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just
pop to my car, I forgot to lock it.”
    I
went back to my car and phoned my afternoon clients up to cancel my cleaning
jobs. There was no way I was leaving Cora living in that mess.
    As
I worked at clearing the rubbish I got madder and madder at Leo Kennedy for
forcing Cora to move out of her home so quickly. I was ready to give him a
piece of my mind.
    And
when I finally got home and saw what he’d done to my drive way I was ready to
do more than give him a piece of my mind!
     

Chapter 4
     
    Piles
of roof tiles were on my driveway. I couldn’t park my car there, and as the
rest of the street had been taken up with builders’ vans, I parked on the next
street down.
    I
got more annoyed as I walked back to my house. I was definitely going to give Leo
Kennedy a talking to!
    But
someone had beaten me to it.
    John
Thomas, the builder, was standing on the doorstep of Leo Kennedy’ house. His
face was bright red.
    “You
ordered those tiles and you are going to pay for them!” John shouted.
    Leo
Kennedy faced him, his arms folded. He was standing a few steps up and looked
down at the builder. “I’m not paying the price you’re asking for them. We
agreed a lower price a few weeks ago. It seems that your costs are going up
daily.”
    “You
just don’t want to pay, you tight fisted sod! I’ve bought those tiles out of my
money and I want paying now!”
    “No,
I refuse to pay,” Leo Kennedy said calmly. “And I think I’ll look into using
another builder. Your work is shoddy and not up to my standards at all. I’d
like you to get off my property now.”
    John
Thomas went even redder in the face. I saw him clench his huge fist.
    I
stepped forward and said as politely as I could, “Can someone move those tiles
off my drive. Please.”
    John
Thomas turned around to me and snarled, “Nothing to do with me! Those are his
tiles, he can move them.”
    Leo
Kennedy gave a little laugh. “I don’t think so, Mr Thomas. They’re your
responsibility.”
    I
could see that I wasn’t getting anywhere and I didn’t want to get involved in a
macho argument so I went to my house.
    The
tiles were piled up in stacks and there wasn’t much room to squeeze through. I
sucked in my tummy and tried to get through a gap.
    Unfortunately,
I couldn’t suck in my bottom and it knocked into a pile and sent tiles crashing
to the ground.
    “Oi!
My tiles!” John Thomas shouted.
    “You
can pay for those breakages!” Leo Kennedy threatened.
    I
looked over at the two men. I stood as tall as I could and said, “You’ve both
denied owning these tiles. I’m assuming that if they’re on my property that
they now belong to me. And if I want to, I can break the whole lot!”
    The
men looked at each other for a moment. Then John Thomas gave a resigned sigh
and walked towards me.
    “I’ll
sort these out,” he grumbled to me.
    “Thank
you,” I said and I opened my front door.
    As
I went in I’m sure I heard John Thomas add, “And I’ll sort that Kennedy out
too.”
     

Chapter 5
     
    I
didn’t hear any more raised voices as I prepared my tea. I looked out of the
kitchen window and at the garden next door. I noticed that Cora’s apple tree
had already been cut down. There was only the stump left. There’s something so
sad about cutting healthy trees down.
    I
settled down to eat my tea and soon forgot about the building work going on
next door. I hoped it would be finished soon.
    I
phoned my dad to see if he’d got any telephone messages about new cleaning jobs
for me.
    “There’s
a couple,” Dad said and he read out the addresses.
    “Oh,
the better part of Leeds. I am going up in the world!” I said with a laugh.
    Dad
asked how the work was going on next door. He wasn’t impressed when I told him
about the tile incident.
    “Do
you want me to come round and sort them out?” he offered.
    I
was almost tempted but I told him I was old enough to look after myself now.
    After
tea I looked out at my drive. The tiles had gone. I