by Mary Jaine
Freddy hugged me, which made my skin crawl, and, as expected, he took far too long about it; I had to literally push him off and unlatch his hands from around my waist. People passing on their way out of the station obviously thought we were boyfriend/girlfriend, smiling as they passed, but all I wanted was his clammy hands off me, and, after a struggle, I managed to get him off me. He looked pleased to see me, but that leer was still there in his smile. I didn't like the look of it at all.
"We can share a taxi, sis!" he proclaimed, dragging me over to the cab I'd hailed; I'd rather have slathered my head in pork fat and stuck my face in the Hyena cage at the zoo, but I had no choice; he had hold of my hand and already had the door of the black cab open, literally pushing me in and tossing my shoulder-bag in after me. He had no luggage, which told me he'd been here a while; he'd probably been holed-up at the school, and the scabrous little reptile had been lurking at the station, waiting for me to show up.
I had no choice but to wait until we arrived at the school; Harry's sister was waiting for me, and the two of us could give Freddy the slip, or, if it came to it, slap the snot out of him, so I relaxed. After a while, though, I noticed we weren't anywhere near the school; we were at Claremont Bank, outside The Dingle, the park in the centre of Shrewsbury. Freddy was looking really pleased with himself, so I thought I'd wait and see what verminous little scheme he was working on now.
We jumped out of the cab and I decided that now was the time for answers.
"Okay Freddy, what the hell's going on, and why are we here?"
He just grinned, trying to look wise, but only succeeding in looking constipated. I went along with him as he led me through the gates of the park, to the bench outside the Gate-Lodge. Once we were seated, I turned to him once again.
"I repeat, just what the hell is going on, Freddy?"
Freddy fidgeted and fumbled for a few seconds, until I lost patience.
"Freddy!"
He started at that, then relaxed.
"Er, look, Lin, it's...it's like this; you know I fancy you, have for ages, and I know you don't like me all that much (no shit, really, Einstein?), but...there's someone I like and before I y'know...make a proper move on her I just wanted to know; is there any chance we could...you know...just once, even just to know for sure..."
He trailed-off at the look of disgusted amazement on my face, then slumped back as I laughed out loud; me, with creepy Freddy? Not in this life, not ever, no way, uh-uh, nein, non, nope; yuk, and again, yuk!
Freddy's face worked as I laughed, partly at the absurdity of his suggestion, partly at the thought of him succeeding with a girl who wasn't drugged, comatose, or both, and partly out of nervousness at being alone with him now he'd made his intentions so clear.
I guess I should have been watching him more closely; I suppose, deep down inside, I never, ever believed him capable of what he did next, which was to pounce on me, his hands all over me, but concentrating on my boobs, squeezing with one hand while he held the back of my neck with the other, and slowly but surely forcing my face closer to his. All the while he was muttering furiously.
"You little fucking bitch, you know what you do to me, you know you want this, you're gonna get what you want now, you little cock-teasing slut...! On and on he muttered, squeezing my boobs really painfully while trying to kiss me. At first he had the upper hand, but gradually I began to pull away from him; playing hockey and netball actually does keep you fit; I realised I was stronger than my puny little nose-picker of a twin brother, and with a sudden heave I managed to break free of him.
Of course now I wasn't scared anymore; now I was bloody furious, and as he tried to reach for me again, I gave him the punch Andy had drilled into me when I was still a little girl; fist clenched tight, wrist straight and in-line with my forearm, forearm tense; 'punch like Mike Tyson', he'd say, 'not like a girl! Follow it through, Lin, if you're going to sock someone, do it properly, and you won't have to do it again!'
All of that came back, and my whole shoulder went into it, smacking into his left eye with a satisfying thud, and dropping him like a bad habit. I jumped up, blood in my eyes, fully prepared to ram a stiletto heel into his noisesome crotch and make him hop around like Quasimodo on a hotplate.
"No, no, please, Lin, no, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...!" he burbled, which probably saved his life; I was ready to kill him; the fucking nerve of him!
"Please, Lin, don't tell anyone, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I was just kidding...!" he kept on, almost whining now, but I still hadn't had my pound of flesh.
"You listen to me, you disgusting article!" I hissed, "when I get to the school, I'm going straight to Andy and telling him what you did; if you're lucky, he'll kill you; I hope you get what you deserve, I hope Andy pounds you flat and uses you to wipe up the blood! If you ever come near me again, speak to me, call me, write to me, or come within a mile of me, I'm telling Andy, understand? Now piss off out of my sight!"
As I backed up to the bench to retrieve my bag, not wanting to take my eyes off the little maggot, I backed into someone; I looked over my shoulder into the face of Jack Fineman, one of Andy's classmates, and one person I didn't want to meet like this; something about him had always made me uneasy.
"What's going on here, a lover's tiff, perhaps?" he grinned, and it wasn't a pleasant grin. He wrapped his arm around me to steady me, and when I tried to wriggle free, his grip tightened.
"Naughty, naughty, Freddy-boy, with your own sister, too, how sick is that?" he sneered, and suddenly I was afraid all over again; the last thing I wanted right now, or any time soon, was Jack Fineman hugging me.
Jack nudged Freddy with his foot.
"Clear off, you little snot, your sister and I want to be alone!"
And Freddy left; he actually left me alone with that creep! The little shit scrambled to his feet and loped off without a backward glance. Now I was in trouble, no brother to help me, not even Feeble Freddy, how buggered was I?
Fineman spun me around so we were face to face, almost lip to lip, his smile even more unpleasant close up. When he spoke, the note of triumph in his voice made my skin crawl.
"Tell you what we're going to do, Miss High-And-Mighty, Trust-Fund Princess; my place isn't too far away, we're going there now, and we'll have some fun, then you can go back to whatever it is you do; if you want to play hard to get, be my guest; of course, then the whole school is going to find out how I saw you fucking your scrawny weed brother in a public park; let's see what Ugly Andy Edgeworth has to say when the world finds out what a slut his precious, perfect little sister really is! Flip a coin, do whatever you like, Princess; the ball's in your court now, time to choose!"
He really shouldn't have called Andy 'Ugly'; that word snapped me out of my haze of fear and distress. Andy had shown me time and again what to do, and I did it almost instinctively. My right knee snapped up, connecting solidly with where I presume he kept his balls; all I saw were his nostrils flare and his eyes cloud over, and I swear his eardrums shot out of his head with a twanging noise.
His arms around me relaxed as he doubled over, and so, just to teach him the full lesson, I yanked my shoe off and conked him one as hard as I could with the steel-tipped stiletto heel; good old Jimmy C's, just the right amount of flex in the sole to give him the maximum benefit of the experience.
The creepy little shit dropped like a stone, vomited a couple of times all over himself, and then lay still. I checked. He was still breathing, unfortunately, so I went rummaging in the nearby flower bed for a half-brick or cobble-stone, because I was going to finish him off by bashing his slimy head in; unfortunately I couldn't find one, which is the only reason he's still alive today.
I looked around to see if anyone was in sight, but the park was empty at that time of the morning, so I stamped on him a couple of times, just to leave a few more 'JC' heel marks printed on his foul carcass, then left him there while I went looking for a cab. With any luck, a passing dog would piss on him, which should give hi
m a nice refreshing wash-down, considering what he was covered in.
As I called a cab I plotted further revenge on Jack Fineman; now I knew why Andy and the others had called him 'Slimy', which I had always thought was a cruel nickname; now I knew better. Also, and as a final touch, now that my blood was up, I was going to find Freddy and laminate him all over his smelly little hideout, wherever that was, for abandoning me to a prize pervert like Jack Fineman.
By the time I got to the school, I'd cooled down a little, enough to swear off murdering Freddy, anyway; I was still debating what to do about Slimy Jack Fineman; supposing he did this again, to some other girl, one who didn't have someone like Andy to show them how to fight dirty? I was still pondering what to do next when the cab pulled into the school gates, and there was the lovely Harry, and his stunning half-Chinese sister. I'd met Sai Fong many times over the years; she was maybe a couple of years younger than me, and I'd known her since she'd started secondary school; she knew me well enough to instantly twig that something was wrong.
"Lin, what's the matter, what happened?" she murmured, taking in my generally mussed-up appearance and red face. I told her in a low voice what had happened, even the part with Freddy, and her face went very still.
"Lin, that's attempted rape, you do know that don't you? Jack Fineman tried to abduct you so he could rape you! I'm calling the police!"
I stopped her; there were no witnesses, Freddy had scarpered, he hadn't seen or heard anything, so it was my word against his; no, I knew a better, more immediate and much more satisfying way of dealing with him, and speak of the devil...
Andy drove in through the gate, in mother's E-Type Jag; she never drove it, and I doubt she cared he was driving it; at least it was getting some use, instead of gathering dust in the back of the garage. He slid to a halt near us, leaped out, and swept me up in a big hug; I hadn't seen him since Christmas, and I have to say, having him around, just holding me, felt better than any present he could give me.
"Lin, sweetheart, how are you, how's my favourite little sister!" he boomed, crushing me against his chest. I loved it when he did that; it was genuine affection that made him do it, not the hope of copping a crafty feel the way Freddy did, and having him there suddenly made my world feel like a much safer place.
Andy bear-hugged Sai Fong too, and she hugged him back just as affectionately.
"Hello Sai, where's Harry? I haven't heard from him all year, how is he?"
Sai smiled and pointed.
"He's over there, Andy, heading this way. How are you, big man?"
"Me? Working bloody hard, kiddo! Med school is like nothing on earth, believe me!"
Andy put his arms around both our shoulders and piloted us over to a gaggle of his friends. And there was the gorgeous Harry, looking even more handsome than I remembered him. I recalled Andy telling me once how some agency had tried to get him to model for them, but Harry had just laughed it off, and pointed them at David Denham, their friend on the rowing team, blond, gorgeous David, who'd also passed.
I didn't want him to let me go; suddenly, the circle of his arm felt like the best place in the world, so I hung on to him like grim death. He gave me a peculiar look, but didn't shrug me off; if anything he pulled me even closer. While I was chatting with Jack, Harry and David about uni and medical school (David was at St Giles' Medical School in London) I noticed Sai Fong whispering in Andy's ear, and I saw him go pale, then gradually redden as his lips tightened and his eyes narrowed; he was furious, I could tell, and for the first and only time in my life, I was scared of my big brother.
Andy deftly passed Sai Fong back to Harry, who seemed pleased to have her back, and urged me away from the group of boys, or young men, now, I suppose.
"Tell me what happened Lin, don't leave anything out; all of it, Lin, now!"
There was no way on God's earth I could disobey that tone, so I spilled it all: Freddy groping and cursing me, the punch that knocked him on his arse, Slimy and his disgusting little plan, and finally how I finished him off, which made Andy grin, although it was more a rictus than anything; right then he looked like the scariest man alive, but I wasn't scared now; it wasn't me who needed to hunt for cover, I knew that for sure.
"You're okay, baby-girl, you're sure? He didn't hurt you?" he asked, holding me at arm's-length and looking me directly in the eyes, so I stared right back and nodded.
"I'm sure, Andy, both of those little pricks got what they deserved, it's over!"
Andy stared at me for a few more seconds, then suddenly hugged me like he'd never done before; tight but really gentle, and I could feel his heart hammering.
"When I think what could have happened..." he whispered, and when I looked at him I was amazed to see tears in his eyes. On a sudden impulse, I hugged him, feeling his arms close around me again, making me safe again, and suddenly it was where I wanted to be forever. I'm sure he felt it too, as his hand gently stroked the small of my back, and so we hugged, oblivious to everyone around us.
Eventually I thought to let him go, feeling more than a little sand-bagged, and caught Sai Fong's eye; she smiled slightly and raised one eyebrow, then quickly winked before turning away to gaze raptly at Harry as he chatted with his friends.
"You know this isn't over..." murmured Andy, causing me to stare at him.
"Please Andy, no..." I began, but he shushed me.
"Reporting this isn't going to work; all he has to do is deny it; and what if he tries this again? No, I'm going to have a little private chat with him; where is that dick, anyway?"
A quick canvas of everyone revealed that no-one had seen either Slimy or Freddy; Sai whispered something to Harry, who pulled Andy to one side and had a quick confab with him, then went back to the others, while Andy once more took my arm.
"I told Harry what Slimy did, and warned him to keep an eye on Sai Fong; Slimy showed a lot of interest in her when she used to come up for Sports Day. Better safe than sorry, eh? Now we need to find that stunted half-wit Freddy; I can't believe he just left you like that; I'm going to kill him...no, I'm going to stamp him flat and nail him to the gates as a warning to others, the little shit; he's finally gone too far!"
I stuck close to Andy the rest of the day and through the buffet, which he seemed to appreciate; every time I looked up, it was to see his smile, and it was doing strange things to me; I'd blush and look down again, but not before I saw Andy blushing as well; after a while I realised we were flirting; low-key, to be sure, but flirting, nevertheless. But it didn't feel strange, or sick, or just plain revolting like it would if it was Freddy; it felt good, and warm, and nice.
In the general stir afterwards, as everyone circulated and chatted, Andy led me over to Sai Fong and Harry, with instructions to stay with them while he took care of something. I was afraid he was going hunting for Freddy, but he shook his head, reading my mind.
"It's okay, Lin, I just have to make a couple of calls; you stay here, I'll be back in a jiffy."
He disappeared for a few minutes, then came back shaking his head. I asked him what the matter was, and he grinned ruefully.
"I can't let you go back home this afternoon, not on the train by yourself, not with those two maggots on the loose, so I tried to get you a room at The Prince Rupert Hotel, but no luck; all their rooms are taken, ditto the Travelodge at Battlefield, and The Red Lion Hotel."
"I have a room booked at the Prince Rupert, because I'm playing in the testimonial match tomorrow, so, unless you can think of a better plan, you'll have to share my room, or, if you prefer, you can go home tonight to Cosford with Harry and Sai, and come back in the morning with Harry, then we can go home together after the match; what's your preference?"
There was no way I was letting Andy out of my sight; I felt safe with him, so I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
"I'm staying with my big brother tonight!" I breathed, watching his eyes as he started to blush, then grinned happily.
"I'm glad, Lin!" he murmured back, obviousl
y feeling that 'something' fizzing between us, the way I was.
The rest of the afternoon and evening was a blur for me, because my head was full of thoughts of Andy; I now knew I really fancied him, but not in the way I'd had crushes on Harry, or Big Jack Cameron, or David Denham, pretty-boys all; this was a lot more definite, something deep down inside me telling me that this was what I really wanted, but now I was old enough to do something about it.
That pulled me up short; just what exactly did I want to do about it, anyway? Echo answereth not, so I pondered, and thought, and pondered some more, until the answer that had been staring at me all day popped into view and flagged me down. I would do whatever it took to make sure Andy knew I wanted him, and if he wanted me too, well, here I was. It seemed like a plan, and it looked like working, too, if all those smouldering glances and electric thrills each time we touched was anything to go by.
PART 2:
We left the reception early; it had been a long day, and the fright I'd had earlier had really taken it out of me; Andy saw me flagging, so said his goodbyes and hustled me down to the car. Ever since I was a little girl I'd always liked being driven in mother's Jag; it was so 1960's glamorous, and Andy drove it through the cobbled streets with the ease of long familiarity; it almost felt surreal, with the juxtaposition of the sleek E-type growling softly through twisting medieval streets back to the hotel, like a scene from a 60's art film by a French auteur.
The Prince Rupert was a late medieval half-timbered building on Butcher Row, and Andy booked me in as his guest, then ordered supper for the two of us in the Dining Room. We chatted while we ate, catching-up with family stuff, the latest news from the absent parents, his adventures at Edinburgh, but somehow managing to not talk about that...thing now rearing its head between us.
