‘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.
CHAPTER 31
Malika was sitting in the kitchen, frowning at her phone.
‘What’s up?’
‘I’ve just been talking to Maman. She said Papa’s coming to England on Friday. He said he’s going to be really busy and won’t have time to see me. He’s staying in a hotel.’
‘Did she say which one?’
‘No. She didn’t seem very interested. She said she can reach him on his mobile.’
‘He obviously doesn’t want us to know where he’s going to be – interesting don’t you think?’
She looked upset. ‘I don’t want to believe that he’s doing anything wrong.’
‘Don’t look like that. I’ve still got plenty of money left that Mum gave me for Paris. Let’s book ourselves into the Metropole on Friday night – he has to be staying there, and even if he isn’t we can ask around about Nora.’
My mobile started to ring.
‘Hi Mum,’ I said.
‘Hi darling, is everything alright? I’m sorry I wasn’t home to meet you, but I’ll be back on Saturday.’
‘That’s great, Mum. I’m taking Malika to visit her aunt tomorrow.’ It was kind of true. ‘But we’ll be back for your return and then you’ll get to meet her.’
She rang off. I looked at the clock. ‘I’m meeting Fiona at the park. Do you want to come?’
She pulled a face. I laughed. ‘OK, I won’t be long.’
Fiona was waiting for me on the swings. She wasn’t scowling which was a first.
‘What’s up with you?’ I asked.
‘I copped off, didn’t I? At the party. Not that you were in a fit state to notice.’
‘No way! Who with?’
‘Jason Bletchley. He used to be a couple of years above us. Tall, mad black hair…’
A picture popped into my mind. ‘I know him,’ I said. ‘So does that mean you’re over Khaled now?’
‘Who’s Khaled?’ she grinned. She looked different when she smiled.
‘I suppose that means you won’t want to be in my detective gang any more. It’s a shame because I wanted to ask your advice about some stuff, before we go away.’
‘You’re going away again? Where to this time?’
‘To Amersham, on Friday. Malika wants to try and track down her aunt.’ I filled her in on the background. ‘We’re going to spend a night at the hotel. I’m not sure that her aunt will be there, or even that Michael will turn up, but I promised Malika.’
‘How do y
ou know you can trust her?’ asked Fiona.
‘Malika? Why do you say that? She’s an angel!’
Fiona smirked.
‘Why are you looking like that?’
‘She may come across as Little Miss Butter Won’t Melt but you were so out of it at the party that you have no idea what she was up to, have you?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘She spent two hours talking to Khaled. Don’t look like that, I timed her, for your information. Then I started talking to Jason and lost interest. But I did notice them smooching on the dance floor, just before you stole the show.’
‘Malika and Khaled! I don’t believe it.’ Why hadn’t she said anything?
‘I didn’t think you would so I took a photo. Here, look.’ She clicked through the photos on her phone until she came to the right one. There was no doubt about it. Malika had her arms around Khaled. I noticed Mark was in the background looking glum. I couldn’t remember him even being there. I felt a pang of guilt.
‘Can you send it to me?’ I asked, feeling even guiltier. She nodded and seconds later my phone pinged. ‘They’re only dancing,’ I pointed out, ‘it doesn’t mean anything.’
‘Seems like you’re not as close as you thought,’ she said, sounding more like the Fiona I was used to. ‘Jason said they definitely looked like an item.’
‘What does Jason know?’ I said, irritated now. ‘He’s probably just making sure you’re not still lusting after Khaled. You’re not are you?’
‘Of course not!’ she said, getting up off the bench. ‘I’m with Jason now. Isn’t it about time you got yourself a boyfriend, then maybe you wouldn’t be so uptight? See you around.’
Malika was in the kitchen when I got back.
‘I’ve told Mark we’re going away,’ I said. I’d passed him on the way in.
‘Mark likes you,’ Malika said, ‘he spent ages yesterday asking questions about you. Why don’t you want to go out with him?’
‘He’s Tess’s brother,’ I said, ‘that would be so wrong. Anyway, forget me, what about you? You looked pretty friendly with Khaled at the party.’
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