Someone Like me (15 page)

chapter 29

Malika
cooked a delicious meal before we went out the next evening. It made a change from grabbing a sandwich, or the remains of whatever happened to be in the fridge. We’d had the place to ourselves as Mark had stayed with Des, and Tess had left for Josh’s this morning. Malika was in the shower and I helped myself to a beer from the fridge. My phone beeped, it was a text from Fiona:

Are you going to the party?

I replied
:
Yes!

Are you at Mark’s?

Yes.

I’m on my way.

I liked the way she didn’t give me a choice. It wasn’t long before the doorbell rang for the second time and I got up to let her in. Her hair was loose tonight, very straight and she was wearing amazing heels.

‘Nice hair,’ she smirked, looking at my head. I ran my fingers through my hair. It was sticking out at funny angles. It had been hidden under a hat last night.
Malika was still getting ready. I couldn’t be bothered to make much effort. My jeans were clean and I was wearing a new sweatshirt I’d bought in Paris – that would have to do. I offered Fiona a drink. She declined. I poured myself another and put some music on. I was getting in the party mood.

‘So what did Khaled want last night?’

‘He told me what happened with Miriam the last time he saw her.’ I repeated what he had told me.

‘I bet he made that up,’ she said, scowling.

‘Why?’

‘You know why. He’s a liar.’

‘Look, I know he’s hurt you but I believed him. He looked really upset when he talked about Miriam, how hard it was for him because he couldn’t tell anyone.’

‘Did he say anything else?’

‘No,’ I said.

‘Liar!’ she spat out the word.

‘What’s the matter with you? I told you what he said.’

‘You didn’t say what he said about
apologising to Tess.’

‘Oh that, I forgot. Hang on, how do you know…. it was you
wasn’t it? You were listening in last night! I thought I heard something. What’s the matter with you? Get out of here now if you don’t trust me.’

Fiona hung her head. ‘Alright, I thought you were still hiding stuff from me and I wanted to be sure.’

‘Have you forgotten what I said yesterday already? There’s a lot of family stuff going on that’s all. I told you what happened at the parties. If we’re not honest with each other and what we find out then we’ll never discover what’s happened. I think Khaled was telling the truth. If you can’t get over him then maybe we should carry on without you. Why are you going to the party anyway? Isn’t it difficult seeing him all the  time?’

‘Why  should
  I  stop  going  out  because of him? I want him to see me and realise what he’s missing.’ She tossed back her hair; she had clearly spent ages getting ready. Now I knew why.

At that moment
Malika came in, the raised voices must have attracted her.

‘Remember Fiona?’ I asked.

Fiona glared at Malika. I turned on her. ‘Malika spoke to Khaled last night, that’s all. One conversation. No big deal. She also spoke to Tess and Josh and Mark – do you see how ridiculous you are being?’

‘OK, OK,’ said Fiona. ‘I get it. Hi.’

Malika smiled. ‘I like your dress Fiona. Shall we go?’

Fiona attempted a smile and they waited in the hall while I turned everything off and locked up. Excitement shot through me despite all my good intentions; I was going to Sadie’s house – and she wasn’t going to be there. Finally I had the chance to have a good poke around.

The house lights were visible from way down the street as we approached Josh’s house and music spilled out into the air. I was buzzing. Fiona had been making an effort with
Malika on the bus down and I left them to it, lost in my own thoughts.

The door was opened by a boy who I had never seen before. He didn’t speak, just turned around and left us to shut the door behind us. This looked like my kind of party. I went straight through the house until I found the kitchen and dumped the bottle of wine I had found in Mum’s cupboard on the side where it joined a mix of various bottles and cans, mostly alcoholic.
Malika looked concerned. ‘Take it easy, Jas, won’t you?’

‘Of course,’ I said, ‘stop fussing, I’m used to it.’

We found Tess and Josh in the living room, where most of the furniture had been removed and music was pumping out of a sound system which appeared to be wired throughout the whole house.

‘Jasmine,’ said Tess, rushing over and giving me a big hug.

‘Where can I leave my stuff?’ I asked. I indicated the jacket I was carrying and my clutch bag.

‘Upstairs. Let me take it.’

‘No, you’re alright, I’ll do it myself.’ I took Malika’s jacket too and left her with Tess. A couple was sitting on the bottom of the stairs, their lips sealed together. I clambered over them, knocking the girl in the shoulder as I went, but she didn’t stir. At the top of the stairs was a room, clearly Josh’s, where a couple of coats were already on the bed, obviously the cloakroom for the night. I ignored that room and carried on to the end of the corridor. There were another three doors on this level. I opened the first two, another bedroom and a toilet. The third room was hers. I opened the door and held my breath. It was a large white room, very bare, with mirrors lining one wall, tiny light bulbs around the edges, like I had seen in pictures of theatre dressing rooms. There was a double bed in the middle of the room and a large black and white photo of Sadie dominated the wall. I took out my phone and quickly took a picture of it, followed by a couple of shots of the room. A door led off the bedroom into a walk in shower room, all dark metallic tiles and steel, with a beautiful sink. Without hesitating I went straight over    to  the  bedside cabinet.  It  was  incredibly  tidy, containing just a bottle of perfume and two magazines. I opened the small drawer underneath which contained her passport and some bank statements.

A noise outside made me jump. I closed the drawer and stood up and waited a moment. I was imagining things. Another door grabbed my attention. I opened
this  one  and stared. I would die for this room. It was a walk in wardrobe. A room full of Sadie’s clothes. My eyes  were assaulted by a rainbow of colours, with boxes and boxes of shoes on a shelf above. I fingered the skirt of a silver dress, which shimmered in front of me, the fabric soft against my skin. I was just reaching up to lift another dress down, one I had seen on
Sadiestyle
and had never been able to track down, when a voice made me jump out of my skin:

‘What are you doing?’

I whirled around. It was Fiona. Panic almost made me lose my balance.

‘Hi,’ I said lamely.

‘What the hell are you up to?’

I held my hands up.

‘Snooping,’ I said. ‘You’ve caught me. Thank God it was only you. I should have told you. I wanted to see if there were any clues in the house.’

‘Clues.
How? This is Josh’s sister’s room isn’t it? That Sadie one who had her hands all over Khaled.’

I sighed. ‘She knows him, doesn’t she? So she’s connected. You never know. I just thought I’d take the chance while I was here.’

My heart was pumping furiously, but she seemed to believe me.

‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘I guess this detective stuff is
all new to me. Have you found anything?’

I shook my head. ‘Let’s get out of here before anyone notices we’ve disappeared.’

We headed back downstairs and I cast a wistful look at Sadie’s room before I closed the door, trying to etch the details into my memory. The snogging pair had moved from the stairs and was now on top of the pile of coats on Josh’s bed.

‘That’s Tina,’ said Fiona. ‘She’s such a tart.’ The party had livened up since we arrived and people were
dancing  in  the living room and quite a few people were outside by the pool. It was a breath taking sight. Fiona and I went to the kitchen and got some more drinks. I looked around for Tess, but couldn’t see her. The kitchen was uncannily like the picture I had conjured up in my head. I was high just being in Sadie’s house.

In the end I found Tess in the garden, deep in conversation with Khaled. I hoped he was making his peace with her. She saw me and waved.
‘Jasmine, over here.’

‘So what are you two chatting about?’ I asked.

‘We’re friends now, aren’t we Khal?’ She threw her arms around him and he pushed her away. Everyone was a bit tipsy tonight, even Tess. I was feeling warm inside after my successful foray into Sadie’s room and also glad to have Khaled on side.

‘See you later,’ he said and went back into the house.

‘What did he say?’ I asked.

‘He apologized. He took his time getting round to it but at least I don’t have to worry that he and Josh are going to get into a fight. Let’s go and tell him the good news.’ We made our
way  back to the kitchen. I glanced into the living room. Malika and Khaled were sitting on the sofa, talking. She was smiling at him and they seemed very relaxed.

The rest of the night passed in a blur. Josh had made some vivid orange punch which was sweet and gorgeous and had placed jugs of it all around the rooms downstairs. No wonder Tess was tipsy. I appropriated my own jug and lost myself in the music.
The lights were dim and I danced amongst a crowd of people I didn’t know, pretending I was Sadie with the copper curls. Not many people from my school were there and I relaxed and danced with abandon, not caring what I looked like.

Malika
appeared at one point and asked me if I wanted to leave, but I shooed her away. Suddenly desperate for the loo, I went into the hall and stood at the bottom of the stairs, wondering how I was going to make it up to the top as the floor appeared to be shifting from under me. I could see the beige of the toilet door, but it loomed impossibly out of reach. The doorbell rang through my thoughts and I turned round and pulled the front door violently towards me.

   ‘Welcome to the party,’ I started to
say, when I realised that an angry adult was standing in front of me. It was Mystery Man. He was wearing a black leather jacket and his chin was covered in dark stubble. He was enormous up close, and the look on his face made me want to get as far away from him as possible. I tried to make my legs move but my head started spinning and I vomited all over his shoes, before staggering out into the front garden.

CHAPTER 30

Malika
was softly calling my name. I tried to cling onto the remnants of my dream. I couldn’t remember why, but I didn’t want to face the day. I groaned as pain speared behind my eyes.

‘Jasmine, wake up!’

Jeez, why wouldn’t she leave me alone?

‘Go away.’ I turned my head into the pillow.

I tried to think back to the night before. The last thing I could remember was the appearance of Mystery Man. Shocked at the recollection I tried to sit up. I managed to prop myself against the pillow. Malika was looking at me; her big eyes almost black this morning. Her hair was loosely tied back and she was wearing a pair of khakis and a grey sweatshirt. Seeing her made me feel a bit better.

‘Tell me.’

‘What do you remember?’

I rubbed my eyes.
‘The man?’

She sighed. ‘You were so sick, Jasmine, all over him. I don’t even know who he was. He went into the house shouting for Josh. Tess helped me get you outside,
then she went back inside to check on Josh. The man was really angry He turned the music off and sent everybody away. He must be a neighbour, or a friend of Josh’s parents. Tess  wanted  to get you  out  of  the way so she called a cab for us. Can’t you remember any of this?’

I shook my head. The last thing I could recall was Mystery Man’s shoes.

‘I feel terrible. Let me sleep for a couple more hours. Go down to the shop or something. I’ll be alright once I’ve had more sleep.’ I closed my eyes and turned over.

I woke feeling much better. It was twelve o’clock. I got myself into the shower and started off with ice-cold water to shock a bit of life into my body.

A noise interrupted me; it was the front door closing.
Malika. I hurriedly got dressed and then made my way downstairs. Malika was sitting at the kitchen table.

‘I’ve made you some toast,’ she said, ‘but there’s hardly any bread.’ The toast smelt good. The first slice disappeared very quickly.

‘Do you feel any better?’

I nodded.

‘Jasmine I wish you didn’t drink. You were in a terrible state last night.’

I shrugged. ‘It’s not your job to worry about me.’

She looked hurt. ‘I’m your sister, I can’t help caring. You’d better get used to it. Besides, after what you told me about your Mum…’

‘What?’ The word shot out like a bullet. She looked shocked.

‘Sorry, I mean…’

I sighed. ‘No you’re right. It’s a stupid thing to do. But the way I felt last
night  was  so  awful  I  think  I’ll stick to diet coke from now on.’

I finished the rest of the toast and drank the cup of tea which
Malika put in front of me. 

‘I want to try and catch Tess and find out what happened last night.’

‘After we left, you mean?’ I nodded.

Tess answered on the first ring.

              ‘Hey Jas,’ she answered. Her voice was flat, not like her usual bubbly self. ‘How did you get in such a state last night? Are you OK? I was so worried.’

‘Never mind that – what about Josh?’
I asked. ‘What happened with that man?’

‘Why don’t you come into town? Josh and I are in the Cyber Café. We had to get out of the house.’

‘Is everything alright Tess? You sound funny.’

She sighed, ‘
look just get your butt over here and then I’ll tell you.’

Half an hour later
Malika and I walked into the café. I could see Tess’s blonde curls in the far corner. She waved as she saw us approaching.  Josh had his back to us. Malika went to the counter to buy some drinks. As I arrived at the table Josh turned his head to look at me. I couldn’t take my eyes off his face – his eye was swollen, green and purple circles sprouting around it.

‘Josh, what on earth happened?’

‘You should see the other guy,’ he attempted to smile but his eyes were dull.

‘Josh!’ Tess was indignant. ‘It’s not funny. Have you seen how bad your eye is?’

‘Does it hurt?’ Malika  had  just  arrived at  the table and was looking distressed at the sight of Josh.

‘Look
sit down and stop staring at me, will you? People keep looking over.’

‘Who did it?’ I had a pretty good idea what the answer was going to be.  ‘Was it that man?’

‘That man is his uncle,’ said Tess, her face pink.

‘He came to check up on the house. Stupidly I mentioned the party on Facebook. He must have seen it there. Old creep is far too old to be doing Facebook if you ask me. He caught me smoking a joint in the
garden and went ballistic. He smacked me in the face and I fell over. I didn’t even get the chance to hit him back. After that the party was pretty much killed. He turned the music off and went round yelling at everyone to get out.’

‘So this uncle,’ I said, ‘who is he? What is he like normally?’

‘He’s my dad’s brother, Trevor. Well, step brother, really. He didn’t grow up with my dad but traced him a couple of years ago. He just showed up out of the blue one day. Dad had no idea he existed.’ Malika and I looked at each other. She winked. ‘Then he started coming over all the time. I’ve never liked him that much to be honest. Mum and Dad think he’s great. I reckon there’s something weird about him. You should see the way he is with Sadie.’

A cold feeling crept over me. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Sadie, my sister. He’s kind of creepy around her. It’s gross. He’s always giving her presents and stuff. She liked it at first but now she can’t stand him either.’

‘What do you mean?’

Josh  looked   at   me  as  if  I was mad. ‘I dunno, she doesn’t tell me anything.’

‘Will your dad be angry with you?’
Malika asked.

‘He will be mad about the party, but I reckon he’ll be even madder that Trevor has given me a black eye.’

‘Do you know when your parents are back?’ I asked.

‘This evening,’ groaned Josh, running his hands through his hair.

‘Have you tidied up?’ asked Malika, practical as ever.

Josh groaned and Tess pulled a face. ‘We sort of did a bit, but we kind of ran out of steam.’

Malika looked at me. ‘We could help you.’

I nodded, trying not to look too enthusiastic – it was
another opportunity to have a look around Sadie’s room.

‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘We can make sure it looks perfect for when your parents come back.

‘It’s got to be done,’ Tess said. The four of us will get it done quicker.’

Josh nodded. ‘Let’s do it.’ He winced as he stood up.

Malika walked ahead with Josh.

‘I’m worried about him,’ Tess said, as we trailed behind them. ‘You should have seen that man go for him last night. I couldn’t believe it when he told me he was his uncle.
And what about you? Shouldn’t you be lying on a bed somewhere, groaning with pain? It was a nightmare getting you home last night. I can’t believe you had so much to drink.’

‘Stop going on about it,’ I said. ‘I do feel half dead if you must know.’

We were walking briskly along and it didn’t take long to get to Sadie’s house.

‘Hello,’  Tess  called out  as  she  went  in,  ‘anybody home?’

‘Tess,’ I said, ‘what are you doing?’

‘I’m just checking,’ she said. ‘I don’t want any nasty surprises.’ She showed us the cleaning cupboard and we all set to work. Malika was already getting started on the kitchen, filling the washing up bowl with hot soapy water. Stacks of half full glasses were on every surface imaginable. There was a smell of stale smoke in the air and she opened the French doors. I went round the other rooms collecting up anything that needed washing, bringing it into the kitchen.

‘I’ll  check
  upstairs,’ I said. There wasn’t much party evidence there, except in Josh’s room, where a chair had been knocked over and there were still a couple of coats left on the bed. I closed the door and set off for Sadie’s room. This time I wasted no time on her clothes but concentrated on the rest of the room. There was a large set of drawers which I hadn’t had a chance to look at last night. The first three were full of underwear, the fourth had a couple of iPods, headphones, batteries, a torch and other random bits of uninteresting stuff, but it was the bottom drawer which got my attention. It was full of notebooks, of all different shapes and sizes. I flicked through a couple, but they were empty. Some of them had notes in; I realised they were references to shops, websites, and different items of clothing. This was probably research for her blog.

A noise made me look up. Quickly I closed the drawer and went to the top of the stairs.
Malika was calling me. I ran down to the kitchen.

‘How are you getting on?’ she asked. She was drying the glasses now and lining them up on the table. They actually sparkled.

‘I’m almost finished. I’m going to take the hoover around the bedrooms and then I’ll come back down.’

I collected the hoover and lugged it back upstairs. There were still a couple of envelopes in the drawer that I hadn’t looked at. One contained a pile of tickets; I flicked through them, all gigs and theatre productions she had been to. The other was fatter and I emptied the contents onto the floor. It was a leather journal and some documents and a few photographs. I shoved the journal into my back pocket,
then flicked through some old pictures of Sadie and Josh as children. The last photo had been taken on a beach, but it was cut in half.

The shot was of Sadie, looking at the camera, her red hair blowing over her face, a man’s leather jacketed arm around
her  waist. It  had  to  be  the  same  person. Her expression caught my attention. She almost looked frightened. I wondered who was taking the picture; whoever they were they had been cut right out. Why did she look so uncomfortable? I took out my phone and snapped the photograph.

   
‘Jasmine!’  Tess was calling me now. I jumped out of my daze and made sure the drawer was closed. I looked around the room to make sure I hadn’t left anything behind. As I dragged the hoover out of the room a cute little pink silk jacket hanging on the back of the door caught my eye. It was the one Sadie had been wearing in the photo on the beach. Before I could stop myself, I whisked it off the back of the door and took it downstairs with the hoover. I made sure it was safely in my bag before I went back into the kitchen  to  meet Malika.

    Tess made us some tea and I lay down on the sofa, suddenly drained of energy.

    ‘Are you alright Jas?’ Tess asked as she put a mug down on the floor beside me. ‘You look a bit green.’

    ‘I think I might have overdone it a bit there.’ I closed my eyes, my limbs heavy and closed my eyes. I must have slept for a while, before snippets of conversation began drifting in and out of my consciousness.

    ‘… Mum and Dad.’ Josh was speaking. ‘They’re really worried about her. She hasn’t been herself for the past few weeks. I can’t believe she’s split up with AJ.’

    ‘Would she talk to you?’ Tess’s voice was low.

Josh laughed. ‘You’re joking aren’t you! What’s that banging noise?’

   
‘Malika!’ Tess yelled. I opened my eyes. ‘Oh, sorry Jas. But I wish your sister would sit down and stop tidying up.’

   ‘Hmm,’ I said, but my mind was elsewhere, the focus right back on Sadie again. Was she seeing someone else? Something was going on and I was curious to find out what it was. I had a feeling that somehow, all these little trails were linked together. I just needed to try and work out how.