He's After Me (5 page)

‘That’s what she says,’ I say grimly. But it’s probably true. That’s exactly the sort of lie I would expect Ferret to tell. Two-timing little rat.

‘Come on. Let’s get you home.’

We don’t have enough money between us for a taxi, so I slip my arm through my sister’s and together we dash across the main road, dodging a stream of orange headlights, to take a short-cut through the multi-storey car park to the bus station.

The car park is bleak and dimly lit at this time of night. It’s a horrible concrete jungle of a place, with graffiti sprayed all over the walls. Row upon row of silent cars stand brooding and there are dark, sinister corners where anyone could be lying in wait for you.

But my sister has had enough. She can’t take any more, and I need to get her home. So I grit my teeth and march her through it, my senses on high alert, eyes darting this way and that.

Something is scuttling in a corner. Automatically we grip each other tight.

‘You’re never more than three metres from a rat in Britain,’ whispers Livi, looking petrified.

Don’t we know it! ‘Or a ferret,’ I whisper back and am rewarded by a giggle that bubbles up out of nowhere.

We move on as one, glued tight to each other, stiff with apprehension. From the corner of my eye I think I see something moving, a shadow, a shape … I quicken our pace, Livi stumbling along beside me. In front of us a concrete stairway leads up to the next storey … Anyone could be up there, lurking …

Suddenly, from somewhere above us, comes a dreadful, unearthly wail, like something in torment. I nearly jump out of my skin and Livi screams. We cling to each other as it goes on and on and on …

‘Car alarm!’ I say and we collapse in relief. ‘Come on, let’s get out of here! I hate this place.’

But the next second there’s a skittering, clattering, stamping noise, and down the concrete stairway bounds a guy in jeans and sweats, hood knotted well down over his face. I pull Livi out of his way as he leaps the last set of steps and goes sprawling on the ground, hands outstretched in front of him. My heart misses a beat. In a split second he’s up and vaulting the barrier, then he disappears outside into the night.

Within seconds a uniformed security guard appears, puffing and panting, in his bright day-glo jacket.

‘Did you see him?’ he gasps.

I nod.

‘Would you recognize him again?’

Livi shakes her head, scared stiff. ‘It was all too fast.’

‘You couldn’t see his face,’ I say truthfully.

The guard swears loudly and turns away, speaking into his radio. I grab Livi’s arm.

‘Quick!’ I say, not wanting to get caught up in all this. ‘Let’s go.’

On the bus I ring Jem, but his phone is turned off. I curse under my breath.

‘I thought you said he was working tonight,’ says Livi.

‘He is.’

‘Well, he’s not going to be able to answer his phone, is he?’

‘No, I guess not.’ I stare out of the window, lost in thought.

After a while she says in a small voice, ‘Are you mad at me, Anna?’

‘No.’

‘Don’t tell Mum what happened, will you?’

I turn my head to look at her. ‘Clean yourself up a bit then or she’s going to notice.’

She takes out a mirror and some wipes and starts to repair the damage. By the time she’s run a comb through her hair and reapplied her make-up she’s looking more or less back to normal.

‘All right?’

‘You’ll do.’

‘Are you sure you’re not mad at me?’

‘I said no, didn’t I?’

‘Are you mad at Jem?’

‘Now, why would I be mad at Jem?’

‘I don’t know. But you’ve gone all moody since you tried to ring him.’

‘Don’t be daft,’ I say. ‘You’re imagining it.’

But she isn’t.

He had to be more careful. He couldn’t afford to get caught.

Next time he might not be so lucky.

The last thing he wanted was for them to find out what he was really up to.

U
nbelievably, when we get home at last, Mum is still out. She arrives back half an hour later, by which time Livi is safely tucked up in bed and I’m in front of the computer once more, trying to get back into my Sociology essay. But my heart’s not in it.

‘Sorry I’ve been so long,’ she says as she lets herself in. ‘Poor old Karen, she’s in a bit of a tizz. How’s the work going?’

‘All right,’ I say grimly as she comes over to hug me. Her breath stinks of wine. I’m trying not to panic at the thought of how much I’ve still got to get through.

‘Did Livi have a good time?’

‘Think so. She’s fast asleep. I’m going up too.’

Upstairs, I press Jem’s number again for the umpteenth time since I got home, but there’s still no reply. Miserably, I get into bed and pull the duvet over me. And eventually fall asleep.

I know it’s not right. What’s it doing here, in the car park?

Sharks live in the ocean. Sharks are not urban predators. They don’t lurk in multi-storeys, stalking people on their way home from a night out.

But this shark is special. It’s waiting for me.

A ringing noise. Save me, please …

I wake in the pitch darkness to the sound of my phone and fumble for it blindly. My heart is racing. It was a dream, that’s all. A weird dream.

‘Anna?’

‘Jem? Is that you?’

‘Anna. I’m sorry. I’ve just got your calls. My phone was turned off at work. Is anything wrong?’

He sounds anxious.

‘No. Well, yes. I missed you.’

‘I missed you too. Are you sure you’re all right? You sound upset.’

‘I was dreaming. A nightmare. You woke me up.’ ‘I’m sorry. It was manic tonight. We never stopped. I’ve only just finished.’

I glance at the clock. It’s gone two a.m.

‘It was a good little earner though. Means I can afford to take you out somewhere.’

‘That’s nice. I got some work done.’

‘Well done.’ He sounds like Jem again, now he knows I’m OK. My heartbeat returns to normal as his familiar voice calms me down. ‘I missed you,’ he repeats.

‘Me too. You’ll never guess what happened to Livi …’

I launch into a lengthy explanation and he listens carefully, expressing outrage on Livi’s behalf and describing in detail what he intends to do to Ferret when he gets hold of him.

‘You sound like her big brother!’ I say teasingly.

There’s silence for a moment, then he says, ‘Well, I suppose I am, in a way,’ and he sounds really pleased, like I’ve paid him a compliment. We carry on talking for a while, his voice comforting in the darkness, like a kiss.

‘See you tomorrow,’ he says at last. ‘Sleep well.’

‘See you tomorrow,’ I echo and click off, though not before I add automatically, ‘Love you,’ just like I do when I’m saying goodnight to Mum or Livi.

I suck in my breath, rigid with embarrassment as I realize what I’ve just said.

‘Anna,’ I groan. ‘You and your big mouth!’

My phone bleeps. A text from Jem.

Love you too.

I hug the message to myself in the darkness. It’s OK. He loves me too.

But then my smile fades and I begin to feel really, really bad.

I doubted him.

I can’t believe I did that.

It was just seeing that shark tattoo on that guy’s wrist tonight. The guy in the car park. It freaked me out. I mean, they’re not that common, are they, shark tattoos? I’ve never seen one before.

I thought it might be him. I thought my boyfriend was a car thief.

I turn my face into the pillow and groan. ‘Anna, you are an idiot!’

How could you? After all that Jem’s been through. All he wants is to be with you but instead he works an extra shift in a grotty hotel kitchen to make some money to take you out. He would do anything for you, for Livi.

Because he loves you.

And what do you do to repay him? Suspect him of breaking into cars.

Well, he broke into that boat, didn’t he?
says the nagging little voice inside my head.

That was different, it belonged to a mate of his.

Jem hasn’t got any mates.

Stop it! Stop it! I hurl my pillow on to the floor and sit up, my head in a whirl. Then I take some slow, deep breaths, until the nagging voice subsides and finally shuts up.

Don’t do this! I tell myself firmly. You’ll spoil everything with your nasty, suspicious mind.

Jem is the best thing that ever happened to you.

Sugar and spice and all things nice – that’s what little girls are made of.

Not all of them are nice though.

He knew that better than anyone.

Look at these two. Good sister/bad sister.

Which one would get what was coming to her?

J
em and I are becoming closer and closer. We spend as much time together as we can, though it’s difficult sometimes with work and college. When I can’t see him, he texts me all the time to see what I’m up to. Zoe says it would do her head in to have a bloke on her tail like that all the time.

She’s jealous.

At college they tell us the UCAS forms are now ready online. It’s time to think about uni.

‘Newcastle?’ says Mum, knowing it’s always been my ultimate goal.

‘Hopefully.’

‘You are getting your work done, aren’t you?’ she asks, sounding concerned.

‘Of course I am!’ I say, and she believes me because I’ve always got my work done, I’ve always been conscientious.

But, the truth is, I’m falling behind.

It’s Jem’s fault. I can’t resist him.

Livi thinks he’s wonderful too.

One day after school, Ferret comes up and apologizes to her in front of everyone for the way he’s behaved. Nobody could believe what they were hearing, he’s such an arrogant little shit normally. It made Livi’s day. She came home beaming, her self-esteem restored.

It had to be Jem’s doing. She said she could swear she saw him outside her school talking to her ex just before Ferret came over and apologized. By the time she’d picked herself up off the floor with shock, Jem had disappeared.

He wouldn’t admit it though when he came round that night. He just grinned and said, ‘Nobody messes with my little sister,’ in a croaky Italian accent like that guy from
The Godfather.
From that moment he could do no wrong in Livi’s eyes.

It’s funny. For an easy-going guy, Jem can be quite persuasive.

Tonight Jem’s doing an extra shift in the hotel bar, which gives me time, at last, to catch up with Zoe. I’m looking forward to her coming round; it’s been ages since we got together outside college. But as soon as she arrives, she starts getting on my nerves. She keeps on and on about how Jem never lets me out of his sight, till in the end I just want her to go. I’ve got too much I should be getting on with to listen to crap like that.

‘What did you get for your
Hamlet
essay?’ she asks, changing the subject at last.

‘I haven’t handed it in yet.’

‘What?’ She looks at me in horror, like I’ve planted a bomb in the student common-room or something.

‘I haven’t had time.’

‘It’s because you’re always with Jem,’ she says, returning to her well-worn theme. ‘Tell him you’ve got work to do.’

‘Jem doesn’t stop me from working!’ I snap, fed up with her now. She looks sceptical. ‘He doesn’t! He wants me to do well in my exams, if you must know. Then I can go to London and be with him.’

Zoe repeats my words slowly. ‘He wants you to go to London?’

‘Yes.’

‘To be with him?’

‘Yes.’ What is wrong with her? She’s making me uneasy.

‘This is more serious than I thought!’ Her face is a picture. ‘He wants you to move in with him?’

‘Yeah,’ I say slowly. ‘I guess so.’

Last night, when I was filling in my UCAS application Jem had said, ‘Newcastle?’ in surprise.

‘What’s wrong with Newcastle?’

‘Nothing!’

‘Jem?’ I say warningly. We’d just been talking about how important it was to be honest and open with each other and now here he was, clamming up on me.

‘OK. It’s just that it’s so far away. When will I get to see you?’ He looks like a little kid.

I feel guilty. ‘Oh, Jem, anywhere I go will be far away. But it’s only term-time. We can see each other in the holidays.’

‘The holidays,’ he repeats, but he still looks miserable.

‘And weekends. It’s the north-east of England, not Outer Mongolia.’