Lorna enjoyed being the boss of something. It didn’t happen very often in her life, and as she put the finishing touches to the second-hand uniform sale that was happening in the playground in exactly – she glanced at her watch – five minutes, when the kids were released, she realized she particularly liked being a boss amongst her peers. Cheryl and Sarah were behind the boys’ clothes stall and Erin and Imogen were behind the girls’. The clothes were all folded neatly on the trestle tables or hanging on the rails. Many of the mums who’d arrived to pick up their kids were already clutching items and starting to hand over money, which was going into the cash boxes that Lorna had carefully prepared with ample change.
She surveyed the scene, temporarily queen of the playground. Erin and Imogen had insisted on going together and they were gossiping as much as selling. Lorna wondered what they were talking about. Nancy and Lara, probably. And that petition. Lorna couldn’t quite believe it when she’d seen it on the WhatsApp group. It had both thrilled and shocked her in equal measure. Talking of Nancy, there she was, over by the fence, waiting for the kids to come out. Lorna made her way over.
‘I just want you to know . . . the vote . . . about the Head of School petition. I made it very clear that I wasn’t going to be a part of it.’ Lorna smiled sympathetically. That was pretty much what she’d said.
Nancy merely nodded. Maybe she didn’t believe her. Lorna felt the need to reinforce her point.
‘I think it’s outrageous, actually. And that’s what I told them.’
Hmm, definitely going outside the boundaries of the exact way it had happened now. The bell went and the children began streaming out. Carol was picking up her two and Lorna waved to them all, Phoenix and Pepper excited to be met by Grandma for a change. Over by the sale, mums were holding up dresses and trousers against their offspring, checking for size. Lorna felt she might be needed.
‘Duty calls,’ she said with a smile and headed towards the tables. It looked as if they would raise a significant amount for the school den area they wanted to build. Since she’d become Chair of the PTA it had surprised Lorna how much work it took. Even something as small as a second-hand uniform sale. She milled about, enjoying the bustle of the sale, talking to mums, soaking up the energy of what she had created. She walked between the two tables, seeing uniforms going to new homes, seeing cash going into the boxes.
Nancy watched Lara as she came out of the school, looking for evidence of the outcome of her daughter’s day etched on her face.
‘How was it?’ asked Nancy as Lara came up to her.
Lara shrugged. ‘It was OK.’
‘Did you hang out with Mia today?’
‘Yeah. A bit. And some of the Year 5s.’
It was Lara’s way of saying the Year 6s still wouldn’t let her in. ‘Can we go home now, Mum?’ she asked.
Nancy put an arm around her daughter’s shoulders and guided her away.
Lorna watched as Nancy left. She must catch up with her on how the Christmas fair arrangements were coming along. The crowds were dwindling now and the PTA mums were starting to pack away the unsold uniforms. Lorna waited while a Reception mum paid for two cardigans, and then went to close and lock the two cashboxes. She carried them into the school and headed for the staffroom. It was empty.
Lorna opened both boxes and tipped the money onto the table. A large pile of coins mixed with several notes – some blue, some brown, and there were even a couple of purple twenties too. It surprised Lorna how much money could be generated in such a short space of time. She set about counting it, placing the notes and coins in neat piles on the table in front of her.
The total came to just over two hundred pounds. All for some second-hand clothes. It was quite a significant amount for one of the smaller fund-raising schemes. As a PTA member for several years, she knew the big generators, the Christmas fair for example, could raise in excess of several thousand pounds.
She looked at the money. It was only her who added it up, then it would go into the office safe until the treasurer picked it up to bank it.
The clock ticked on the wall. Lorna looked up at the door, which remained firmly shut. She quickly took out a couple of tens, three fives and a few coins and opened up her bag. Inside was a small daisy print purse that she used for her shop loyalty cards. She slipped the money into it. She was careful to make sure she left the two twenties untouched – someone might remember them and query if they’d gone.
As soon as she’d done it, she felt bad. Only a little bit bad. Because hadn’t she put hours into organizing this? Weren’t there several more hours’ work ahead of her for all the other events that, as Chair, she would be overall responsible for? Hours that if used for the PTA, she couldn’t give to a paid job.
She picked up the rest of the takings and went to hand them into the office.
They’d still raised one hundred and fifty pounds. It was a good figure.