Page 36 - Julie Thorley Nine Lives book

Nine Pence
younger than I looked. I expect it was because I wasn’t wearing my school uniform. I’ll say it again: fteen. You shouldn’t have insisted on the adult fare.
I was short by nine pence. Why couldn’t you have simply let me off? I would have gone home and told Mum how kind you were, and she might have emailed the bus company and sung your praises. Gold star for you. Instead, you made Mum mad. She had to come out and fetch me from the town centre where you left me standing on my own.
Oh, I hear what you’re saying. It’s company regulations. People take advantage, so you have to be strict.
What about the other passengers? Did none of them
have nine pence to spare? I would have been so grateful. We might have sat together and chatted. One of them might have discovered that she knew my Mum or that I knew her daughter.
But no one came to help me. So I stood in the street and waited too long for Mum to arrive. Meanwhile, someone joined me at the bus stop and spoke. You’ll never know what he did. You’ll never know where he took me. And I can never tell what he did.
Think about it. Nine pence. ***
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