I don’t want to panic him, but I really need to see where he’s been hurt and how bad it is. When I’ve comforted him for a few minutes, I risk holding him away from me and ask, ‘Where are you bleeding from? Can you show me?’
Tentatively, he lifts his T-shirt. His body is all white and angles. There are long scratch marks all over his skinny ribs and he looks like he’s been attacked by a flipping tiger or something. The grazes are oozing blood, but, thankfully, they look much worse than they are, I think. His T-shirt must have ridden up during the attack or something as sharp nails have done this. I have another good look and they seem to be superficial and not deep. Though I’m hardly a medical expert.
‘One of them threatened me with a screwdriver. They took my bike and my money. I’ve only got my phone because they dropped it.’ The information comes out in gulping sobs and he shows me the phone. It’s as battered and bruised as Tom is, the screen is completely shattered. ‘They jumped me as I cycled through the underpass.’ Our city is criss-crossed by a fabulous network of dedicated cycle paths which means that you can avoid the main roads, but they’re not such great places at night – particularly for a kid on his own.
‘How many?’
‘Three of them.’ He brushes fresh tears away with his arm. ‘They pulled me off my bike and grabbed my stuff. They were punching and kicking me. I kicked them back, but I couldn’t stop them.’
I think that he’s probably been quite lucky if he was outnumbered like that. What if one of them had drawn a knife? I shudder at the thought. ‘We should take you to the police station.’
‘I want to go home,’ he says.
I’m torn. If I was in his position I’d probably feel exactly the same. ‘You might have vital evidence to help them to catch who did it.’
‘I picked my phone up with a tissue I had in my pocket,’ he says. ‘In case there was a fingerprint on it.’
‘Blimey. Good work.’
‘I’ve also got a photo of them,’ Tom says, helpfully. ‘It’s not the best. I took it as they rode off.’
‘Seriously?’ I’m not sure I could have managed such quick thinking in the same situation. ‘You beauty!’
Tom shows me the phone again, but it’s hard to see the image through the craze of broken glass. The lads who did this to him look as if they’re in their late teens and you wonder what sort of people they are to do this.
I ruffle his hair gently and say, ‘Good on you. Super sleuth.’
He laughs, but it’s weak and watery. Then he cries again and sinks into my arms. ‘It was horrible, Ruby. I didn’t know what to do.’
‘You’ve been really brave. To me it sounds as if you’ve handled it quite well,’ I tell him as I stroke his hair from his eyes. ‘But this is serious, Tom. We should definitely call the police.’
‘Dad will kill me.’
‘I think that’s the least of your worries. Can I ring them?’
Tom nods, reluctantly. ‘OK.’
So I punch in 999 and the call-handler tells me that they’ll have a car with us straight away which makes me think that I’ve done the right thing.
‘I shouldn’t even have been up here,’ Tom says, shamefaced – which comes as no surprise to me. ‘I’m supposed to be looking after Daisy while Dad’s at work.’
‘Is that who you got my number from?’ He nods. ‘Is she at home on her own?’
‘I thought she’d be OK.’ He goes into petulant mode again. ‘I’ve only been out for an hour. Two at the most. I wanted to meet my mates at the city. She didn’t mind.’
But his dad will. I think Joe’s going to be a bit more cross than I thought. ‘Oh, Tom.’
‘I was heading home,’ he protests. ‘And I’ve checked that she’s OK. Twice.’
‘Have you phoned your dad?’
‘Dad didn’t answer his phone. Mum’s having a romantic weekend away with her bloke. Another one. It wasn’t even worth trying her. She’s never around now.’ I can’t help but hear the bitterness in his voice. ‘I didn’t know who else to call.’
‘Well, I’m glad you phoned me.’
‘Dad will go ballistic, won’t he?’ Tom turns frightened eyes to me. ‘If this hadn’t happened I’d have been home in loads of time. He would never have known.’
‘For future reference, parents have a way of knowing. I’m sure he’ll be more worried than angry.’ Which makes me realise just how worried I am about Tom too. ‘What time is he due home?’
‘Not till eleven.’ That’s not too long. He hangs his head. ‘This is the first time he trusted me to look after Daisy. I’m gonna be grounded for ever!’
‘I’ll try him again. Do you want to wait in the car?’
‘I might bleed on your seat.’
‘It doesn’t matter. It’s better than standing out here.’ I help Tom to walk, but I think he’s shocked rather than hurt and I don’t want him to faint. He’s definitely looking a bit green.
When he’s settled in the passenger seat, I punch Joe’s number into my phone as I sit on the kerb next to Tom. This time he answers straight away.
‘Hi, Ruby. This is an unexpected pleasure.’
‘Not exactly a pleasure,’ I tell him. ‘Now I don’t want you to panic,’ I sound as calm as I possibly can, ‘but Tom’s been involved in a bit of an incident.’
Of course, Joe panics immediately. ‘What kind of incident? What’s happened? Is he all right? Is he hurt?’
‘He’s OK.’ I decide to give him scant details so that he doesn’t jump straight in his car and drive here like a maniac and we end up with two incidents. ‘He’s had his bike stolen. Can you leave work?’
‘My cover doesn’t take over for another hour and I can’t leave the place unattended. It’s too risky. I’ll ring and see if they can come in early. Tom’s definitely all right?’
‘Yes, just a bit shaken. We can explain it all when we see you. We’re just waiting for the police.’
‘Police?’
‘There was a scuffle too.’ That doesn’t quite describe the ordeal that Tom’s been through, but it will do for now. ‘They’re coming to take details. Don’t worry. He’s fine. Shaken, that’s all.’
‘Why didn’t he ring me?’
‘He did. If you check your phone you’ve probably got a missed call from him.’
‘And Gina?’
‘Away for the weekend.’
‘Of course,’ he mutters.
‘Tom was sensible enough to get my number from Daisy and I came straight here.’
‘Thanks, Ruby,’ Joe says. ‘I owe you.’
‘Just get here as soon as you can.’ I tell Joe where we are.
‘He’s where? What the hell is he doing up there at this time of night?’ I can feel his fury coming down the phone.
‘We can also talk about that when you get here.’
We both hang up. Tom looks at me gratefully.
‘That wasn’t too bad. He’ll understand.’
‘I’ve really fucked up, haven’t I?’ he say, woefully.
I consider offering some platitudes but, instead I say, ‘Yeah. It’s not the end of the world though. You’re relatively unharmed. Apart from the great shiner you’ll have tomorrow.’
Tom risks touching his swollen eye and winces. ‘Thanks for coming to get me, Ruby.’
‘Not a problem. You did the right thing,’ I tell him. ‘And with your quick thinking, the police have a chance of catching who did it.’
‘I’d like my bike back,’ he says woefully. ‘And a new phone.’
There’ll come a time when Tom realises that, after an attack like that, escaping with only a stolen bike and a broken phone is actually a small price to pay. It makes me feel nauseous to think it, but what happened could have turned out so much worse.
Chapter Seventy-Two
Less than ten minutes later, a squad car pulls up. They go through the details with Tom and then we both get in the car and drive round the nearby streets in case we see the thugs on his bike,
but we don’t. After that, we’re asked to accompany them to the station so they can take DNA swabs and check if there’s anything useful that can be gleaned from the photos on Tom’s phone.
Joe hasn’t yet arrived, so I call and let him know that he should meet us there. We head down to the station in my car. In the passenger seat, Tom lets his head go back and he closes his eyes. He looks exhausted.
At the station, we sit together in the waiting room – Tom getting paler by the minute.
‘Do you feel sick?’
‘A bit,’ he admits.
‘What about that eye? Is it hurting?’
‘Throbbing,’ he says. I move his fringe aside to have a proper look. His eyebrow is cut and is thick with dried blood. ‘We’ll put some ice on it as soon as you’re home and get you some painkillers.’
‘Thanks, Ruby.’
Maybe we need to take him to A&E to get him checked over, but that will be Joe’s call.
Then Joe arrives and he has a face like thunder until he sees the state that Tom is in, then he crumbles. Tom stands up on shaky legs and Joe takes his son into his arms and crushes him into a bear hug.
‘I’m sorry, Dad,’ Tom says, crying again.
‘No harm done. But you and I need to have a talk when this is sorted.’
Tom nods.
‘They want to take DNA swabs,’ I tell Joe. ‘They’ll be with us shortly. Is Daisy still at home alone?’
Joe shakes his head. ‘I phoned her and told her to go next door and wait for us. We’ll pick her up when we get back. Neither of them are going to make school tomorrow.’
An officer arrives and takes Joe and Tom into the depths of the station. So I wait round, drinking tepid brown water that’s supposed to be tea from a vending machine, until the police have finished with Tom.
Midnight has long gone when they both reappear and relief lifts my heart. I feel grimy from just sitting here.
‘How did it go?’
‘Tom gave really good descriptions of the lads,’ Joe tells me. ‘The pictures aren’t great but it seems they might be known to the police already. That might help to catch them.’
‘Are you feeling OK?’ I ask Tom.
‘Knackered.’ He does look fit to drop. ‘Every time I move my mouth, my lip splits open too.’ There’s fresh blood there when he touches it.
‘Let’s go home,’ Joe says and takes my hand. ‘This has been too much excitement for one night.’
‘Should we go to A&E?’
‘I don’t think so. I’m not sure either of us could stand it now. I’ve had a good look at him. I think he’ll live to fight another day.’ He hugs his son to him and Tom winces, but bears it stoically.
‘I’ll be off,’ I tell him. ‘Glad there’s not too much damage done.’
‘Come back with us,’ Joe says. ‘We at least owe you tea and toast.’
‘I wouldn’t say no to that,’ I admit.
I watch Tom and Joe as they walk across the car park, Joe’s sturdy arm slung round his son’s slight shoulders. I hope that Tom has learned his lesson from this awful experience. Then I jump into my own car and follow them back to the house.
Chapter Seventy-Three
I take Tom inside while Joe goes to collect Daisy from their neighbour’s house.
‘Do you want something to drink?’
He nods.
‘Hot chocolate would be my go-to drink at moments like these,’ I tell him.
He tries not to smile and split his lip open again, but there’s a glimmer of one. ‘Cool.’ Tom eases himself into a chair at the kitchen table, clearly hurting all over. ‘There’s some in the top cupboard.’ He points in the general direction and, with a bit of rummaging, I find it.
‘A nice hot shower will make you feel better too. Get all that blood off you.’
Then he puts his head on his arms and bursts into tears. I abandon the chocolate and go to comfort him.
‘Hush, hush. It’s all done now.’ I sit down next to him and stroke his hair. ‘It’ll all seem better in the morning.’
‘Nothing’s been right since Mum left,’ he sobs. ‘I keep wishing she’d come back.’
That brings a lump to my throat.
‘How could she leave us for him? Mums don’t do that. There’s nothing wrong with Dad either. Some of my friend’s dads are real knobs, but my dad’s not. He’s OK. What does she want?’
‘Sometimes people just fall out of love,’ I offer as I hold him tightly. Yet I realise that it sounds rubbish. ‘Of course, you’re going to miss her, but she’s still your mum.’
They all act so hard and grown-up, yet inside they’re still frightened children who want their mother and my heart goes out to him. It’s been an awful trauma for him and no one can make him better like a mum can.
I hear the front door open and Tom quickly wipes his eyes on his filthy, bloodied T-shirt. A few seconds later, Joe comes in the kitchen with Daisy. She bursts into tears when she sees the extent of Tom’s injuries. I move over so that she can wrap her arms round him.
‘I told you not to go out, idiot,’ she wails.
He doesn’t argue back.
‘I’ll put some toast on,’ Joe says. ‘I don’t know about you lot, but I’m starving.’
I have a hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach too. I’m not sure that it’s hunger, but giving it some toast can’t hurt.
So I pitch in and make hot chocolate for Tom and Daisy while Joe fiddles with bread. Joe and I have tea when I really think that at least a double Jacky D is in order. The night has left its mark on all of us.
Joe makes a monster pile of toast and we all sit at the table tucking into it – poor Tom wincing every time it touches his lip. If it wasn’t for what had gone before, this would be quite a pleasant interlude. I look around the table and think that I’d very much like to be a part of this family. Joe is such a strong and stable presence that he makes me feel safe and I can’t say that I’ve felt like that before. The kids seem more accepting of me and, while I wouldn’t have wished this to happen in a million years, it has helped to form some sort of tentative bond between me and Tom. At least, I hope so. When he needed me, I was there for him. I’m optimistic that counts for something.
Then Joe notices that the kids are both yawning, heads drooping towards the table. ‘Time for bed, you two,’ he says.
‘Can I have a shower first, Dad?’ Tom asks. ‘I feel horrible.’
‘Yeah. Do you need any help?’
Tom shakes his head. ‘I can manage.’
Pushing away from the table, I say, ‘I should be going.’
‘You can’t drive now.’ Joe grabs my hand. ‘It’s late and you must be as tired as the rest of us. Stay.’
‘Are you sure?’ He doesn’t say as much, but he’s probably intending that one of us takes the sofa. Right at this very moment, even that seems preferable to getting in my car. My eyes are barely open. I’d need matchsticks if I was going to try and drive.
‘Stay,’ Daisy urges. ‘Dad says we don’t have to go to school tomorrow.’
Joe picks up the last piece of toast. ‘What time’s your shift?’
‘Not until late afternoon.’
‘I’ll make you a cooked breakfast to thank you for looking after my boy.’
I smile at him. ‘That’s definitely swayed me.’
‘Good. That’s settled.’
Daisy gives me a hug and I kiss her goodnight. Tom, all awkward again, kisses my cheek. ‘Thanks, Ruby,’ he mumbles.
‘You’re welcome.’
Joe flicks a thumb after them. ‘I’ll just go and see them both into bed. Won’t be long.’
So I make myself useful and tidy up the kitchen. Despite being bone tired, I get a flutter of anticipation of what the night might bring while I’m stacking the dishwasher.
Finally, he comes back into the kitchen and he looks grey with exhaustion. For the first time this evening, Joe and I are left alone.
‘Are they OK?’
&n
bsp; ‘Daisy’s already asleep and Tom had another good cry. It’s going to take a while for him to get over this. It’s a shock to the system. Plus it makes him realise that he’s not as tough and as streetwise as he thinks he is. Poor lad.’ He sighs at me. ‘I’m sorry, Ruby. I didn’t really imagine our first night together to be quite like this.’
‘Don’t apologise. I can sleep on the sofa,’ I tell him. ‘We don’t have to …’
He comes to take me in his arms. ‘I think we do,’ he murmurs against my neck. ‘It would be the perfect distraction and there’s a big, comfy, double bed waiting for us upstairs.’
‘That does sound like bliss.’
So he takes me by the hand and I follow him up to his bedroom. I feel a bit strange being here and can see that the decoration has been chosen by Gina with the choice of duck-egg-blue wallpaper and matching bed linen. Yet I try not to think of her and Joe in here together.
‘Thanks for all you did for Tom tonight,’ he says. ‘It means a lot.’
‘Not a problem. I’m just sorry that something like that had to happen. It can be a horrible world now. He’s learned a harsh lesson by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.’
‘Yeah. I’ll read him the riot act another day for leaving the house when I told him not to. But he’s home and he’s safe. That’s all that matters.’
‘Have you heard from Gina?’
Joe shakes his head. ‘No. I left a message on her phone. I hope she rings Tom first thing in the morning. He’s hurting. Maybe she’s got a poor signal where they are. They’ve gone to Devon or Cornwall for the weekend or somewhere. I can’t remember what she said. This country though, at least.’ He rolls his eyes. ‘I’ve never known anyone to need so many romantic mini-breaks. And all I’m offering you is a night of passion in downtown Milton Keynes.’
That breaks the ice and we both laugh. ‘I think I can cope with that.’
Then Joe take me in his arms and kisses me. All thought of the last few hours, the ex-wife and the fact that I don’t even have a toothbrush with me, fly out of my head and it’s just us, here and now.
Million Love Songs Page 24