Tangled Lives (23 page)

Would Daniel do that? Had she got him so wrong? Marsha wondered.

‘Have you told Ed?’

Emma shook her head. ‘I can’t tell him. He must never know, he’d go absolutely mental.’

‘You can’t just ignore what’s happened, Emms. Where’s Daniel now?’

‘No idea. I’ve been sitting downstairs for ages, not daring to wake you.’

Marsha got out of bed. ‘I need to speak to him.’

‘No … no, don’t do that. Nobody can find out, specially not Ed. Please, Mash … don’t.’ She clutched onto Marsha’s T-shirt.

‘I mean Daniel, not Ed. I need to hear what Daniel has to say for himself.’

Marsha gently prised her friend’s fingers from the cloth, grabbed her cotton dressing gown from the chair and crossed the corridor to knock on her half-brother’s
bedroom door. There was no response, so she knocked again, louder this time. She heard a muffled groan and pushed open the door.

Daniel’s head rose a small way from his pillow. ‘Marsha?’

She went into the room and closed the door behind her, standing at a distance from the bed. ‘Daniel … we need to talk.’

He blinked sleepily, but sat up at once, pushing his auburn hair back from his face. ‘What’s happened?’

‘Don’t you know?’

He shook his head. ‘Know what?’

‘Emma? Ring any bells?’

‘Sorry …?’

‘Daniel, Emma’s in my room right now, almost hysterical, saying you came on to her and would have raped her if she hadn’t threatened to scream and wake the whole house.’

He gaped, hauling himself out of bed until he was sitting on the edge in his T-shirt and shorts. He didn’t speak for a moment, then held his hands up.

‘Listen, I’d never have told anyone this, it wouldn’t be fair … she was so drunk. But it was Emma who came on to me, not the other way round. I had to push her off. She was really out of it, Marsha. I didn’t take it seriously.’

‘So you didn’t force her to kiss you, touch her breasts?’

Daniel looked horrified. ‘Christ! Of course not. Is that what she’s saying?’ His expression was beseeching. ‘I’d never do a thing like that – come on to Ed’s girlfriend
when he’s upstairs sick – or at any other time for that matter. Marsha, you know I wouldn’t. It’d be crazy in my situation …’

Those were Marsha’s own thoughts exactly. Why would he jeopardise his relationship with all of us like that? Her head spun. Who could she believe? she wondered.

‘Does Ed know?’ Daniel asked quietly.

She shook her head. ‘Not yet. But she can’t not tell him.’

Daniel threw his hands up in frustration. ‘But it’s not true! I didn’t touch her.’

‘There are the beginnings of bruises on both her arms.’

‘Yeah … well, that might have been me, I suppose. I was trying to hold her off.’

‘But why would she lie?’

He shook his head. ‘I have no idea.’

‘She’s in a terrible state, Daniel. She was pretty bloody convincing.’

‘Marsha, I DIDN’T DO IT. You have to believe me.’ He stared at her desperately. And, looking into his eyes, she could see no trace of guilt.

Marsha sat with Lucy, both cross-legged on the grass in the garden.

‘Thank God you’re here,’ Lucy said. ‘They’ll be home in a minute.’

‘Yeah, well, they weren’t too happy about it at work, but I couldn’t let you do this on your own.’

It was Marsha who heard the front door. ‘Here we go!’

‘You tell them,’ Lucy whispered, then leant back on her elbows as if she was trying to seem relaxed.

‘Hi, darlings!’ Her mother came out onto the terrace. ‘I didn’t expect to find either of you here. What a nice surprise.’

They both jumped to their feet.

‘Mum … hi.’ Marsha could see at once that her mother had clocked something in her expression – she was looking at her so intently.

Lucy gave her mother a hug.

‘Sorry. Did I startle you?’ Annie asked.

Marsha shook her head and put on a bright smile. ‘Uh, yeah, I was miles away. How was Cousin Enid?’ She kissed her father.

‘Her usual amazing self,’ he replied.

‘Is Daniel in?’ her mother asked, as her dad moved off to put the kettle on.

‘Marsha?’

Marsha took a long breath. Sunday morning had been a nightmare. It’d all blown up as soon as Emma told Ed what had happened. Marsha had been getting dressed when she heard the rumpus outside her door. She’d found them all in the corridor.

‘You fucking bastard!’ Ed was shouting. ‘Who the fuck do you think you are? You barge into our lives and think you’re fucking God. How dare you? I should fucking kill you.’

‘Eddie, stop it, Ed …’ Emma was screaming hysterically. Marsha watched in horror as her brother suddenly pushed Daniel violently in the chest. He held a handful of Daniel’s shirt in his right hand, his closed fist up under Daniel’s chin, his other hand pinning his half-brother’s shoulder to the corridor wall. She saw the watercolour of Leeds Castle clunk sideways in the fracas.

Lucy emerged from her room on the other side of the corridor. She was still in her pyjamas. ‘Guys! What the hell’s going on?’

Marsha stepped forward and grabbed her brother by the arm.

‘For Christ’s sake, Ed. Get off him.’

Ed spun round. ‘Oh, take his side, why don’t you? He’s only fucking nearly raped my girlfriend, and you’re standing up for him.’

Daniel, looking pale and shocked, shook himself and stepped back, his arms held up defensively. ‘Look … I promise I didn’t touch her,’ he said, his voice flat.

‘Yeah … well, you would say that, wouldn’t you?’ Ed sneered.

Emma was crying again. Marsha saw her try to take her boyfriend’s hand, but he brushed her off angrily. Marsha thought how absurd she looked, done up like that in broad daylight. But she also looked a proper mess. She could see why Ed was upset – something must have happened.

‘Ed, please, let’s go upstairs. I need to change … please, come with me,’ Emma begged through her tears.

Ed was still glowering at Daniel, but Emma managed to pull him away and upstairs to the parents’ room. Marsha went down to the kitchen with Lucy and Daniel. The place was a mess, and Marsha, still in her pink dressing gown, began silently emptying the scattered paper cups of any wine dregs and throwing them into a black plastic bin bag.

Daniel just stood outside on the deck, his arms folded tight across his chest, staring out across the garden.

‘Mash,’ Lucy whispered, ‘what happened? What did Daniel do to Emms?’

She gave her a tired, clipped account.

‘Wow! Do you think he did it?’ Lucy cast a glance at the tall, still figure of her half-brother.

Marsha shrugged. ‘Who fucking knows?’

‘If he didn’t, then why would she make something like that up?’ Lucy asked.

Daniel turned and came back into the kitchen, his feet bare on the tiles. He glanced between her and Lucy. ‘I swear on my dead mother’s life that I never touched Emma last night, except to push her off. She was very drunk and she came on to me. There was nothing I could’ve done to stop her.’

‘Well, Ed believes her.’ Marsha shook her head, bewildered. One of them was lying.

Daniel looked oddly hopeful. ‘But you don’t?’

She hesitated. Emma was her best friend. Could she take his side over Emma’s? Did she want to?

‘I don’t know what to think,’ Marsha muttered finally, turning away to look for more debris.

‘I think I’d better leave.’

‘Leave?’ Lucy asked, surprised.

‘It’s best if I do. I don’t want to cause any more trouble. If I’m not here, maybe things’ll calm down.’

Marsha immediately thought of her mother. ‘Please don’t go, Daniel. Not without seeing Mum. She’ll freak if you’re not here.’

‘She’ll freak anyway,’ he replied, his expression darkening at the thought.

Lucy looked at her sister. ‘Mash?’

‘I don’t know …’ Marsha stared blankly at Daniel. ‘I don’t have a clue what’s best.’

She remembered Ed and Emma upstairs.

‘Maybe it’d be better if you weren’t here when they come down,’ she told him. ‘I don’t want Ed attacking you again.’

Daniel nodded. ‘I’ll go.’ But he looked bewildered and she felt sorry for him.

‘I’m sure we can work this out,’ she said, without much conviction. And he shrugged an acknowledgement.

‘Thanks.’

‘Where will you go?’ Marsha asked.

‘Oh … a friend, I suppose.’

‘Umm … Daniel’s not here,’ Marsha answered her mother now. ‘I’ll do the tea, Dad, you sit down. You must be
knackered after that drive.’ She hurried over to the sink. ‘Go and sit in the sunshine, I’ll bring it out.’

She looked out to see her mother sink gratefully onto the padded lounger and heard her say, ‘Great to be home!’

‘She’s not going to think it’s so great when we tell her the good news,’ Marsha muttered to Lucy as they got the tea ready.

‘You tell them … you’re better at it than me,’ Lucy begged.

‘Better at what? I’ve never done anything like this before in my fucking life. And never want to do it again, for that matter.’

Lucy took the tea and cups out on a tray. Marsha followed with a plate of chocolate digestive biscuits. Her father grinned up at her from his lounger.

‘You don’t appear to have wrecked the place. Can’t have been a very good party!’

She and Lucy sat patiently while their mother and father regaled them with stories about the weekend. They laughed in all the right places, but Marsha wasn’t really listening. Her brain toiled round and round the night of the party, but could find no satisfactory resolution.

Ed and Emma hadn’t stayed on Sunday, just taken off without a word – they must have thought Daniel was still downstairs. So she hadn’t seen them to talk. She’d tried her brother’s number, but he’d been almost curt with her. ‘She’s surviving. She wants to stay with me tonight,’ he’d told her, clearly wanting to get off the phone.

‘Go on,’ Lucy mouthed, catching her eye and smiling sweetly.

Her mother had clocked the look between them and raised her eyebrows at Marsha. ‘Darling? Is something the matter?’

Marsha knew it was down to her, and took a moment to decide what to say.

‘Uh … OK. This is a bit tricky …’ She paused. Her parents looked at her expectantly, but she could see her mother was already frowning. She ploughed on. ‘There was a bit of a set-to after the party on Saturday night. Emma accused Daniel of coming on to her. Well, more than coming on to her, really sexually harassing her and —’

‘No!’ Her mother interrupted her. ‘No. I don’t believe it.’

‘Let her finish,’ Richard said quietly.

‘There isn’t much more. Daniel denied it, of course. Ed – who’d been sick and hadn’t come to the party – tried to hit him when he heard. Ed and Emma won’t talk to us and stayed at Ed’s last night. And, well, Daniel thought it best that he leave.’ She took a deep breath as the dismal litany ended.

Annie gasped. ‘This is complete rubbish! Daniel would never do a thing like that. What are you saying? Has he really left?’

‘Mum, for one thing, we didn’t want Ed going for him again,’ Lucy chipped in. ‘He’s gone to stay with a friend. Until things calm down.’

‘Christ.’ This from her dad.

‘You don’t believe him, do you?’ Her mother was staring at her and Lucy. She was really pale suddenly.

Marsha sighed. ‘I don’t know what to think. I find it hard to believe Daniel capable of doing it, and, bottom line, it would be daft for him to behave like that under our roof, surely. But Emms was in a bad way, Mum. You should have seen her, she was terribly upset. And none of us can work out why she would make up something so horrible.’

‘It’s obvious, isn’t it?’ Her mother looked furious. ‘She’s protecting Ed. She knows he’s had his nose put out of joint over Daniel, so she’s made up this ridiculous story so that Daniel will be disgraced and chucked out of the family and Ed won’t have to put up with him any more.’

‘Mum! Are you saying Emms actually
planned
this? That she’s deliberately smeared Daniel’s name? She’d never,
ever
do something so vicious.’

‘She wouldn’t, Mum,’ Lucy added, her voice indignant. ‘I know she can be a pain, and a flirt. But no way is she that wicked.’

Her mother seemed to accept this. ‘No, well, maybe not planned it. But how do you explain her behaviour then? Because Daniel did not come on to that girl. To Ed’s girlfriend? You can’t believe that.’

Marsha felt her hackles rise. She’s taking his side without even finding out the facts. Not that there were any to find out, only versions, but still, she might be a bit less obviously on Daniel’s side.

‘You weren’t there, Mum. You have no idea what happened. None of us have. You can’t know for sure that Daniel isn’t somehow to blame.’

‘No, you can’t.’ She was glad her dad agreed.

‘Sorry, but I can. I don’t care what any of you tell me, Daniel … did … not … attack Emma.’

Marsha glanced at Lucy.

‘Lucy?’ Her mother was pinning her sister with a ferocious stare and Marsha could see Lucy wavering.

‘I’m with Mash, Mum. I think it’s really super-unlikely that Daniel would do something like that. But it doesn’t make sense. Maybe he did a bit … maybe they were both drunk … and then Emms got freaked and, like, exaggerated? I don’t know …’

But her mother wasn’t having it. ‘She’s lying. Look at her track record, girls. She’s regularly stolen other people’s boyfriends. Had an affair – aged fifteen – with her maths teacher. Run two men at once, basically acted any way she felt like at the time, with no thought for anyone else’s feelings? Why would you trust her?’

‘Annie,’ Richard said, ‘you’ve known Emma since she was a child, and Daniel for about ten minutes. OK, her reputation’s not great, we all know that. But can you be certain that she’s the one in the wrong here? What you’re accusing her of is very serious.’

‘Yes, and it’s precisely
because
I’ve known Emma for so long that I can see what she’s doing. You know quite well – you’ve said it yourself often enough in the past,
Richard – that girl is capable of anything when it comes to men.’

‘I know she isn’t altogether to be trusted with guys, Mum,’ Marsha said. ‘Even though she’s my best friend – in fact Emma herself would agree with you. But this is a step too far, don’t you think? I just can’t believe she would make us think that about Daniel if there isn’t at least
some
truth in it.’ She couldn’t forget the admiring glance he’d cast at her friend at the party.