Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Lauren Tipene was 12-years-old when her Aunty Ngaire died and left her alone in the world. Well, she was always kind of alone until then but now she was truly alone and nobody knew what to do with her. Even Andrea, the lady from the welfare agency, who was in charge of finding foster families, didn’t have a clue where to place her. Lauren knew this because she’d heard her talking when she thought Lauren was asleep in the room in the temporary youth home where she’d stayed for the week since Aunty Ngaire passed away.

“Usually with Maori families there’s a proper tangi and they have lots of whanau to step in. I’ve never dealt with anyone so alone before,” Andrea sounded very Pakeha as she mispronounced the Maori words, talking to the matron in charge of the home.

It made Lauren feel even more of a loner than usual and that’s when she remembered and shouted out from the little bedroom where she was meant to be asleep: “Maybe there’s some people in Wellington. Aunty Ngaire had some family there.”

Andrea, who was very fat with badly dyed dark red hair in a bob, waddled in looking a little embarrassed. She’d hardly bothered to speak to Lauren before.

“You’re supposed to be asleep! What was that you shouted, my dear?”

“I said my Aunty Ngaire had some family in Wellington. She sometimes talked to them on the phone. Maybe they might want me?”

“Well, if they were her family, they must be yours too. Did your Aunty have a proper address book somewhere? I’ve looked through all her things.”

Lauren knew Aunty would have hated the thought of someone going through her private things.

“My family? But Aunty Ngaire’s not a real aunty? She is … she was just a lady who took me in when my Mum couldn’t be bothered to keep me. That’s what she always said.”

Andrea, who was looking tired, after what had been a long and frustrating day, sat carefully on the edge of the bed. Her weight made it slope dangerously low and Lauren had to hang on to the edge of the mattress with both hands to keep from sliding off. She wasn’t a very big 12-year-old. Aunty Ngaire always said that was because she had been born too early.

“Tell me some more about yourself Lauren? What do you know about your Mum and Dad?”

“Aunty Ngaire always said my Mum had me way too young. She was only sixteen and she’d been a foster child with my Aunty. When she got pregnant she wanted to get rid of it. It was too late so she had me. Then she did a runner. After that Aunty Ngaire brought me up instead.”

“What about your Dad? There’s no name on your birth certificate.”

“That’s ’cause she wouldn’t tell Aunty Ngaire who he was. So Aunty Ngaire gave me the same name as her and my mum - Tipene. That’s all I really know.”

“Well I do know she was a proper relative so any family she may have will definitely be yours too.”

“It’s always been just me and her,” Lauren replied. “When Aunty started getting sick she did try phoning some people. I think that was the family in Wellington. It all happened real quickly though and then she died and it was too late.” Lauren couldn’t stop the sob popping out although she was ashamed of showing any weakness. Talking about personal stuff came hard to Lauren.

“Don’t share your troubles with strangers,” Aunty Ngaire always said in her deep gravelly voice. The result of smoking too many ciggies when she was younger or so she’d told Lauren, hoping to put her off when the temptation came.

Now Andrea shuffled around on the narrow bed, making it slope even more dangerously and patted Lauren’s knee. “It’s okay my dear. I guess I should have spent more time talking to you and less time looking for the paperwork.” She gave a big sigh as though the paperwork made her very tired.

“Oh well, as long as the family in Wellington, if there is one, don’t have a fit about the fact that we have buried your Aunty without a traditional tangi, it should all work out. At least I have something to work on now. Your Aunty did leave you a little money although it’s tied up at the moment.”

Lauren didn’t know what that meant but she was glad there was still some money because she needed money for ballet classes. Ballet was the biggest, the only extra expense Aunty Ngaire ever spent her money on. The one thing Lauren knew for certain was that she was going to be a famous ballerina one day.