by Sue Welford
She fiddled with the knot on her shirt as if she couldn’t find the right words to say.
He leaned forward. ‘Cindy, if it’s about the other night.’
When she looked at him, her eyes were bright with moisture. ‘Drew, I just can’t stop thinking about it.’ His heart leapt. Had he been right then? Had she really wanted that kiss much as he had?
He took her hand. ‘Cindy...’
Just then the bell for afternoon lectures shrilled out. Drew let go and swore softly under his breath. He gathered up his books. ‘I’m sorry, I’ve really got to go. I’ve got a really important lecture. I daren’t miss it.’
Looking crestfallen, she stood up. She picked up his T-shirt and handed it to him. He dragged it over his head.
Together, they hurried back across the grass.
‘Drew, can I meet you afterwards?’
He groaned. He had arranged to go with Skip and a few friends to the pub by the river that evening. He’d promised Skip a lift and couldn’t let him down. And he’d promised to look at someone’s car after tea as well.
‘I’m sorry, Cindy, I’m going out.’
‘No... I meant straight after lectures.’
‘Cindy, I can’t.’ He explained about the neighbour’s broken down motor. ‘How about tomorrow lunch time?’
‘I’m playing squash... and Friday. Er...how about Saturday morning?’
He groaned again. ‘I’m sorry, I’m working.’
She gave a small laugh. ‘Well, Sunday then?’
‘Sunday.. OK. Where?’
She looked thoughtful. ‘What about that place by the river... the one you told me about?’
‘Yes, sure.’
‘OK,’ she said. ‘I’ll meet you by the bridge. Would ten o’clock be all right’
Drew hesitated. He was suddenly having second thoughts. Supposing Carl found out. ‘Cindy, I’m not really sure it’s a very good idea.’
She gazed at him. ‘It’ll be all right, honestly. No-one’s likely to see us there, are they?’
‘No... OK,’ he agreed reluctantly. ‘No, I suppose not. Look, Cindy, I’ve really got to go.’
He ran across to the engineering block and through the door. He didn’t look back, but for some strange reason, he had the uncanny feeling she was watching him until he disappeared from sight.
His mind was in a turmoil... she wanted to meet him, talk to him. Sunday just couldn’t come round soon enough!
6
‘I’m going to visit your dad tomorrow,’ his mum said. when he got in from college ‘Do you fancy coming?’
Drew hated going to the prison. He’d been several times but each time the ordeal got worse. He knew it was selfish but his dad didn’t even have much to say to him. They just sat opposite one another in silence half the time.
‘Do you want me to?’
‘Only if you want to, Drew. Sophie’s coming so I won’t be on my own.’
Drew raised his eyebrows. His sister had only ever been to visit their father once. Perhaps, at last, she was coming to terms with what had happened.
‘She’s getting brave,’ he commented.
‘Your dad especially asked to see her.’
‘Oh..,’ Drew lifted his eyebrows. ‘Not me though?’
‘He said you can please yourself.’ Drew’s mother gave him a piercing look.
‘Do you mind if I don’t,’ he said, feeling guilty.
‘No. I know how you hate it.’
Drew looked at his mum. ‘I’m really sorry.’
‘It’s all right, Drew. I understand. Although it’s an open prison is still a terrible place... maybe when your dad gets home you’ll feel differently about what happened.’
‘Yeah,’ Drew said, not at all convinced and still feeling guilty. ‘Hope so.’
He was still thinking about his father as he rode to pick up Skip. He knew his mother was hoping his dad would get parole and be home soon. She talked about it all the time. It would seem really strange having his father around the place again just when he’d got used to him not being there. Maybe, in time, they could get back to being a normal family again.
Skip’s sister Marie was standing by the front gate when he arrived. She had borrowed Skip’s leather jacket and wore it over white jeans and a skimpy striped top. She had on gold earrings and wore bright pink lipstick. Her hair was long and loose, caught up on one side with a gold clip.
She gave Drew a big smile as he pulled up by the kerb.
He switched off the engine and took off his helmet. He grinned at her. Skip was right. Marie certainly did look a lot different when she was dressed up.
‘Hi, Drew. Is it OK if I come with you? Skip had to go and see someone about a holiday job. He said he’d meet us there.’
‘Sure,’ Drew said. He gave her a sideways look. ‘You sure your mum knows you go in pubs?’
She laughed. ‘Come off it, Drew. I’m not a kid any more.’
‘No,’ he said, looking her up and down. ‘I can see that. He leaned forward. ‘What’s happened to the specs?’
She blinked her long eyelashes at him. ‘Ever heard of contact lenses?’
‘Umm,’ he said, grinning. ‘You look a lot better without them. Shame about the freckles though.’
She gazed up at him, laughing, then punched his arm. ‘Thanks a bunch. Are we going or are we going to stay here so you can insult me?’
‘I was only kidding,’ he said and realised he meant it. The days when Marie was a scrawny kid were long gone.
‘I know,’ she said, still smiling up at him. ‘Anyway, I’m used to it. You and my brother are as horrible as one another.
Drew turned and took the spare helmet from the bike box. ‘Stick that on.’
Marie buckled it on and climbed on behind him. She put her arms round his waist.
‘OK?’ he asked.
‘Great.’
When they arrived, Skip was no-where to be seen. There were a couple of their friends sitting in the garden. They waved as Drew and Marie took off their helmets.
‘Over here,’ one of Marie’s friends called.
The pub was a quaint, olde worlde place set on the banks of the river. The garden was dotted with tables and chairs and wooden benches had been set out along the edge of the water.
‘You go on,’ Drew said. ‘I’ll get the drinks. What would you like?’
‘Oh.. er, diet Coke, please,’ Marie said, heading off. Half way, she turned. ‘And a packet of crisps.’
‘Right.’
The bar was crowded and by the time Drew got back with the drinks, Skip had turned up. Marie was busy chatting to her friend, Donna. They were discussing the merits of the latest song that was top of the charts.
‘Sorry you got lumbered with Marie,’ Skip said. ‘Dad dropped me off on his way to a meeting.’
Drew put the drinks down on the table. ‘No problem,’ he said. He sat down and put Marie’s drink on the table in front of her.
‘Thanks.’ She beamed him a smile. Donna said something to her and they both giggled.
‘Any luck with the job?’ Drew asked.
‘Yeah... a friend of Dad’s wants me to work on his building site during the summer... be great, huh? Not quite like your cushy number at the hotel,’ he said with a grin. ‘But better than nothing.’
‘Cushy number...:’ Drew began indignantly. Then a couple more friends arrived. Skip got up to go with one of them to the bar. Drew took a mouthful of his Coke and stared out over the water. The voices of his friends seemed to recede into the distance. He felt detached, somehow not part of their world. He stared into the water as if it had hypnotised him. It drifted past sluggishly. If it wasn’t for the occasional bit of wood or clump of water weed floating past you would hardly know it was moving at all. Somehow his mind kept slipping back to Cindy. He didn’t know if it had been his imagination but she had looked really disappointed when he said he couldn’t meet her after college. He wondered again what it was she wanted to speak to
him about. She had said she couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss. Well.. neither could he. And where did Carl fit into all this? She was still going out with him or she would have said. He still felt so confused it was driving him crazy.
‘Drew!’ He suddenly realised Marie was nudging him.
‘Oh...’ He came to. ‘Sorry, what did you say?’
She didn’t seem to mind he’d been miles away. She repeated what she’d said.
‘I said Donna would like a ride on your bike some time.’
‘Oh..’ he said absent mindedly. ‘OK.’
It was a lovely evening. Balmy, with a slight breeze that kissed the branches of the weeping willow and made them tremble. The pub garden was beginning to fill up. Drew recognised one or two other people from college.
‘This is a really nice place,’ Marie looked round as she took another mouthful of her lemonade. She leaned back and stretched out her legs.
‘Yes.’ Drew sat up. He was beginning to think this evening was going to be a disaster. It wasn’t anyone’s fault He just wasn’t with it. He should have agreed to meet Cindy and found out what she wanted to say. Then maybe he wouldn’t be thinking about it all the time. Skip had got here without him anyway so he wouldn’t have been letting him down.
He glanced at Marie. She was tapping her toe to the rhythm of the rock music that had started emanating from the door of the public bar. Then she began to sing softly. It was the song that was top of the charts and she knew all the words.
‘I’m getting this for my birthday,’ she said in between verses. ‘Mum’s promised me the tape.’
‘Something else will be top by then,’ Drew said.
She giggled. ‘Yes, probably. I’ll still like this one, though. They’re a fabulous band. Really hunky.’ She went on humming and tapping her feet.
‘You want to wait until it’s on a compilation album. You’d get all the top ones, then,’ he said.
‘You‘re as bad as Skip’ She punched his arm playfully. ‘Telling me what to do.’
Drew grinned at her but his heart wasn’t in it. He suddenly felt he had to get away. He mumbled something about going to the loo and made his way up the garden towards the saloon bar. Inside it was crowded and noisy. He said ‘hi’ to one or two people he knew then threaded his way to the gents. Inside, he leaned his head against the wall for a minute and took a deep breath. This wasn’t going to be one of the most brilliant evenings of his life, that was for sure.
The door opened and someone else came in. He glanced their way. Then he froze. Carl Hickson stood there looking as surprised as Drew. He looked him up and down, obviously taking in his leather jacket, jeans and white T-shirt. Carl was wearing a pale crushed linen suit with a collarless shirt and expensive looking brown leather shoes. As usual, he looked like something from a fashion ad.
Drew felt like sinking into the ground. Of all the people... He could have kicked himself. He knew this place was popular with the college kids but he hadn’t thought for one minute Hickson might be here.
‘Devlin,’ Carl said with his usual derisive grin. ‘Fancy seeing you.’
‘Yeah,’ Drew said coolly. ‘Fancy seeing you.’ He headed for the door. The last thing he wanted was to get into conversation. By the expression on Carl’s face it could only lead to trouble.
Hickson barred his way. ‘Actually,’ he said. ‘I’m glad you’re here. I wanted a word.’ He spoke evenly but Drew recognised the underlying agression in his tone.
‘Yeah?’ Drew tried to sound relaxed. ‘What about?’
‘Cindy,’ Carl said bluntly.
‘Cindy?’ Drew clenched his jaw tightly. He could feel the small muscle moving in his cheek. If Carl started on about Cindy he didn’t know how he was going to control his temper. He felt on edge as it was. All it would take would be one wrong word for him to land Carl that punch he’d been promising himself for ages. He looked at Carl from under his dark brows. ‘What about her?’
‘My Dad was telling me he saw you with her the night of the fire at the hotel,’ Carl said. He fiddled with one of the buttons on his jacket.
‘So?’ Drew folded his arms and leaned against the basin. ‘I was working in the gym. It was my job to get her out. And everyone else as it happened,’ he added although he didn’t really know why. He had no need to justify his actions to anyone, let alone Carl.
‘He said you two seemed like old friends,’ Carl said.
‘Yeah?’ Drew looked Carl in the eyes. He noticed how pale they were, pale and cold. He knew his attitude was making Carl worse but he couldn’t do anything about it. The guy got right up his nose and that was that. He might be able to bully a lot of people but Drew Devlin wasn’t one of them. He should know that by now.
Carl was breathing heavily. Beads of sweat were breaking out on his brow. He was really getting stewed up about something. Then Drew felt a sudden stab of alarm. Supposing Cindy had told him what happened after the fire? He almost groaned aloud. If she had, it looked as if he could kiss his job goodbye. He needed a load of new books for college and his bike needed a new tyre. There was no way he could go without his wages. It looked as if he’d blown it again.
‘I’ve already warned Cindy about you,’ Carl was saying. ‘Yeah?’ He had to keep cool. For Cindy’s sake, for his own, for his mum who needed his contribution to the housekeeping. He couldn’t let Carl see he wanted more than anything to punch his face in. He remembered the good feeling he’d had when he’d done it before. It had been worth having sore knuckles for a week.
‘Are you listening, Devlin?’ Carl narrowed his eyes.
‘Yeah, yeah,’ Drew said. ‘You’ve warned Cindy about me. Well thanks, Carl. I’m sure she was grateful.’He went to push past. As he did so, Carl shot out his hand and grabbed the front of his jacket.
‘Lay off!’ Drew said angrily. He tried to push him away.
Carl pulled his face close. ‘If I hear your name linked with Cindy’s again, Devlin, you’ll be out of that job faster than you can blink.’
Drew’s patience gave out. Suddenly he didn’t care about his job, or Cindy, or his mum. All he cared about was Carl Hickson. He put both his hands on Carl’s broad shoulders and gave him a really hard shove. Carl staggered backwards. Drew had tried, he’d really tried to keep his temper. He caught sight of himself in the mirror. Nostrils flaring, eyes blazing. Almost, but not quite as tall as Carl, almost as broad. He strode towards him. ‘And supposing I tell Cindy there’s a rumour you’re seeing a girl from the High School at the same time as going out with her? What then, Hickson?’Carl’s jaw dropped. He lunged forward but Drew was too quick for him. He dodged to one side. Carl shot past, colliding heavily with the condom machine on the wall. He turned swiftly and lunged again. For a minute, the two boys wrestled, then, suddenly, the door opened and Drew felt himself being hauled away.
The barman held his arms. ‘What the hell’s going on in here?’
Drew wrenched away from his grasp. He straightened his jacket. Carl was panting, glaring at Drew as if he could kill him.
‘Nothing,’ Drew said. ‘Right, Carl?’
Carl’s face was scarlet, furious. ‘Right,’ he muttered.
‘OK, well just cool it, you two. If you’ve got differences to settle, do it outside, OK?’
‘Right,’ Drew said.
The barman looked from one to the other then went back outside.
Drew went to the sink and turned on the tap. He filled his cupped hands with water. To his annoyance he found he could hardly control their shaking. He rinsed his face. Somehow he knew that Carl wouldn’t go for him again. Carl had produced a comb from his pocket and was carefully combing his hair back into place. Drew noticed his hand was shaking too. It made him feel a whole lot better.
Carl looked at Drew in the mirror. ‘If you say anything to Cindy,’ he said quietly. ‘I swear you’ll not only get the push from the hotel, I’ll make sure you never get another job in this town. My dad knows everyone. It would only take one wor
d.’
Drew breathed deeply. Suddenly he couldn’t be bothered any more. He felt sick and depressed, as if he’d gone through a storm and come out the other side the worse for wear. Being friends with Cindy Raven had brought him nothing but grief. As far as he was concerned, Carl was welcome to her.
‘Get lost,’ he muttered. He headed for the door, went through and slammed it shut without looking back.
Outside, Marie was sitting on her own. The others had gone for a walk along the river path and Skip and another guy were having a game of darts in the public bar.
‘Drew, where’ve you been?’
He sat down and put his arm across the back of the seat. He rubbed his hand round his jaw. ‘I met someone I knew.’
She was frowning at him. ‘Are you OK, your hair’s all mussed up.’ She put up her hand and patted it down. Drew looked at her. She was staring at him, her face was full of concern. ‘Are you sure you’re all right,’ she said, still puzzled.
‘Yes, honestly.’ He put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. He managed a grin. ‘Don’t look so worried.’
There was a fly drowning in his Coke. He fished it out then threw the rest on the grass.
‘Fancy another drink?’ he said to Marie.
She had torn her eyes away from him and was looking over to where someone stood under the willow tree, staring at them.
‘Er, yes, please. Hey, that girl looks as if she knows you,’ she said.
And when Drew glanced over he saw it was Cindy. She had an expression on her face that he had never seen before. Surprise? Dismay? He really didn’t know. All he knew was that as their eyes met he could only manage the briefest of nods before Marie had stood up and was pulling at his hand.
‘Come on,’ she said. ‘I’ll come with you to the bar.’He allowed himself to be dragged up out of his seat. When he looked back to the place where Cindy had been standing, she had gone.
He ended up giving Marie a lift home. Skip had gone on ahead in someone’s car. The others had drifted off in dribs and drabs. Altogether, Drew thought it was the lousiest evening he’d ever had. After the encounter with Carl, then seeing Cindy, he had hardly been able to bring himself to talk to anyone. He knew he was being rotten company but somehow he couldn’t shake off his mood.