Kind of Cruel by Sophie Hannah Read Free Book Online Page A

her, knowing Dinah’s pride would rebel at the slightest suggestion that she too might need reassurance. ‘Not one single bit more. But we’re not going to have a baby. We talked about it, and we decided. We’re going to stay as we are: a family of four.’
    ‘Good, because there’d be no point,’ says Dinah.
    ‘In our having a baby?’
    ‘No. It’d only grow up and work in an office. Has anyone from school phoned you today?’
    ‘No,’ I say. ‘Should they have?’
    ‘Dinah’s in trouble, and it’s not her fault,’ says Nonie, picking at the skin on her lip.
    ‘I told you.’ Her sister turns on her. ‘Mrs Truscott didn’t ring because she knew Amber’d stick up for me.’
    ‘Stick up for you over what?’
    ‘Is Luke home yet?’ Dinah ignores my question, unwinds her school scarf from round her neck and hands it to me along with her gloves.
    ‘I don’t know. I’ve not been into the house, I’ve only just—’
    ‘I’ll tell him first and then I’ll tell you.’
    ‘That’s stupid,’ says Nonie. ‘He’ll tell her.’
    ‘ I’ ll tell her. But she won’t worry as much once she sees Luke thinks it’s funny, which he will.’
    All this before we get to the front door. ‘What’s wrong with working in an office?’ I ask as I fumble in my handbag for my house keys. ‘I work in an office.’
    ‘It’s boring,’ says Dinah. ‘Not for you, if you like it – that’s fine. I just mean, when you think how many people work in offices – almost everybody – then it’s boring. It’d be silly to have a baby just so that it could grow up and do a boring thing that too many people do already.’
    I drop my keys on the doorstep, bend to pick them up, say, ‘People do different things in their offices – interesting things, sometimes.’ I notice I’m not demanding to know what Dinah is putting off telling me; I also like the idea of waiting until Luke’s here to soften the blow by finding it hilarious.
    ‘I’m going to be a stonemason, like Luke,’ says Dinah. ‘I could take over running his business when he gets too old. He’s quite old already.’
    Can girls be stonemasons? Luke is forever lugging around huge chunks of York and Bath stone that I’m sure no female could lift. ‘Last week you wanted to be a baroness,’ I remind Dinah as I unlock the door. ‘I think that’s a better fit, I have to say.’
    Nonie hangs back. ‘How much money have we got?’ she asks. OCB, who is conducting an inventory of Sheepskin Rug’s possessions on the pavement nearby, adjusts her stance in the hope of hearing my reply.
    ‘That’s a funny question, Nones. Why?’
    ‘Enver in my class – his mum and dad have got so much money that he won’t ever have to get a job. We haven’t got that much, have we?’
    I try to usher her inside, but she sticks determinedly to the doorstep. ‘You don’t need to worry about money, or about getting a job,’ I tell her. ‘You’re a child. Let the grown-ups do the worrying.’ Her frown lines deepen, and I realise I’ve said the wrong thing. ‘Not that Luke and I have anything to worry about. We’re fine, Nones, financially and in every other way. Everything’s fine.’
    ‘I’d like to get a job when I’m older, but I don’t know how to,’ she says. ‘Or how to buy a house, or a car, or find a husband.’
    ‘You’re not supposed to know about any of that stuff yet. You’re only seven,’ I say.
    She shakes her head sorrowfully. ‘Everyone in my class already knows who they’re marrying, apart from me.’
    ‘Dinah – airlock!’ I call out, seeing that the inner door is wide open, the one that’s supposed to stay shut until the outer door’s closed. ‘Come on, Nones, can we go in? It’s freezing.’ She sighs, but does as she’s told. Disappointment rises from her small body like steam. She hoped to be able to solve her matrimonial problem before crossing the threshold, and it didn’t happen; now she’s having to go inside with it