Deborah Levy - Billy and Girl

‘If he doesn’t give me my share, I’ll get Danny to see to him.’

Louise and her spooky see-thru skin. Pink hearts in her hair. Dimple in her cheek. Shiny little nails. Louise is looking good. Tartan minikilt and orange ankle boots. Heavy gold signet ring on her second finger. Looking good apart from the dog-prince jewel. Louise. You can do anything to her. She’s got that look about her that tells you so. Louise. Don’t mess about with her. She’s a live wire. KEEP OFF THE LOUISE GRASS. NO BALL GAMES HERE. DO NOT ENTER. But Billy has entered. Started with her head and he’s not going to stop.

‘When you see Dad, ask him where our mom is, would you?’

Louise has a think. ‘Yeah?’

‘Sweet-talk him. Get him to relax.’

‘Yeah?’ She’s frightening, this Louise girl.

Billy just won’t let go. ‘Flatter him, you know. Tell him you like his … um … buttons! Get him in the mood for small talk. And then just slip it in. Where’s your wife, Mr England?’

Louise opening her lips a bit now. ‘Sounds like you want me to do it with him, Billy?’

Billy is past it. Whatever it is, whatever Louise is doing to Billy, he is past it.

‘Just get the information, Louise. Whatever you have to do.’

Louise shrugs. Sneaks a little look at Girl. ‘Cheerio, then. I’ll tell you all about it.’

Louise really loves her mother. Most girls prefer their dads because they can flirt with them and get away with more. Not Louise. She flirts with her mother who can’t resist her — even though she is extremely worried about her daughter at the moment. For a start, she is perplexed about Louise’s new hairstyle.

Mrs O’Reilly is sitting on the couch watching a hospital sitcom. She always cries when someone goes into intensive care and the doctors are huddled round trying to save their lives. She makes herself white-bread sandwiches with the crusts cut off before her programme starts, but doesn’t touch them till the credits come up and she knows the outcome. So she doesn’t pay Louise much attention when she sits next to her and starts to unlace her new orange ankle boots.

Louise thinks they’re fucking hideous things. Danny liked them, though. Stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled in appreciation. Picked her up, whirled her about and then started to get intimate with her ankles. Sticking out his tongue and licking the orange patent, closing his eyes in a boot swoon. They’re not even her boots. Danny likes something that’s not her.

Soon as the credits came up, Mrs O’Reilly turns her cheek towards her daughter for a kiss. Then she sees the pink heart hair slides and goes very quiet. Twirling bits of Louise’s hair in her fingers.

‘You look nice today, Louise.’

‘Do you like them?’

Mrs O’Reilly nibbling her little sandwiches. Cocking her head to one side. ‘They’re sweet.’

After the FreezerWorld robbery Louise was scared of Mr Tens. Her mother knew she was frightened of something and waited patiently for her daughter to say what was on her mind. Stroking her hair. Encouraging her to read books. Always on the lookout for a book her daughter would read all the way through. Taking her to the pictures. Never probing, but making it clear she knew something was up. Eventually, Louise just said there had been a robbery from her till and Mr Tens was being funny with her.

The next morning Mrs O’Reilly insisted on coming with her daughter to FreezerWorld. Grabbed Louise’s arm and walked straight into Mr Tens’s office without knocking. He was sitting on his managerial chair, bent over a calculator and a pile of stock sheets. A Bible open next to him with two paragraphs highlighted in yellow ink.

‘Hello, Mrs O’Reilly.’ Mr Tens likes Louise’s mother. He points to a chair for her to sit down, but she doesn’t want to. Tells him how her daughter is feeling a bit put out about the robbery being from her till. The Express Robbery. It’s not her fault, after all, is it? She went for her tea break like every other member of staff. ‘Louise wants to be good at her job, Mr Tens. So I’ve come to clear the air.’

Mr Tens has stopped smiling now. Yes, he muses, it was unfortunate. The thing is, Louise doesn’t stand much chance of being promoted to the trolley tills in the short term. He’s put her back on the floor. But that is a very responsible job. The floor staff who stock the shelves and freezers keep FreezerWorld running smoothly. That’s the whole point. Mr Tens is talking like he’s just learnt his script off by heart.

Mrs O’Reilly helps him out. ‘FreezerWorld is a plentiful world. Everyone can have a piece of it.’

Mr Tens looks pleased with that line. ‘Thank you, Mrs O’Reilly, I’ll make a note of that. Remember, though—’ Mr Tens smiling at Louise now — ‘it’s the floor staff who have to fill in the holes and gaps so customers never feel there is something missing from FreezerWorld. Louise has a very important role to play here. The customer must never be encouraged to feel insecure. They know they can put their worries to one side when they’re in the store because they know everything they need is there for them.’ Mr Tens pauses, it’s like he’s forgotten what to say next.

Mrs O’Reilly prompts him. ‘What they can’t have one week because of budget considerations, they know next week it will still be there waiting for them and they deserve to have it.’

Mr Tens agrees. Exactly. He, Mr Tens, is just the architect of FreezerWorld. It’s the floor staff that have to wear the hard hats. Mr Tens is sort of like God. He has to make and remake FreezerWorld every week. In the begining was the word and the word has to sell the product. There will not only be light, there will be light designed to sell canned fish. Mr Tens has to know which way the customer will look, which way the customer will walk, he has to create the shopping body: smelling, tasting, touching, fantasising about possessing items that are a little bit out of their reach. Mr Tens has to make sure that FreezerWorld is a happy world to visit because the customer buys more when she’s happy. ‘So never underestimate the floor staff, Mrs O’Reilly. This is a short-term blip in Louise’s promotion. As long as she works hard and diligently, there is a good future for her at FreezerWorld.’

Mr Tens looks at his watch. ‘Seven fifty-five, Louise. I think you should go down now and change into your overalls. We’ve got a delivery of Argentinian Syrah — that’s wine, Mrs O’Reilly — arriving any minute.’

Louise kisses her mother goodbye for the day. They still always kiss when they’re going to be away from each other. Every time Louise brings home a FreezerWorld chicken bought with her staff discount card, she feels really good to be looking after her mother. Her mother is everything. She owes her shiny hair to Mrs O’Reilly’s gentle hands.

Louise hovers outside the door to make sure Mr Tens is not going to shout at her mother. No one, no one is going to treat her mother bad. She’ll kill them. That’s all. Dead them. If it wasn’t for Mrs O’Reilly, she’d still be sick and shivering in a sleeping bag on the streets.

It’s all right in there. Mr Tens definitely likes her. Saying something how she’s a bit slow with the unpacking, but he’s keeping an eye on her. ‘I make sure Louise takes her breaks and knows what to do when she gets back. Not to worry, Mrs O’Reilly.’

Nothing to worry about.

The pink hair slides. Mrs O’Reilly fiddled about with the little hearts in Louise’s hair. Rearranged them. And then she saw the orange ankle boots. Did Danny buy them? No.

So her girl’s getting her own style worked out, is she? A bit of get-up-and-go? That’s good. Her girl needs a bit of gingering up; they’re cheerful, aren’t they? Time to have something to eat. Mrs O’Reilly wants her daughter to have an early night.