The woman sitting across the aisle had her headphones on.  Beside her, two children- aged about six or seven, it looked like- played with a couple of action figures, making zooming noises as they had them fly around looking for bad guys.

Mariam sat next to Jana, who was holding Helena in her lap.  She hadn’t even brought a pram.  She said she was just going to carry her through town.

One of the children tugged at his mother’s sleeve.  “Mum?  Mum?  When we get off the bus, can we…?”

“Stop.  Shouting.”  The woman said this through gritted teeth.  Jana’s mouth fell open in shock.

“But can we…”

“I said, stop shouting.  I am trying to concentrate.”

After the woman and her children got off the bus Jana whispered, “He wasn’t shouting at all.”

“I know,” said Mariam, “If she thinks talking normally is the same thing as shouting, she’s in for a nasty surprise when he turns thirteen.”

“And what had he done wrong?  Interrupted what she was listening to for a few seconds?”  Jana gazed into Helena’s sleeping face.  “I can’t believe any mother would talk to her child like that.”

Mariam had to squash down a nasty little thought that said, Right, because you’re an expert on all aspects of motherhood.  After less than a month.  “Yeah,” she said instead, “I think she should count herself lucky that her kids are better-behaved than we were.”

*

On the fifth night, Mariam was woken up by angry voices again.

“It’s an investment, alright?  Don’t worry, it’ll go right back in!”

“And when were you planning to tell me this?  That you’d cleaned out our daughter’s account?”

“I think ‘cleaned it out’ is a bit of an exaggeration there, Jana.  There’s still a hundred pounds in there.  Or do you think Helena’s going to blow through that before she’s six months old?”

“Just answer the question!  When were you planning to tell me?”

“Look, whose parents put that money there in the first place?  Mine or yours?”

There was a slammed door, and then a long silence.  Mariam couldn’t do anything else, so she did her best to go back to sleep.

*

The next day, Mariam overheard Philip talking to one of his friends on the phone.  “Yeah, it’s been a rough week.  Lots of little dramas.”  He laughed.  “I mean, put it this way- this isn’t what I pictured when Jana told me her hot college-aged cousin was coming to visit.”

With a shudder of revulsion, Mariam went to find Jana.

*

Mariam’s parents were coming to pick her up tomorrow morning.  One last check of the spare room, to make sure she hadn’t left anything in the corner or under the bed, and she’d go and join Jana in the living room.  Philip was working late, so they wouldn’t have to put up with him this evening.

But Jana ended up coming over to her.  She appeared at the doorway just as Mariam crouched down on the carpet.  “Alright?  Packing done?”

“Just about,” said Mariam.  She stood up so she could talk to her properly.  “Anything good on telly tonight?”

“I don’t know.”  Jana was clutching her right bicep with her left hand, as if it was sore.  “Listen, I talked to your mum on the phone earlier on, and she says that when she takes you back to Bradford tomorrow, me and Helena can come too.”

“What, back to ours?”  Mariam lowered her voice.  “Without Philip?”

“Without Philip.”  Jana brought her other arm up to clutch her other bicep, so that her arms were folded awkwardly across each other.  “You’ve seen how he’s behaved this week.  I thought he’d grown up, but he hasn’t.”

“Wow,” said Mariam, “I’m sorry.”  She actually wasn’t, but it seemed like the right thing to say.

“I could put up with it if it was just me, but this isn’t the kind of environment I want Helena to grow up in.”

And even though Jana had just completely blindsided her, even though she’d just gone a long way towards proving the family’s dire predictions wrong, Mariam’s first instinct was still to lecture her.   “Well, relationships aren’t something you should just ‘put up with,’ even if…”

“No, no.  That came out wrong.  What I meant was, it’s one thing to have a whiny, irresponsible boyfriend when you feel like being whiny and irresponsible yourself, but you expect more from the father of your child.  And he’s just not measuring up.” 

Mariam put an arm around Jana’s shoulder.  “I think you’re doing the right thing.  Not that I’m an expert on the subject.”

Jana sighed.  “None of us are.”

The End