Chapter 37

Back home Katie took Lia upstairs, the rest of us convened in the kitchen.

“Do I phone Helen now or tomorrow?” I asked as I put the coffee on.

“I think Lia’s bewildered enough, she can meet Helen tomorrow,” Jenny replied.

“I want to speak to her now,” Belle said, “I want to tell her we’ve got another sister, or is she just Katie’s girlfriend?”

“That’s a good point, she’s not a sister because we’re not going to adopt her. I think we’ll let Lia decide who she is once she’s got used to us all. On the subject of Helen, go on Belle, phone her, but say we think she needs a quiet night.”

Belle put her phone on speaker and dialed.

“Hi Belle, what’s up, are you excited about school tomorrow?”

“Hi Aunty Helen, I really am, but I’m more excited about something we did today?”

“What have you done?”

“We’ve found a new sister...”

“What!”

“Well. she might not be a sister, we’re not sure yet. We’ve found Lia, and she’s taken over your room.”

“That really isn’t my room anymore,” she laughed, “but seriously, is she ok, do you need me to talk to her?”

“We think she’s fine at the moment, Katie’s helping her settle in, if you know what I mean, we’re leaving them alone for a while.”

“Interesting, so you’re going to be just two to a room from now on.”

“For the foreseeable, yes.”

“We’re going to let events take their course,” Jenny added, “if you’re free, you can pop round to see Lia tomorrow. She was a little wary of our motives this afternoon, so we’re taking it easy.”

“Of course, I’m a little overpowering at the best of times. Unless you tell me otherwise I’ll pop round tomorrow evening.”

“Is that Helen?” Katie called from the stairs.

“Yes, she’s on the phone,” Belle replied.

“Don’t hang up, we’re coming.”

“Ahh, Katie and Lia are coming, shall we switch to Zoom?”

“That’s a good idea, call me when you’re ready.”

Poppy grabbed the nearest iPad, and once we were all in view of the camera Belle started the call.

“You’ll love Helen, she’s Alex’s sister, she’s really clever, a therapist and a model.”

“Interesting combination,” Lia replied.

As Helen answered Poppy moved the iPad forwards so only Lia was in view.

“Hey Lia, I’m Helen, the girls sometimes call me Aunty Helen, but just Helen is fine.”

“Hi Helen, I’m Emily, Emily-Mae Jackson, but I prefer Lia.”

“I’m very happy to meet you. I don’t know if anyone’s told you about me, I’m Alex’s little sister. I used to be a model, Belle and Poppy have my photos if you want to look, I’m not embarrassed about my past, well, I’m not embarrassed about all of it. Everyone makes mistakes now and then, the trick is to learn from those mistakes and not make them too many times. I’m here if you need me, I only live down the road and am happy to come running if you need someone to talk to.”

“Thank you, Katie says our room is also your room, if you need it we’ll happily bunk with Poppy and Belle.”

I saw Belle smile when Lia said ‘our room’.

“And I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to bunk with you. I won’t tell you too much now, but bedroom arrangements are always flexible in that house.”

“Katie hinted at something, and that’s something I need to talk to someone about.”

“In person?”

“Well, not in front of the whole family anyway.”

“Ok, give me 10 minutes. Alex, open a bottle of wine.”

The screen went blank.

“Err, have I just made her come here?”

“Don’t worry, this is what she does. She’s the only reason we’re still sane, or at least partly sane.”

Belle dashed over to the wine fridge and pulled out one of Helen’s bottles, “while you chat I’ll start on dinner, does anyone have any requests?”

“You did enough cooking last night,” Poppy replied, “why don’t we get a takeaway.”

“I don’t mind cooking, honest. I love it.”

“We know you do,” Poppy told her, “but tonight I want you to relax, and we’re having an early night. You don’t want to be tired on your first day at big school.”

“Yes mum,” Belle said, not quite dripping in sarcasm as she wrapped her arms around her sister. Then she turned to Lia, looking at her new sister with her chin resting on Poppy’s head, “it’s your choice Lia, takeaway, or pick something for me to cook for 7 people.”

“7 people?”

“Yep, I’ll be feeding Helen, it’s the only reason she comes really, because she has to eat veggie at home, but she eats meat here when her girlfriend isn’t about.”

“Hahaha, I like that. So Helen’s gay as well, is it just Alex and Jenny who are straight?”

“What makes you think I’m straight?” Jenny replied with a very salacious smile.

Lia grinned, “so what Katie hinted at before is true?”

“Before I confirm or deny anything, what did Katie tell you?”

“That you all sleep together, well, Katie sleeps with all the girls, Poppy and Belle sleep with Alex sometimes.”

“Don’t forget Helen,” Belle said.

“She sleeps with everyone,” Poppy added.

“Everyone!” Lia cried, “Even Alex?”

“It was an accident the first time,” I started to defend myself.

“If you’re all happy I guess it’s fine.”

“It’s our secret though,” Poppy told her, “nobody else knows.”

“I guess it would be awkward to explain, anyway your secret is safe with me, especially if I feel like joining in some time - which isn’t guaranteed.”

“And is definitely not required, or even expected,” Jenny told her.

“Thanks, I appreciate that. After I’ve spoken to Helen, I think I’ll tell you my story, if I feel ready,” then she turned Belle, “and I’ve made my decision, Chinese please, kung-po duck with fried rice if they have it.”

“Excellent choice,” Jenny said, “one of my favourites.”

I reached for my phone, “I’ll order a banquet and make sure they include that.”

Helen came in as I was ordering, “we’re ordering Chinese, can you stop,” Belle asked as she entered the kitchen.

“I’ve had dinner already, but I’m sure I can squeeze in a couple of spring rolls,” she answered before turning to Lia, “hi Lia, I’m so happy to meet you, Katie was right, you are so very pretty aren’t you, shall we go in the lounge so we can talk in private.”

Lia followed Helen into the lounge, Katie watched them until the door closed, “I hope she’s OK.”

Poppy gave Katie a powerful hug, “hey, she can’t be worse than I was, and Helen’s gone a long way to fixing my head, and you helped more than you could possibly imagine. I can’t see why the same team won’t be able to fix anything that troubles Lia.”

“You’re so much stronger than everyone else...”

“I think it’s more that I was too stubborn to die, I just wanted to teach the bastards a lesson by not dying.”

“Don’t put yourself down Poppy, you’re virtually indestructible.”

“Whatever, Lia will be fine with you by her side.”

“Mmm, on a slightly related note, what about tomorrow at school, can I pretend to be your girlfriend? I don’t want any rumours or gossip.”

Poppy kissed Katie hard on the lips, they gasped as they pulled apart after a few moments, “you don’t need to pretend Katie, you’re still my girlfriend as far as I’m concerned, and you’re still Belle’s girlfriend.”

As if on cue, Belle ran up and slid between them, standing on tiptoes she kissed Katie, a long kiss that had their arms roving over each other’s bodies.

Poppy walked to the plate cupboard, “well, one of us needs to set the table, the chef and kitchen porter seem to be too busy...” she sighed.

Jenny got up to help, “it’s ok mum, I’m only kidding, I can handle it ... Oh, we’ve still got the posh cutlery from next door, we’d best take everything back after school tomorrow.”

“I’ll do it with Lia in the morning.”

“Ahh, but what about the lady at number 16, Theresa was it, I don’t think you should be going there. We’ll do it straight after school before we do our homework.”

“Thanks honey, always looking out for me.”

“Ahh,” Poppy laughed as Belle arrived and took some plates off the worktop, “you’ve finished snogging Lia’s girlfriend finally.”

“You said she was still our girlfriend...” Belle pouted.

Poppy kissed Belle’s forehead, “she is, and I hope she never stops being our girlfriend.”

“So do I,” Katie agreed as she opened the cutlery drawer, “only an idiot would lose you two.”

Ten minutes later Lia and Helen emerged from the lounge, Belle gave them both a glass of wine.

“I don’t drink,” Lia whispered as she accepted the glass.

“We have Coke, and Dr Pepper. and Vimto,” Belle replied.

“No, tonight I’ll have this, I suspect I might need a little Dutch courage after we’ve eaten.”

“Just so you know, we’re the least judgy people you’ll ever meet. Some of the shit Poppy and Helen have told us would make your hair curl, yet we’ve never stopped loving them.”

“Mmm, I’d quite like curly hair.”

“I think you’re going to fit in here, Lia.”

“I hope so, because I’m a little bit in love with everyone.”

“Only a little bit?” Belle asked.

“I already loved you Belle,” Lia replied, and she was rewarded with one of Belle’s best smiles.

The gate buzzer sounded, Poppy ran for the door as I swiped the app to open the gate.

“Oh hey, Neil isn’t it?” Poppy asked brightly when she’d opened the door.

“Ahh yes, I knew you’d be staying, Alex is a lucky guy.”

“You’re not going to believe how lucky he is,” she replied, “hey everyone, come and say hello to Neil, he brought our takeaway the first night I was here.”

We joined Poppy at the door.

“This is Jenny, Alex’s fiancée and our mum, this is Belle, Katie and Lia, my sisters, and at the back, that’s Aunty Helen, Alex’s sister. So yes, I did stay, but not in the way you thought.”

“Err, I didn’t mean anything by what I said before, honest.”

Poppy reached out and took the bags of food and quickly kissed him on the cheek, “it’s ok Neil, I’m only teasing you...”

Neil’s mouth dropped open as Poppy kissed him, so Belle slipped a £5 note between his lips and tapped his chin to shut his mouth.

“See you later Neil,” the girls called as I closed the door.

“That was cruel,” Jenny said as Poppy carried the food into the dining room.

“I know, it’s because he sounded a bit sleazy that first night I was here, ‘I bet she’s still here when I come next time’ like dad had pulled me or something.”

“He was right though.”

“I know mum, that’s what annoys me most, he was right, I’m still here, I was even dad’s girlfriend for a bit, and that sleazy lad knew it before me.”

“Are you upset, do you regret sleeping with Alex...”

“Good god no, I loved sharing dad’s bed, and I love it even more when you’re both there. It’s just annoying that he knew it before it happened. Now he’s been put straight, we’re dad’s daughters, and he’ll go back and tell his friends ‘you know the guy at number 20, you should see his daughters, gorgeous, every one of them.’ They’ll be fighting to deliver our food.”

“That’s brilliant,” Katie cried, “and I loved what you did Belle, that was so cool shoving the tip in his mouth and closing it like that.”

“Ok, it’s official,” Lia called out, “you lot are so much fun, I’m staying, that is unless anyone steals my kung-po duck...”

Poppy unpacked the bags and laid all the tubs out along the middle of the table, “ok newbie, here’s your food, feel free to help yourself to anything else, Belle eats enough for two people, so I’m assuming dad expected you to be the same and ordered extra.”

“It’s a 10-person banquet,” I told them, “with extra spring rolls and pork dumplings.”

“See, he’s been through the ‘fattening-up the street kids’ routine before.”

The dining room was filled with happy chatter and laughter as we stripped the table bare like locusts, Poppy was right, Lia ate all her kung-po duck and had good portions of beef in black-bean sauce and chicken chow mein.

“Holy shit,” Lia groaned as she sat back rubbing her belly, “I don’t ever remember being this full.”

“We’ve got ice cream...” Belle told her, “lots of ice cream.”

“I don’t even want to think about ice cream right now. I think I’ll have a little walk around the house, then I’ll tell you all my story. Do you want to give me the tour Katie?”

Poppy and Belle went to work clearing the table, while we adults took the wine bottles and our glasses into the lounge.

“So, what’s the verdict,” Jenny asked Helen as we settled onto the sofa.

“Well, she’s not had a great time so far, as you’d expect from someone who’d rather freeze on the streets than go home. Her home life was in many ways worse than Poppy’s. At least Poppy had a mother who kind of loved her, and kept a roof over her head, and made sure she always had food and clothes...”

“Oh god!” Jenny exclaimed, “how could Lia’s life be worse than Poppy’s.”

“It’s hard to decide what’s better and worse in these appalling situations, and I’m sure neither girl will claim they had it worse when they find out each other’s pasts.

“In Lia’s case, her mother disappeared when she was just starting secondary school, 7 or so years ago. No trace has ever been found of her, so we can probably assume she’s dead, and it will become clear who the main suspect is.

“Once her mother was out of the picture there was no-one left in the family to protect Lia from her father and older brothers, who proceeded to anally rape her every day until she was finally taken into foster care a couple of years later.”

“Holy shit! You said anally rape her, an 11 year old.”

“Yes, only ever anally. Possibly because they’re catholics, and didn’t want to use birth control or risk pregnancy. So raping your daughter is fine, but not using birth control, you’ve got to love the twisted logic of god-fearing catholics.

“Anyway, she was taken into foster care, and was happy for a few years, until her foster carers took in a second child, and for reasons she can’t quite explain, the relationship with her carers broke down, and social services in their wisdom sent her back home.”

“Fuck, why do they do that?”

“They felt the instigator of the sexual assaults...”

“Rapes!” Jenny cried.

“Yes, rapes, but Lia said they used the term sexual assaults, they felt that her oldest brother, Jayden, was the instigator of the ... rapes ... and now he was safely behind bars for killing a prostitute, she’d be safe.”

“I’m guessing she wasn’t,” Jenny sighed.

“And you’d be right.”

“And I’m guessing Jayden is the prime suspect for mum’s disappearance.”

“Right again, you should join the police.”

“Oh fuck Helen, how is she?”

“In the circumstances, she’s remarkably well. She’s spent the last 18 months since she ran away in quiet contemplation. She’s thought long and hard, she’s decided that nothing that happened was her fault, she didn’t invite the attacks, so they’re not her fault.

“As crazy as it sounds, this is a huge step, most domestic abuse victims like this are told it’s their fault, and they’re told it so often they start to believe it, they somehow believe that an 11 year old who is anally raped by 4 men in one night is at fault. They’re to blame for flaunting their body.

“Well, not Lia, she’s absolutely sure in her mind that she isn’t to blame for anything.

“She is also certain that no man is ever going to touch her again, unless she instigates it, and to make sure of that she has studied a number of martial arts techniques. Any man who propositions her will suffer, and she says she has hurt several guys.

“Finally, she is still technically a virgin. She’s saving her virginity for Mr Right, and at the moment she is absolutely certain Mr Right does not exist. She told me that she never thought of herself as gay, but she saw how much Poppy loved Belle when they were in the squat, and has been thinking about how tender lesbian love can be, so has decided to give it a try, she has never had lesbian sex, and I think one of us needs to warn Katie to take it slowly.”

“I’ll do that,” Jenny volunteered, “put some quiet music on Alex and I’ll round up the girls.”

I chose a Tangerine Dream album and set the volume low as Poppy, Belle and Lia arrived.

“Mum wanted a word with Katie,” Poppy announced, “I hope she’s not fussing about school tomorrow, we’ve got Belle’s first day all planned.”

“Every single minute of my day tomorrow is planned,” Belle sighed as she sat on the floor in front of Poppy, who wrapped her arms around her sister and pulled her in close.

“It may seem a bit much, but sometimes girls can be horrible to each other, especially when a girl as stunning as you arrives on the scene.”

“What about you, were any girls nasty to you?”

“Not that I know of, but it was clear early on that I was with Katie, so I probably wasn’t after their boyfriends.”

“So, why can’t people know I’m also your girlfriend?”

“Well, it’s probably a bit taboo, having a three-way relationship, and if I’m honest, you’re just too fucking beautiful Belle, even if we do say you’re my girlfriend, nobody will believe it.”

“That’s not fair, how can anyone be too beautiful to be gay?”

“I’m probably just being too careful, but I’m worried that once the boys see you when they meet their girlfriends after school they’ll pounce on you.”

“And I know just where to kick any boy that tries it on.”

“I know you can defend yourself Scrappy Doo, but right now I’m trying to avoid trouble, I think we’ve had enough violence for one year.”

“Ahh, yes, sorry. It’s not fair, how can I be too pretty?”

“Just lucky I guess, well, I’m the lucky one, because you’re my girlfriend.”

“And I’m lucky because Wonder Woman is my girlfriend.”

Katie joined us and sat with Lia on the second sofa.

“Is everything OK,” Poppy asked, “mum wasn’t hassling you about tomorrow?”

“Oh no, everything’s fine. Mum wanted a chat about other stuff.”

Jenny closed the door and sat between Helen and myself on the sofa.

Lia had a sip of her wine, sighed deeply and started.

“Ok, so despite knowing me for over a year, Poppy, you know very little about me, and I’ll explain why in a moment. First though, I have to thank you all for taking me in despite knowing almost nothing about me.

“So, I’m Lia, I’m 18 and I’m from Wood Green. I have 10 GCSEs. I got the results by telephone as I’d already run away from home before the results came out.”

“What grades did you get?” Balle asked.