The Girl You Left Behind

you were rudely shocked into consciousness by the alarm. That you might miss the
     people you worked with, no matter how little you had in common with them. Or even that
     you might find yourself searching for familiar faces as you walked the high street. The
     first time I had seen the Dandelion Lady wandering past the shops, looking as aimless as
     I felt, I had fought the urge to go and give her a hug.
    Syed’s voice broke into my reverie.
     ‘Aha. Now this might work.’
    I tried to peer round at the screen.
    ‘Just come in. This very minute. Care
     assistant position.’
    ‘I told you I was no good with
     –’
    ‘It’s not old people. It’s
     a … a private position. To help in someone’s house, and the address is
     less than two miles from your home. “Care and companionship for a disabled
     man.” Can you drive?’
    ‘Yes. But would I have to wipe his
     –’
    ‘No bottom wiping required, as far as I
     can tell.’ He scanned the screen. ‘He’s a … a quadriplegic.
     He needs someone in the daylight hours to help feed and assist. Often in these jobs
     it’s a case of being there when they want to go out somewhere, helping with basic
     stuff that they can’t do themselves. Oh. It’s good money. Quite a lot more
     than the minimum wage.’
    ‘That’s probably because it
     involves bottom wiping.’
    ‘I’ll ring them to confirm the
     absence of bottom wiping. But if that’s the case, you’ll go along for the
     interview?’
    He said it like it was a question.
    But we both knew the answer.
    I sighed, and gathered up my bag ready for
     the trip home.
    ‘Jesus Christ,’ said my father.
     ‘Can you imagine? If it wasn’t punishment enough ending up in a ruddy
     wheelchair, then you get our Lou turning up to keep you company.’
    ‘Bernard!’ my mother
     scolded.
    Behind me, Granddad was laughing into his
     mug of tea.

He just wanted a decent book to read ...
    Not too much to ask, is it? It was in 1935 when Allen Lane, Managing Director of
     Bodley Head Publishers, stood on a platform at Exeter railway station looking for
     something good to read on his journey back to London. His choice was limited to
     popular magazines and poor-quality paperbacks – the same choice faced every day by
     the vast majority of readers, few of whom could afford hardbacks. Lane’s
     disappointment and subsequent anger at the range of books generally available led
     him to found a company – and change the world.
    We believed in the existence in this country of a vast reading public for
     intelligent books at a low price, and staked everything on it’
Sir Allen Lane, 1902–1970, founder of Penguin Books
    The quality paperback had arrived – and not just in bookshops. Lane was adamant
     that his Penguins should appear in chain stores and tobacconists, and should cost no
     more than a packet of cigarettes.
    Reading habits (and cigarette prices) have changed since 1935, but Penguin still
     believes in publishing the best books for everybody to enjoy. We still believe that
     good design costs no more than bad design, and we still believe that quality books
     published passionately and responsibly make the world a better place.
    So wherever you see the little bird – whether it’s on a piece of
     prize-winning literary fiction or a celebrity autobiography, political tour de force
     or historical masterpiece, a serial-killer thriller, reference book, world classic
     or a piece of pure escapism – you can bet that it represents the very best that the
     genre has to offer.
Whatever you like to read – trust Penguin.
    www.penguin.co.uk
    Join the conversation:
    Twitter                    Facebook

PENGUIN BOOKS
    Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin
     Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL , England
Penguin Group (USA)
     Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90
     Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a
     division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s
     Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd)
Penguin Group
     (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of
     Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)
Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre,
     Panchsheel Park, New Delhi – 110 017, India
Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive,
     Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd)
Penguin Books (South Africa)