Someone Like me (7 page)

CHAPTER 13

The noise was still ringing in my ears. First the bell, the last bell of another year, next the scraping of chairs, thuds of doors slamming, followed by the thundering of hundreds of feet haring down corridors and escaping out into six weeks of freedom. Screaming and yelling the whole way. Even though I was now safely cocooned in the silence of the charity shop, my head hadn’t quite recovered. I’d been volunteering here for a few weeks now – Mum’s idea. I think she just wanted to get rid of me. Actually, I quite liked it but I wasn’t going to tell her that. It wasn’t all batty old ladies and creepy clothes as I’d imagined. The shop was in the posh end of town and some of the stuff was really cool. That Mary
Portas woman would be well impressed. I had picked out some choice items for myself, designer gear, new with tags, far too good for a charity shop. The volunteer in charge on Fridays was so old – when she wasn’t making tea she was nodding off out the back, so I could pretty much do as I liked.      

Today Gladys was putting her feet up in the stockroom so I was working on the till. I was making some notes on my phone; trying to make sense of the information I had learnt over the past few days. I wrote
down  a  list  of names, 
Miriam,  Helen,  Fiona, Khaled
. I hesitated, added
Sadie
. Crossed her off. Thinking about Sadie made me squirm. She knew Khaled, so what?  I hesitated, added
Sadie
. Crossed her off. Thinking about Sadie made me squirm. She knew Khaled, so what? She had no connection to the case. Then I wrote down Thursday 25th and Friday 26th May. I drew up a timetable of Michael’s activities. I had him visiting Gran on Thursday and staying at the hotel. On Friday he’d gone to meet Mum. Was he travelling back to Amersham? Or France? What had he done on Wednesday evening? I thought about the photograph. Maybe Nora was his girlfriend: I wouldn’t put it past him. A cough startled me. A lady with a terrifying hairstyle stood at the till, holding out a blue handbag and a ten pound note. I checked the tag.

‘Five pounds please,’ I said, taking her money and giving her the change, stifling a yawn. As she opened the door to leave she held it open for a customer. A blonde girl wearing my school uniform came in. Fiona. What was she doing here? She came over to the counter, her eyes travelling to the door behind her before. She wrinkled her nose.

‘It not as smelly as I expected.’

The shop was empty. I glanced towards the back.  There was no sign of Gladys.

‘Tess told me where to find you.’ She glared at me. I glared back. Dark shadows under her eyes made her look washed out.     

‘Did you want something?’ I asked.      

‘How well do you know Helen?’      

‘Pretty well.’
     

‘You’re a liar,’ she said, stepping closer into my space. ‘I spoke to Helen last night. She told me all
about  your  visit . What  are  you  playing at? What’s all this to you anyway? I don’t get it.’   Her voice was loud now, causing Gladys to stick her head out of the stockroom.

‘Is everything alright dear?’ I made a snap decision.

‘Could you look after the till for a bit, Gladys?’ I asked, ‘I need to speak to…’ I hesitated for a second. ‘…my friend for a minute. I won’t be long, I promise.’       

‘Of course, dear.’
She shuffled over to the counter, smiling. ‘You go out the back; I’ll keep an eye on the till.’ She patted Fiona on the arm. ‘Boyfriend trouble, I expect.’ Fiona shook Gladys’s hand away and I led her over to the stockroom. There were a couple of chairs in there and I lifted a pile of jigsaw puzzles off one and dumped them on the floor.

‘Sit here.’ I said. Her eyes looked red.

‘Has Helen said anything to you about Miriam’s boyfriend?’ she asked.

Now I knew how a mouse in a trap felt. ‘A bit,’ I said.

‘Stop lying,’ she said. ‘I know what she told you ‘cos she told me too. About Khaled.’ She burst into tears. I rummaged in my pocket and pulled out a scrunched up tissue, but she batted it away. ‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said. ‘He dumped me last night, before Helen rang. We had a huge row after we left you, about that Sadie cow. She’s after him, I know she is, but he can’t see it. Anyway he said I was too possessive and he couldn’t handle it anymore and that he’d had enough.’ She wiped her eyes with her hand and sniffed. ‘The thing is, it hadn’t been right between us for some time, but now I find out he’s been two-timing me I just feel so humiliated.’

‘Don’t be,’ I said. ‘It’s probably for the best.’ I held out the tissue again and this time she took it and blew her nose loudly.

‘Helen told me she had no idea who you were when you turned up  at  her  house. Why  are  you  interested? What’s it to you? I don’t get it.’

She’d put me on the spot; no way could I tell her about Michael. I shrugged. ‘I was playing at being a detective. A girl our age getting murdered like that, it makes you think, you know? As Tess knew you and there was a bit of a connection to Helen, I wanted to see what I could find out. Maybe I shouldn’t have . . .’ I shrugged. Why was everyone getting so bothered about me talking to Helen? It was part of my enquiry.

‘She does have feelings too, you know. I’m worried about her. I got a text from her last night asking me to ring her, so I did. She told me that she didn’t tell the police everything. Apparently Miriam had talked about running away with her boyfriend. I told her she should tell the police if she’s that worried but she won’t.’ She looked me in the eye. ‘But then you know that don’t you? Then she tells me the boyfriend’s name is Khaled, she described what he looked like – I know it’s him,’ she it down on her lip. ‘I want to have it out with him, but he’s not answering his phone.’

‘It’s probably best to leave it for a bit – anyway, we don’t know for sure it’s him. Why don’t you try and find out – I can help you – if you want? I feel kind of involved now.’

She sniffed and narrowed her eyes.

‘Weirdo.
I thought you were strange at primary school  and  you  haven’t  changed.’  She thought for  a moment. ‘Helen’s coming over here tomorrow. Do you want to meet up?’

Yes!
Mentally I punched the air. ‘OK,’ I said, ‘Thanks.’

‘Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t get what you’re up to, but I need to understand about Khaled. And don’t harass her, OK?’

‘Whatever.’ I wasn’t planning on taking orders from Fiona. I could hear voices in the shop. I stood up. ‘I’ll be there tomorrow, OK. Text me. Tess has got my number.’

She nodded, and I went back into the shop to relieve Gladys. Fiona looked back when she reached the door and stared at me, before disappearing out into the street.

CHAPTER 14

I walked through the front door and stopped. Mum was pacing round the living room, shouting into her mobile. As soon as I walked in she cut the other person off and threw her phone onto the sofa. It bounced onto the floor with a worrying clatter. Mum gets through a lot of phones.

‘Who was that?’ I asked, my stomach churning. She sank down onto the sofa, clutching her head in her hands. ‘Mum?’ I said.

‘It was your father,’ she replied. ‘I knew this was a bad idea.’

‘What’s happened?’ I asked. ‘I thought you were OK with it now. The tickets have come and everything. Don’t tell me you’re going to change your mind.’ 

‘No of course not, but I stupidly thought I wouldn’t have to deal with your father. He rang me to talk over your plans and caught me off guard. I’ve already told him to contact me by email but does he ever listen? I’d forgotten how irritating he is.’

‘Great. It’s me that is going to stay with him, not you.’

‘He won’t irritate you; he just rubs me up the wrong way.  He  always has done and I should have listened to my mother when she warned me not to marry him. See,’ she waved her finger at me, ‘you should always listen to your mother.’

I rolled my eyes. ‘So what does he want to tell you? I thought we’d arranged it all – He’s meeting me at the
Gare du Nord when my train gets in. I’d better carry one of those boards with my name on – he won’t have a clue who I am.’

‘Jas,’ said Mum, shaking her head. ‘Of course he’ll
recognise you, he’s your father.’ I snorted. ‘Besides, he’s seen you on Skype. I don’t know what else he wanted – he said he needed to tell me something but I didn’t give him a chance to speak. I’ve already told him he needs to speak to you directly.’ She sighed. ‘I suppose I was a bit hasty. Oh well, I’m sure it wasn’t important.’

‘Are we still going shopping on Friday?’ She looked at me blankly for a moment.
‘For France? I need some things, remember?’

‘Oh yes, of course.’ I knew she’d forgotten.

‘I’m going over to Mark’s tonight to watch his band practice,’ I called over my shoulder as I ran upstairs.

Sadie was on my mind again. Why did she have to know Khaled? It complicated things. I doubted she was involved with him – she already had two boyfriends on the go as it was. I slapped my forehead. Maybe he was the Mystery Man! I logged onto her Facebook page. Neither Khaled nor Fiona were listed as friends. Just to be sure I typed in the name Miriam Jackson but nothing came up. Tess was friends with Khaled so I clicked via her page onto his, but his listing was private. I  went   back  to  Sadie’s  page. She had added a whole load of photos from a party at the weekend – her and her boyfriend AJ looking totally loved up. I looked at each shot closely but didn’t recognise any of the background characters; in particular I was looking for Mystery Man/Khaled. Nothing. I only had two days left before I went to France and too many things to do in that short time. I made a list prioritising my time.

See Khaled

Speak to Fiona and Helen

Shop for clothes

Visit Gran with Mum?

I hesitated before adding the last point. Mum said I had to visit Gran before I went but I was hoping to try and get out of it. I hadn’t recovered from last time. Mum planned to take me after we’d been shopping. I had phoned Tess and told her about Fiona’s visit and she’d invited me over that evening.

‘Mark’s
band are rehearsing, but he won’t mind.’

‘Khaled won’t want to see me,’ I argued. ‘He’ll associate me with Fiona.’

‘Why? He knows you don’t hang around with her – she wasn’t particularly friendly, was she? We can go down and listen to the music. You won’t be able to escape the music when you come to stay. They’re not that good though, be warned.’

At six o clock that evening I was standing outside Mark’s flat, waiting for Tess to answer the front door. I could hear a deep beat thumping out from the basement downstairs; the band must be here already. I’d seen them once at a school fundraising event, but that  was  a  while  ago  and  they’d  been  doing  some serious practise since then.

             
Tess led me down a steep set of uncarpeted steps and I hung onto the railing as I went down. The guys were rehearsing in a long oblong space. The music wasn’t bad, a rock beat provided by Des on drums, Khaled on bass and Mark playing guitar and singing.

Mark’s voice was deep and soulful and Tess and I sat together on the floor, backs against the wall and listened to the set. Mark was wearing a white t-shirt and jeans, his skinny hips writhing around to the beat. He was wearing a pork pie hat, which on anyone else would look ridiculous. Tess nudged me.

‘Stop staring,’ she said. I blushed, glad the room wasn’t very well lit – not a lot of light got in down here and the lamp was dull and yellow. Mark was kind of nice looking.

‘Des,’ shouted Mark suddenly, making us jump and look up. ‘You’ve played it wrong again – I keep telling you.’

‘OK guys,’ Khaled intervened putting his guitar down on the floor, ‘time for a break, I think.’ He went over to a rucksack which was placed by the door and the ensuing clinking sound was music to my ears as he pulled out a six pack of beer bottles and a couple of cans of coke. He handed a bottle each to Mark and Des. ‘I didn’t realise we’d have company,’ he said, looking straight at me. ‘Beer?’ he held a bottle out to me.

‘Thanks,’ I said, aware of all eyes on me.

‘Tess?’ he turned to her.

‘No way,’ she said, pulling a face. ‘Beer is gross and undignified. 
I’m  surprised  at  you  Jas.’  I  avoided her eyes. He passed her a coke and flicked one open for himself, sitting down near us on the floor.

I shrugged, sipping at the cool lager. It slid down easily and I allowed myself to relax.

‘Thirsty?’ Mark asked and directed a smile straight at me. I took another gulp of beer, hoping to cool the heat of my face. He put down his guitar and came and joined the three of us on the floor. Des stayed tapping softly on  his  drums, going  over  and  over the rhythm. I had

never
spoken to Des – he was very quiet and geeky – totally obsessed with music according to Tess. He works in the music shop in town, which is where Mark had met him.

‘I heard about you and Fiona,’ said Tess to Khaled. He punched his leg.

‘You girls, man, do you have to talk about everything?’

‘What’s that?’ asked Mark.

‘They’ve split up,’ Tess said. ‘Khaled and Fiona.’

Khaled was shaking his head. ‘You are so annoying Tess. I can’t keep
nothing secret around here.’

‘Sorry to hear that mate.’

Khaled shrugged. ‘Plenty more fish in the sea and all that.’

‘Are you going out with Sadie now?’ That was Tess. I couldn’t believe her sometimes. Khaled exploded. ‘Don’t you
start! I hardly know the chick.’ He looked uncomfortable.

‘Sadie?
Posh Sadie?’ Mark grinned. ‘You’re a dark horse mate.’

The background drumming had stopped. Des was listening in too.

‘Yeah her. I know her, so what? And I spoke to her – is that a crime?’ He looked at me. ‘I’m glad to see the back of Fiona, she was way too possessive. Always wanting to know where I was. You know that weekend we went to the gig?’ he looked at Mark. Mark nodded. ‘She gave me hell after that, said she’d been trying to ring me and why didn’t I answer, where had I been? I’d told her we were going to a concert and I wouldn’t be able to hear my phone. She wouldn’t let it rest. She wasn’t even home that weekend – she was on that course  so  I  don’t  get why she was so bothered what I was doing.’

‘What was the concert?’ I asked.

The Flying Toucans
. They played the Roundhouse. It was fantastic.’

Mark nodded agreement. ‘We crashed over at my mate Toby’s and we went round Camden Market the next day to pick up some new gear for the band. It was a great weekend. Shame you missed it, Des.’

‘Some of us have work to go to mate.’ Des grinned and started tapping at his drums again, the rhythm familiar already. The music sounded OK to me; Tess just didn’t want to admit that her brother had talent.

‘Time to get back to work,’ said Mark and they both got to their feet. ‘Let’s try out our new number on our groupies.’ He grinned at me and I couldn’t help grinning back. I swilled the remains of my beer. ‘Help
yourself to another,’ Khaled called out.

‘Don’t mind if I do,’ I smiled, relaxed now and settled back to watch the rehearsal. I had a funny feeling I knew exactly which weekend the
Flying Toucans
had  been  playing  in London. I love it when the jigsaw pieces that had been muddled up in a huge pile started slowly falling into place. My jigsaw still had plenty of gaps, but I was making good progress.