Witness

by Mandasue Heller

‘What do you want me to tell her?’ Fiona’s voice cut into Josie’s thoughts.

  ‘Tell her I’ll be there in an hour,’ Josie said.

  After hanging up, Josie groped for the vodka bottle that was standing between the base of the bed and the bedside cabinet and gulped down the last inch of liquid from it. Then, pushing the quilt off her legs, she got up and shoved the empty bottle neck-down into the washing basket before heading to the bathroom.

  Dressed and feeling a little more human a short time later, Josie had made a cup of tea and was carrying it into the living room when she spotted blue flashing lights outside. Aware that Holly would be on her way home from school, she rushed over to the window, praying that the girl hadn’t got caught up in any of the gang-related violence that had been blighting the estate in recent weeks.

  Two police cars and an ambulance were parked on the road below, and a gaggle of neighbours were gathered on the pavement a few feet back. The vehicles were obscuring her view, so she couldn’t tell if something had happened on the pavement or inside one of the houses. But if it were the latter, she figured it a fair bet that it involved the couple who lived directly opposite.

  Josie had never spoken to either of them, but she’d overheard their next-door neighbour gossiping about their noisy sex sessions – and even noisier fights – in the local shop a couple of weeks earlier. It hadn’t surprised her to hear that the man was violent. She’d passed him in the street a few times and the tell-tale glint in his eyes had told her that his amiable smile and cocky swagger concealed a dark temper. Handsome men like him, who obsessed over their appearance and spent half their lives in the gym, often harboured deeper insecurities than ugly men, in her experience, and she’d seen how quickly those insecurities could morph into controlling behaviour and extreme violence. So, no, she wouldn’t be surprised if those emergency vehicles were attending an incident at that house today.

  As her mother watched the scene through the window, Holly turned the corner with slumped shoulders and downcast eyes. She’d been thinking about Kelly all afternoon, wondering why the girl had contacted Bex before leaving, but not her. Even if she hadn’t had time to talk, Kelly could at least have sent a text. But the fact that she hadn’t bothered to do so made Holly wonder if they had ever been as good friends as she’d thought.

  Raising her eyes to check for traffic before crossing the road, she froze when she saw the emergency vehicles parked outside Suzie’s house, the spinning blue light on the top of the police car reflecting off the windows of the neighbouring houses. The front door suddenly opened and three police officers walked out followed by two paramedics, one of whom was pushing a wheelchair. Suzie was huddled in the chair with a red blanket wrapped round her and an oxygen mask strapped to her face. They wheeled her into the back of the ambulance, while two of the coppers climbed into the van that was parked behind it. As both vehicles pulled away, the third copper pulled Suzie’s door shut and got into his car.

  Snapping out of her trance when the car did a three-point turn and drove past her, Holly spotted her mum waving at her from their living room window and scuttled across the road. Two men were trotting down the stairs side by side when she entered the flats’ communal hallway, so she waited at the bottom to let them pass.

  ‘What’s going on out there?’ one of them asked, stopping in front of her. ‘It’s not another shooting, is it?’

  ‘Don’t think so,’ she murmured, blushing when she realized it was the party-throwing tenant from the flat above hers. She’d only ever seen him through the window at night before, but up close, with his soft brown eyes, straight white teeth and the hint of stubble on his strong jawline, he reminded her of a younger, sexier Zayn Malik.

  ‘C’mon, Gee, we’re gonna be late,’ his friend said, brushing past Holly and heading for the door.

  The man, whose name she now knew, winked at her before following his mate, and Holly twisted her head to watch as the pair strolled outside. Biting her lip to contain her excitement when they had gone, she rushed up the stairs. Just wait till Bex heard that their celebrity-crush had a lookalike who was living in her block. She was going to be so jealous!

  Josie was brushing her hair in front of the mirror on the living room wall. Glancing at Holly when she walked in, she said, ‘Who did they put in the ambulance? The man or the woman?’

  ‘Woman,’ Holly said, dropping her bag on the sofa. ‘What happened?’

  ‘No idea.’ Josie shrugged. ‘They were already there when I got up. Probably him knocking her about again.’

  ‘What d’you mean?’ Holly asked, feigning innocence because she didn’t want her mum to suspect that she’d spoken to Suzie. Not speaking to the neighbours was one of the rules, and she could do without the earache she’d get if her mum found out she had broken it.

  ‘Nothing,’ Josie said, putting the brush down and taking an elastic band out of the pot on the shelf under the mirror.

  Watching as her mum scraped her hair back and tied it into a tight bun, Holly wondered how she couldn’t see what an unflattering style it was. Josie’s hair was quite nice when it was loose. Not lush and sexy like Suzie’s, but a damn sight better than this butch-prison-guard look she seemed to favour.

  ‘What you staring at me like that for?’ Josie frowned at her in the mirror.

  ‘I wasn’t,’ Holly lied.

  ‘Could’ve fooled me,’ Josie muttered, flashing a disbelieving look at her before leaning forward to examine a spot.

  Hungry after missing lunch, Holly wandered into the kitchen to see if her mum had made a start on dinner. Disappointed, but not overly surprised to find nothing on the stove, she opened the fridge and took out a pot of yoghurt.

  ‘Put that back,’ Josie said, appearing in the doorway as she was about to tear the lid off. ‘I was going to microwave one of those little pizzas for you, but you can do it yourself now you’re home. I’ve got to go in early.’

  ‘Again?’ Holly asked, replacing the yoghurt in the fridge.

  ‘Excuse me?’ Josie’s eyebrows knitted together. ‘Do you think I work for fun, or something? You don’t think I’d rather sit on my arse all night watching telly, like you?’

  ‘Why you having a go at me?’ Holly asked. ‘I didn’t even say anything.’

  ‘Yes, you did, you said “again”, like I’ve got a flaming choice,’ Josie snapped, snatching her handbag off the ledge.

  ‘Pardon me for breathing,’ Holly muttered under her breath.

  ‘Don’t get lippy, lady.’ Josie gave her a warning look. Then, looping the strap of her handbag over her shoulder and picking her keys up, she said, ‘Right, I’m off. Don’t stay up too late, and if anyone calls round—’

  ‘Don’t answer the door,’ Holly cut in wearily.

  Irritation flashing in her eyes, Josie said, ‘Hurry up and have your pizza, then get on with your revision. Wouldn’t want you failing your exams and being forced to clean shitty toilets for a living like me, now, would we?’

  Holly waited until the front door slammed shut behind her before blowing out an exasperated breath. Her mother was such a moody bitch, getting on her high horse over a stupid word. Holly wouldn’t have minded so much if it wasn’t true, but she had been going out earlier since she’d decided to take on extra shifts – and coming back later. She claimed she had no choice, but Holly didn’t believe that. If she hated her job as much as she claimed to, she could quit and go on benefits. But she obviously didn’t want to, because that would mean being forced to spend more time at home. Well, sod her if that was how she felt, because Holly didn’t need her.

  7

  Suzie was restless. The paramedics who’d brought her to A & E had picked up her dressing gown and slippers before leaving the house, but not her handbag or phone. Without the latter to tell her the time, she had no idea how long it was since she’d been plonked in this godforsaken cubicle. She knew the staff were busy, because she could hear them rushing about on the other side of the curtain. The patients who we
re moaning and groaning in the cubicles on either side of hers sounded like they were dying, and they clearly weren’t getting seen any faster than she was. But, even so, they couldn’t expect her to wait all night.

  Beginning to suspect that she’d been forgotten, Suzie was looking for the buzzer to summon someone when the curtain swished open and a nurse walked in carrying a glass of water and a little plastic cup containing tablets.

  ‘Sorry it’s taken so long; we’re rushed off our feet tonight,’ the woman apologized. ‘Here you go.’ She held out the glass and the cup.

  Suzie was tempted to tell her where to shove the stupid tablets, but she was aching all over and her head was banging, so she took them and stuffed them into her mouth, quickly washing them down with the water.

  ‘Any idea when the doctor’s coming to see me?’ she asked, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand. ‘I’ve been here for ages.’

  ‘Your guess is as good as mine,’ the nurse replied unhelpfully. ‘We’ve had several emergencies come in since you got here, and they take priority, so you’ll have to be patient.’

  ‘Is that supposed to be a joke?’

  Tutting loudly when the nurse walked out without answering, Suzie flopped back against the pillow. They were taking the piss. She’d been brought in by ambulance with a police escort, yet she wasn’t considered an emergency? And they wondered why people complained about the NHS.

  An alarm suddenly went off on the other side of the curtain, and Suzie guessed that someone’s heart must have stopped when a call went up for the crash team. Wishing it had been whoever was in the cubicle to her left, because their moans were getting louder and more irritating by the second, her patience snapped and she climbed off the trolley and stuffed her feet into her slippers.

  Heading outside after stopping off at the desk to tell them she was leaving, she cadged a cigarette off a man who was pacing up and down with his phone glued to his ear. She quickly smoked it before making her way over the road to where two private-hire taxis were parked up, their drivers standing between them having a fag and a chat while they waited for customers.

  ‘Are you supposed to be out here, love?’ one of the men asked, looking her up and down when she reached them.

  ‘Don’t worry, I’m not a psych case,’ Suzie said, aware that she must look a sight in her dressing gown and slippers. ‘Which one’s front of the queue?’

  The man who’d spoken nodded to one of the cars and Suzie clambered into the back of it. Remembering that she wasn’t wearing knickers when he got behind the wheel and peered at her in the rear-view mirror, she tugged the hem of her dressing gown down over her thighs, and said, ‘Lansdowne Road, please. But you’ll have to wait outside for a minute when we get there. I came in by ambulance and they forgot to bring my bag.’

  The driver had started to move off, but he slammed his foot on the brake at that and, twisting round in his seat, jerked his thumb at the door. ‘Out.’

  ‘Oh, come on,’ Suzie moaned. ‘I’ve got the money at home. I just need to go round the back to get my spare key.’

  ‘And leave me sitting out front like a lemon waiting for you to come back?’ The driver pulled a dubious face. ‘Oldest trick in the book, that, love.’

  ‘I’m not going to do a runner dressed like this, am I?’ Suzie reasoned. ‘And I’ll give you a good tip.’

  ‘No money, no ride,’ the driver replied flatly. ‘Company policy.’

  Suzie tried to appeal to his better nature, but he wouldn’t budge, so she gave up and opened the door, muttering, ‘Thanks for nothing, you miserable arsehole!’

  The walk home was a nightmare, and Suzie couldn’t wait to get inside, take a hot bath and fall into bed. It was bad enough that everyone she’d passed along the way had gawped at her, but then a rowdy group of lads on the top deck of a passing bus had chucked a milkshake over her, so she was wet, cold, and thoroughly pissed off by the time she reached the alleyway that led to the estate.

  Low-hanging branches from the trees behind the fences on either side of the path formed a creepy canopy over her head, and she shivered when the light from the streetlamps on the main road faded a few steps in. Shivering in the darkness, she was hurrying towards the faint sliver of light at the other end when something shifted in the shadows, and the hairs on the back of her neck bristled when she heard the sound of feet shuffling on the concrete.

  Afraid that Rob might have followed her to hospital and then rushed back here to lie in wait when he saw her getting kicked out of the cab, she stopped walking and peered into the gloom. A cigarette lighter suddenly flared, and her fear turned to relief when she saw three pairs of eyes glinting back at her from behind the flame. Guessing that it was a group of kids making their way home from the youth club on the other side of the estate, she released the breath she’d been holding and started walking again.

  Expecting the group to move aside when she reached them, she frowned when they spread out in front of her, making it impossible for her to move forward.

  ‘Yo!’ one of them said, stepping up to her. ‘What you got?’

  She could hear that it was a boy, but he had his hood pulled low over his forehead and a scarf wrapped around his lower face, so all she could see were his eyes. Quickly sizing him and his friends up, and guessing from their heights and slight builds that they couldn’t be much older than fourteen or fifteen, she drew herself up to her own full height.

  ‘Move!’ she barked, hoping they were still young enough to have some sort of respect for, or fear of, adults.

  A flicker of uncertainty flashed through the boy’s eyes, but he immediately blinked it away, and hissed, ‘Who the fuck d’ya think you’re talkin’ to? I axed what you got, and you best hand that shit over.’

  ‘Axed?’ Suzie snorted, amused by his tough-guy act.

  Missing the sarcasm, he said, ‘Yeah, that’s right. And I ain’t gonna axe again, so what you waitin’ for?’

  Unable to stop the laugh that was bubbling up in her throat from breaking out, Suzie said, ‘Fuck off, you little prick! I can see that you’re white, so why are you trying to act black? You t’ink you is in da ’hoods, blud?’ She adopted a terrible Jamaican accent and threw some hand-signs she’d seen in a gangster movie at them.

  ‘Yo, man, she’s off ’er ’ead,’ one of the other lads muttered, eyeing her warily. ‘Probs on crack, or escaped from the nuthouse, or summat. Let’s jet.’

  ‘Yeah, that’s right, jet, before the loony lady really loses her shit,’ Suzie sneered. ‘Go on . . .’ She flapped her hands at them. ‘Toddle off before your mummies send out a search party. It must be well past your bedtimes by now, yo.’

  The boy who was fronting up to her narrowed his eyes and Suzie could tell that his pride was killing him and he wanted to kick the shit out of her. But his mates were clearly spooked by her crazy act, so when they edged past her and scuttled away, he reluctantly followed.

  Heart pounding, Suzie watched until the boys had disappeared from view and then ran the rest of the way along the alley. Out on the road, she slowed to a stop when she neared her house and noticed a faint glow of light behind the partially closed blinds at the bedroom window. Biting her lip when the light flickered, realizing it was the flame of one of her scented candles – none of which had been lit when Rob had attacked her – she gazed over at the block of flats on the other side of the road. That girl – what was her name again? Heather? Hannah? Holly! That was it. Suzie had spotted her at the window a few times and knew that she lived on the first floor. That window was dark now, but Suzie had asked someone the time on her way home and it had only been 11 p.m., so even if the girl had gone to bed, she might still be awake.

  Head down in case Rob was looking out for her, she ran across the road and darted in through the gate at the far end of Holly’s block. Then, bending over, she crept alongside the bushes that lined the footpath below the flats until she reached the communal wheelie bin that was standing outside the bin cupboard to the left o
f the main door.

  She slipped behind the bin and squatted down to wait for someone to go in or come out. Luck was on her side and the door started opening. Seizing the opportunity, she lurched out of her hiding place and, pushing past the man who was coming out, darted into the foyer of the flats.

  ‘Hey, what’s your game?’ the man said, turning on his heel and glaring at her. ‘You don’t live here.’

  ‘Sorry, I need to see someone,’ she said, tightening the belt on her dressing gown when he looked her up and down.

  His expression changed from anger to concern when he noticed the bruises on her face, and he took a step towards her.

  ‘Are you all right, love? Is someone after you? Do you want me to call the police?’

  ‘No, I’m OK,’ she said, backing away. ‘I’m looking for a girl who lives here. I think her name’s Holly and she lives on the first floor with her mum. She’s about my height, skinny, with longish light-brown hair.’

  The man thought about it for a few seconds, then nodded. ‘Yeah, I think I know who you mean. Try number sixteen.’

  Suzie thanked him and set off up the stairs, tugging the back of her dressing gown down as she went when she felt his eyes following her.

  8

  Holly had been on the verge of falling asleep when the doorbell rang, and she was alarmed to see that it was just gone 11.30 p.m. when she sat up and checked the time on her phone. Her mum always warned her not to answer the door if anyone called round at night, but this was the first time it had ever actually happened, and she wasn’t sure what to do.

  Maybe it’s Gee, the Zayn lookalike from upstairs?

  Her stomach fluttered at the memory of her handsome neighbour winking at her that afternoon, and she bit her lip as she wondered if he’d been thinking about her like she’d been thinking about him. Maybe he had and he’d come down to invite her to his party, which was already well under way judging by the music pounding through the ceiling.

  Don’t be so stupid, she chided herself. He always had loads of girls his own age at his parties, so why would he be interested in a kid like her who wasn’t even allowed to answer the door, never mind go out?