jml297

‘She must have had some idea.’

Although the comment had been muttered in the next aisle, I heard it cut through the air. It carried the force of a slap, and my face reddened. It took all of my willpower not to abandon the half-full trolley and walk out. But there was almost nothing left in the house to eat.

I pushed on, blind to the stares I knew would be following my progress through the store. Mia was starting to fret, so I snapped the top off a banana and handed it to her. She quietened down just as I turned into the last aisle. I grabbed an assortment of frozen dinners, knowing that it was unlikely I’d be bothered to cook anything from scratch. My mind elsewhere, I pushed at the trolley, but something blocked my way.

‘Didn’t think you were the Lean Cuisine type, Jasmine.’

I kept my head down, not wanting to engage if I could help it.

‘Seems a far cry from those fancy dinners that you and Nick used to host. Not that we ever got an invite, did we, Sharon?’

I looked up, realising now that Dee and Sharon were both blocking my way. Dee had her arms crossed, and Sharon was glaring at me as if I were at fault for everything that had happened.

I smiled thinly, then tried to sidle the trolley sideways to move beyond them. But Sharon reached out, her hot pink talons wrapping around the trolley’s metal edge, stopping its progress.

‘You must have known what Nick was up to.’

Sharon was glaring at me, her eyes flashing, but as usual, it was Dee doing the talking. She prided herself on saying things that others might only think.

‘I didn’t.’ My voice was soft, barely audible over the bank of freezers beside me.

‘Rubbish. Where did you think all that money came from for your big house and flash cars?’

Instinctively, I curved my body around Mia, wanting to protect her from the venom I could feel in the surrounding air. I spoke again, my voice trembling but louder now. ‘I didn’t know anything about it.’

The trolley juddered as Sharon shoved it back towards me. I reached for Mia, who had dropped the banana but was squealing with delight, thinking it was a game. The contents of the trolley shifted and swayed.

‘You must have wondered. It must’ve been great, living off other people’s money, promising things that would never happen. Lording it over us, but all that time Nick was no better than a hustler.’

‘It hadn’t occurred to me -‘

But with a final shove of my trolley, the pair stalked off. I moved towards the checkout, Mia crying loudly, and wished I could do the same.

This was written to a prompt at my local writing group, and will be continued next week.

Photo: three green owls