The Good Neighbour (18 page)

Minette didn’t know what to say. Things in Davey’s life were clearly pretty complicated. ‘Do you, uh, do you want to see your dad?’

‘Yes.’ The dark eyes held hers.

‘I’m sure you will soon.’

‘Mum doesn’t want us to.’

‘Oh. I’m sure she has good reasons.’

Davey didn’t reply. Then Minette’s phone rang, and she saw that it was Cath. Or Cath’s number at least – maybe the nurse again? She sent Davey to the downstairs bathroom to do his teeth, and answered the call.

‘Cath?’

‘Yes. Just woke up about ten minutes ago.’

‘How you feeling?’

‘I’m all right, lass. How are the kids?’

‘They’re absolutely fine. I’m round your place with them. Lola’s in bed and …’

‘God, isn’t Gina there? The nurse said you were going to phone her.’

‘I did, but she’s in Sheffield. She’s coming back here tomorrow.’

‘Oh god, oh god, I thought she was back. They won’t let me out tonight.’ Cath sounded quite panicked.

‘Don’t worry, I’ll sleep here. I’ve already made up the spare bed.’

‘You can’t stay there, Minette.’

‘Course I can. It’s all sorted. Abe’s with Tilly.’

‘Davey and Lola will be perfectly all right on their own. Go home.’

‘What are you talking about? I can’t leave two small children in the house alone. I think it’s illegal. Anyway, I don’t want to! I’m really happy to be here. It’s not putting me out at all.’

In a voice Minette barely recognised, Cath said, ‘I’m not talking about putting you out, Minette. I’m telling you, I don’t want you staying there.’

What the hell was going on today? Minette took the phone away from her ear and stared at it, as though it was a live snake.

‘Hello? You still there?’

‘Yes, Cath, just about.’

‘Look. I’m going to ring Gina, see if she can get there tonight.’

‘You’re being bizarre. Even if she left Sheffield now and drove like the clappers, she wouldn’t get here till about midnight.’

‘That’s fine. I’ll get her to do that. Honestly, it’s all right. Please leave, you can leave.’

Cath hung up, and Minette shook her head, breathless with disbelief. She went to say good night to Davey. He was lying under the duvet reading the Moira book to himself. She had no idea how he’d got himself out of the chair, which was parked next to the bed, but presumably he was an expert at this.

‘That was your mum. She, um, she seems to be feeling better.’

‘OK.’ Those dark eyes again! Minette searched for something neutral to say.

‘I like that.’ She pointed to a large US flag, which hung on the wall above Davey’s bed. ‘Have you been to America?’

‘No. We’ve got relatives there. I thought we were going there when we left Gina’s but we came here.’

‘Oh, well, maybe you’ll visit there some day. I’ve been to New York, I loved it.’

‘Have you got photos?’

‘Loads. I can show you them tomorrow if you like.’

‘Yes, thank you.’

‘Well, night then, love.’

As she got to the door, Davey said, ‘You are staying here, aren’t you?’

Minette wondered if he’d overheard her conversation with Cath.

‘Of course! I’ll be in your spare room. If you need me, can you get into the hall and shout up?’

‘Yes. Night.’

She went upstairs to check on Lola, who was already asleep on her back, arms flung wide, the panda lying on her chest. Christ, Cath must have had a massive bump to the head to think that her children could be left alone at night! Minette heard her phone ringing in the kitchen and hurried down.

‘Minette, I’m very worried. I spoke to Gina and she said you’d rung Andy.’

Christ. ‘Yes, I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to do at the time.’

‘Gina doesn’t think he can trace your address. She’s really good at that stuff. So it looks like we’re safe, for now.’

‘Listen Cath, I’m sorry I rang him, but I had no idea that things were so bad between you.’

‘I know. I promise I’ll explain, when I get out of here. Anyway, Gina’s too sloshed to drive, so she’ll come tomorrow. But as I said before, there’s no need for you to stay.’ Cath’s voice was light, as if her tone would detract from the oddness of what she was saying. Minette realised how easily she always accepted Cath’s pronouncements, perhaps because of the confidence with which she delivered them. Even now, she had to fight all her natural instincts not to comply with an authoritative voice; she could almost hear herself saying, ‘Of course, Cath, I’ll leave them on their own if you say that’s OK.’

Instead she answered, ‘And as I said before, I will of course stay.’

There was a pause. ‘I don’t want you to, OK?’

‘I hear you, but I don’t think you’re quite in your right mind. No offence.’ Minette spoke calmly, as if to a child. ‘So I will spend the night, and we can talk tomorrow.’

‘Minette, please don’t make me order you to leave my house.’

Minette laughed, it was so ridiculous. Who was this person? ‘How you going to do that, Cath?’ She added quickly, ‘You’re clearly concussed. Both kids are in bed and fine. Don’t worry about anything, Cath, OK? Get some sleep. Bye.’ Minette didn’t wait for an answer, just turned her phone off. She felt as though she’d stepped into a bizarre through-the-looking-glass world, where nothing was quite as it seemed.

There was a knock on the front door. Fuck, what now? Suppose it was Andy? She peeped through the glass and saw it was Liam.

‘Didn’t you get my text?’ she said, opening the door.

‘Nice to see you, too. Can I come inside?’ He smiled at their private joke, but Minette didn’t smile back. She tapped on Davey’s door, not wanting him to worry, and said, ‘It’s just Liam from next door, come to see how we’re getting on.’

‘OK,’ Davey said.

She followed Liam into the kitchen. ‘This is sexy, like having your boyfriend round while you’re babysitting,’ he said. ‘So, what’s happened to Cath, then?’

‘A bike accident. They said it wasn’t that bad, but I’m just off the phone to her and she was saying some pretty weird stuff.’

‘I knew cycling was bad for the health. Least we won’t have to pony up the sponsor money now.’

‘Is that really your first thought?’

He held up his hands. ‘Joke!’

‘Hilarious. Anyway, I’m doing the triathlon too, remember.’

‘I remember.’ He put his arms round her and drew her in close. ‘I expect you look super-hot in your Lycra.’ He ran his hands round her waist, started trying to undo the button on her jeans. She pushed him away. ‘I’m not feeling it, Liam. I’m worried about Cath’s kids.’

‘Aw, they’re not going to say anything.’

‘I don’t mean that, I mean …’

‘Come here.’ Liam pulled her towards him, and kissed her on the mouth gently, then more forcefully. She wanted to pull away, then she didn’t. God, whatever it was he did to her, it was bloody addictive. She thought of Cath saying ‘he’s your animus’. She whispered, ‘Davey’s in the room next door.’

‘Well, let’s go upstairs,’ Liam said, smiling. ‘He can’t exactly come up and disturb us, can he?’

‘I’m not enjoying your sense of humour this evening, Liam.’

‘I can see that, Mrs Po-Face. But look, I’ll be starting my course in a couple of months. Me and Josie are away half of July. We ought to carpe diem, oughtn’t we?’

Minette knew he was right, but she couldn’t completely shake her head of Davey and Lola. Liam undid a button on her shirt, and slipped his hand inside her bra. She shivered.

‘What happened to “we’ll all be dead in a hundred years”?’ he said.

‘Yes, fuck it, let’s do it.’ She let him lead her upstairs, push her onto the spare bed, and gently undress her. She lay passive while he moved down the bed and began kissing her inner thigh; soon his tongue flicked inside her and she felt herself grow warm, her whole body opening up to him. She closed her eyes, let the sensations wash over her.

When they crept downstairs, Minette looked in on Davey. To her relief, he was asleep; she could hear his steady breathing. Liam said he’d better split and she didn’t argue. She closed the door quickly behind him, then locked it and turned her phone back on. There was a text from Abe sent at eight forty, which she quickly answered, so there wasn’t a huge delay, and a long text from Cath saying that Minette should ‘respect her wishes and leave the children be, they didn’t need fussing’. Fussing? To have an adult in the house at night? Minette wondered just how well she really knew Cath.

Despite her afternoon nap, Minette felt shattered. Though it was still early she went upstairs intending to sleep. But then she saw that Cath’s bedroom door was unlocked. On those occasions she’d stayed here with Liam she’d noticed that it had always been padlocked on the outside. The padlock was there, but hanging open on its chain. Presumably Cath had left it unlocked, thinking she’d be coming right back after her cycle ride. Before she could think too hard Minette opened the door and went in.

It was an ordinary room. Bed, wardrobe, bureau. A closed laptop was sitting on top of the chest of drawers. Minette tried to open the bureau but it was locked. Cath was into her security, clearly. Minette couldn’t bring herself to open drawers, nor search through Cath’s computer. What was she even looking for? Then she noticed what looked like a small fridge, sitting underneath the bureau. Weird, having a fridge in your bedroom. Maybe Cath liked that hotel touch. Minette pulled at the handle and opened the lid, releasing a great blast of freezing steam. Wow, it was cold in there – much colder than her freezer at home. She peered in, waving the steam away. All that was in it was a test-tube rack, the sort Minette remembered from science lessons. It was stacked with small glass vials. Cath pulled one out, but it was far too cold to hold, the sort of cold that can burn. She laid the vial down hastily on top of the bureau and carefully wiped the condensation off it with a tissue. It contained a dark red substance, blood, presumably. It must be something to do with one or other of the children’s conditions. Weird thing to keep in your bedroom. Using the hem of her top to hold it Minette replaced the vial, shut the freezer and went out. After a moment’s thought, she locked the padlock around the chain. Then she went into the spare room, slipped into the sex-scented sheets and fell asleep straight away, worn out by the strangeness of the day.

Four in the morning. A noise. Minette sat up in bed, straining to hear. Oh god, there it was again. Someone was moving about downstairs. There was a coldness in her throat. A burglar? Or maybe Andy had found them. Jesus. Come on Minette, get a grip. Most likely just Davey using the downstairs toilet. She turned on the torch app on her phone, and padded quietly downstairs. Yes, she could see the light on underneath the loo door.

Something made her look in Davey’s room, and her heart thudded into her mouth; though it was dark, she could clearly see that his wheelchair was still by the bed. Fuck. It wasn’t him in the toilet. She remembered that scene from
Pulp Fiction
when Bruce Willis goes back to his flat to get his father’s watch, and realises that someone – John Travolta, it turns out – has broken in and is using his toilet. Bruce had a massive machine gun to deal with that situation, whereas all Minette could find in the hall was a long-handled umbrella. Clutching it, she sat on the stairs, where she could see the person who was going to come out of the loo before they saw her. If not Andy, perhaps it was Cath, absconded from hospital, come to throw Minette out. But the front door hadn’t been opened, the bolt was still slid across. So someone might have come in the back door. Minette trembled, from a combination of cold and fear, realising she stupidly hadn’t checked it was locked. The umbrella shook in her hand and she dropped it. Realistically, what was she going to do with it anyway? Even if it was Andy, who she had recast in her mind as a tall, bullet-headed neo-Nazi, she wouldn’t be able to hit him or run him through with it. She had never hit anyone in her life.

The toilet flushed, and she stared at the door, every bit of her tense and alert. The door opened, and out stepped … Davey.

Minette had never been so astonished in her life.

Davey didn’t see her at first. He was walking, unsteadily yes, but walking nonetheless, making his way back to his room. Then he saw her and stopped dead, rooted to the spot.

There was a moment’s silence. They stared at each other.

He said, ‘Don’t tell Mum.’

‘Don’t tell Mum?’ Minette repeated. She stood, spreading her arms towards him. ‘But of course we must tell her! She’ll be so excited! How long have you been able to …’ Her voice died away, because she was starting to understand what he meant. Those steady, dark, sad eyes.

‘She knows,’ he said.

She knows.

Minette stepped forward and took him in her arms. He felt small and vulnerable as he leaned into her, his arms loose at his sides. She wished she could think of a different interpretation for his words. Quietly, gently, she said, ‘Davey, do you mean, don’t tell Mum I saw you walk?’

He nodded, a tiny movement of his head against her chest, barely there. She thought he might be crying. They stood together in silence for a couple of minutes. Minette’s mind was racing, slamming into brick walls at every turn. At last she said, ‘You’d better go back to bed. You’re cold.’

‘OK.’ He stepped back, not looking at her. He
had
been crying. ‘Night.’ He went into his room and shut the door.

Minette sat on her bed, unable to think straight. She tried to work it out, went over every possibility. This, then, was why Cath had been so dementedly against her staying the night; she was terrified that Minette might find this out. Did that mean that Gina knew? Or would Davey have been more careful to hide the truth from Gina? Minette knew she would have to confront Cath. But how could she, without giving Davey away?

It was starting to get light. She got back into bed and lay on her back, thinking. But by the time Lola awoke, at six thirty, Minette had still got no further in deciding what she should do.

THE BRUISE ON
her right leg still ached, her shoulders were stiff, and she’d had another lousy night. Up to check on the children four times, finally falling into a horrible sleep, full of escalators that went down when she wanted to go up. But the triathlon was only just over a week off, and it was looking more important than ever that she do it, and do it well. She knew, from her 10Ks and other events, that a surprisingly large number of donations came in afterwards, when people saw the publicity.