“It was definitely you.” Natalie leans in close over the table. “Why would the police be looking for you? You’re not the type to be getting into trouble. And I asked around a bit too. The other girls. I’m not the only one he’s shown that photo to. He’s been working through the streets asking.”
Natalie eyes her room-mate. “Hey, you okay? You’ve turned a bit pale.”
Jenny sits cross-legged on her narrow bed surrounded by brochures and pamphlets….
…. Come to Canada….
…. A new life in Australia….
…. But battered, curled at the corners and well-thumbed, at the top of the heap of brochures is a prospectus for the University.
Jenny rises, staring, pacing the room as she chews at her fist, fighting down the trembling and the nausea.
“Hey, Jenny. Don’t worry. D’you think I’d drop you in it? I sent him to the other end of town to check out the fancy shops.”
Still, Jenny shakes, her voice quavering. “They’re still looking for me. I thought they would have stopped by now.”
She totters and Natalie lurches forward, catching her. “Hey, c’mon. Sit down. Breathe. That’s it. Go on… Breathe…. Whatever it is….”
Jenny’s voice is panicked. “He might find me, working in the cafe. He could come into the cafe and see me.”
Natalie wraps an arm around her shoulder, frowning. “What d’they want you for Jenny? How bad can it be? They pick me up. Roll me over for a fine. I’m back out again an hour later. You’re not the type to have done anything….” She meets Jenny’s eyes; Jenny’s terrified eyes. “Hey, you really are scared aren’t you….”
“They mustn’t find me. I mustn’t let them find me. They’ll lock me in the dark again.”
“Hey, it’s not like that. I mean, it’s no barrel of laughs, but no-one locks you in the dark. “Natalie surveys her stricken room-mate then jabs a finger at her. “Stay there. Stay right there.”
She stands, fetches a bottle of wine from the tiny fridge. “I was saving this for if I ever managed to get Carlo in here….” She flashes wicked brows. “…. but I reckon you could use it right now.” She pours two glasses, pressing one into Jenny’s hands, then tilts it up to her mouth. “C’mon. Drink some. It’ll calm you down.”
Natalie gets a glass of wine down Jenny, then pours her another. She only sips at her own. “So how come he said you might be called Conners or Bennett? You got a husband out there?”
Calmer now, Jenny also sips at her glass, but her voice is subdued. “Not now. Not anymore.”
“You hiding from him? He beat up on you or something? Dope? Booze?”
“No, nothing like that.” She gulps a mouthful. “He doesn't like women, not like that anyway”
Natalie gapes. “No shit? So, he what? Didn't want to do the dirty with you?”
Jenny flushes, looks away, the shame, the humiliation flooding with the memory. “No.”
“You’re telling me you never....”
“No.”
“Not ever? Your wedding night?”
Jenny’s voice is a whisper. “That’s when he told me.”
absorbs this, thinking it through. “So, you and he, never…. You never… You've never like…. done it? At all? You're
“Yes.”
“You’re serious? Really?”
“Don't you believe me?”
I do. But I'm flabbergasted. Can't remember the last time I met a virgin. They’re
past now. I can’t let them find
think you’re going to do? Spend your whole life
“If I have to.”
*****
James
on a chair on the terrace overlooking the beach, my laptop to one side. The sky is melting into a soft pink and opal evening and a blanket covers my legs against the cooling
of a car engine and the crunch of gravel. After a couple of minutes, Michael appears. He pulls up a
being out of the hospital. Charlotte set
this place isn't it.”
go get her head down for an hour. She's been
good sub?”
“I'd
it lasts if I
sure the facade will crack at
free. “How long
before the strain’s too much. Let’s face it. She’s not got a sub
He pulls a face. “Let's hope it's not
to live with it. There's no point buying apples then complaining you don't
some sand on the tiles. “What do you think
want to
I'm not happy about that idea. I'd like to keep her
able to do something about it.” Then, glancing down at the laptop. “I keep
me longwise. “Something bothering
shimmer copper and mauve around the setting sun. The sea below ripples
a sharp
“Richard told me….”
sucking his
“Why didn’t you?”
any better for the knowledge.” He
“Why not?”
really want it, but I sip it for
a while Michael says, “Ever
trying to divine the meaning, and the point, behind the question. “The drink
shrugs. “Both I
was never a fan of cocktails, and as for the other, all that sand getting
I always thought that too…. Had it on the promenade once though. I had her up against the back wall of the games arcade. I was seventeen and we got caught by a copper and
“Why? Please don’t tell me
way. “It was mainly because when the copper asked me who I was,
at him, “Remember that story when you have a seventeen-year-old son of your