Lost Angel (32 page)

‘What’s it got to do with you?’ the woman spat, sneering as she looked Angel up and down. ‘Standing there in your fancy clothes, with your posh voice, making out like you’ve got a clue what it’s like to bring kids up round here.’

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you,’ Angel murmured, feeling more awkward than she’d ever felt in her life before. ‘But I don’t think you should be taking it out on your daughter. It wasn’t her fault.’

‘What’s going on?’ a man asked just then.

Angel glanced around, and her heart sank when Ryan came striding out of the house. And he didn’t look any less shocked than her as he stopped in his tracks and stared at her.

‘This posh bitch making out like I don’t know how to look after my own kid, that’s what,’ the woman snarled.

‘I’m sorry,’ Angel stammered. ‘I was only trying to help.’ She cast an apologetic glance at Ryan and then walked away.

‘Yeah, that’s right, piss off,’ the woman yelled after her. ‘And keep your nose out of my family’s business in future, you stuck-up little bitch.’

‘Mam, just shut your mouth and get back in the house,’ Ryan hissed. Then, jumping the fence, he called, ‘Angel . . . wait!’

She had tears in her eyes when he caught up with her at the corner. ‘Oh, Christ, what did she do?’ he groaned. ‘She didn’t hit you or anything, did she?’

‘No.’ Angel shook her head and tried to step around him.

‘Well, what happened? Did you catch my sister shoplifting or something?’

‘No, I found her getting beaten up,’ Angel told him, wondering why both he and his mother had automatically thought that his sister had been up to no good.

‘Shit, not again.’ Ryan gritted his teeth and raked his fingers through his short hair. ‘Those little bitches are always picking on her. It does my head in.’

‘So do something about it,’ Angel said coolly.

‘It’s not that easy,’ he replied. ‘I don’t expect you to understand, because you’ve probably never been hit in your life, but it’s never going to stop if she doesn’t start sticking up for herself.’

Angel raised her chin. ‘For your information, I
have
been hit – loads of times. And it’s terrifying when you’re a defenceless little girl.’

‘
You?
’ Ryan frowned. ‘Who’d hit you?’

Angel kicked herself for opening her mouth and lowered her gaze. ‘No one – forget I said it.’

‘Not your dad?’ Ryan’s voice was filled with disbelief.

‘Course not,’ she shot back indignantly. ‘My dad would never lay a finger on me.’

Ryan was truly glad to hear that, because he liked and respected Johnny Conroy and would have hated to think that he was the kind of bastard who would abuse his own kid.

‘Look, I’m sorry about my mam kicking off,’ he apologised. ‘She doesn’t mean to be so hard on our Cherise, but she’s forever telling her not to go to the park on her own, and she just keeps sneaking round there, even though she knows them girls are going to be waiting for her.
I
can’t do anything about it, ’cos I’d end up getting nicked. And there’s no point telling their mams and dads to sort them out, ’cos that just makes them hate Cherise even more than they already do.’

Angel saw the sincerity in his eyes and realised how difficult this must be for him. ‘It’s all right,’ she said kindly. ‘I shouldn’t have interfered.’

‘No, I’m glad you helped her out,’ said Ryan. ‘I’m not saying you did anything wrong, I’m just trying to explain why my mam reacted like that.’

‘Well, there’s no hard feelings on my part,’ Angel assured him.

‘Thanks,’ he murmured. ‘Anyhow, I suppose I’d best get back – make sure she’s okay.’

‘Hope she is.’ Angel smiled.

‘She’s tougher than she looks.’ Ryan smiled back.

They looked at each other for a few more seconds, but there was really nothing left to say, so Angel said goodbye and walked away.

Ryan chewed on his lip as he watched her go, and reminded himself of all the reasons why he shouldn’t even think about trying to take this any further. She was the boss’s daughter . . . she was still at school . . . she was way too gorgeous to look twice at a broke-arse bloke like him.

It didn’t work.

‘Angel!
Wait!
’

Almost halfway down the street by now, Angel stopped and turned around.

‘Do you fancy going out sometime?’ Ryan asked when he reached her. ‘To the pictures, or something?’

Angel dropped her gaze. ‘I’d like to, but I’m not sure if I can.’

‘Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.’ Ryan held up his hands and took a step back. ‘Stupid, really – me working for your dad, and that. Anyhow, you’ve probably already got a boyfriend?’

‘No, I haven’t,’ Angel said quickly. ‘And it’s got nothing to do with my dad. It’s just . . .’ She trailed off, too embarrassed to tell him that the real reason she couldn’t say yes to a date was because she wasn’t allowed to go out with boys.

A knowing look came into Ryan’s eyes and he said, ‘Look, just forget I asked, yeah? See you around sometime.’

Angel frowned when he started walking away. He thought she was being a snob because he worked for her dad.

‘Ryan, wait!’

‘What?’ he said flatly, turning and looking back at her.

‘I
would
like to go out with you,’ she told him, blushing furiously because this was the first time she had ever spoken to a lad like this.

‘But you can’t, because I’m black,’ he said, stating rather than asking.

‘God, no, that’s got nothing to do with it.’

‘So what is it, then?’

Angel bit her lip. This was really hard, and she had no idea how she was going to make it happen, but if she didn’t do it now she might not get another chance.

‘When do you want to go?’ she asked. ‘To the pictures, I mean. If you still want to?’ she added nervously.

‘For real?’ Ryan gave her a questioning look. Grinning when she nodded, he said, ‘How about tomorrow? We could meet here at seven?’

Angel nodded again, her heart already beating ten to the dozen in her chest.

‘Cool.’ He smiled, and Angel’s stomach flipped when she noticed the dimple in his left cheek.

‘Hang on – what’s your name?’ she asked when he started to walk away again.

‘Ryan,’ he told her, still grinning.

Angel was worried as she made her way back to Lisa’s. Ryan was the most gorgeous lad she’d ever seen in her life, with his beautiful soft brown eyes, that stunning smile, and that little-boy dimple. But if she couldn’t make it tomorrow, that would be it. He would never want to see her again.

‘I am
wiped
,’ Lisa said when she came home a few hours later.

‘Do you want a coffee?’ Angel offered, jumping up from the couch.

‘Oh, God, yeah,’ Lisa moaned, dropping her handbag and kicking off her shoes. ‘I had to go to the dentist this morning and I’m only just starting to feel my lips again.’ She slipped her jacket off and hung it on a hook behind the door before following Angel into the kitchen. ‘Two fillings – can you believe that?’

‘Did it hurt?’ Angel asked, aware that her hands were shaking as she filled the kettle.

‘Not as much as the toothache would have done if I’d left it,’ Lisa said, flopping onto a chair. ‘Then I went to my mum’s, and she had me running round after her like a blue-arsed fly all day. I told her . . . I said, you’ve only twisted your ankle, Mam, not snapped the bleedin’ thing off, so stop acting like a cripple. But she’s been like,
get me this, get me that
, all day. I could have bloody throttled her.’

‘Ah, well, you can put your feet up now,’ Angel murmured.

‘Oh, I intend to. I’m going to park myself in front of the telly, and I’m not moving again for the rest of the night,’ said Lisa, reaching down to rub her aching feet. ‘So, what have you been up to? Hope you haven’t been too bored?’

‘I bought some magazines and went to the park,’ Angel told her, fetching Lisa’s coffee to the table and sitting across from her. ‘But I saw some girls beating another one up, so I—’

‘Oh, you didn’t get involved, did you?’ Lisa cut in with a groan. ‘They’re a right load of rough bitches round here. Hope they didn’t follow you back to the house or I’m going to have murder!’

‘They were only little. I just chased them off and walked the girl home.’

‘Oh, well, good for you. But you’ve got to watch your back round here, ’cos you never know who’s watching you. Don’t suppose your dad’s been round while I was out?’

‘No.’ Angel shook her head and gazed down at her fingers linked together on the tabletop.

Lisa noticed the way she was chewing on her lip, and asked, ‘Is something on your mind, babe?’

‘I was just wondering . . .’ Angel said tentatively. ‘Would it be okay if I stayed a few more nights?’

‘Fine by me,’ Lisa said. ‘But your dad’s the one you need to be asking, not me.’

‘Will
you
ask him?’ Angel gave her a pleading look. ‘He might say yes to you.’

Lisa narrowed her eyes. ‘What’s going on, babe? Is there some reason why you don’t want to go home? It’s not your nan, is it?’

‘No.’ Angel shook her head. ‘I just want to stay. I hardly ever see you these days, and I thought it’d be nice to spend a bit of time with you while my mum’s in hospital.’

Lisa started laughing and shook her head. ‘God, you’re a terrible liar. You couldn’t sound any more sincere if you poured honey on it.’

‘I’m not lying,’ Angel insisted, her cheeks turning pink.

‘Babe, I know when I’m being buttered up,’ Lisa told her. ‘Just tell me what’s really going on. Have you made plans to go to a party, or something?’

‘Not a party,’ Angel muttered, too guilty to look at her. ‘The pictures.’

‘With?’

‘A boy.’

‘Really?’ Lisa raised an eyebrow. ‘Wow, you kept that one quiet. I never knew you had a boyfriend. Does he go to your school?’

‘No, he works for my dad.’

‘You’re kidding me!’ Lisa drew her head back. ‘Does your dad know?’

‘God, no,’ Angel gasped. ‘He’d go mad.’ She gazed up worriedly at Lisa now. ‘You won’t tell him, will you?’

Lisa’s heart went out to her. Almost sixteen, and she’d never ever been out on a date. This was the time when she was supposed to be learning how to kiss, falling in and out of love, having a laugh, getting her heart broken – all the things that taught a girl how to be a woman. But that prissy cousin and sour-faced old bat of an aunt of Lisa’s had got the poor thing locked up so tight that she was in danger of turning into a replica of them if she wasn’t allowed to start spreading her wings.

‘I won’t breathe a word,’ Lisa promised. ‘But I hope you’re being sensible?’

‘It’s not like that,’ Angel said, blushing all over again, because she knew exactly what Lisa was getting at. ‘I’ve never been out with him before. I just saw him earlier and he asked me to go to the pictures – that’s all.’

‘Yeah, well, don’t let him pressure you into doing anything you don’t want to do,’ Lisa advised. ‘He’s obviously older than you if he works, and men can be buggers for that.’

‘Ryan’s not like that,’ Angel insisted, unable to stop herself from smiling.

‘Ryan, eh?’ Lisa grinned. ‘So what’s he like, this
Ryan
?’

‘Oh, he’s lovely,’ Angel gushed. ‘He’s not cocky or anything, he’s just really, really nice. And he’s got a gorgeous smile, and this little dimple just here.’ She put her finger to her cheek.

Lisa saw the unmistakable signs of first love developing before her eyes, and it made her nervous. It was all very well letting Angel stay over for a couple of nights so that she could enjoy a rare bit of freedom. But a couple of nights was more than enough time for a young girl to fall in love and it would break her heart when she had to go home again, because there was no way her mum was going to let her go out dating.

‘Babe, I think we might be running before we can walk here,’ Lisa cautioned. ‘We don’t even know if your dad’s going to let you stay yet. And even if he does, what if he comes round while you’re out? Where am I supposed to tell him you’ve gone?’

‘I hadn’t thought about that,’ Angel murmured, her shoulders drooping. ‘What should I do? I told Ryan I’d meet him on the corner at seven.’

Lisa gazed at the girl’s miserable face and sighed. ‘Look, no promises, but let me talk to your dad. You still won’t be able to go out even if he says yes,’ she reiterated thoughtfully. ‘But that doesn’t mean you can’t see Ryan. You can go and meet him, and fetch him round here – if you want? That way you get to spend a bit of time with him, and I get to check him out and make sure he’s good enough for you.’

‘Really?’ Angel gasped. She jumped up when Lisa nodded and then she rushed around the table with a massive smile on her lips. ‘Oh, thank you, thank you!’ she gushed, hugging her. ‘You know you’ve always been my favourite auntie, don’t you?’

‘I should bloody hope so,’ Lisa chuckled. ‘Seeing as I’m the only one who hasn’t got a beard. It’s no wonder the rest of ’em hate me so much.’

‘Well, I think you’re great,’ said Angel, kissing her on the cheek before going back to her own seat.

‘I am, aren’t I?’ Lisa grinned and reached for her cigarettes.

‘Yeah. And you’d make a really great mum, too,’ Angel said.

Smile slipping, Lisa lit her smoke and shifted in her seat. ‘Christ, is that the time? I’d best start thinking about what we’re going to have for dinner. And then I’ll give your dad a ring – find out if there’s any news on your mum.’

A little wave of guilt washed over Angel. She’d been so wrapped up in thoughts of Ryan that her mum hadn’t even crossed her mind.

‘Don’t worry.’ Lisa reached across the table and squeezed her hand. ‘She’ll be fine, or we’d have heard by now. And don’t worry about the other stuff, either. I’ll square it with your dad – I promise.’

26

Ryan was a bag of nerves as he got ready to meet Angel the next evening. And that was a weird feeling, because he’d been out with loads of girls and had never felt this jittery over any of them. But there was something about Angel that set her apart from the rest, something special and untouchable. She made him want to be a better man – richer, funnier, bigger, more handsome. But he wasn’t fooling himself that this date was going to turn into anything. As soon as she realised what a loser he was, she’d be bound to lose interest and go back to her rich boys.