go.” The girl tugged his arm impatiently.
“Bye, good luck!” Jack said, and they walked off arm in arm.
Emma watched them go. “Cold as a fish, with ice chips for eyes,” she thought bitterly. “She’d be better called the Ice Queen, but that’s too good for her.” And she started calling her ‘Fish’ in her head.
Time passed. Emma finished school and entered the medical institute. Jack got his diploma and found a job; soon he bought a car. Emma learned to recognise its engine sound and would rush to the window when he pulled up.
One day Emma was walking home from the institute and met Auntie Mary in the courtyard. Mary was walking slowly with a stick, noticeably limping.
“Hello, Auntie Mary. What’s wrong? Why are you limping?”
“My leg’s killing me, I can barely walk. The doctor says I need surgery – an artificial joint – but I’m scared,” Mary complained.
“Tell me what to buy, I’ll run to the shop. It’s no trouble,” Emma offered.
“Go on – Jack’s never home…”
So Emma started visiting Jack’s again, though she rarely saw him. She went to the shops and helped clean his mother’s place.
One day she plucked up the courage and asked about Jack’s girlfriend.
“Lara is pretty, but she’s so affected. Always silent – you never know how to approach her. She’s like a stranger. You’re like family. She’s not the bride my son needs,” Mary sighed. “Why are you asking? Have you fallen for him?”
Emma looked down.
“Don’t worry. If you were older, I couldn’t wish for a better wife for Jack. You’ll find your own love.”
“I don’t want another love,” Emma said quietly and ran off.
Another time, she went to ask Mary what to buy at the shop. The door opened to Fish.
“What do you want?” she asked unfriendly.
“I came to see Auntie Mary…”
“She’s not here. Jack took her to the hospital in the car.”
Fish seemed to lift her chin deliberately, looking down at Emma.
“Why do you keep coming here?” Fish’s ice eyes glinted.
“I’m not just coming – I help Auntie Mary, go to the shop.”
“Some helper. Don’t come anymore. If anything’s needed, I’ll help myself. Jack and I are getting married soon and we’ll live here. Get out – things might go missing after you,” Fish said rudely.
“What things?” Emma flushed.
“A ring. I left a ring on the bathroom sink. Later I came back and it was gone. You took it – no one else.”
“I don’t even go past the hallway,” Emma said angrily.
“I don’t know – maybe you came when I wasn’t here. Give it back nicely, or I’ll call the police.” Fish leaned forward, her cold eyes close. Emma stepped back.
“I didn’t take your ring!”
“Prove it.” Fish took a step forward, her ice eyes right there. Emma couldn’t take it, turned, yanked the door open, and bumped into Jack.
“What’s all the shouting? You can hear it on the stairs.” Jack looked from Emma to Fish. Emma looked back.
Fish straightened up and smiled sweetly at Jack. “Back already?” she asked as if nothing had happened.
Emma wanted to run, but Jack held her arm.
“What happened?”
“She… She accused me of stealing her ring. I didn’t take anything – I didn’t even go into the bathroom.”
“What ring?” Jack held Emma’s arm firmly and looked at Fish.
“A pink stone one. I think I lost it – I don’t know where I left it. I asked if she’d seen it,” Fish said in a honeyed voice.
“She’s lying! She said I took it, wanted to call the police.” Emma pulled her arm free and ran down the stairs, tears choking her.
“To hell with both of you!” she cried as she burst into her flat and slammed the door.
“What’s wrong?” Mum looked out from the hallway.
“Mum!” Emma threw herself at her and told everything.
“The ring will turn up – don’t cry. Jack will sort it out,” Mum comforted her.
The next day, Jack came himself. Mum wasn’t home.
“We need to talk,” he said.
Emma led him into her room. He saw his photo on the shelf of the bureau and smirked. Emma had forgotten all about it. She blushed and looked down.
“You stole that from me? And you say you don’t steal.”
Emma flushed even deeper.
“Just kidding – I don’t mind. I came to apologise. The ring was found.”
“Where?”
“Does it matter?” He looked away.
“Yes, it matters. She accused me of theft. Do you think that’s nice?” Her voice trembled.
Jack took her by the shoulders. “Em, I’m sorry. I never believed you took it, honest. The thing is, Lara didn’t like you coming over so often, so she decided to slander you to keep you away. The ring… it fell out of her coat pocket when she dropped her jacket.”
“And you’ll forgive her? What if she accuses your mum of stealing? You can expect anything from her. She’s a cold fish!”
“Stop it! She’s just jealous of me.” Jack looked sternly at Emma and took his hands off her shoulders.
“Jack! Don’t you see anything?”
“What don’t I see?” He looked at her with pity, clearly tired of the conversation.
“I love you!” Emma blurted out, surprising herself. “I’ve loved you since year five. Jack, please don’t marry her.” Tears shimmered in her eyes; Jack’s face blurred.
“Em, are you crying? There’s no wedding. We broke up.”
“Really?” Emma blinked, and tears ran down her cheeks.
“You’re silly.” Jack pulled her close. “Mum’s being discharged from hospital in a week. Drop in and help her if you can.”
“Of course! You didn’t need to ask.”
Jack left sad and thoughtful, but Emma was nearly jumping with joy. No wedding!
Emma visited Auntie Mary every day – went to the shop, mopped the floor, even helped cook. She didn’t see Jack; he came home late. She spent every evening on the fifth floor. Mum just shook her head.
One day Emma bumped into Jack on the stairs. He smelled of alcohol.
“Jack, have you been drinking?” Emma looked at him in horror, remembering her father, the fear in her mother’s eyes…
“So what?” He swayed toward her. Emma stepped back, her eyes fixed on him, terrified.
“Em, why are you looking at me like that? Don’t be scared – I won’t end up like your dad,” he said suddenly in a completely sober voice.
On Saturday, he came to Emma’s with a bouquet of flowers and invited her to the cinema. She was so happy!
Now Jack didn’t stay out late; he hurried home where Emma waited with his mum. He didn’t drink anymore. They often went to the cinema, just walked, sat in his room and kissed…
Emma’s love finally melted Jack’s heart.
“Be happy, children. Don’t hurt her, Jack,” his mother said when he proposed.
“I promise – I’ll never hurt her.” Emma clung to him like a slender young tree to a tall oak.
