Witness

by Mandasue Heller

  ‘It’s not me, it’s her,’ Holly and Julie said in unison.

  ‘It’s both of you,’ said Bex. ‘And I don’t wanna hear it, so shut up.’

  Holly and Julie exchanged dirty looks and sat back.

  Across the road, Suzie’s front door opened and Holly glanced over when the woman stepped outside. Her face looked flawless, with no sign of the bruises she’d had the previous week, and she was wearing a figure-hugging red dress that accentuated her tiny waist and showed off her cleavage. Watching as she dropped two empty wine bottles into the recycling bin, Holly smiled when Suzie spotted her and waved before going back inside.

  ‘Who’s the slapper?’ Julie curled her lip.

  ‘Don’t call her that,’ Holly said defensively. ‘She’s really nice.’

  ‘Oh my days, don’t tell me she’s one of your lesbo crushes?’ Julie snorted. ‘And there was me thinking you only had eyes for Bex.’

  ‘Get lost!’ Holly jumped up.

  ‘Chill out,’ Bex said, grabbing her hand and pulling her back down. ‘She’s only messing – aren’t you, Ju?’

  ‘Yeah, course.’ Julie gave Holly a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. ‘It’s just my sense of humour, babes. I don’t mean anything by it – honest.’

  Holly didn’t believe her, but she didn’t want to fall out with Bex again, so she bit her tongue.

  At the sound of shouting, all three girls looked round, and Holly smirked when she saw the boys who had tried to mug her earlier being chased off the estate by some older lads.

  ‘Oh my God,’ Julie said, clutching at Bex’s arm and giving an exaggerated shudder. ‘I see what you meant about this place being a war zone, babes. Can you imagine that type of thing going on round our way?’

  Holly opened her mouth to tell the snotty bitch to piss off home if that was how she felt, but Bex let out an audible gasp before she had the chance, and she winced when the girl grabbed her hand and squeezed it hard.

  ‘It’s him!’ Bex squealed. ‘Look!’

  She pointed in the direction of the flats, and Holly saw that Gee had come outside and was standing in the porch looking down at his phone.

  ‘Holy shit,’ Julie spluttered, her eyes widening when she, too, saw him. ‘She was right – he is the spit of Zayn.’

  ‘Told you,’ Holly said smugly.

  ‘Hey, you two keep your eyes off him, he’s mine,’ Bex warned them both as she jumped up. ‘Come on, you.’ She tugged on Holly’s hand.

  ‘Where you going?’ Holly asked, reluctantly standing up.

  ‘You’ve got to introduce us,’ Bex said.

  ‘What? No!’ Holly pulled her hand free. ‘I can’t.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘I don’t know him well enough to go over and start talking to him like that.’

  ‘OK, well, we’ll make out like we’re going to yours,’ Bex said, linking arms with her. ‘You say hi, and I’ll take it from there.’

  ‘No,’ Holly protested. ‘He’ll think we’re stupid.’

  ‘Don’t be so selfish,’ Bex said, dragging her along. ‘I’d do it for you.’

  ‘Hey, wait for me,’ Julie said, dropping her cigarette and tottering after them.

  10

  Gee Allen was pissed off. He’d had a massive bust-up with his girlfriend, Kadisha, at the party, and she’d been bombarding him with text messages ever since. They had been abusive to start with, calling him all the dirty, cheating bastards under the sun and threatening to send her brother and his mates round to do him in. Then, at around 4 a.m. – when, Gee presumed, she’d sobered up and realized what she’d done – the tearful apologies had started to flood in: I’m so sorry, baby, I didn’t mean it . . . I just love you so much I can’t help getting jealous when you speak to other girls . . . I know I’ve got a problem, but I’ll change, I swear . . .

  Blah, blah, blah.

  Gee had heard it all before, and he’d given her one too many second chances already. So, as fine as Kadisha was, he’d had enough.

  Determined to get that through to her now, because she didn’t seem able to take no for an answer, he sent a curt reply to her latest message, then stuffed the phone into his pocket and set off – not noticing the girl who had just that second appeared in front of him. Their shoulders clashed and she went flying, landing on her backside at his feet.

  ‘God, I’m sorry,’ he said, offering his hand to help her. ‘Are you OK?’

  ‘Does she look OK?’ her friend snapped.

  ‘I’m fine,’ the one on the floor said, batting her fake eyelashes at him as she grasped his hand.

  ‘Are you sure?’ Gee asked, feeling guilty when he spotted the dirt on the side of her white jeans. ‘You’re not hurt, are you?’

  ‘I’ll live,’ the girl cooed. ‘And I’m sure you didn’t mean it – did you?’ She gazed at him from under her lashes and bit her lip.

  ‘Course not,’ he said, beginning to feel uncomfortable. ‘Right, well, as long as you’re not hurt, I need to get going,’ he said, sliding his hand free.

  ‘Oi, Zayn,’ the girl’s friend called after him when he started walking away. ‘At least give us your number – in case she gets concussion or something!’

  ‘Concussion?’ a woman bellowed. ‘I’ll give you fucking concussion, you slag!’

  Gee heard the voice at the same time the girls did, and he groaned when he glanced back and saw Kadisha running across the grass, shoes in hand, face contorted with rage.

  ‘K, don’t!’ he yelled, rushing back to cut her off. ‘They haven’t done anything.’

  ‘I’ve got eyes,’ she spat, dodging round him when he tried to grab her arm. ‘The little skank was flirting with you!’

  ‘Don’t be stupid,’ he hissed, jumping between her and the girls. ‘They’re just kids.’

  ‘Hey, I’m no kid,’ one of the girls protested, flicking her blond locks over her shoulder and placing her hands on her skinny hips.

  ‘He wasn’t fuckin’ talking to you,’ Kadisha roared, lunging at her and jabbing a fingernail into her chest. ‘Think you’re a big woman, do you? Sniffing round my man, trying to get his number. I’ll rip your fucking head off, you sketchy tramp!’

  ‘Oh, my God, she’s crazy,’ one of the other girls spluttered.

  ‘What was that?’ Kadisha glared at her. ‘If you’ve got something to say, spit it out, bitch.’

  ‘Pack it in,’ Gee hissed, seizing her by the arm and pulling her away. ‘You’re scaring them.’

  ‘I’ll do more than fuckin’ scare them,’ she screeched, struggling to break free. ‘I knew you’d been screwing around, and you’d better tell me which one it is or I’m gonna fuck them all up!’

  ‘See, this is exactly why I can’t deal with you,’ Gee said, pushing her through the gate. ‘You’re out of control and I’m done with it.’

  ‘I hate you!’ she screamed, beating her fists against his chest.

  Gee grabbed her wrists to stop her, but she yanked her arms free at the exact same time he released her, and he winced when she fell backwards and her shoes flew into the road.

  Behind them, one of the girls started laughing, and Kadisha let out a roar of anger.

  ‘Ignore her,’ Gee said. ‘They’re only kids, and someone will end up calling the police if you keep threatening them.’

  ‘I don’t care!’ she screeched, tears running down her cheeks.

  A car came round the corner and pulled up at the kerb, and two girls leapt out and ran over to Kadisha.

  ‘If you’ve laid a finger on her, you’re dead,’ one of them spat, glaring at Gee as they helped her to her feet.

  ‘Don’t be stupid,’ he snapped. ‘I’ve never hit a woman in my life.’

  ‘Why’s she on the floor, then?’

  ‘Because she attacked me and fell over when I pushed her away. Now get her out of here before she does something stupid.’

  ‘I’m not leaving you,’ Kadisha sobbed, shrugging her friends off and running to him. ‘I
’m sorry, baby.’ She clutched at his jacket. ‘I didn’t mean it. I love you.’

  ‘Well, I don’t love you,’ he replied bluntly, holding her at arm’s length. ‘Go with your mates and stop making a fool of yourself.’

  Wailing, Kadisha sank to her knees and wrapped her arms around his legs.

  ‘Get up!’ one of her friends ordered. ‘He ain’t worth it.’

  ‘Yeah, come on, let’s get out of here,’ the other girl said, prising Kadisha’s hands off him. ‘He’s a dirty little player, and you can do way better.’

  Gee opened his mouth to defend himself, but decided there was no point and snapped it shut again.

  ‘Looks like you had a lucky escape there, Zayn,’ one of the girls called out when Kadisha’s friends had bundled her into the car and driven away. ‘She’s off her head!’

  Too angry to answer without snapping at her, Gee gave her a withering look before walking away.

  ‘Thanks a lot!’ Holly glared at Julie when Gee had gone. ‘He’ll probably never talk to me again after that.’

  ‘Like he ever talked to you anyway,’ Julie sneered. ‘He didn’t even look at you the whole time he was here. And it was her fault, not mine. She’s a maniac. Look what she did to me with her fucking claws.’ She pulled the neck of her top down to show the red mark the girl’s nails had left on her chest.

  ‘You deserved that for mouthing off,’ Holly said. ‘And you don’t live round here, so you’re not the one she’s going to come after if they get back together.’

  ‘Aw, diddums,’ Julie drawled.

  ‘I don’t want to be here if she comes back,’ Bex said, gazing nervously out along the road.

  ‘Yeah, come on, let’s get out of this dump,’ Julie said, linking arms with her and setting off up the path. When Holly fell into step beside them, she stopped walking and snapped, ‘Where d’you think you’re going?’

  ‘With Bex,’ Holly said.

  ‘No, you’re not,’ Julie argued. ‘We’ve got plans, and you’re not invited.’

  ‘Bex?’ Holly looked at her friend.

  ‘Sorry, I meant to tell you when we got here,’ Bex said sheepishly. ‘Thing is, Ju’s mum got us tickets for an art exhibition this afternoon.’

  ‘An art exhibition?’ Holly screwed up her face. ‘Since when have you been interested in art? It’s your least favourite subject.’

  ‘Only ’cos I’m crap at it,’ said Bex. ‘But this is all Banksy type stuff, so it’ll be well cool.’

  ‘So that’s it?’ Holly stared at her. ‘You hardly ever come to see me, and now you’re sacking me off for her again?’

  ‘Get a grip,’ Julie snorted. ‘She wouldn’t even be here now if you hadn’t made out like you and Zayn were mates.’

  ‘His name’s not Zayn, you idiot,’ Holly snapped. ‘And I never said we were mates.’

  ‘As good as,’ said Julie. ‘And you’re the idiot, not me. Look at the state of you, with your trampy clothes and your chip-pan hair. You’re an embarrassment, and you wonder why Bex is ashamed to be seen with you?’

  ‘Julie, stop it,’ Bex said quietly when Holly’s mouth fell open.

  ‘Why should I?’ Julie shot back. ‘You told me yourself, you only hang out with her ’cos you feel sorry for her.’

  ‘Is that true?’ Holly looked at Bex with tears in her eyes.

  ‘Oh, for God’s sake, isn’t it obvious?’ Julie jeered. ‘I mean, come on . . . look at us then look at you.’

  ‘I wasn’t asking you, I was asking Bex!’ Holly spat.

  ‘Truth hurts, don’t it?’ Julie replied nastily.

  ‘Get lost!’ Holly yelled.

  ‘Make me!’ Julie challenged. ‘I’ll kick your fuckin’ head in, you stupid bitch!’

  ‘Holly . . .? Is everything all right, hon?’

  Julie glanced round at the sound of the voice and saw that the woman in the red dress was watching them.

  ‘Oh, look, hon . . .’ she drawled, turning back to Holly with a sly smile on her lips. ‘Your lesbo friend’s come out to save you.’

  ‘Fuck off!’ Holly cried, slamming her hands into Julie’s chest and sending her tottering back on her heels.

  ‘Stop it!’ Bex shouted, jumping between them and glaring at Holly. ‘This is your fault, not hers. You’ve been an absolute bitch since we got here, and now she’s biting back you’re trying to play the victim. It’s pathetic and I’m sick of it. We both are!’

  Unable to hold in the tears any longer, Holly turned and ran to the flats.

  Across the road, Suzie watched as Holly ran inside and the other girls walked down the path arm in arm. As they passed on the opposite side, she narrowed her eyes when she heard one of them mimicking Holly in a baby voice. She had no clue what they had been arguing about because she’d only caught the tail end of it, but she’d come up against enough girls like those two to know they were grade-A bitches.

  Heading inside when they’d gone, she pulled up the message she’d sent to her phone from Holly’s the previous week, and typed: Hi, hon, it’s Suzie. Just checking you’re all right? Xx

  When Holly didn’t reply after a few minutes, she sent another, saying: If you want to talk about it, come over to mine when your mum’s gone to work tonight xx

  11

  Josie woke with a start when the front door slammed shut, and she sat up when she heard Holly run into her bedroom. Annoyed to see that it was only 11 a.m. when she squinted at the clock, she pulled on her dressing gown and went out to ask Holly what the hell she was playing at.

  ‘What’s all the noise about?’ she demanded, marching into her room. ‘And why are you lying in the dark?’ she asked, frowning when she saw Holly curled up in bed with the curtains closed.

  ‘I’m tired,’ Holly muttered.

  ‘Are you crying?’ Josie walked over to the bed.

  ‘No.’

  ‘You sound like you are.’

  ‘Well, I’m not,’ Holly said into her pillow.

  Concerned now, because weekends were the only free time Holly had and she didn’t usually come home so early, Josie touched her shoulder. ‘What’s up, love?’

  ‘Nothing.’ Holly dragged the quilt up to hide her face. ‘Leave me alone.’

  ‘Something’s obviously upset you,’ Josie persisted, perching on the edge of the bed. ‘Have you fallen out with your friends?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘It’s not a man, is it?’ Josie asked. ‘Has a man touched you? You know you can tell me, don’t you? Whatever it is, I wouldn’t blame you.’

  ‘Nothing’s happened,’ Holly sniffed. ‘I don’t feel well.’

  ‘In what way?’

  ‘My stomach hurts.’

  ‘Do you want me to get you some painkillers?’

  ‘No.’

  Tutting, Josie stood up, saying, ‘Suit yourself, but you’re not staying in here all day, so get up.’

  ‘I don’t want to,’ Holly moaned.

  ‘Don’t argue. It’s not healthy.’

  ‘You do it.’

  ‘Excuse me, lady,’ Josie snapped. ‘I work nights, so I’m entitled to sleep when I come home. What’s your excuse?’

  ‘I haven’t got one,’ Holly said contritely, wishing she’d kept that last thought to herself. ‘Sorry.’

  ‘So you should be,’ Josie grumbled. ‘Now I’m awake, I might as well get dressed,’ she added as she headed for the door. ‘And you’d better be up by the time I’ve finished.’

  Cursing herself for making a racket and waking her mum, Holly kicked the duvet off and flopped over onto her back. She lay there until she heard her mum going to the bathroom a few minutes later, then reluctantly got up and shuffled into the living room.

  An old black-and-white film was playing when she turned the TV on, and she was flicking through the channel guide in search of something better when her mum walked in.

  ‘Leave this on,’ Josie said. ‘I love that film.’

  ‘It looks rubbish,’ Holly complained. ‘Can’t w
e watch Catfish, or Friends or something?’

  ‘No, they’re all repeats,’ Josie said, going into the kitchen and coming back with a glass of water. ‘Give it a chance, you’ll love it.’

  ‘Bet I don’t,’ Holly muttered under her breath as she curled up at the end of the sofa.

  ‘That bloke went missing after his plane crashed,’ Josie said, pointing her glass at a miserable-looking man on the screen. ‘She was his wife’ – another point – ‘and she was going off her head trying to find out what had happened to him. Women didn’t earn much in those days and she was struggling, so she married someone else. But then some explorers found her old hubby living with the natives on an island and brought him home, so now she doesn’t know if her new marriage is legal or . . .’

  Already bored, Holly tuned her mum out and stared unseeing at the screen as her thoughts turned back to the argument she’d had with Julie. She mentally re-ran the whole thing from start to finish, adding the cutting comebacks she wished she’d been quick enough to deliver at the time and visualizing herself beating the bitch to a pulp. She hated Julie and couldn’t understand why Bex had started dressing like her and having sleepovers at her place. And as for them calling everyone babes, it was pathetic. They were pathetic, and she hated them both.

  Only she didn’t. Not Bex, anyway. They were best mates – or so she’d thought.

  ‘You haven’t been listening to a word I’ve said, have you?’

  ‘What?’ Holly snapped out of her thoughts and blinked at her mum, who was walking in from the kitchen, the glass, now refilled, still in her hand.

  ‘I asked if you fancied going into town for a mooch around the charity shops when the film’s finished?’ Josie said, flopping down beside her. ‘See if we can get you some new trainers.’

  Holly shook her head. She knew her mum was trying to cheer her up, but it wasn’t going to work. Bex’s betrayal had cut her to the core and she was never going to get over it.

  ‘OK, we’ll stay in then,’ Josie said. ‘It’s been ages since we’ve spent a whole day together, hasn’t it?’

  ‘Mmmm.’

  ‘I’ve been meaning to take some time off, but we’re understaffed so I can’t just yet.’