Broken Ties (Prequel to The Mentalist Series)

by Kenechi Udogu

when the summer holiday started, they had no reason to question the hours I spent out with my girlfriends. I hung out with them all the time so what was there to be suspicious about?

  There was one thing they should have noticed though. I was happy. Not just happy, but giddy happy. Crack up laughing on the street happy. Not that I wasn’t happy before Paul, it’s just, I hadn’t realised how guarded I’d been all those years, not being able to truly be myself with someone. I knew he didn’t like to talk about my parents, I didn’t either, but at least when I needed to vent, he listened. I wish I’d known how amazing it would feel to finally let out some of the emotions I’d been holding in for so long.

  The map idea had sounded a tad bit desperate and insane, even to me, but it actually worked. When Paul hadn’t taken one look at it, turned and run as fast as he could, I knew he wanted us to work as much as I needed us to. He’d even helped me refine it a little, suggesting a few other nodes to avoid as the weeks went by. Having restrictions on where we could meet turned out to be a warped blessing. Neither of us had explored the city past the circles we’d drawn, so hopping on buses and meeting at the other end of the city became a roundabout kind of adventure.

  Who knew there were so many obscure yet brilliant places lurking at the fringes of our little world? On our first week of roaming, we stumbled upon a cheap venue which held open mike nights for bands. Paul fell in love with the place the second he saw the line-up. Not long after, I found a street market for local artists and dragged him along every Saturday afternoon.

  Then there was the skateboarders’ rink at the bottom of a bridge where we went to watch kids fly into the air and occasionally break their jaws. The athlete in me was drawn to it, although I could tell Paul didn’t really enjoy going there. He grimaced every time we approached the bridge. He insisted it was okay whenever I suggested we go, but I could tell he spaced out like I did at the gigs we attended. Then again, he tended to space out a lot more than I did.

  Parks were great locations too. With dozens and dozens to choose from, we would find a good spot under a tree and never worry about any of the other loungers taking any notice of us. Unlike music venues and markets, an hour felt like a day in the tranquil solitude of a green space. Parks were definitely my favourite spots to hang out.

  My number one favourite thing? The way Paul always held on to me, like letting go would be the most painful thing imaginable. And his lips. I am not obsessed with kissing (maybe I am a little), but if someone was handing out awards for those, he’d win. Every single time. I know I might be coming across as dopey and overly into him, but it wasn’t really like that. Those weeks with him were kind of difficult to explain. No one had ever made me feel as content and as cherished as he did. Not even my parents.

  Sometimes, when I thought of how much I craved the warm cushion of his affection, a knot would twist away in my gut and wrench the wind out of me. How could the thought of losing one person fill me with so much dread? I wasn’t foolish about the future. I knew our summer romance might not survive the fast approaching school term, or he might get bored with me if some other more appealing distraction came along. That was what scared me the most. Not the thought of being caught, but thinking I could lose him to someone else.

  Whenever I felt that way, all I had to do was look into his eyes and any looming fears would melt away. He wasn’t going anywhere, yet. I might as well enjoy our time together as much as I could, before things changed.

  The summer wasn’t completely scare-free. We had our first dicey moment when Paul spotted his father coming out of a house as we strolled out of a park. Our hands automatically unlinked as we turned and headed in opposite directions, our heads hung so low, they were practically tucked into our armpits. Turns out he’d been called out of his usual work zone to fix a fallen shelf for an elderly client.

  And then there was the day I told David I was out with Theresa and she’d called the house because I wasn’t picking up my phone. Or the day I was certain I’d seen Cheung by a stall at the street market, but he hadn’t said anything to Paul so I must have been mistaken. Other than those few near misses, our summer was pretty much perfect.

  Until the day my world turned upside down.

  We were lying side by side in a fairly secluded park; the air had started to turn chilly again and I was wearing Paul’s jacket. He claimed he didn’t feel the cold as much as I did but the goose bumps sprouting on his exposed arms told a different story, so I slowly rubbed my hands up and down his arm to keep him warm. I hadn’t helped much by blowing a raspberry on his belly earlier on. He’d laughed and pecked my nose but I’d noticed him shudder. We should have given up on the park and gone to one of our indoor hideouts but the sun was still putting up a good fight and it felt like we’d be betraying its persistence if we abandoned it.

  When I felt Paul freeze under my touch, I didn’t think much of it until he scrambled up and stared past me with a mixture of what looked like horror and shame.

  Please, God, no!

  My first thought was that we had been caught. I was terrified that if I followed his gaze, I would find my father, or his, glaring at us. Worse still, Agnes. That was why I took much longer than I should have to sit up and turn around.

  No Agnes. No David. No Mr Colt.

  In fact, because of the drop in temperature, we were alone apart from two other brave couples who were much older than us. They were clearly not interested in anything we had to offer. A little way off, a heavyset guy sat on a bench. He could have been in his late teens or early twenties, I couldn’t tell from that distance. Nothing odd about him either, he wasn’t even looking at us. But Paul couldn’t take his eyes off him.

  “What’s wrong?” I had to ask because Paul wasn’t offering any explanation for his unusual behaviour.

  “Promise me you’ll never leave me.”

  That wasn’t what I had expected him to say, yet I sensed his distress wasn’t one to laugh off.

  “Why would you even …”

  “Please, Nora, just promise me.” The desperation in his eyes was chilling as he shifted his gaze from the guy on the bench back to me.

  I subconsciously reached for the green angel charm he’d bought for me as an addition to my bracelet. He’d jokingly said that if I wore it, he’d be with me all the time. Cheesy, but sweet. I almost never took it off. That thought was all the confirmation I needed to answer him.

  Taking a deep breath, I placed a hand on his lightly stubbly cheek to ensure his gaze didn’t wander. “I will never leave you. Not even if my heart stops beating. Because I’ll always be here,” my hand dropped to hover over his heart, “and here.” My other hand moved to his temple.

  The smile that wiped away his frown gave me hope I’d said the right thing. And I meant every word of it, with all my heart. I’d never been more certain of anything before. Saying it out loud somehow grounded what I’d felt all summer.

  Judging by the next thing he said, my words had been too convincing.

  “Then run away with me.”

  ELEVEN

  Paul

  “What?” The word came out in a drawn breath.

  “Run away with me.”

  Those weren’t the words which formed in my head but they were the ones I repeated to the startled girl in front of me. My eyes left her face and settled on the man once again. He still wasn’t looking our way but I knew what he was; who he was.

  “I don’t understand.”

  How could I explain the sudden stifling sense of loss that came over me when I looked his way? The awful feeling I was going to lose her because of him. Nora had only been in my life for a few weeks, yet I couldn’t bear to think of spending a day without her. On the few days I didn’t see her, all that kept me going was daydreaming about when we’d meet again. How could this incredibly ordinary moment be the beginning of the end for us? We didn’t have a forever future, but I’d thought we’d have more time to adjust to our inevitable fate.

  The vibes
I was reading off the Averter on the bench were shocking for two reasons; firstly, I shouldn’t have been able to read anything off him at all. Secondly, the intensity of what he was emitting was off the charts. Like, super intense. Worse than any pulse I’d felt whenever a vision hit me. I shouldn’t even have been able to tell he was there for Nora, and yet I knew.

  Our summer had been too good to be true. I’d completely ignored Dad’s warning about Averters not getting to fall in love, or at least not having the liberty to express how we felt. I’d more than expressed my feelings for Nora all summer. Balance had to be restored. That had to be the only reason I could sense her Averter’s intentions. Because whatever he was there to fix involved me.

  But I wasn’t ready to give up on Nora. Despite the fact I had kept the truth about my abilities from her, she knew me more than anyone else ever had. Whenever something pissed me off, she always calmed me down without making it obvious she was soothing me. I don’t think I’d thought about punching anyone in weeks, all because of her. And she sounded genuinely interested in what I thought whenever I had a rant about something.

  She was clearly benefiting from having me in her life too. She finally had someone to talk to about the awkwardness that was her family life. Not that she brought it up a lot, but when she wanted to share, I could