Kat
Kat was rushed off her feet and utterly exhausted. She’d been up four times in the night seeing to Lucas, who kept waking up screaming from nightmares. Then she’d got up at 5am to finish an English essay that was due in today, then shower and get ready for College before the rest of the house got up. Then she’d made them all breakfast, cleared up, taken Lucas and Stefan to school and then sat through a whole morning of classes at College before starting her lunchtime shift at her Auntie Vi’s café.
It was full of office workers, students and builders all wanting their greasy fry-ups and chip butties - NOW! As Kat dashed from table to table she could barely keep up with all the orders. She’d already complained to her Auntie that she should employ more staff at lunchtime, but Vi had just waved her complaints away, saying that Kat and the other waitress, Maria, just needed to work faster.
The bell above the door rang yet again as another group of students ambled into the café and took the last remaining table – number 15. Kat sighed when she saw that was that it was a group of girls from her Drama class – headed up by possibly the bitchiest girl at College, Millie Ravens. Kat quickly cleared some plates from another table and headed to the dishwash area, deliberating avoiding them.
“Katya!” yelled Vi. “Take Table 15’s order, and be quick about it.”
Kat kept her head done and pretended not to hear.
“Katya! Przyśpieszają! Hurry up!”
Kat dumped the plates by the sink, wiped her ketchup stained fingers on her apron and reluctantly headed over. She gave a half-hearted smile as she reached the table – she knew what was coming.
Millie looked her up and down for a couple of seconds before finally deigning to speak. “Don’t we know you from somewhere?”
They others all laughed along – they all knew where this was going.
“I know,” said Millie, playing to her little crowd. “Are you one of the cleaners from College?”
Again, lots of sniggering from the other girls.
“What would you like to order?” said Kat, stony-faced.
“No, wait! I’ve got it!” cackled Mille. “Aren’t you part of the lesbian hockey team?”
The other girls all burst into fits of laughter and Kat bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself crying.
“Don’t you mean lesbian drama club?” corrected another one of the girls.
“Oh of course,” scoffed Millie. “You’re one of lesbo Johnson’s faves aren’t you? Has she cast you in any of her lezza short films yet?”
Kat flinched at the mention Ms Johnson. There were constant whispers about their drama teacher’s, sexuality circulating amongst the students. And rumour had it, last year Ms Johnson had almost been fired because she’d made some supposedly ‘arty’ films featuring some actress friends of hers.
What did that matter, as long as she was a good teacher? She was a lone supportive presence for Kat at College, and until recently Kat had always looked forward to her classes. Not that Ms Johnson had done anything inappropriate recently. Far from it. Kat felt uncomfortable because over the past few weeks she’d started having dreams about Ms Johnson – some of them sexual.
Kat looked down at her pad and hoped Millie Ravens couldn’t read her thoughts.
“Awww, hasn’t she invited you round to her place yet?” sneered Millie. “Don’t worry. I’m sure Ms Rug-Munch will cast you in one of her little films soon.”
Kat rounded on her heels and stormed away.
“What’s the matter?” screeched Vi. “Why you not take order?”
Kat just glowered at her Auntie and instantly she understood. Although her Auntie Vi had no problems bullying her niece, she was hugely protective when anyone else did it. She knew that Kat occasionally got a hard time from some of the other students for being different or being Polish or being whatever it was that was bugging them that week.
“Maria!” she yelled. “Deal with Table 15! Wy rozumiecie?”
“I understand!” called out Maria.
“Thanks,” said Kat softly.
Vi gave her a glimmer of a smile before issuing further instructions. “Now Katya, take out food to Tables 6 and 11. And wipe down Table 2, it’s disgusting.”
Kat grabbed the hot plates and quickly headed out with the food. As she busily wiped the dirty table, Maria sidled up to her. “Hey, don’t worry about Table 15. I’ve told Tomasz to put some extra special sauce on their food.” Maria mimed coughing up some phlegm and chuckled. Kat was about to protest but then she saw Millie flicking straw wrappers at some younger kids on the table behind her and changed her mind.
“Thanks,” she said instead.
As the lunchtime rush finally subsided, Kat realised that she’d better have a quick bite to eat and then get ready for her next class. It really was all go, go, go at the moment, which she was glad about. It meant couldn’t dwell what an idiot she’d been for not getting to her audition or what had happened with her papa.
She’d woken up the morning after that fateful night with a crashing headache and a black eye, which she brushed off at College by saying she’d fallen off a step-ladder. Everyone at College seemed to buy it, although her Auntie Vi hadn’t been as easily convinced.
As had been the case, whenever he’d beaten her mum, the next day Andrzej had been all sweetness-and-light. He’d got up early, made everyone pancakes and had even taken the boys out to the park. But Kat wasn’t fooled. She knew that wouldn’t last long. As she suspected, a week or so later he was back to his grumpy old self, staying out late and coming home drunk.
She’d kept out of his way as much as possible and hadn’t given him any cause for concern. Not that that offered much protection. She’d seen her mum run herself ragged trying to keep everything just the way that Andrzej liked it, only for him to freak out about an out of place pepper-pot or a slightly over-cooked sausage.
Kat thought about running away, but where would she go? And what would her sister and brothers do without her? Even so, she felt as though she was constantly living on egg-shells. Her only comfort was to dream about music and watch the viewing figures for her online clips slowly creep up day by day. She was desperate to record some more – she had ideas for songs bursting out of her all the time, but she didn’t want to risk her papa’s wrath by recording them at home and she didn’t want to risk annoying him by being out when she should be at home. So instead, she scribbled her thoughts and ideas down in a notepad which she didn’t show anyone – not even Dani. Those were her innermost feelings about losing her mama, dealing with her papa and trying to figure out just who the hell she was. Did having a couple of dreams about her female teacher mean she was gay or just hopelessly confused?
Kat finished her sandwich and gathered up her stuff. Just as she was about to head back to College, her Auntie Vi stopped her.
“Those girls earlier…do they give you a hard time at College?”
“Don’t worry,” said Kat. “I can take care of myself.”
“I think you take care of everybody except yourself, young lady,” said Vi.
Kat shrugged. What did Vi expect her to say? She could hardly let Dani, Stefan and Lucas fend for themselves. Their mum was gone and their papa was useless.
“How is your papa?” asked Vi, as if reading her mind.
“You know, the same,” said Kat, determined not to let anything slip, but at the same time aware that everyone in the Polish community knew he was a drunk.
“Andrzej is my brother and so I love him, but that doesn’t mean I like him very much,” said Vi sternly.
Kat could identify with that sentiment.
“If he gives you any trouble, you talk to me, okay?”
Kat nodded, but only because it was easier that way. What could her Auntie Vi really do to help her? Could she stop Andrzej from drinking? Could she magic back her mum? Could she conjure up a singing career?
No.
And so it was best not to confide too much in her or in anyone for that matter.
“I need to go Auntie,” said Kat. “My class is in 10 minutes.”
“Alright. You’re a good girl, Katya. Remember that.”
And that was her problem, thought Katya. A good girl couldn’t tell Millie Ravens to shove her sarky comments up her skinny arse. A good girl couldn’t try and blag her way into an audition. And a good girl certainly couldn’t abandon her younger siblings to a violent, alcoholic father. She was trapped and music was her only solace. How she envied the girls that had got into Sherri Holt’s girlband.