Robin

Chapter 8: broke

I had a foreboding, so the next night I made a simple dinner for us.

Brett said that he had managed to scrape together enough to pay the power bill by using the savings of we three kids ('sorry about that, guys') but the rest of his news was dire. "We are about to lose the house and pretty much everything else."

There were gasps and 'oh, no's' from the rest of us.

Brett's plan was draconian. Expenditure cut to the bone; we were to buy nothing that wasn't absolutely essential; no takeaways, no bought school lunches, no couple of beers after work, etc, etc, etc.

I would do all the cooking and as cheaply as I possibly could. Mum would try to get more shifts at her work and establish a veggie garden. Brett would look for a weekend job; Jason for a paper run or junk mail delivery.

Mum and Brett would take the plan to the bank and beg them to hold off for a while longer.

We had six months of struggle and pain, our noses barely out of the water, but we survived.

During those six months, I turned fourteen and grew a bit more. I was delighted, but there was a price. I had grown out of my school clothes again.

"See if you can get something from the op shop (a charity shop) on your way home from school," said Brett and gave me a small amount of money.

The op shop didn't have any boys school clothes in my size. I sighed and started looking at the girl's stuff. The girl's shirts and shorts were similar to the boys, but different enough for most other kids to notice. One of the assistants came over. She was a tall woman with a stern face. "Is it for you?" she asked.

"Yes," I murmured.

"Nothing among the boys clothes?"

"No, all too big."

"The uniform shop down the road may have some used clothes in your size." She was trying to be helpful.

"Too expensive. We can't afford it."

She pulled out a shirt and shorts. "These should fit you. Try them on. Over there," she nodded towards the fitting rooms.

They did.

"Show me," she demanded from outside the cubicle.

"Good," she said looking at me critically. "Now, you realise that you will probably get teased."

I shrugged, "Too bad."

"Okay. Here's another shirt the same size." She put it in a bag and then picked up my old clothes and put them in the bag as well.

She handed me the bag. "Off you go."

"How much?" I asked.

"No charge. Good luck," she said as she walked away. She hadn't smiled once.

I gave the money back to Brett.