Anita and Me, Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

·         Main Events:

o   Meena meets Tracey with her new dog but is shocked to discover that they’ve named it a racist term. When she tells this to her mother, she is shocked although her father insists that this is more ignorance than racism.

o   Anita comes and asks Meena if she wants to go and watch the fairground being put up in the village.

o   On the way, Anita tells Meena about a witch living in the Big House and the pair of them recite prayers to ward off evil.

o   At the fairground, Anita warns Meena to avoid the gypsies and meets Sherrie and Fat Sally. They see three older boys setting up the rides and Anita strikes up a conversation with one of them before introducing them to the other girls who quickly pair up.

o   Anita tells the girls that the boy she is with, who Meena refers to as ‘The Poet’, wants to ‘shag the arse’ off her. Anita presses Meena to see if she understands. The girls go back to the boys and Meena, feeling left out, leaves.

o   Back at home, Meena puts on her mother’s make-up before the Aunties and Uncles arrive for Diwali. However, this just amuses the adults and she is made to wash it off.

o   Her father sings a song to the group and Meena is encouraged to do the same. She sings a traditional song but her Birmingham accent causes amusement. Meena then sings a modern pop song with the dance moves but ruins it by repeating the phrase ‘shag the arse off it’ that she overheard earlier to describe the song. Horrified, her parents send her to bed.

o   Meena goes downstairs to help her parents serve food but overhears her mother telling Auntie Shaila everything about her behaviour. Meena is mortified and sneaks back out to the fairground.

o   Once there, Meena meets Sam Lowbridge who helps her fire a gun at a shooting range stall, and also meets Sherrie who shows Meena a love bite. Meena is confused and thinks that Sherrie has been beaten up.

o   Meena sees Anita with her mother, Deirdre and is impressed. However, when Anita goes to get food, Meena sees Deirdre and The Poet disappearing off into his caravan. Meena lies to Anita and they go on rides together.

o   Afterwards, Anita takes Meena to sneak into the garden of the Big House. Inside, Meena finds a statue of Ganesha but then they hear dogs and escape. Meena doesn’t tell Anita what she saw.

o   On return, Meena discovers her mother going into labour.

·         Background Stories:

o   Meena talks about Diwali and is shocked that no-one else around her knows about it.

o   Meena recalls being introduced to religion by Auntie Shaila and asks to visit a temple. Meena’s mother agrees to take her but the journey is marred by her mother’s terrible driving. At one point, Meena is told to ask a line of cars to move backwards and is shocked by a racist response from another driver. The visit itself is taken up with Meena’s mother worrying about the drive home.

o   Meena mentions a girl called Jodie who went missing and was discovered to have drowned in the ponds behind the Big House.

o   Meena remembers her mother having to give a lift to a family called the Mad Mitchells after offering them one but not expecting that they would say yes.