Timba Comes Home Read Free Page B

wanted me to play, and he waved all sorts of bits and pieces right in front of my face when I was TRYING to wash. Jessica had always washed me first. I was her favourite, and her
bristly tongue dealt efficiently with my long fur. Doing it myself was hard. I needed space and quiet so I crept under a table, but Leroy followed me, crawling as if he was a cat. The floor felt
sticky and wisps of fluff clung to the chair legs, and there was nothing to look at. I longed to be sitting in a sunny window, or in a garden where things were happening. This was a gaunt and
gloomy place.
    ‘Leave the poor kitten alone!’ Janine shrieked. ‘And get up off the floor. Who’s going to do your washing?’
    Leroy took no notice of her. He seemed obsessed with watching what I was doing. Janine reached under the table, her eyes furious. She got hold of his arm and dragged him out, banging his head on
the table edge. His roar of pain and rage frightened me, and I ran for the nearest crack, a space behind a cupboard, and squeezed in there. My washing effort was now impossible.
    I peeped out, horrified at the sight of two humans fighting. Leroy was howling, his mouth open wide, his eyes and nose running, and he was kicking viciously at Janine’s shins, and
clutching his head.
    ‘I hate you. You made me bang my head. You done it on purpose. You’re a horrible mother and I HATE YOU.’
    ‘Don’t you kick me! GET to your room. NOW!’
    ‘I hurt my head.’
    ‘I don’t care. You’ve been winding me up all day. Get out of my sight. Go on. Go!’ Janine pushed Leroy through a door and slammed it shut. She leaned against it,
breathing hard, while Leroy kicked and thundered on the other side. ‘Bloody kid,’ she muttered, her lips white with fury. She slumped into a chair and sat with her hands over her
ears.
    Leroy pushed his way back through the door, picked up a chair and lifted it high above his head.
    ‘Don’t you DARE,’ warned Janine, but Leroy flung the chair violently across the room, knocking Janine’s coffee cup off the table, cracking it into jagged pieces. The
coffee poured over her magazines and splashed onto the carpet. ‘Right . . . that’s it!’ she yelled. ‘Bloody well break up what’s left of this place, you evil little
bastard.’ Jumping to her feet, she seized the broken chair and tore the leg off it with a cracking, splintering sound. Brandishing it, she flew at Leroy. ‘I’ll kill you!’
She lunged at him, but Leroy dodged out of the way. He grinned at the sight of his mum losing her cool, and that made Janine worse. ‘I’ll get rid of you,’ she growled.
‘I’ll get the socials to put you in care.’
    Leroy suddenly looked devastated, and frightened. ‘No, Mum, please. I’ll be good. I’m sorry for winding you up . . . I won’t do it no more. I’ll go to bed.’
And he went upstairs.
    ‘Don’t give me that bullshit.’ Janine collapsed into an armchair and turned on the TV. It flickered blue, then went blank. The lights went out with a snap. ‘Oh no! The
meter’s run out. And I’ve no money,’ Janine wailed. ‘I’ll have to sit here in the dark.’
    She opened the curtains and the orange light from the street made a dim glow. I didn’t mind the dark; in fact I found it soothing after the noise and the fighting.
    What about me? I thought. I am only a kitten.
    Thinking about the loneliness and longing for my brother didn’t change anything. So I remembered something Solomon had told me. ‘Use your tail,’ he’d said. ‘Humans
can’t resist tails. Your tail is like a smile when it’s up. At the worst times, when humans really get to you, don’t hide, don’t sulk . . . walk out there with your tail
up.’
    My tail wasn’t very long yet, but I decided to have a go. When Janine had quietened down, I meowed, put my tail up and walked out there.
    She melted!
    ‘Oh Timba, you’re so cute,’ she crooned. ‘Poor little scrap . . . we weren’t shouting at you,