She looked up at me. ‘She said I could be Helen.’ I stopped dead. ‘Helen?’ ‘Yes. It’s nice. Do you like it?’ ‘Who said you could be Helen?’ ‘The cigarette lady.’ We’d reached the door and I couldn’t remember how it worked. ‘The cigarette lady?’ She nodded vigorously and opened the door for me. ‘You’ve seen this . . . cigarette lady?’ She nodded again. ‘She sits in the window. She said I could be called Helen.’
