The Witness

by Jane Bidder

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Garth was home. In her arms. Hungrily, Alice breathed in her son. He smelt different and yet the same. A mixture of sweat, BO, cigarettes, and stale clothes and something else she couldn’t put her finger on. His narrow shoulders were thinner and his rib cage dug into her body as she hugged him.

  At last she felt whole! Complete. Only now did she realise that the grief she’d felt since he’d gone away, was akin to having a great gaping hole in her body.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” she whispered into his chest, unwilling to let him go. “Why didn’t you say you were coming?”

  Garth’s voice was gravelly; much deeper than before, unless that was hoarseness. He must be tired. He certainly looked it with those dark circles under his eyes. “It happened really fast, Mum.”

  Mum! The word filled her with joy. A sense of worth. She had a job again. A reason to keep going.

  Daniel’s voice cut in. “Brian managed to get a judge to agree to bail. So we got him out on the next flight.”

  We? Alice rounded on her husband from the safety of her son’s arms. “So you didn’t think of telling me that all this was happening?”

  They were standing, still on the doorstep; Alice unwilling to move away from Garth. If she did, he might go away again and that was unthinkable. “I didn’t want to raise your hopes.”

  “What am I? A child?”

  “Please, you two. Don’t argue.”

  It was the voice of a man. Not the teenager who had gone away in a strop because he hadn’t ‘felt ready’ to go to uni.

  Flattened, Alice stepped back to appraise him. Garth was definitely thinner. But there was something else that was different about him. There was a maturity to his manner. A certain firmness in his tone, combined with a gravitas that made him seem more in charge than she was. “Come inside, Mum,” he said, putting his arm around her waist.

  She tried to remember when he’d done that before. A dim and distant memory came back of a small Garth, in his prep-school uniform, trying to hug her because he didn’t want her to leave. The school had been for weekly boarders: Daniel had insisted it would be ‘good’ for him but the separation had killed her. Garth had loathed it too (she often thought this might explain why he had rebelled later on) and she’d used the move to Devon as an excuse to put him in a good day school instead.

  Now, they sat together on the squashy lemon sofa in the sitting room; Alice leaning into Garth while Daniel sat some distance away on the chair by the French windows. Questions were flying round her head. If someone had woken her up and told her she’d been dreaming, Alice would have immediately agreed.

  “Tell me everything,” she said, nestling her head into her son’s shoulder, basking in his arm around her. Then, before he could start, she added, “Have you really been pardoned?”

  “Don’t bombard him with questions, Alice.”

  Don’t treat me like a child, she almost snapped back. But Garth did it for her; reproachfully firm but kind at the same time. “Dad! Don’t be so condescending.”

  Thank you, she wanted to sing. Thank you.

  “It’s all thanks to that witness. She was pretty influential. Brian said we were really lucky not to go to trial.”

  Alice felt her heart swell with love and gratitude for the unknown Sheila Harris. “We need to thank her,” she murmured. “Thank God she saw you.” Nestling even deeper into her son’s shoulder, she realised this was the closest she had ever got to cuddling him. That awful holding back on her side – that reluctance to invest too much emotional trust – was still there but not as strongly as before. Briefly, Paul Black flashed into her head. Swiftly, she batted him away. “What really happened at the airport, Garth? Before they arrested you.”

  Her son stiffened and lifted his arm, edging away to the end of the sofa. Instantly, she wished she hadn’t said anything. “I met these New Zealand friends on the beach. We’d seen each other before in Ecuador. Everyone meets up again when they’re travelling.” He shrugged. “I thought they were all right. One of them had done me a favour …”

  He stopped. “What kind of favour?” asked Daniel sharply.

  “It doesn’t matter.” Garth’s voice had a Keep Out edge. Before he’d gone away, Alice would have interrogated him. Insisted he’d told them what he meant. But this wasn’t a boy any more. This was a man and she mustn’t – couldn’t – drive him away.

  “Anyway, they asked me to take this package with me on the plane. Said they couldn’t fit it into their own bags because they’d been overweight. It’s all right, Mum. Don’t look like that. I said no.”

  Alice breathed a sigh of relief.

  “They seemed a bit pissed off about it but I just thought, sod that. Anyway, they must have slipped this package into my bag at the airport. That’s what that woman saw, thank God, though the first thing I knew was when I got stopped at customs.”

  “What happened to the New Zealanders?” demanded Daniel before she could ask.

  Garth shrugged. “Disappeared into the crowd, when they saw I’d been pulled to one side.”

  It all sounded so plausible. Just as convincing as the time when Garth had insisted, hand on heart, that it hadn’t been him who had stolen a twenty-pound note from Daniel’s wallet at the age of fourteen. The same Garth who, a year later, had come home, stinking of cigarette smoke, declaring it was his friends (“It sticks to your clothes, Mum”). The boy who had come home early from his last A-level exam, proclaiming it had “finished early”, only for her to discover later that he’d simply walked out half way through because he “couldn’t be bothered”. If it hadn’t been for the complex points system and the fact he’d done really well in the other papers, he might have lost his uni place altogether.

  Alice tried to banish these distrustful thoughts from her mind. “What was it like in there? In … in prison.”

  He laughed. “Basic.”

  She moved closer, yearning to feel his arm around her again but he just gave her hand a quick squeeze. Back off, it said. I’m not a kid any more.

  “Did anyone try to hurt you?” she persisted.

  “No, Mum.”

  His voice had a raw edge.

  “Alice.” This time her husband’s voice had a distinct note of sympathy. “He’s tired. Needs a break.”

  “You don’t have to talk about me as though I’m not here, Dad.”

  The old argumentative Garth was back! The one who’d insisted he needed the second gap year because he wasn’t ready to do another “three bloody years of studying”. In one way, his anger was a relief because it felt normal again. In another, it made her heart sink at the thought of all the familiar arguments starting again. That hadn’t helped her relationship with Daniel, she thought.

  “What about you, Mum?” Her son was looking her up and down, just as she had him. “What have you been doing, apart from mending your old china?”

  That had always been a bit of a joke between them. Garth had found it ‘bloody stupid’ that she ‘could be arsed’ to mend stuff that ought to be ‘binned’. Rather like Kayleigh’s initial reaction, she thought, amused.

  There was a snort from Daniel’s direction. “What’s your mother been doing? Apart from looking after waifs and strays, you mean?”

  Only then did Alice remember. Kayleigh! She’d been with her when she’d got out of the car, after picking her up at the bus stop. But then Alice had seen Garth and – she was ashamed to say – she’d forgotten Kayleigh altogether in her urgent need to put her arms around her son and breathe him in.

  She must have just slunk off to her room.

  “I don’t get it.” Garth looked mildly amused and confused at the same time.

  Alice stood up, aware that she was flushing. Blast Daniel for introducing the subject so early. Maybe he’d hoped to deflect the attention away from him, in case she told Garth what his father had been up to in his absence.

  “It’s a long story. You don’t want to hear it now. You must be h
ungry.”

  “No.” Garth shook his head. She missed his hair; his long hair which she was always nagging him about because he didn’t wash it. Had they shaved it like that in prison? “Brian got me something on the way back from the airport. By the way, he said to tell you that he’d call later. He reckoned we’d want time together first. Now tell me, Mum. What’s this about waifs and strays?”

  There was no getting out of it. “I saw something … saw a couple getting … getting intimate in the park when I was walking Mungo.” Alice felt herself heating up with embarrassment.

  “No way!” Garth’s eyes widened and Mungo, woken up by the sound of his name, began pawing at her knees. (Surprisingly, she’d noticed, he’d been ignoring Garth altogether.) “So you reported it?”

  Daniel snorted. “If only it was that simple.”

  “Please. Both of you. Let me explain.” She felt even hotter. “I thought they might be in love so I just walked on.”

  Garth gave her a quick squeeze. “You didn’t interfere? That’s so cool, Mum. Really mature. I’m proud of you.”

  See, she wanted to say to her husband. He understands even if you don’t.

  “But then this policeman knocked on the door.” Alice felt herself burning up even more. Had Daniel noticed? She hoped not. “Someone had told him that I’d seen them. It turned out that the man, who was much older than the girl, was a known drug dealer who preyed on teenagers. So I was persuaded to give evidence in court.”

  Garth whistled. “Shit, Mum. That must have taken some courage.”

  “Thank you.” This time she couldn’t resist shooting a triumphant glance at her husband.

  “And now this girl is living with us,” cut in Daniel.

  “What?”

  “It’s only short term. Just till Kayleigh gets on her feet.” Alice braced herself.

  “That’s amazing of you, Mum!” Garth picked her up and spun her around in his arms. So unexpected! “Was that the girl I saw getting out of the car just now?”

  Alice nodded, breathlessly, glad to be back on the ground. “She’s only just sixteen and she’s had it tough. But if you want, I can ask her to leave so we can have some time together …”

  “No.” Garth was shaking his head emphatically. “You need to help her. We need to help her, just like that woman helped me. If it hadn’t been for her, I’d still be in that cell.”

  Exactly. She couldn’t help shooting another triumphant look at Daniel. But something wasn’t quite right. Garth sounded like he was on a high. She tried to take a look at his pupils. They seemed the right size. Maybe it was the excitement of getting back. Besides, he didn’t do drugs, did he? Just like he hadn’t smoked when he was younger. Oh God. Who was she kidding?

  “What about you, Dad? What have you been up to?”

  Alice felt a nasty little laugh coming out. “You wouldn’t believe it.”

  Instantly Garth’s eyes froze. “What do you mean?”

  There was a short silence. A silence during which Alice could hear music floating down from Kayleigh’s room. So that’s where she was. Alice registered a wave of relief combined with fear at what she’d just unleashed.

  Daniel’s face was rigid.

  “Nothing.”

  They both spoke at the same time.

  “Your father’s been very busy.”

  Daniel was nodding energetically. “Summer school. You know. The usual thing. International kids who want to have fun instead of learning anything.”

  Garth wasn’t fooled. She could see that from his eyes. That had been the thing that had bound the two of them together all those years, despite the teenage arguments. They’d always been able to understand what the other was thinking. A wise head on young shoulders, despite the rebellions. “Is everything all right, Mum?” Garth spoke softly as his father got up and crossed the room towards the phone which had begun to ring.

  No, she wanted to say. Your father’s had an affair with that sharp-faced bitch from Book Club. Seb’s mother. And Uncle Phil, whom I never let you meet, has filed a complaint against me for harassment, because he’s scared I’m going to take action against him for what he did all those years ago. Oh and by the way, there’s something about a policeman that I don’t get. All I know is that he makes me feel … different. Though I still don’t know if he’s just been using me.

  “Everything’s fine,” she said in the same voice that she’d used when he was younger. And then, because he clearly didn’t believe her, she added, “Honestly. You need to ring Gran. She’s been worried about you.”

  “In a minute. I want to talk to you first.”

  They waited until Daniel, making signs that he needed to take this call from another room, went out. Was it Monica, she wondered? If so, she almost didn’t care any more. She had Garth now. The two of them were together, talking conspiratorially. It was like the old days, when she’d hidden things from her husband. A poor school report. Another complaint from a neighbour about loud music from Garth’s bedroom.

  “Are you sure everything’s OK? Because if not …”

  He stopped. Looked up. Saw her before Alice did. The girl at the door looked like Kayleigh. Yet at the same time, she didn’t.

  She’d washed her hair. Twisted it in a different way – with one of her clips again, Alice noticed. She was wearing a pretty top in an apricot shade that suited her blonde hair. And her eye make-up wasn’t as heavy as usual.

  “Hi.” Garth’s voice was thick and heavy with interest. “You must be Kayleigh. Mum and I have just been talking about you. Welcome to our house. It’s crazy here at times. But nice crazy.”

  Alice felt a flush of pride. That was a compliment. She started to say something but Kayleigh got in first. “I’ve been playing your music. It’s cool.”

  Alice tensed. No one was allowed to touch Garth’s music. He’d thrown a complete paddy, just like a baby, when she’d decided to dust his CD collection last year. Just don’t mention, she prayed, that you listened to his stuff with Seb the other day.

  “What do you like best?”

  Kayleigh’s eyes were on her son. Big, wide, doe eyes. “Great Cynics.”

  “No way! They’re my idols. Been following them since they started.”

  They were going to get on! Alice felt a mixture of relief and also apprehension. No. Surely not. Kayleigh was only sixteen. And Garth was just being friendly. A vision of Seb on the bed next to Kayleigh came back to her, along with that scene in the park. She might just be a kid but she’d already done a great deal. And Garth already seemed smitten …

  The phone rang. Again? That must mean Daniel had finished. Maybe Monica was trying to cause trouble. An anger began to boil up inside. She wouldn’t allow anything to spoil Garth’s homecoming. Nothing.

  “Who’s speaking?” she said sharply.

  “Hello?” Daniel’s voice, on the extension, cut it in at the same time.

  “I’ve got it,” Alice snapped.

  But he was still holding on. Both Garth and Kayleigh had stopped talking. The room fell silent.

  “This is Paul Black.” There was a click as Daniel finally put down the phone. “I’m sorry to bother you. Is this a good time?”

  Alice smiled at Garth. The kind of smile she’d perfected over the years to try and fool him into thinking that Dad and her hadn’t been arguing. “Yes. Absolutely.”

  “I’ve been thinking about our discussion earlier today. It’s none of my business. But the CPS – that’s the Crown Prosecution Service that acts on behalf of the law – thinks you’ve got a case even though Phil Wright has filed a complaint against you.” There was a slight pause. “There are some people, Alice, who need to be taught a lesson in life. However old they are.”

  She gulped.

  “It’s not my place to say this, but ….”

  Another heavy pause.

  “If you do this, Alice – if you take Phil Wright to court – I have the feeling that you’ll be able to get on with the rest of your life. Does tha
t make sense?”

  “Yes,” she whispered, aware of a wonderful warm light feeling floating through her. He believed in her. This policeman with the startling blue eyes, believed in her!

  “Yes,” she repeated. “It does.”

  Chapter Thirty

  She was in love! Garth had only been home for a few days but Kayleigh was sure of it. Every time he came into the room, her heart gave a little skip and she went all red and tongue-tied.

  What was more, he felt the same way. She was certain of that too. When Alice started asking him questions (like what had it been like out there in prison and wouldn’t he let her make an appointment with the doctor because he was so thin?), Garth started talking to her, Kayleigh, instead.

  “So amazing that you like Great Cynics too! Been to any of their gigs? I hitchhiked to Milan to see them last year.”

  Alice had made a surprised noise at that.

  “Don’t fuss, Mum. That’s why I don’t tell you everything. You just freak out.”

  Garth had given her a wink and Kayleigh glowed with pride. He was telling her that they were on the same side. She wasn’t the outcast any more.

  Alice didn’t like them talking so much. Kayleigh could tell that. She wanted her son to herself but she was too polite to say so. Part of Kayleigh knew she ought to give them some space together but she couldn’t leave Garth alone. It was like she was connected to him by a piece of invisible string.

  This was the real thing. She just knew it.

  Every morning, now, Kayleigh spent ages getting herself made up. Then she’d hang around, pretending to apply for summer jobs on the computer Alice said she could use, while waiting for Garth to get up. “He needs to lie in,” she overheard Alice saying to her husband last Saturday, when he complained about his son still being in bed at lunchtime. “He’s been through a lot.” Then, she’d added, in a low voice. “Like me.”

  “Don’t start that again, Alice. I told you. I’m sorry. Monica didn’t mean anything. Now Garth is home, I just want everything to be back to normal.“