Read Emily Taylor - The Teenage Mum Online
Authors: Vi Grim
Tags: #coming of age, #pregnancy, #emily taylor, #pregnancy and childbirth, #vi grim, #age 14 to adult, #the teenage mum, #young mum
Emily Taylor - The Teenage Mum (14 page)
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We go dancing, we go surfing
and we hang out with the rock stars.
Picasso seduces me. He has me
pose nude then paints me from head to toe in red. I don't need to
ask Annie where she's been when she comes home painted a funny
shade of blue the next day!
Annie has a fling with James
and breaks his heart. She lets me have the pleasure of slamming the
door in his face when he turns up begging on the doorstep.
Sunday, and sing until we're horse.
When we start arguing about
what month it is, we decide it's time to head back to Camillo.
remove the magic spirally thing, then picking the day carefully,
have Zula visit. It's so nice to have him in my arms; I don't want
to let go. I want him to stay forever and be my man. I want the
kids to have a dad. Then I twiddle with the necklace around my neck
and think of Ijju. I squeeze Zula so tight I nearly crush him, then
click my fingers and he's gone, just the faint odour of desert left
hanging in the air.
walk along the beach with Annie.
'I'm pregnant,' I say.
'Snap, me too,' she says
smiling.
'James?' I ask.
'Hell no!'
I study her face carefully then
say, 'Azziz?'
She smiles.
'Yes!' I say. 'That's so
neat.'
I'm really happy for her. She's
always fancied Azziz. I wonder how Janice will take it. I think
she'll be cool; she's a girl who's lived life to the full.
arrives, an SM7.
'Worth waiting for or what?'
says Pollux, when I go to visit him. 'It's got voyeurscopic vision.
It's just like being there.'
goodbye and shoot off in their fighters to sow some wild
oats.
and another one in the oven, life becomes a bit of a blur. It would
be easy to say that we lurch from disaster to disaster, but there's
so many good memories that I forgive the kids and Zula for
everything. It's all Zula's fault for being so charming and
thinking about me like he does. He had all the pleasure with none
of the hard work. He'll have to make it up to me sometime; I'm
going to make him pay!
pregas too. I feel like an old hand, giving her pointers and
advice. I keep saying to her to make the most of life before the
baby arrives. Once it's arrived, life as you know it finishes, you
never get to sleep again and become a slave to you baby. I suggest
she goes back to Zwingly and parties for a while.
'It was fun but I want to be
here with you and look after my growing baby.'
It's great having her here.
Sometimes Janice brings River Star along and stays for weeks on
end. It's wonderful with her around. She sings and jokes and does
daft things. Like, instead of measuring the kids and making a
little mark on the door post, she paints them from top to toe,
squishes them against the wall, then prints their name and the date
in big red letters that no one can miss.
God's good at sorting out asteroids but he's just not around. I go
to see Castor instead.
'I want more people on
Camillo,' I say.
'You seem to be doing a pretty
good job of populating it single handedly,' he replies.
'My babies are going to need
friends and schools and soccer teams and jobs when they leave
school.'
'What do they need jobs
for?'
'That's what people do,' I say,
stomping my foot. He's being so difficult.
open the gates, you loose control. When Zeus controls who comes and
goes, like on Juno or Vespa, there's no problem unless the
inhabitants start breeding, but once you get an emotional beast
like a cow as gatekeeper, every time they see someone suffering or
hear a sob story, the gate opens.'
'I'm not a cow!'
'Daisy is. Let's look at
Panacea,' His screen zooms in on the Daisy's tiny asteroid. When I
first visited, there was just her and a grassy meadow. The only
company she had was a tree. But she got lonely and let in the
Brazilian football team and their friends and families. Five years
later, her asteroid is covered with high-rise apartment buildings;
the only grass left being the soccer pitch.
'I see what you mean,' I say.
'But Daisy's a cow, I'll be strict, I will keep Camillo
beautiful.'
Castor rolls his eyes to the
heavens, 'Well, don't say I didn't warn you. You're better off like
you are.'
'I want people?'
'Who, which people?'
'Who's available?'
The screens fill with people,
with new ones showing every few seconds.
'Who are they?' I ask.
'You sound like a kid in a
lolly shop.'
'What's wrong with that?'
'Nothing, pick some
people then. You'll need someone who’s organised to keep order,
like on Juno, there's Napoleon.'
'I am organised,' I snap.
'You don't want to talk to
Jesus about this first?'
'No,' I say, stomping my feet
again. 'It's my asteroid, I'm in charge.'
'You're in luck,' says Castor.
'A jumbo jet has just crashed. It's full of American
families.'
'Perfect, grab them.'
'Where will you put them?'
'Stop being tricky, just do
it!' I screech. I'm not to be trifled with when I'm pregnant.
everywhere on Camillo. They're wandering about like zombies looking
battered, dazed and confused. I got my people; I just don't know
what to do with them all. They've eaten all my vegetables and
stripped the orchard bare. Having seen a few bolts of lightning
coming from the other end of the beach, it looks like Jesus's
garden is under attack as well. Janice and River Star arrive
puffing along the beach, saying that the zombies have taken over
the cafe. We barricade ourselves into my cottage and there's people
outside, milling around waiting for something to happen.
'Castor, can't you send them
back or something? Get rid of them!'
'So you've saved them from the
dead, now you want to kill them again,' says Castor.
'I don't want to kill them; I'm
just not ready for them. Not yet.'
'Yes or no? Make up your mind
woman!'
'Let's see if things settle
down in a day or two,' I suggest.
A couple of days later, there's
something going on. I hear the sound system at the cafe belting out
gospel music and can see a huge crowd gathering along there.
'Annie, can you look after the
kids?' I ask.
'Of course,' says Annie. 'Do be
careful.'
I stomp off up the beach with
the photon canon slung over my shoulder. Although the people's
clothes are ripped and torn, they look surprisingly smart. All the
men and boys wear suit jackets and ties, and the ladies and girls
have long dresses. Many of them are wearing hats; the men black
bobbly ones like I've seen on tele and the ladies headscarves. I
kind of stand out in my bright yellow jump suit.
People stare at me as if I'm
some sort of weirdo.
There's an ear-splitting
screech of feedback over the speaker system and a rounded lady
takes the stage. Speaking in a squeaky American accent, she says,
'Hi everyone, for those of you that don't know me, I'm Barb Dwyer.
I must say it is wonderful to be here, it is what I have been
praying for all of my life. We have been saved, ladies and
gentlemen, saved from our sins and it has all happened because of
one man. One man who is closer to God than Jesus himself. You paid
your money, and he got you here. He bought you on the holiday of a
lifetime. Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome the Preacher Man, Will
Godbehere!'
tall, thin man with a gold suit comes on stage. He looks like a
complete slimeball. I bet he started out as a used car salesman or
a game show host.
Taking the microphone, he says,
'Will God be here? Yes he will!'
The crowd goes wild.
Once the cheering has died
down, Will continues in his slow southern drawl, 'Thank you Barbara
for your rousing welcome, may God be with you. I bet you're all
glad you signed up and paid your dues to the Church of Christian
Finance. It might have seemed a lot at the time but no price is too
high to pay for happiness. Look what it got you, a direct flight to
heaven. I've been talking to God and he says it's ours to do
whatever I want with. I'm going to subdivide it and sell it off to
the highest bidders. May the glory of God be with you.
Hallelujah!'
'Hallelujah,' repeats the
crowd.
'Yes, hallelujah,' shouts
Will. 'We need to get a little organised here. Mr Zaster will be
looking after the logistics of setting ourselves up. Dee, would you
like to say a few words -'
'Preacher Man we're starving,'
interrupts a tall, skinny man. 'Excuse me, but my children are
starving. We need food.'
'Hallelujah,' shouts Will.
'Hallelujah,' repeats the
crowd.
'Hallelujah, The Lord has
provided. There's fish, just like in the bible. The sea is teeming
with fish; they're swimming up on the beaches. Smell the air, do
you smell anything? Yes Ladies and Gentlemen, that's the sweet,
smell of loaves a baking. We have grain enough to feed us all the
way to Christmas. The Lord has provided wine, there are barrels of
it, but as you know, the Church of Christian Finance is teetotal.
We've sealed the door of the wine cellar and left it as an offering
to God.'
Jesus will be happy about
that.
thoughts. 'God, I need you.'
Nothing, he's not there.
'He's not around,' says
Pollux.
age spread and no dress sense, gets up on stage and takes the
microphone.
I don't know if it's his
hideous Hawaiian shirt that does it, but I've had enough.
'Hello!' I shout at the top of
my voice.
No response.
'Hallelujah!' I shout.
'Hallelujah,' chants the
crowd.
'Folks, I'm Emily, I'm God's
assistant and this is my-'
'God's son, God's assistant!
Seize her folks, she's in with the devil,' bellows Will over the
speaker system.
I set the canon on low power
and fire a shot at his feet.
'Seize her folks!'
I spin around firing at the
ground, think Zen and disappear.
I screech, as I arrive back home. 'Janice, can we stay in your
house?'
'Of course, as long as you
like.'
'Get packing,' I order.
We run about pulling out
everything we might need and piling it in the middle of the
floor.
'Castor, Pollux,' I call,
'We're going to be gone for a while. Don't let those slimeballs
anywhere near my house, or the garden, or-' I stop and think or a
moment, 'or, the paddock, or the bluff, or Tat.'
'It'll be our pleasure,' they
answer together.
heap and we're just about to go when I remember Negrita and
Trigger.
that there’s too many dogs on Zwingly.
arrive in Janice's house in a tangle of arms and legs, babies,
duvets, pillows and blankets, books, marmite and spaghetti.
It looks like being a long
stay. We'll try to behave this time.
Jesus and Azziz arrive at the
same time. They're completely sozzled.
'I don't want dem Christians
drinking my wine,' slurs Jesus as he staggers out the door and
falls face first onto the beach.
Azziz gives his girls a big hug
and passes out. They seem happy to share him. He's not the sort of
guy you can tame.
She stomps her feet, then goes red in the face and lies on the
floor going crazy, flailing her arms and legs. What a monster. It's
all over breakfast; the marmite on her toast didn't reach quite to
the corners. Yesterday it was over toilet paper; she wanted three
squares, I gave her two. Isn't she adorable - not! I hope Janice
doesn't throw us out of her house.
She doesn't mind. 'It's the
terrible twos,' she says. 'Most kids grow out of it. I didn't. Just
ignore me, when I do it.'
and we hang out with the rock stars.
Picasso seduces me. He has me
pose nude then paints me from head to toe in red. I don't need to
ask Annie where she's been when she comes home painted a funny
shade of blue the next day!
Annie has a fling with James
and breaks his heart. She lets me have the pleasure of slamming the
door in his face when he turns up begging on the doorstep.
Sunday, and sing until we're horse.
When we start arguing about
what month it is, we decide it's time to head back to Camillo.
remove the magic spirally thing, then picking the day carefully,
have Zula visit. It's so nice to have him in my arms; I don't want
to let go. I want him to stay forever and be my man. I want the
kids to have a dad. Then I twiddle with the necklace around my neck
and think of Ijju. I squeeze Zula so tight I nearly crush him, then
click my fingers and he's gone, just the faint odour of desert left
hanging in the air.
walk along the beach with Annie.
'I'm pregnant,' I say.
'Snap, me too,' she says
smiling.
'James?' I ask.
'Hell no!'
I study her face carefully then
say, 'Azziz?'
She smiles.
'Yes!' I say. 'That's so
neat.'
I'm really happy for her. She's
always fancied Azziz. I wonder how Janice will take it. I think
she'll be cool; she's a girl who's lived life to the full.
arrives, an SM7.
'Worth waiting for or what?'
says Pollux, when I go to visit him. 'It's got voyeurscopic vision.
It's just like being there.'
I know the
feeling. He means wormoscopic vision but slugs can't say the
word
Worm
without going all funny.
goodbye and shoot off in their fighters to sow some wild
oats.
and another one in the oven, life becomes a bit of a blur. It would
be easy to say that we lurch from disaster to disaster, but there's
so many good memories that I forgive the kids and Zula for
everything. It's all Zula's fault for being so charming and
thinking about me like he does. He had all the pleasure with none
of the hard work. He'll have to make it up to me sometime; I'm
going to make him pay!
pregas too. I feel like an old hand, giving her pointers and
advice. I keep saying to her to make the most of life before the
baby arrives. Once it's arrived, life as you know it finishes, you
never get to sleep again and become a slave to you baby. I suggest
she goes back to Zwingly and parties for a while.
'It was fun but I want to be
here with you and look after my growing baby.'
It's great having her here.
Sometimes Janice brings River Star along and stays for weeks on
end. It's wonderful with her around. She sings and jokes and does
daft things. Like, instead of measuring the kids and making a
little mark on the door post, she paints them from top to toe,
squishes them against the wall, then prints their name and the date
in big red letters that no one can miss.
God's good at sorting out asteroids but he's just not around. I go
to see Castor instead.
'I want more people on
Camillo,' I say.
'You seem to be doing a pretty
good job of populating it single handedly,' he replies.
'My babies are going to need
friends and schools and soccer teams and jobs when they leave
school.'
'What do they need jobs
for?'
'That's what people do,' I say,
stomping my foot. He's being so difficult.
open the gates, you loose control. When Zeus controls who comes and
goes, like on Juno or Vespa, there's no problem unless the
inhabitants start breeding, but once you get an emotional beast
like a cow as gatekeeper, every time they see someone suffering or
hear a sob story, the gate opens.'
'I'm not a cow!'
'Daisy is. Let's look at
Panacea,' His screen zooms in on the Daisy's tiny asteroid. When I
first visited, there was just her and a grassy meadow. The only
company she had was a tree. But she got lonely and let in the
Brazilian football team and their friends and families. Five years
later, her asteroid is covered with high-rise apartment buildings;
the only grass left being the soccer pitch.
'I see what you mean,' I say.
'But Daisy's a cow, I'll be strict, I will keep Camillo
beautiful.'
Castor rolls his eyes to the
heavens, 'Well, don't say I didn't warn you. You're better off like
you are.'
'I want people?'
'Who, which people?'
'Who's available?'
The screens fill with people,
with new ones showing every few seconds.
'Who are they?' I ask.
'Dead people;
t
hey're the people who have
just died, like you did,' says Castor.
'You sound like a kid in a
lolly shop.'
'What's wrong with that?'
'Nothing, pick some
people then. You'll need someone who’s organised to keep order,
like on Juno, there's Napoleon.'
'I am organised,' I snap.
'You don't want to talk to
Jesus about this first?'
'No,' I say, stomping my feet
again. 'It's my asteroid, I'm in charge.'
'You're in luck,' says Castor.
'A jumbo jet has just crashed. It's full of American
families.'
'Perfect, grab them.'
'Where will you put them?'
'Stop being tricky, just do
it!' I screech. I'm not to be trifled with when I'm pregnant.
everywhere on Camillo. They're wandering about like zombies looking
battered, dazed and confused. I got my people; I just don't know
what to do with them all. They've eaten all my vegetables and
stripped the orchard bare. Having seen a few bolts of lightning
coming from the other end of the beach, it looks like Jesus's
garden is under attack as well. Janice and River Star arrive
puffing along the beach, saying that the zombies have taken over
the cafe. We barricade ourselves into my cottage and there's people
outside, milling around waiting for something to happen.
'Castor, can't you send them
back or something? Get rid of them!'
'So you've saved them from the
dead, now you want to kill them again,' says Castor.
'I don't want to kill them; I'm
just not ready for them. Not yet.'
'Yes or no? Make up your mind
woman!'
'Let's see if things settle
down in a day or two,' I suggest.
A couple of days later, there's
something going on. I hear the sound system at the cafe belting out
gospel music and can see a huge crowd gathering along there.
'Annie, can you look after the
kids?' I ask.
'Of course,' says Annie. 'Do be
careful.'
I stomp off up the beach with
the photon canon slung over my shoulder. Although the people's
clothes are ripped and torn, they look surprisingly smart. All the
men and boys wear suit jackets and ties, and the ladies and girls
have long dresses. Many of them are wearing hats; the men black
bobbly ones like I've seen on tele and the ladies headscarves. I
kind of stand out in my bright yellow jump suit.
People stare at me as if I'm
some sort of weirdo.
There's an ear-splitting
screech of feedback over the speaker system and a rounded lady
takes the stage. Speaking in a squeaky American accent, she says,
'Hi everyone, for those of you that don't know me, I'm Barb Dwyer.
I must say it is wonderful to be here, it is what I have been
praying for all of my life. We have been saved, ladies and
gentlemen, saved from our sins and it has all happened because of
one man. One man who is closer to God than Jesus himself. You paid
your money, and he got you here. He bought you on the holiday of a
lifetime. Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome the Preacher Man, Will
Godbehere!'
tall, thin man with a gold suit comes on stage. He looks like a
complete slimeball. I bet he started out as a used car salesman or
a game show host.
Taking the microphone, he says,
'Will God be here? Yes he will!'
The crowd goes wild.
Once the cheering has died
down, Will continues in his slow southern drawl, 'Thank you Barbara
for your rousing welcome, may God be with you. I bet you're all
glad you signed up and paid your dues to the Church of Christian
Finance. It might have seemed a lot at the time but no price is too
high to pay for happiness. Look what it got you, a direct flight to
heaven. I've been talking to God and he says it's ours to do
whatever I want with. I'm going to subdivide it and sell it off to
the highest bidders. May the glory of God be with you.
Hallelujah!'
'Hallelujah,' repeats the
crowd.
'Yes, hallelujah,' shouts
Will. 'We need to get a little organised here. Mr Zaster will be
looking after the logistics of setting ourselves up. Dee, would you
like to say a few words -'
'Preacher Man we're starving,'
interrupts a tall, skinny man. 'Excuse me, but my children are
starving. We need food.'
'Hallelujah,' shouts Will.
'Hallelujah,' repeats the
crowd.
'Hallelujah, The Lord has
provided. There's fish, just like in the bible. The sea is teeming
with fish; they're swimming up on the beaches. Smell the air, do
you smell anything? Yes Ladies and Gentlemen, that's the sweet,
smell of loaves a baking. We have grain enough to feed us all the
way to Christmas. The Lord has provided wine, there are barrels of
it, but as you know, the Church of Christian Finance is teetotal.
We've sealed the door of the wine cellar and left it as an offering
to God.'
Jesus will be happy about
that.
'Before I hand
over to Dee, there's sumthin else I should tell ya. When we opened
the wine cellar the devil himself was hiding in there. He had skin
like a reptile and four horns on his head. Ladies and Gentlemen, I
spoke to the devil himself. He claimed he was the Son of God. I
said
I am
the Son of God and we sealed that door with
spikes and boulders and concrete. What's more the devil had a
brother who was guarding his rum. We sealed him in his basement
with his evil spirits. So the devil and his brother can drink
themselves to death and go back to hell where they
belong.'
thoughts. 'God, I need you.'
Nothing, he's not there.
'He's not around,' says
Pollux.
age spread and no dress sense, gets up on stage and takes the
microphone.
I don't know if it's his
hideous Hawaiian shirt that does it, but I've had enough.
'Hello!' I shout at the top of
my voice.
No response.
'Hallelujah!' I shout.
'Hallelujah,' chants the
crowd.
'Folks, I'm Emily, I'm God's
assistant and this is my-'
'God's son, God's assistant!
Seize her folks, she's in with the devil,' bellows Will over the
speaker system.
I set the canon on low power
and fire a shot at his feet.
'Seize her folks!'
I spin around firing at the
ground, think Zen and disappear.
I screech, as I arrive back home. 'Janice, can we stay in your
house?'
'Of course, as long as you
like.'
'Get packing,' I order.
We run about pulling out
everything we might need and piling it in the middle of the
floor.
'Castor, Pollux,' I call,
'We're going to be gone for a while. Don't let those slimeballs
anywhere near my house, or the garden, or-' I stop and think or a
moment, 'or, the paddock, or the bluff, or Tat.'
'It'll be our pleasure,' they
answer together.
heap and we're just about to go when I remember Negrita and
Trigger.
'Zwingly? No,
I'll be fine here,’ says Trigger, when I ask him. 'I've had enough
of movie stars and their egos. I'll
hang out with Tat.'
that there’s too many dogs on Zwingly.
arrive in Janice's house in a tangle of arms and legs, babies,
duvets, pillows and blankets, books, marmite and spaghetti.
It looks like being a long
stay. We'll try to behave this time.
Jesus and Azziz arrive at the
same time. They're completely sozzled.
'I don't want dem Christians
drinking my wine,' slurs Jesus as he staggers out the door and
falls face first onto the beach.
Azziz gives his girls a big hug
and passes out. They seem happy to share him. He's not the sort of
guy you can tame.
She stomps her feet, then goes red in the face and lies on the
floor going crazy, flailing her arms and legs. What a monster. It's
all over breakfast; the marmite on her toast didn't reach quite to
the corners. Yesterday it was over toilet paper; she wanted three
squares, I gave her two. Isn't she adorable - not! I hope Janice
doesn't throw us out of her house.
She doesn't mind. 'It's the
terrible twos,' she says. 'Most kids grow out of it. I didn't. Just
ignore me, when I do it.'
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