CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Safa

Orla was backstage putting the finishing touches on Ruby’s make-up. She’d done a great job. Ruby looked like a real scarecrow.

‘OK, I’ve got to go now so Mum and Dad can get here in time for the show. Good luck, sis.’ She gave Ruby a hug.

‘Thanks,’ Ruby said.

It was nice to see them like this, getting on well. Safa liked Orla when she was like this – not crazy Orla, but nice, calm Orla.

Beside them, Amber was having her make-up done by a professional make-up artist her mother had hired.

As she walked by, Orla ‘accidentally’ bumped into the make-up artist, who was putting red lipstick on Amber, and the lipstick went all over the side of her face.

Amber shrieked, ‘Oh my God!’

‘Oops, sorry,’ Orla said and winked at Ruby and Safa.

Later, tension was high backstage. Everyone was nervous. Safa was helping people with their lines and costumes and anything else that needed to be done.

She found Ruby peeking out from the side of the stage. ‘My mum and dad are here,’ Ruby said. Her eyes were shining. ‘They’re actually here!’

Safa was so happy for her friend. She had been hoping that Robbie would stay well, so that Ruby’s parents could come and see her shine. She squeezed Ruby’s hand. ‘You’ll be brilliant.’

Denise came up. ‘I just feel ridiculous.’ Her face was painted bright orange and she had shoes tied to her knees.

Safa and Ruby burst out laughing. ‘You look hilarious.’

‘I wish I wasn’t a stupid Munchkin. My brothers will make fun of me for the rest of my life.’

Clara came over dressed in her school uniform. As the narrator she didn’t have to wear a costume.

‘I should have gone for the part of the narrator,’ Denise grumbled.

‘You look great, Denise, and you’ll make people laugh. Everyone always remembers the characters that make them laugh.’ Safa tried to cheer her up.

‘Yeah, but not the characters that look dorky. My brothers will be laughing at me, not with me. Next year I’m not getting forced into being a dumb character.’

‘Two minutes to curtains up! Places, please!’ Mr Parson hissed.

Safa gave Ruby a hug. ‘Good luck, you’ll be fantastic.’

Safa shook as she introduced the play. She couldn’t see the audience because the stage lights were so bright, but she could feel all of the eyes in the gym hall on her. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead. Safa took a big breath in.

‘Good evening, everyone. Thank you all for coming. We have chosen The Wizard of Oz this year because of its important themes. The Scarecrow wishes for a brain, the Tin Man wants a heart and the Cowardly Lion wants to be brave. What they don’t realise is that they already have these qualities inside themselves. We are all stronger, braver and smarter than we know. We hope you enjoy our version of this musical.’

Everyone clapped loudly and a few parents even whooped. Safa exited and stood at the side of the stage to watch the show. She smiled as she watched Ruby shine. The quiet, shy Ruby disappeared, and the Scarecrow came alive. Safa peeked out into the audience to see Fiona and Frank gazing up at their daughter, in awe of her talent.

They clapped the loudest and whooped every time Ruby came onstage. Safa saw Ruby beam with joy. She was so happy for her friend.

Frank and Fiona clapped and cheered as the first half of the musical ended. Safa’s phone began to vibrate in her pocket. She looked down. It was a message:

‘SOS. Help. Please come now. Don’t say anything to anyone. Hurry. Orla.’

When Safa arrived, the house was in chaos. Orla answered the door, sobbing. ‘Please help. I can’t stand it. He’s been screaming non-stop for forty-five minutes.’

Safa went into the kitchen, where Robbie had thrown everything he could reach onto the floor. His face was red and sweaty from his tantrum, and he was roaring at the top of his voice, ‘No no no no no no!’

‘I’ve tried everything – Peppa Pig, food, sweets, singing, whispering, walking him around outside, but we had to come back in because everyone was staring at us. I didn’t know what else to do and I didn’t want to call Mum because I want Ruby to have this night, this one night where Mum and Dad see her shine. So I called you. Could you sing to him, please, Safa, could you try? I’m begging you.’

Safa nodded. Of course she’d help. She looked at Robbie; his head was swerving from side to side, but she managed to get eye contact. She began to sing. She had to sing loudly to be heard over his roaring. At first it made no difference but on the second round of the song, he began to shout a little less. He moved his head to look at her. Finally, he stopped shouting and began to listen. Soon, he was quiet.

All you could hear was Orla crying quietly in the corner.

When Safa finished, Robbie roared, ‘Again, again!’

So Safa sang the song again. On it went, over and over. She sang it eight times until Robbie finally fell asleep, exhausted from his tantrum and soothed by her singing.

Orla threw her arms around Safa. ‘Thank you. Thank you so much.’

‘You’re welcome. I’m happy I could help.’ Safa’s voice was hoarse from singing.

Orla nodded and began to sob again. She seemed so upset. Was she always like this when Robbie freaked out? ‘Sorry.’ Orla wiped the tears from her cheeks. ‘It’s just today has been a really bad day.’

Safa said nothing; she waited for Orla to continue. Safa knew that sometimes it was better to say nothing and let the other person talk.

‘I knew the letter from Grangepark was due about now. So when I saw the postman this morning, I ran out to get the mail. I’ve been doing it every day this week, just in case. Just in case Robbie didn’t get a place. I wanted to get it before Mum saw it. And ... and I was right, look.’

Orla handed Safa a crumpled letter from her pocket. Safa unfolded it. It was from Grangepark. It said, ‘We are very sorry to inform you that your son Robert Fitzpatrick has not received a place at the school. We had a long list of applicants and unfortunately Robert was not one of the lucky ones. He will be placed on a cancellation list, but we very rarely get cancellations ...’

Oh no! Safa’s heart sank. She felt sick.

‘I have to burn the letter. I want Mum to have a few more days of hope,’ Orla croaked. ‘This is going to break her. I know it will. Mum was so sure Robbie was going to get a place. It was the only thing keeping her going. She won’t be able to take this news. It’s going to break our family.’ Orla covered her face with her hands.

Safa sat down beside her on the floor and patted her back. There was no point in saying, ‘It’ll be OK,’ or ‘Don’t worry,’ because it wasn’t going to be OK. It wasn’t going to be all right at all.