Little Darlings Read Free

morning Steve was in a very
bad
mood and didn’t want to do anything at all.
    â€˜Where will we go, Mum?’ I say. ‘Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square?’
    â€˜We’ve seen them already,’ says Mum.
    â€˜Oh great, so we can go to that shop, Harrods? Not to buy stuff, just to have a look round. We could play we’re two rich Wags out on a shopping spree.’
    â€˜Yeah, well, we could do that when we get there in the afternoon, but we’re going somewhere else in the evening. We’re going to a
film premiere
,’ says Mum.
    I stare at her. She sometimes makes stuff up, just like me.
    â€˜No, we’re not!’ I say.
    â€˜Yes, we are! Well, we’re not going to see the film itself – that’s for the stars, naturally – but we’ll be there looking at everyone arriving, standing on the red carpet. I’ve seen stuff like that on the telly. You can get really close up to the stars, even speak to them, and Destiny, guess who’s going to be there – oh, guess!’
    I look at Mum, shaking my head. ‘I don’t know,’ I say, and I truly haven’t a clue.
    I don’t know much about film stars. Mum’s the one who hangs about for ages in WHSmith reading all the celebrity mags, not me. I can’t quite get why she’s so worked up, biting her lips, her fists clenched.
    â€˜Danny’s going to be there!’ she says.
    â€˜
Our
Danny?’
    â€˜Yes, yes!’
    â€˜But he’s not a film star.’
    â€˜I read about it in the fan club mag. It’s a film about a new band – it’s called
Milky Star
—’
    â€˜Danny’s got a new band?’ I ask.
    â€˜No, no – oh, I
wish
! How wonderful to be able to see him play! No, according to this piece I read, Danny plays a major rock star, kind of similar to himself – but anyway, the film premiere’s on Saturday and Danny will be there, it
said
. And I’ve been saving up for something special for yourbirthday for ages, so I thought I’d get us tickets, and buy you a new outfit – because it’s time you met him, Destiny. It’s time you met . . . your father.’
    She whispers the last two words reverently. It’s such a very private secret we hardly ever talk about it. Mum’s never told anyone but me, and I wouldn’t ever tell anyone else, even if I had a best friend in all the world, because this is such a sacred secret.
    My dad is Danny Kilman. I suppose there wouldn’t be any point telling people even if it wasn’t a secret, because who would believe me? Mum met Danny when she was eighteen. She’d loved him ever since she was my age. She bought all his albums and had posters of him all over her bedroom walls. She’d had a few boyfriends, but Danny was the only man she ever loved. She was thrilled when Danny and his boys were playing at the Apollo and she managed to get a ticket. She went with her friend Julie and they screamed themselves hoarse, and then they went to the Midland Hotel and hung around in the hope of seeing the band there – and they were invited in for drinks.
    Mum said it was the most amazing night of her life – she simply couldn’t believe it. She wasactually talking to Danny Kilman! She was sitting on his lap! She was kissing him!
    She said he wasn’t a bit the way she’d imagined. He was quiet, even a little bit shy, and very gentlemanly, taking such care of her.
    Mum says they only had a brief relationship but it was a truly passionate love affair – my little mum and rock god Danny.
    â€˜I should have left home and given up my job and followed him to London there and then,’ Mum’s often said sadly. ‘I should have realized you can’t really have a valid long-distance relationship, not with someone like Danny. I don’t really blame him for starting to go out with Suzy. I don’t want to sound catty, but she