‘Eve?’ It was her mum’s voice. ‘Eve, are you in there?’
Eve stared at the door. ‘Shit, they’re all here,’ she whimpered. She stared back at her glittery top. ‘Oh, God.’
I darted over to my wardrobe and yanked out a white shirt. I shoved it at her. ‘Put this on, then.’
‘EVE?’ Jonno bellowed. ‘Right that’s it. I’m breaking down the door.’
There was a terrific thump as Jonno presumably hurled himself at the door. It wobbled and strained, but the lock held. Just.
‘Stop it,’ Mum yelled. ‘You’ve got no right..’
I glanced at Eve. Her fingers were shaking as she pulled the shirt round her, trying to do up the buttons up. I realised I was still naked from the waist up.
Hurry.
Another massive thump. The whole house rocked as the door practically flew off its hinges. One more heave and he’d have it open.
‘STOP,’ I yelled. ‘I’m opening the door.’
I could almost smell the tension in the corridor outside.
My hands shook as I turned the key in the lock. I pulled open the door and darted back across the room.
Jonno was first inside, storming through, head down like a bull.
I stood in front of the bed, my heart hammering in my chest. Eve was right beside me, breathing so fast she was practically hyperventilating.
Jonno stared at us, his eyes wide and furious. My mum and Eve’s mum ran in behind him, Alice dashing between their legs. ‘Hiya, Luke.’ She ran over and hugged my jeans.
I couldn’t speak. My eyes were fixed on Jonno’s face. His mouth was open. I could see him clocking Eve’s bruised face and her half-buttoned shirt, then my bare chest and the sheets on the bed being all rucked up and so obviously slept in.
‘Alice,’ Mum said. ‘Come over here. I want you to play downstairs for a bit.’
Alice obediently skipped away from me.
Jonno looked down at the carpet. I followed his gaze. Oh God. The condom packet was on the floor. He stared at it for a second or two, then he glanced at Eve’s bruised face again.
There was this terrible pause when I could see his brain putting two and two together and making about five million.
22
All about Eve
‘What have you done to her?’ Jonno roared. He strode across the room and shoved me backwards onto the bed. ‘You evil little shit,’ he yelled. ‘How dare you.’
He towered over me, gripping me round the throat with both hands. He shook my neck, pressing me back into the bed. I couldn’t breathe. I could hear screaming all around me but all my energy was focused on pushing him away.
I was suddenly back, reliving the night Eve’s ex-boyfriend Ben had beaten me up. It wasn’t the first time. I’d had a panic attack while we were in Spain. But, right now, I didn’t feel scared. This time I knew what to do.
The screaming around me was getting louder. Eve and Mum were both yelling at Jonno to stop, to let me go. But there was this mad look in his eye. I know what it’s like when rage fills your head like that. I was pretty sure Jonno couldn’t even hear them.
I stopped trying to drag desperate slivers of air into my lungs. And I stopped trying to pull his hands off my throat. Instead, I reached up to his face and poked him in both eyes. Really hard.
He let go of me immediately and staggered back, clutching his face. ‘OWWWW.’
I sat up, massaging my neck.
Eve was immediately there, her arms round me. ‘Luke, are you all right?’
Mum’s face appeared over her shoulder. White and drawn. ‘Luke?’
Then Jonno was back, blinking, his eyes bloodshot. ‘Get away from him.’
‘No.’ Eve stood in front of me. Between me and her dad.
‘He hurt you,’ Jonno pointed to her bruised face. ‘He—’
‘Luke didn’t do this!’ Eve shouted. ‘It was some drunk girl at the party we went to last night. Luke stopped her. OK? Leave it, Dad. Remember you promised we’d talk.’
‘No way,’ Jonno growled. ‘Not now. Not now I see what . . . what . . . This changes everything.’
I glanced across at Eve’s mum. She was shrinking back against the door. I couldn’t believe it. Nothing had changed. She was going to let him take Eve away again. She was still too frightened of him to stop him.
‘You can’t, Dad.’ Eve’s voice was shaking.
I stood up next to her and felt for her hand. ‘We haven’t done anything wrong,’ I said. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Mum watching us, her eyes full of worry.
Jonno clenched his fists. He looked as if he was amazed I had the audacity to speak to him.
‘I want to be with Luke, Dad,’ Eve said. ‘I love him.’
Jonno snorted.
‘You have to listen,’ I said. ‘There are things Eve wants. Not just me. Things like art college and stuff.’
Eve nodded. ‘Things that don’t include you, Dad.’ Jonno stared at her.
I took a deep breath. ‘And you have to accept that,’ I said.
Eve squeezed my hand. I watched Jonno, my heart still beating fast. He was still staring at Eve. I suddenly saw how exhausted he was. How terrified of what we were saying. He staggered backwards.
‘How about we all have a cup of tea,’ Mum said shakily. She shoved a T-shirt at me and ushered me out of the room, clearly petrified Jonno was going start beating up on me again. I pulled Eve with me, past Jonno.
Eve’s mum followed us downstairs. Then she and Eve had a big, weepy hug in the living room while Mum and I went into the kitchen.
Mum clattered about, filling the kettle and fetching Alice some milk from the fridge. I put on my T-shirt and leaned against the kitchen table. Gradually my hands stopped shaking. I wondered what Jonno was doing up in my room. Then thoughts of my room reminded me of last night. And Eve.
I was so lost in how amazing it had been I didn’t notice Mum speaking to me until she walked over and stood right in front of me.
‘Luke,’ she snapped.
I focused on her. She drew in her breath, her cheeks pink. ‘Anyway it’s not just that I think you’re too young. I won’t have you bringing girls back here. It’s . . . it’s not on.’
I felt myself going red and slumped down at the table. ‘It’s not girls,’ I muttered, looking down at the floor. ‘It’s Eve.’
‘You know what I mean.’
Yeah. I know what you mean: no sex. At least, not under my roof.
Mum put some teabags in mugs. She bustled around the kitchen for a few minutes. Neither of us said anything. The sound of Jonno’s heavy footsteps on the stairs was followed by raised voices in the living room.
I waited until the tea was ready, then took three mugs next door. Eve and her mum were on the sofa, holding hands. Jonno was sitting in Dad’s armchair. He looked up briefly as I walked in. I half considered telling him to get out of my dad’s chair, but decided that probably wouldn’t help the situation. I set down the mugs next to the sofa and hesitated.
Eve nudged Jonno, who scowled up at me from the chair.
‘Luke?’ He paused. ‘My daughter is demanding that I apologise to you.’ He held out his hand. ‘Doesn’t mean I’m happy about . . . about anything,’ he grunted.
He sounded as if he was still itching to punch me. I glanced at Eve. Her eyes locked on mine, urging me to go over to him. So I did. Jonno shook my outstretched hand, nodding his head curtly.
That’s the most crap apology I’ve ever had in my life.
I said nothing.
‘This doesn’t mean I’m happy about the decisions Eve’s making,’ he blustered.
I stared at him, suddenly realising what he’d just said. He was accepting the fact that Eve had made some decisions.
‘And it doesn’t mean we’ve sorted out what’s going to happen now – with where Eve lives. Or about whether she’s allowed to see you. That’s not sorted at all.’
He sounded stern, but there was this hollow ring to his w
ords. I tried not to smile. He wasn’t fooling me any more.
Yeah, that is sorted, you old bastard. Because you know now that if Eve has to choose between us, she’ll choose me. And you’re not going to risk losing her again.
‘Right,’ I said. ‘Well, I’ll leave you to discuss that, then.’
I backed out of the door with a final glance at Eve. Her face was composed, but her eyes were laughing. And I knew she knew exactly what I was thinking.
As I sauntered back into the kitchen, Sam started crying. Mum disappeared upstairs, coming back with him in her arms a minute later. She started heating up a bottle. Alice danced up to me, a colouring book in her hand.
‘Is the pretty lady still here?’ She giggled. ‘Is she your girlfriend?’
I reached out and tickled her. ‘Nah,’ I said. ‘You are.’
Then I remembered.
‘Did Trisha have her baby yet?’ I asked Mum.
She turned round. ‘Yup,’ she smiled. ‘At about ten or so this morning. A boy. Nearly nine pounds. I’m taking Alice to see them both later. D’you mind watching Sam then?’
I nodded. ‘Sure.’
‘Thanks, love.’ Mum picked up the bottle and screwed on the teat. ‘Are you hungry?’
I suddenly realised that I was starving. ‘Very,’ I said.
Mum grinned. ‘I’ll do you some lunch,’ she said. ‘You feed the baby.’ She handed me Sam and the bottle and started grilling some bacon. ‘You know what I was saying earlier, Luke? About . . . you know?’
No, Mum. Please. Do you not realise how embarrassing it is for me to discuss my sex life with you?
‘Mmmn.’ I bent over the baby. He was so strong now. His little arms and legs all sturdy and his fist gripping my finger like mad. He wasn’t taking the bottle though. He was looking up at me. Like he wanted to know who I was. I smiled at him. And he smiled back. A real smile.
Wo w.
It occurred to me for the first time that it was going to be really cool having a younger brother. I could show him how to play football. And teach him stupid jokes to impress his friends with. And then, when he was older, I could tell him about girls and how to get them interested. The Six Steps Ryan had taught me – or maybe better ones . . .
I realised Mum was speaking. ‘Sorry?’ I looked up.
She was smiling at me. ‘I was just saying how much I like Eve.’ She paused and her smile grew deeper and somehow both happier and sadder at the same time. ‘And you know what else?’ she said. ‘Your dad would have liked her very much too.’
It was all sorted pretty quickly after that. As I’d suspected, Jonno gave in on everything Eve wanted. Coming back to London to live with her mum. Even going out with me.
It was partly like I’d said – he didn’t want to risk losing her again.
But it was also Eve. She’d changed so much since she ran away from Spain. The confidence I’d noticed that first evening was even stronger now – she knew exactly where she was going and what she wanted.
And what she wanted was to go back to school and apply for a place at art college to start that autumn.
Oh, yes, and me. She wanted me.
Chloe changed her job from full-time to Saturdays and went back to school too. She is the luckiest cow, you know. Really. Despite the fact that she’d missed half a term of school she still got the best results in her class in their exams. She came back home for a while, but she and Mum started arguing again, so she moved out to another cheap house-share – this one more local – and took a second job in the evenings to pay the rent.
She and Ryan are still together. Ryan suddenly got it into his head one day that he wanted to be a music agent. Says he’s gonna leave school in the summer and start off by representing Cal’s new band. He reckons he’ll get them signed up to a record label, no problem.
Mum’s getting better and better – she thinks she’ll be on her anti-depressants for a good while, but at least she’s acting more normally again.
And I’ve got a job too – in this cool indie record shop that just opened on the high street.
I started out determined to earn enough money to buy my own guitar. Cal said that if I had my own instrument and the other guys in his new band were OK with it, I could jam with them sometimes. Maybe, eventually, play at their gigs.
First, though, it was Eve’s birthday in March. I spent everything I’d made so far on buying her art stuff. Special pencils I knew she wanted and this lovely, creamy paper. Plus some frames for her best work. She’s done some amazing pictures of me now. Everyone says she’s really captured me.
I wonder how you do that? Sometimes I look at her sketches of me and it’s the weirdest thing – I can almost tell what I was thinking when she drew me, even though I can’t remember it actually happening.
Sometimes I think Eve knows me better than I know myself.
She had this little party on her birthday in March. It was great. She loved her presents. Then, later, when everyone else had gone, she said she had a present for me.
Wanna know what it was?
Cal’s old guitar. She’d persuaded him to part with it for about fifty quid – most of which she still owed him – even though its worth loads more. She said he’d wanted me to have it because he thinks I’ve got talent.
How cool was that?
My girlfriend has a birthday.
And I get the best present.
Eve.
Always Eve.
The One and Only Page 14
