Chapter 21
I looked in shock at Trudy.
"What? Don`t you want to?"
"Yes, I do, but where will we live?"
"Let me worry about that. I`ll be there for you, no matter what our circumstances."
I hugged her. She really is an angel. She hugged back, then we went into Anubis. Mara ran at us, squealing.
"Dixie! Trudy! Oh thank God, you`re both safe!"
I laughed. Mara was doing a Trudy, now.
"Yep, we`re OK. Trudy, do you mind me making a quick phone call?"
"Who to?"
"My mum. Let her know about your offer."
"OK, sweetheart. Look, make sure that she knows that it`s her choice now, and that you want to."
"Will do."
I dialled in my home number and waited for Mum to answer.
"Hello? Fiona Carson speaking."
"Mum, it`s Dixie. I have something seriously important to tell you and I need your permission."
"Dixie? Go ahead, darling."
"You know how you said we`ll be moving to Alaska? Well, Trudy- uh-Miss Rehman has offered to take me in. I have new friends here and she thinks it`d be a shame for me to have to leave."
"Put Miss Rehman on the phone, Dixie."
I turned to Trudy. "She wants a word with you. I apologise in advance for any harsh yelling."
*Trudy`s POV*
"Hello, Mrs Carson."
"Who do you think you are?! My daughter is not staying with some strange woman while we`re in Alaska!"
"I understand what you`re saying, but don`t you think Dixie should be able to say what she wants? The child is a delight to everyone, even Victor."
"How do I know you don`t hit the children?"
The cheek! "I love these children as if they`re my own! I would never hit them!"
"Well, if that`s the case. I`d like a meeting with you. Dixie has certain allergies, to cherry flowers and sunflower oil."
"I know. And her allergy to pork and bananas, and her worst one is to mould. She`s scared of snakes and fire."
"You know her allergies and fears? Her favourite food is.."
"Egg and custard tart. Her favourite drink is Pepsi Max and her favourite colour is black."
"Do you know what her shoe size is?"
"8 and a half to a 9. She likes to wear sandals in all weathers and her clothing size is 8. She weighs 8 stones and 9 and a half pounds."
"How did you know that? I didn`t even know that!"
"She told me. Her favourite books range in Egyptian mythology and futuristic fiction and she enjoys writing and learning new languages."
"Dixie wants to move, she told me so."
"She nearly cried telling me. And she hasn`t even told Marie."
"She told me she had!"
"No, she told you because you want to go. She didn`t want to hurt you. Either she`s a very convincing actress or you`re just gullible. Ask Dixie what she really wants."
"Fine, hand her the phone."
I gave it back to Dixie.
" Maa?"
" I get it. I don`t want to move. I said it so that you wouldn`t feel hurt. But even though you`re my mum and I love you to bits, I have friends and a whole life here. Trudy`s like a second mum to me. It`s like she told you, she loves us kids. She`s practically raised Jerome as her own and he`s turned out as OK as a joker can get. He does as Trudy tells him. Everyone respects her, even me."
I felt nervous, but happy. She`s acting again. Nobody around here respects me. Not even my boyfriend takes me seriously.
"Mum, she loves us. And the whole lot of us love her. She has a boyfriend who wants to become a dad. He won`t admit that he likes any of us, but he`s one of my friends` godfather, and he likes Nina. He`d be willing to take one of us in."
I stood there when Dixie said "Mum, please. I don`t want to be mean to you, but I really don`t want to leave my friends. They`ve become like family. And I`ve known Marie since we were six. Please don`t make me leave."
Tears were falling down Dixie`s face, and her soft voice had thickened. I was crying quietly, chewing my thumbnail.
"Oh, Mami. Please, s`il tu plait, I don`t want to. Why would moving be good for me? What would be gained from breaking your figilia`s heart?"
I heard her speaking a lot of different languages but she sounded so tearful.
"Non, maman. I can`t. It`ll hurt too much to leave. I can`t leave my friends. I won`t have that heartbreak again. I dared to make new friends here because you promised we wouldn`t move again after California. We moved here, and it was meant to be permanent. Now you want to move again. Mum, I`m no gypsy. I may be descended from them, but I don`t want to live like one. I want to live with Trudy. She cares that I have feelings too. She would always ask what I wanted and take it on board to work with it."
I took the phone from the girl, putting my arm around her. She cried into me as I spoke to her mum.
"Your child is in tears. Think about her feelings and consider what heartbreak will do to her. She`s been so scared to make friends and now that she has, and is so well settled, you want to uproot her and take her to another place. It`ll be too much for such a delicate girl."
"Delicate?! Dixie? No chance. She doesn`t have any feelings, I`ve never seen her cry, she doesn`t keep a diary and write about anything. She only cares about others."
"Well, maybe she does have feelings. Maybe she hides them very well. She has respect for others, but she keeps a diary. She`s a human. She`s got feelings and she`s crying. If the poor thing hasn`t cried in nearly 16 years, it just goes to show she can. She`s cried a lot since she got here. She`s a very sweet and sensitive girl and I want to keep her as my own. The girl is a true angel."
Dixie was sobbing silently.
"Fine. Take her. You sound like you like her more than any ordinary student. Goodbye."
I hung up then hugged my new daughter. "She said yes!"
Dixie squeezed back. "Great news, mum."
Then our marks burnt and a voice said "You will both pay for wasting so much time."
Oooh, cliffhanger! Have to give back the computer, sorry. RandomDizzy :D.