H- 'Caring for Sally'

Caring for Sally.

Kate leant Sally up against the window on the wooden stool, stroking
her silky blond curls with her plump hands and humming gently. She
stuck out her tongue as she focussed on arranging the stiff synthetic
legs to a sitting position, the plastic squeaked as she did so.

'Wants'um food Sally?' Her voice rose as she began shuffling imaginary
mouthfuls of carrot puree into the dolls closed lips, forcing the blue
spoon into the small empty pot and scraping it out again. 'Yummy, isn't
it?'

She wanted to play all day, to be stuck undisturbed at the end of the
long, overgrown garden in the small Wendy house that was cushioned into
a space between the apple tree and neighbours fence. She leant forwards
and planted a sloppy kiss on Sally's head, she was her best friend in
the whole world, her big sister, Nat, said that she wasn't real but
Kate knew she was. Maybe Nat was just jealous because she didn't have
any friends of her own; she remembered how Sally had tried to cheer her
up the day before:

'They ganged up on me again Mum! I tried to stand up for myself an' I
told 'em that I was gonna tell the teacher an' they better stop or else
they'd be in big trouble an&;#8230;' Nat had said in one big breath,
turning redder as if she was going to explode and then she had
collapsed onto the floor crying. 'They all hate me!'

'I don't believe this! I'm going to have to go and see your teacher if
this carries on&;#8230; I'm not having it. See what their mothers
think when they find out about their kids appalling behaviour.'

Kate looked down at her sisters crumpled face that was spotted with
blue ink; she dangled Sally out towards her.

'Nat&;#8230;.' She beamed. 'Sally said she'll be your friend.' Maybe
her Mum would give her an extra treat at teatime for sharing with her
sister; Mum liked it when they got along. Nat pulled herself off the
floor, her face all puffed up like a balloon.

'I'm not a big fat baby like you anymore; I've grown tired of silly
dolls!' She scowled pushing Kate away and running after her Mum who had
gone into the kitchen to start tea. Nat was a big girl now, she was
going to be a model one day, she wasn't podgy and round like her, she
was tall and slim and wore crop tops. Kate looked down at her round
belly; she hated the fact that she still had to wear cotton vests under
her clothes.

'You'll never be a model Kate 'cause you got an outty belly button' she
remembered her big sister always saying. Sally told her that this was
because Nat wanted one of her own, Kate could lift her vest up and
twiddle her belly button whilst sucking her thumb but Nat only had a
hole, she didn't have a fleshy bit.

'You finished Sally?' Kate said, her soft eyebrows above her large
brown eyes rising as she questioned. 'Good girl.' She smiled, showing
her dimples and placing the pot back on top of the cooker clumsily. The
sun shone through the little window of the Wendy house with its
ladybird-patterned curtains that Kate's Granny had made a few weeks
before she died. They were collected up at either side using a long
line of red ribbon and looked just like a miniature version of the real
things. The springy, dark curls on Kate's round, chubby face gleamed
and her cheeks felt pleasantly warm. She looked back at the doll and
frowned, she was sure that there was something upsetting Sally.

'What's wrong?' She picked the baby up, adjusting her legs again to the
correct position as she cradled her in her arms. She hummed, rocking
Sally gently, watching her eyes blink open and shut from the movement.
She suspected that Sally had been a bad girl, this was confirmed when
she lifted up the little, flowery embroidered dress and saw that she
had taken off her nappy. She held the doll at arms length and looked
down to see the white pants resting on one of her shiny, buckle
shoes.

'Bad girl!' She scolded, raising her hand and bringing it down firmly
on the hard body. This was the right thing to do, whenever she didn't
eat her vegetables or she refused to come in from the garden, her Mum
would smack her too but unlike Sally she wouldn't cry one bit, she
would just bite hard on her lip and say 'chocolate' over and over again
in her head. She told Sally to do this whenever she was angry with her
instead of crying but she didn't listen and would still scream and
scream.

Kate heard the sound of the rear door to the house slam shut, she
scraped back on the little red chair and stood up to peek out of the
window. She pressed her nose and mouth close up to it because she liked
the way it left funny marks when she moved away. She saw her Mum
storming towards the little house, she had her hair all wrapped up in a
towel and was wearing her red, satin, dressing gown and matching
slippers. Kate knew she was angry because her arms were crossed and her
face was all pale and blotchy, her lips were tight. She thought that
perhaps her Mum's boyfriend had been mean to her again, she didn't like
him because he was always making her Mum cry, she liked the chocolate
that he gave her though. She loved nibbling it off around the outside
and then sucking the toffee like a lolly, when it was all gone she
would lick each sticky finger one after the other. She didn't share it
with Sally though because she was too little.

Her Mum had almost reached the Wendy house and Kate knew that she was
going to be in trouble. She stumbled back onto the chair, clinging to
Sally as she saw the metal handle on the wooden door twist around. She
looked up at her Mums figure in the open space, she was even bigger and
prettier than Nat; and wore bras. Nat wanted a bra because people at
school liked you when you wore a bra but Mum said that she'd have to
wait until she was older, they were for Mums.

Kate suddenly giggled, instantly pushing her hand over her mouth to
stop it coming out anymore. Sally had told her a funny joke and she
couldn't help it but Mum was now looking even madder. She took her hand
away and pulled her lips in, pressing her mouth firmly shut.

'Don't you dare be cheeky to me madam! I've been looking for you all
over the house!' She leant over and swiped Kate on the arm. Kate
realised that she must have been extra bad because her Mums hand was
wet which made it sting more than usual and a red print was left on her
skin. 'Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate,' she said over and over again
in her head. She wondered whether her Mums boyfriend had left her
some.

'Are you listening to me?!' Her Mum screamed, smacking her again and
then hauling her up from the chair.

She liked chocolate best but she liked sweets too, especially the
sugary ones that made her mouth go all fizzy when she sucked them. Once
her friend had given her some chewing gum and she had been so excited
to receive a never ending sweet that she had swallowed it down straight
away, it was still swimming around inside her tummy because chewing gum
lasted forever.

'You're bloody not are you? I'm fed up with you always playing me up
Kate! I don't have the energy anymore, do you hear me?!' She dragged
Kate out of the Wendy house by the arms and along the grass, she tried
to run to keep up with her Mum's forceful pull but she couldn't and
kept falling down. Her Mum would have to wash the stains out of her
dress before school the next day, she thought. She hoped she would get
to have bubble bath and plastic toys when she had to clean the mud off
her body that evening, although the water stung her grazes. Maybe her
Mum would let her have a hot chocolate before bedtime, she usually did
if Kate had been naughty in the day; she would hug her a lot and cry
too. Sally told her that it was because she was sad that Kate was such
a bad child and wanted her to be a good girl, she would always try
harder to behave the next day.

'For goodness sake! Do I have to drag you the whole way?' They reached
the garden steps that led to the back door, Kate's worst part. She
tried to stand in time so that she could lift her legs up the stairs
herself but her Mum was too fast and yanked her up, her shins catching
on the jagged concrete. She hoped that she would get to have the pink
plasters with smiley faces on them; they were Sally's favourites
too.

'Oh and your dolls going until you can learn to behave!' Her Mum
snapped when they were inside the house.

She couldn't take Sally away! Sally needed her Mummy, she needed to be
taken care of and cuddled before bedtime.

'I want Sally!' Kate cried, collapsing onto the floor in tears and
grabbing onto her Mum's legs. The salty liquid ran down her face and
her nose bubbled with snot, her Mum kicked away. Kate's mouth dribbled
with saliva as she pounded at the carpet with her knuckles and feet.
She tried to think of chocolate but she couldn't anymore, she was glad
that Sally couldn't see her crying.

That night in bed, Kate reached for her Mickey Mouse torch and switched
it on. She squinted as the bright beam of light shone through the
darkness.

'Look Sally, I got the pretty plasters you like&;#8230; see?' She
whispered pulling up the leg of her pyjama bottoms and standing Sally
upright on the duvet cover so that she could get a look; the dolls eyes
popped open as she was thrust from her lying position on the bed. Kate
licked the sweet dried paste from around the outside of her mouth. She
had cheered up a bit after her Mum had come into her room with Sally
tucked under her arm and a big steaming mug of hot chocolate in her
hand, marshmallows floating on top. She looked back at Sally
expectantly.

'What did you say Sally?' Kate grabbed her by the neck and brought
Sally's face up towards her ear, listening intently.

'You don't like Mummy any more!' She gasped, hurling Sally across the
room. The doll hit the cupboard with a bang and fell to the carpet, her
arms and legs spayed outwards and her eyes rattled shut.

'Bad girl!' Kate snapped. Sally would just have to learn to
behave.