“Wait,” the pretty blonde woman with the elegant jacket but sad eyes had said. “There’s something I need to do inside but I’ll be back. Promise.”
It had been the last bit that had persuaded Kayleigh to stay where she was. Promise. She’d been so certain that the woman was going to come back.
But of course she didn’t.
People broke their promises, Kayleigh reminded herself, stretching out her legs again on the steps because it hurt less that way. Just like Frankie.
For a moment, she closed her eyes remembering how she had run into his arms only a couple of hours earlier.
“Get off,” he’d snarled, taking her wrists with his hands and pushing her away so she’d fallen on the stone steps and bruised both her ankles as well as getting a real shiner on her cheek.
“You’re fucking mad,” he’d added, spitting on the ground next to her. He didn’t actually spit at her, Kayleigh reminded herself. That was something. But he wasn’t very happy. That was clear.
Then he’d grabbed her by her hoodie so his face was really close to hers, just like it had been the park. But this time, his eyes were glittering with anger. They were green, she told herself, trying to stay calm. Not bluey-green like she’d wondered when he’d been away. Not dancing-green like the first time they met. Just standing-still, scary, staring green.
“Why did you fucking make a statement, bitch?”
Kayleigh struggled to breathe. Maybe, she told herself, Frankie was one of those men who liked to talk dirty. Marlene had told her about that. It might sound like they didn’t care for you but it really meant they did.
“I had to,” she’d tried to say. “The policeman made me.”
The grip round her neck was getting tighter. Kayleigh began to get afraid. Why didn’t someone stop him? It was nearly closing time in the centre so the shoppers were beginning to thin out but there were still some people around who could have done something. Maybe they were scared too.
“Do you know what kind of trouble you’ve got me in now?” His breath was on hers now but not like it had been before in the park. Now it was threatening. Angry.
“I could go Inside for this.” He looked at her with disgust. “And all because you kept begging for it.”
Had she? Kayleigh was aware she’d felt very dreamy after the tablet he had given her but she didn’t recall begging for it. Still, if that’s the way he wanted it, she’d say so in court. Anything to keep him. Anything.
“I’m sorry, Frankie,” she said, circling his neck with her arms, the way she’d seen Marlene do with her boyfriend. “I’ll tell them what you want me to tell them. You do forgive me, don’t you?”
His hands were still tightening round her neck. It had been hard to get the words out. Any minute and she would surely stop breathing. Weakly she began to pummel her hands against his body to show him she was going too far.
“Leave her alone, you silly bastard,” said a girl’s voice.
It was Posy. Why was she sticking up for her? “Get off or I’ll slice your balls off.” Kayleigh gasped at the sight of the thin blade in Posy’s hands. The pressure round her neck stopped. Gasping, she drank in air.
Frankie spat on the ground again. Then he put his face close to Kayleigh’s once more. “You promised, remember,” he hissed. “If you ever want to see me again, you’d better tell them in court that you made up that stuff about the drugs and that you made me fuck you. Got it?”
Then he’d sauntered off, his hips swinging from side to side. All the girls were staring at him which made Kayleigh want him even more. Then they looked at her, enviously, apart from Posy who was carefully slipping her knife down the inside of her jeans.
Kayleigh felt a flash of pride. Frankie might have spoken rather harshly to her but anyone could tell that they had something between them. It gave her one up on the others and made her feel all grown up. “Thanks,” she said to Posy. The girl scowled.
“I didn’t do it for you.” She gestured to the other girls watching. “I did it for us. Don’t you realise? Your Frankie has screwed the lot of us. That girl over there with the purple hair – see her? – did eighteen months for him, pretending it was her coke and not his.”
Kayleigh could understand that. She loved Frankie! They’d had sex together. He was the first man she’d done it with and now she didn’t want anyone else. Maybe, if she was really lucky, she might have his baby inside her right now. Then she could be his baby mother. She’d get her own place too. That’s how Mum had got her first flat years ago.
“I don’t believe you,” she said to Posy. “I don’t believe he slept with you and all the others. And even if he did, he only wants me now.”
Posy stared at her. “Are you fucking mad? You’ve got a crazy mind, know that? I was going to tell you where to find a bed for tonight but now I’m not going to bother. You can bleeding well look out for yourself.”
Kayleigh felt a twinge of apprehension. She’d been worried about where she was going to stay. What if the police found her? Scared she sat down on the steps, stretching out both legs because that seemed to help her bruised ankles. And that’s when the blonde woman with sad eyes had come along. The one from the park with the dog. The one who had given her fifty quid the other day. The one who had promised to come back.
Maybe if she waited long enough, she might just do exactly that.
By nightfall, she was the only one left on the steps. The other girls had melted away into the evening light. Posy had got into a car that had pulled up at the kerb.
“What’s your name?” she’d heard the driver say.
“Tara,” she’d heard her say before stepping in.
Clearly Posy had changed her name again.
It was getting really cold. Kayleigh sat with her back to the wall, just inside the bit where there was a roof above. Every now and then, when the security guard came round, she scuttled into a different part so as not to get caught.
She’d seen the others do that earlier.
Pulling her hoodie tighter around her, Kayleigh picked up a newspaper that someone had dropped on the ground. She tried to wrap it round her shoulders like a shawl but there wasn’t enough of it. So instead, she read it.
BRITISH GAP YEAR BOY FEARED MISSING IN EARTHQUAKE
They’d done earthquakes in geography. They were caused by plates in the earth sliding over each other. Marlene and some of the others had made jokes about dinner plates. One of the girls had been the same one she’d seen in the school, snogging Mr Brown.
If he was going to have an affair with anyone, Kayleigh told herself, it should have been her. Not that it mattered now ’cos she had Frankie. Her old teacher would get over it. Men always did. Look at Ron. Mum said that all you had to do was ignore their moods and then they’d be all right again.
The thought of Mum felt her feel sad. Kayleigh looked down at the paper where a woman was holding her baby.
REUNITED AT LAST said the headline.
Would Mum feel that way about her if she’d got lost for three whole days under rubble? Kayleigh hoped so but if she was honest, she wasn’t sure. Her stomach began to rumble but although it felt empty, she didn’t feel that hungry. Not any more. She was still cold though and the stone step was making her bottom ache. Her ankles were throbbing too. Loud music floated along the street. Maybe it was a club. She’d like to go clubbing, one day. Maybe, after he’d got nice again, Frankie would take her and they could leave their baby at home with a responsible babysitter. She’d be a good mother. She just knew it.
Marlene said the best clubs were in Eye Beetha. It cost a lot of money to get there but you could sleep on the beach. Her eyes began to droop. She was feeling really sleepy right now …
“Kayleigh?”
Dozily looking up, she saw a pair of clear blue eyes looking down.
“It is you, isn’t it, Kayleigh?”
Great. It was that policeman from the park, the one who had wanted to caution her in the hostel. Scrabbling to get to her feet, she fell. Ouch. Her ankles were bloody killing her.
“That’s some bruise you’ve got on your cheek,” said the policeman. He had a kind voice on this time but that was probably a pretence. The policewoman who had come to the flat when they’d found the drugs and money under Callum’s mattress had sounded kind at first.
“How did you get that then?”
“I fell,” said Kayleigh promptly.
“Is that so?” He sat down by her side. Kayleigh hoped the others weren’t going to come past right now. It didn’t do to be seen talking to the scum. People might think you were grassing.
Someone had grassed on her half-brother. That’s why the police had turned up. When Callum found them, he was going to tear them apart. ’Course he didn’t mean it.
“We’ve been looking for you, Kayleigh. There was no need to run off, you know. We want to help you.”
Who was he kidding? According to Marlene, that’s what they always said. They didn’t really want to help you. They wanted to get bonus points for having nicked you.
“You can’t live out here for ever, you know,” said the policeman. His voice was smooth. She didn’t trust him. But on the other hand, he had a point. “Like I said at the hostel, you’re under-age.”
She thought of her birthday which wasn’t far away. “Not for long.”
“But in the meantime, you’ve got to go into care.”
Kayleigh summoned up all her strength to get up. But her ankles were really throbbing now and it was hard to move. They were swollen too. Frankie must have pushed her harder than he’d realised. Not that she’d tell the policeman that. Frankie hadn’t meant it. Not really.
“What are you going to do? Run off again?” the policeman actually looked sad for a minute. Must be a good actor. She’d thought of being an actress once but then Mum had told her not to be so bloody daft. “Start working for one of the other kids and sell stuff. Become a dealer? Come on, Kayleigh, think about it. They all get caught in the end.”
A picture of Callum’s smiling face as they led him to the van, came back to her. It’ll be OK, Kayleigh. Don’t worry.
“What’s that?” he said, more sharply this time.
“I said you can’t make me.”
Before she knew it, he had his hand on hers. “That’s where you’re wrong, I’m afraid. We can make you. Your social worker’s found you a good family to go to. You can stay there while you give evidence in court too.”
His cool blue eyes were locked on hers. “You’re a bright girl, Kayleigh. I can see that. So you’ll understand when I say that they’ve brought the court date forward. We need to stop Frankie before he hurts any more girls.” His eyes travelled from her bruised cheek down to her ankles which had got big and puffy. “You will help us, Kayleigh. Won’t you?”