“Yow coming then?” pg 38
Meena is really happy and is extremely glad that an English girl has started to talk to her. She finally feels as if she can fit in with the British culture. Meena truly feels Anita is great. Meena is a young mischievous girl but becoming friends with Anita boosts her confidence even more. She admires Anita for her independence and also the freedom she has that Meena doesn’t get from her family. Meena practically thinks of Anita as a goddess.
“I had wondered what I had done to deserve it” pg 18
Another way in which Meena uses Anita as a role model is when Meena decides to go to Mr Ormerod’s shop and steals sweets and money. However when Mr Ormerod goes to Meena’s house, she blames it on Pinky and Baby, saying it was them who stole it. This is done to impress Anita, and it does. Also Meena feels a lot more confident to do as she wants. It makes her feel different, as her home life is different to her social life.
“I pocketed the two shillings, grasped the tin and stuffed it down the back
of Baby’s soft pink jumper” pg 155
However it isn’t long till the relationship starts to go downhill. The first time they stopped talking is when Meena and Anita are going down the alleyway past the Christmas’s house and Mr Christmas comes out and tells them to be quiet because Mrs Christmas is ill. The same night, Mrs Christmas passes away. This makes Meena feel very guilty about it all. Her feeling guilty is just the beginning of Anita and her relationship going down the drain because Meena realises that Anita isn’t the sort of person she thinks she is.
“Anita and I seemed to have avoided each other through unspoken
mutual understanding” pg 88
Meena starts to realise where she stands in the relationship. She starts to understand that Anita didn’t respect her. She realises that she is turning her back on her family and her life seems to be slowly breaking apart.
“But since joining Anita’s gang, I had become more suspicious of
how the familiar can turn in the unknown” pg 173
Naturally, Meena begins to understand what her parents are trying to tell her, when they explain to her that Anita is a bad influence. Before Meena admired Anita, but maybe now she realises Anita really is a bad influence. This is a sign to show her maturity as well. Her parents are getting extremely worried when Meena talks about rude things; about topics which she is too young for.
“I suppose you have been talking to that Anita Rutter again! Such
filthy things from such a young mouth.” Pg 249
Soon after Meena’s accident, she knows for sure that Anita isn’t a true friend. She knows Anita is a bad influence. When she overhears her and Sherrie talking about beating up an Indian man, she finds it really insulting. Maybe she feels that even though they were friends once, Indians and English people just can’t connect. She is also disappointed in Anita because she didn’t tell her about Sam and her relationship.
“And we went Paki bashing, it was bosting! ...And after we kissed
and kissed and kissed … me and Sam. Sam Lowbridge” pg 78
After the accident, in the hospital, Meena is sure that Anita and she were never going to be friends together forever. She knows that Anita and Sam are right for each other.
“Anita and I had never been meant for each other: Sam and Anita, Anita
and Sam, it sounded as natural as breathing.” Pg 282.
Meena starts to believe that everything she has lost such as her confidence is because of Anita. She believes she had great potential to do good in the future but this all dissolved like her relationship with Anita.
“…all that potential, all that hope, all gone because I had once made
friends with Anita Rutter”
