Chapter 3. A Bank with a Difference
I didn't turn my phone on all weekend, social media was my new enemy, but on Monday morning I had to check my online diary. My phone started pinging immediately. A girl from my science class, who I thought was my friend, tagged me in one of the posts. There was a big photo of me in my uniform and the hashtag this time was #theyellowsticker#fashiondisaster. Ok, so it was embarrassing but luckily I wasn't wearing my hat! Maybe the other kids at school won't even see the photo. Or maybe they will … as I looked at my screen, comments started to appear: ‘No food, no clothes, no life!', ‘Total loser!'. I heard other phones pinging and that's when the laughing and the pointing started AGAIN! The other kids were all looking at me and I wanted to disappear. Please, please make me invisible! There was only one solution: the toilets. I ran down the corridor, into the girls toilets, into a cubicle, locked the door … and cried. Why is my life such a nightmare?! I hated school. I hated Kyla and the other bullies. I just wanted to go home.
Home. I know it's a cliché but home really is where the heart is. We didn't have a lot of money but we had a lot of love. Leah was always so happy to see me … especially when I had cake!
‘Meggie, Meggie, come and look at my unicorn,' she shouted as I walked through the front door that Saturday after work.
‘Hey, Leah! Wow, that's a fabulous unicorn!' I replied as I looked at her latest painting.
‘It's for you, Meggie!' she smiled.
‘Thank you so much,' I laughed, picking her up for a hug.
I couldn't really see a unicorn among the blue, pink and yellow splodges of paint to be honest, but Leah made it just for me and I felt better already after my terrible week at school.
The other kids were still making fun of me and I didn't want to tell mum and dad because they had enough problems.
‘Where are mum and dad?' I asked Leah as I gave her an iced finger.
‘In the kitchen. Talking,' she said. ‘Grown-up stuff'.
Grown up stuff? Uh-oh. Sounds like more trouble.
‘Mum! Dad! I'm home,' I shouted through to the kitchen.
‘Just a minute, Meggie. We're coming,' mum shouted back.
I had a feeling that my bad week was about to get worse … and I was right.
Mum and dad came into the living room, said hello, and then continued whispering in the corner. Dad was holding a couple of pound coins in his hand and mum had something in her hand too. It looked like a letter. What was it? Who was it from?
Leah and I were watching some cartoons while she ate her iced finger but after a few minutes mum and dad told me to follow them into the kitchen.
‘Come in here in a minute, Meggie. We want to talk to you,' mum said.
No more bad news! Please!
‘Ok, Meggie, so the situation is quite bad now,' mum explained. ‘We have this gas bill to pay and we have no money for food.'
No money for food! We really are going to starve!
‘Are we going to die, cold and hungry?' I asked my mum in a panic.
‘We're NOT going to die, Meggie,' mum reassured me, ‘but we do need help.'
My grandparents were dead and mum and dad didn't have any brothers or sisters. Who will help us?
‘There is a food bank in town,' mum continued. ‘We can go there for some food today.'
A food bank? I thought banks were places for people to keep their money…
‘What's a food bank?' I asked.
‘It's a charity,' dad explained. ‘They give people food when they don't have enough money to buy it for themselves.'
Charity?! Oh no! First the yellow stickers, now free food like homeless people!
‘I don't want charity,' I shouted angrily. ‘I don't want to be poor!'
‘I know, Meggie,' dad said as he hugged me. ‘I know it's a horrible situation but we're lucky that there are organisations that want to help us.'
Even as I cried, I knew that dad was right. I didn't want Leah to be hungry and I didn't want her to know how bad our situation was.
‘I'll go with mum,' I offered. ‘You stay here and play with Leah, dad'.
Dad smiled and gave me an even bigger hug.
‘My sweet, sweet Meggie,' he said. ‘Thank you, love.'
The bus stopped right outside the community food bank on Market Street. Mum and I were both a bit nervous but we were greeted at the door by a volunteer.
‘Hi. Come in, come in,' she said. ‘My name's Maureen. Is this your first time?'
‘Yes, it is,' mum answered hesitantly. ‘I'm Abbie and this is my daughter Meghan.'
‘Ok. Well, don't worry about anything Abbie and Meghan. I'll show you what to do,' Maureen reassured us.
We walked into a big hall and there was food EVERYWHERE. It was so organised. Maureen gave us a shopping bag and took us to the different tables. On one table there were boxes of pasta, rice and cereal; on another there were tins of soup, tuna, beans and spaghetti hoops and on another there was soap and shampoo.
Wow! Where did all this stuff come from? !
‘Just choose all the things you need,' said Maureen to mum, ‘and I'll go and get you a cup of tea and a biscuit.'
Mum and I soon had a full bag of shopping. There was even a big fridge in the corner and I found some vanilla yoghurt for me and some chocolate milk for Leah! Before we left, Mum and Maureen had a quick chat about our situation.
‘Any family can have problems sometimes,' Maureen reassured mum. ‘Just remember, you're not alone. You're part of a community and we're here to help.'
‘Thank you so much,' mum replied.
Maureen walked us to the door and mum was still chatting to her when we went outside. I was feeling better about everything when suddenly I heard laughing. Oh no! Kyla!
Kyla and a couple of other girls were standing on the other side of the road and … they were taking another photo of me. I wanted to run over the road and tell Kyla to stop. I wanted to break her stupid phone! But I didn't want mum to know about the bullying so I just turned around and pretended they weren't there.
‘Come on, mum, let's go,' I said. ‘Leah is waiting for us.'
‘I'm coming, love,' mum shouted happily.
