Sophia's Dilemma Page 8

  Heather looked down at her knees in horror, hoping the child had showered and changed his shorts since Friday. There were no guarantees as he smiled mischievously up at her.

  “Let’s go for a walk,” Darren jumped in helpfully and Heather looked relieved. “Not you!” he said, pointing to the small child, who screwed his face up in disappointment.

  Heather extracted herself from underneath the boy and scurried out towards her friends, shooting looks of gratitude and hero worship at Darren. They walked down the street a short way and sat on the pavement opposite Dane’s house. It looked a sorry mess with the crime scene tape fluttering in the breeze around it. They all stayed respectfully silent for a minute or two. Sophia hardened her resolve to get to the bottom of the murder, partly for Dane’s sake and also to put an end to the things in her life making her miserable.

  Darren pulled out his mobile phone and began pressing buttons. It became quickly apparent he was texting.

  “Who are you talking to?” Maddie asked him and he smirked. “Asking Paul and Oliver to come over. They might like to hang with us.”

  “Not Oliver!” Sophia’s tone was too sharp and she realised it the moment the sentence was out of her mouth. Darren looked at her quizzically. “Invite Paul that’s fine,” she said, more gently and he shrugged and wiped Oliver’s name from the recipients’ box.

  “Don’t you like Oliver?” Darren asked her and she shrugged. She couldn’t possibly tell him they were using him. Sophia felt she could handle him and Paul, but Oliver was a far scarier prospect. In many ways he was a lot like Dane, silent and reserved. But he had a reputation for looking up skirts and down blouses at every opportunity and it would change the game plan somewhat, having to manage Oliver and not accidentally lead him on. “Come on, tell me,” Darren pushed and Sophia knitted her brow.

  “You’ll tell people and I don’t need the gossip,” she said, keeping her voice low.

  “Ohhhh!” Heather let out a long exclamation and widened her eyes. “You had problems with him last year, didn’t you, Soph?”

  Maddie slapped their mouthy friend on the leg and Heather bit her lip. “Sorry.”

  Darren narrowed his eyes and looked hard at Sophia. She sighed. “Fine! But I don’t want it spreading round everywhere. Oliver asked me on a date last year and when I turned him down, he was spiteful and made some trouble for me. In the end, my older brother, Matt and some other Year 13’s took him to one side and strongly suggested he leave me alone. It all stopped and it’s been fine since.”

  Darren looked surprised. “I didn’t know about that,” he admitted. “He doesn’t like being turned down. What kind of trouble?”

  “Of the Sandra kind,” Sophia sighed and her fingers strayed to her thigh, feeling the sensitive skin through her jeans.

  “Oh.” Darren bit his lip and then brightened. “Well the good news is he’s never mentioned you so I guess he went off the idea.” He looked longingly at Sophia. “So, with Dane banged up...” He didn’t finish his sentence, but brushed her fingers gently with his own. Sophia’s eyes flashed with irritation and she moved her hand out of reach. Darren shrugged and smiled.

  They sat cross-legged on the pavement and chatted. It became quickly obvious the girls knew little about the group of boys whom Dane led and controlled for many years. “Yeah, we’re always in trouble,” Darren sniggered. “I guess we got used to Dane sorting it all out. He got fed up when Sandra’s dad wouldn’t help him with his stepdad. There was an almighty row and he left the group. The girls were gutted. We thought Sandra had it bad for him but it’s funny because it wasn’t actually her...”

  “Nigel’s a bit creepy,” Heather interrupted. “I know he and Sandra got it on in the changing rooms once. That’s kind of off-putting.”

  “Oh, really?” Darren said, as though he genuinely hadn’t known. “What, the girls’ ones?” He let out a hoot of laughter at Heather’s nod of confirmation and rewarded her with a high five. Sophia worked hard at stilling her beating heart, spared the details of someone else’s infatuation with Dane. Heather had accidentally stopped Darren confirming Sophia’s suspicions about Louise’s baby. Sophia focussed on a stray ant busying itself on the pavement and looked up to see Darren take a packet of cigarettes out of his jeans pocket with care and slip one into his mouth. He flicked the lighter expertly to set it burning. Remembering his manners, he offered them round. Sophia automatically declined and so did Heather, but Maddie’s fingers hovered at the end of the packet. Darren smiled. “Try mine,” he offered, taking a couple of good drags to make sure it was going.

  Sophia felt both horrified at her friend and guilty at herself. “Maddie don’t. You won’t be able to stop. Edgar used to smoke. He smoked at home and especially in the car. He wouldn’t let us have the back windows open when he did it and we felt like wasps under a glass, slowly suffocating.”

  “Has he stopped?” Darren sounded interested and paused in his cancerous activity.

  Sophia nodded. “Yes. Matt got bronchitis once and was seriously ill in hospital. The doctor said passive smoking was partially responsible for his worsened condition and Edgar stopped. Just like that.”

  “Yeah that’s what I’m gonna do,” Darren interjected. He clicked his fingers. “I’m gonna stop, just like that.”

  Maddie took a tentative drag on the cigarette while Darren held it. Then she turned a nasty shade of green and started coughing her guts up. Darren laughed and banged her on the back. “I always wanted to try it,” she gasped, trying to save face.

  “You have to practice,” Darren said laughing. “It’s always bad at first.”

  “I don’t think I want to practice,” Maddie choked, recovering slowly and wiping tears from her eyes. Darren sat on his backside casually, knees bent and arms hanging down between. He chuckled as he carefully pulled a strand of tobacco off his tongue. When he looked sideways at Maddie, Sophia was alarmed to see her visibly melt under his gaze. She felt like an old fashioned chaperone, as though she should squeeze her bottom down between them to keep them apart.

  “Blow backs are better,” Darren said and took a long drag of the cigarette. Then before anyone could do anything, he leaned across and kissed Maddie on her open mouth, pushing the second-hand smoke into her lungs. Instead of choking, she looked as though she enjoyed it, jumping as Paul appeared and hurled himself down next to them on the pavement.

  “Sweet sixteen and never been kissed,” Paul said conversationally and Maddie blushed.

  “That’s not actually true, is it Madds?” Darren said with a slight smile on his face, looking at her from underneath his lashes. Poor Maddie went the colour of the red roses in Sophia’s garden. Well, not exactly the same because their roses had dead bits on now her mother wasn’t there to spray them anymore. But about that kind of red anyway. Maddie put her head down and Heather went on the offensive immediately.

  “What’s this?” she insisted. “How come I don’t know anything about it?”

  Maddie cringed a bit more and it was Paul who nonchalantly filled in the blanks for them. “Oh yeah. I remember. It was that Christmas disco in Year 10 wasn’t it? You were holding that mistletoe and just swooped on her. Oliver said you were snogging her so long; he thought she might suffocate.” He snorted with laughter, but Darren wasn’t laughing. He gave Sophia an odd look. She kept her face passive, suddenly wondering if the kiss all those years ago was for her benefit. She remembered nothing of the incident, although it clearly had an impact on Maddie, whose face mottled as the blood tried to go back about its business in the rest of her body.

  Getting no reaction whatsoever from Sophia, Darren decided to throw his energies into her friend. It was obvious Maddie was interested and so he cut his losses and went on a charm offensive with the impressionable teenager, completely unaware he was being played. He sidled closer to Maddie so their fingers touched, making it clear he was up for it. She bit her lower lip and gave him a coy smile. Maddie and Sophia found it difficult to hide their shock
at her behaviour.

  “Were any of you here when the thing kicked off at Dane’s house?” Sophia asked, pulling a face at Maddie to tell her to go easy. Both boys shook their heads.

  “Mind you,” Paul mused, “they were always arguing about something. Her fella used to take her clothes away so she couldn’t leave. She’d hang the washing out in her panties, unless Dane was around. It didn’t seem so bad then, probably because the old man took it out on him instead.”

  It made Sophia feel sick to her stomach to hear them speak so casually about family violence. The police tape flapped in the breeze like an accusation. Darren’s interruption confounded her. “Dane killed him anyway. You said he did.” He pointed at Sophia and her face registered shock.

  “No I did not!”

  “Yeah, you did,” he maintained. “When I met you at the shops, I asked if Dane did them marks on your neck. You said he hadn’t but he sorted out who did. That meant he killed him, right?”

  “No!” Sophia shook her head frantically. “That is definitely not what I meant!”

  “Well, who done the marks then? His dad aye?”

  “Yeah, but...” Her eyes widened. “Please tell me that you haven’t told the cops I said that?”

  Darren shrugged. “Don’t make no difference to me. I’m glad the old bugger’s dead. But no, I ain’t telling the cops nothing. We don’t snitch on our own round here.” Distracted, he sidled closer to Maddie, shifting so their hips touched. Her arms were behind her, balancing her body as she stretched her legs out. Persistent, Darren casually crossed his arm over hers, indicating possession and it was raw and uncomfortable to watch. Maddie didn’t flinch. Heather shot a look at Sophia, but the latter shrugged, having no idea what to do next.

  “Come for a walk with me?” Darren asked Maddie and Sophia breathed out heavily. This wasn’t part of the plan. There was no way she and Heather could allow the other girl to be separated from them. She stood up, indicating Heather should do the same and between them, they hauled Maddie off the ground. She seemed reluctant to leave.

  Paul gave a cursory nod, clearly disappointed. “Hardly worth leaving the telly for,” he muttered. “Thought we were gonna have some fun.”

  Heather kept a tight hold of Maddie’s hand as Darren flicked his cigarette onto the road and put his hands on the girl’s hips, pulling her into him. Their faces were only inches apart. He tipped forwards slightly and gave her a long lingering kiss. Maddie closed her eyes and horrified, Heather tugged her hand to pull her away. Maddie’s lip gloss swiped right across Darren’s lips and onto his cheek as she was yanked sideways and he left it there as he looked seductively at the unexpected object of his desire.

  Paul smirked and shook his head, retrieving Darren’s burning ciggie butt and taking a drag of it. “I miss Dane,” he said to nobody in particular. “We were getting out of here.” Of the group of boys, they were the only two quietly excelling in school, flying under the radar of hopelessness with good grades and a dream of escape.

  “What do you mean?” Sophia asked him quietly.

  He shrugged and drew on the cigarette again. “Ah, you know. Oliver will probably live round here until he swaps his dole for the state pension and so will the others. Darren will charm his way out, marry some rich woman with a high sex drive and make something of himself somewhere else.”

  Sophia saw him look sideways at Heather’s long legs and grin at what he saw, his eyes widening in lust. “Maybe this is better than the crap Stallone movie we were watching.”

  The girls said their goodbyes, moving quickly along the street to where they parked the car a few blocks away. Maddie was silent, but Heather whinged continually. “I hope the car’s still in one piece. Otherwise my mum will kill me!”

  At the end of the road, Sophia looked back, hearing the sound of a freight train. It shook the ground like an earthquake and she wondered how people managed to live in such close proximity to the railway lines.

  Something caught her eye and caused her to stop as she processed it. The last house on the street had a large bay window protruding out into the garden, surrounded by glass and net curtains. In her peripheral vision, Sophia saw the twitch of material as she turned. Something about it caused a curious feeling of déjà vu and she gripped her chest in confusion. “Ooh.”

  “Soph, what’s wrong?” Heather stopped and looked at her with concern. She still held Maddie’s hand, but the other girl seemed to be in cloud cuckoo land. “Do you think there was stuff in that cigarette?” Heather asked, jerking her head towards their friend.

  Sophia smiled, remembering what it felt like when Dane kissed her, the smile fading on her lips as Louise jumped unbidden into her mind. If she allowed herself to think too much, it all became an insurmountable mess, so she focussed on one thing at a time.

  “No. It was just a cigarette. I saw the packet. Take Madds to the car and drive around for a bit. I’m going to visit this house and see what I can find out. I seem to remember the curtains twitching as I ran away that day, but I’m not totally sure. I just need to knock and ask.”

  “The cops will have already done that,” Heather said logically but Sophia shook her head.

  “You heard what Darren said; they don’t snitch on their own round here. Maybe they saw something and just told the cops they didn’t. I need to try anyway.”

  At the mention of Darren, Maddie gave a little smile and looked momentarily interested. Heather hauled her off to the car, leaving Sophia in the street alone. The boys had long since loped off and she felt unnerved, standing outside the front of the 1930’s wooden villa knocking on the front door. It opened slowly and the face of an elderly woman peeked out. “I’m not buying nothing!” she maintained forcefully and through the crack in the door, Sophia saw a tousled white head and a tiny body.

  “I’m not selling,” the girl called through the crack.

  “You people always say that!” the old lady spat and Sophia’s heart sank. She pressed herself closer to the wooden door.

  “I visited the house along the street a few nights ago. My friend used to live there and I needed to pick something up for him. The man there...he...well, he hurt me and my friend came to help. As I ran away, I saw your curtains move and I just wondered if you saw anything that could help. Dane’s been arrested...”

  The door was flung back with vigour and the old lady was in front of Sophia in an instant. “Not lovely Dane?” she said, stepping into Sophia’s personal space and peering up at her. “What’s happened?”

  The woman’s frame was stooped and crooked, like a gnarled stick that underwent seasons of weather laid on the damp ground. She seized Sophia’s hand and pulled her into the house behind her, shutting the door and shuffling down a long hallway. At the back of the house, she opened the door into a beautiful sunlit room. An elderly man lay in a hospital bed hooked up to an oxygen kit, his breathing laboured and loud, adding to the hiss of the cylinder. Still holding Sophia’s hand, the woman shuffled over to the man and told him in a loud voice, “I’ve just got a visitor, Clive. I’ll come and give you dinner very soon, my love.”

  Then she turned and led the girl all the way back down the hallway to the room at the street end of the house. Sophia hadn’t expected it to be the kitchen, surprised by the size of the room and the homeliness of it.

  Pale blue wooden units surrounded the walls, old and tired but adding to the cosiness of the space. A huge kitchen table graced the centre and the lady flapped at it with her hand. “Sit down, sit down.” She filled an old fashioned gas kettle and sat it on the rings of a hob. She fiddled around making a pot of tea and setting out cups, as though she hadn’t entertained a decent visitor for a long time. The milk tasted a little sour, but Sophia didn’t want to offend the woman by rejecting her hospitality. She sipped the drink and prayed protection over her stomach.

  “What’s your name?” the old lady asked, finally sitting down opposite the teenager.

  “Sophia,” she replied and the woman nodded
.

  “Ah yes, Dane mentioned you often. I told him just to go ahead and ask you on a date. He never would though. He’s like my Clive. It took him months to pluck up the courage to ask me to the local tea dance.” She laughed indulgently, her face dropping suddenly, “We fell in love just as he went off to war. He came back quite smashed up. It’s the cancer that’s got him now though. That’s worse than anything they did to him in Europe. He recovered from that, but he won’t get better now, not from this.”

  Sophia bit her bottom lip, as sadness pervaded. It seemed that all around her nowadays was the grey hallmark of its fingers, spreading into every area of her life.

  “Don’t be sad for me,” the woman chided her. “We’ve had more than seventy years together. I’m ninety-three this year.” She sipped her tea from a delicate china mug with shaking hands. “So tell me about Dane. What’s going on with him? Oh, and call me Hettie. Dane does.

  Sophia laid out the whole sorry saga and Hettie listened intently. “That’s not right,” she said eventually. “I saw you arrive. I always notice new people here, out of that window.” She pointed to the bay window facing the street like an eye.

  “Would you mind,” Sophia asked, “if I record what you say on my phone?” She pulled out her mobile. “I’m scared of forgetting things and I think you might know something important. But I probably won’t know it until after you’ve said it.”

  The old lady nodded and smiled. “Gee, I feel important. Like a proper interview then. Like on ‘Campbell Live’ or something.” The thought seemed to tickle her greatly, but she went on with her story, “I spend most of my day in here, or down with Clive. The district nurse was due, so I watched out of the window for her. I can’t hear the door if I’m down with Clive because of the oxygen hissing and my ears aren’t so sharp anymore. I saw you go across there and go in. I’ve got a good view from the side window here. Her that lives there answered the door in her knickers as always. I was surprised because you looked like such a nice girl, too nice to be buying their drugs. When you went in I made a pot of tea and put the radio on, but I saw Dane arrive and knew there would be trouble. I’m glad he took the little kids away.”