The Good Neighbour

by Beth Miller

  ‘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.

  Chapter 18

  Cath

  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.

  Cath’s running shoes felt as though they were full of cement, and it was one of the hottest days of the year so far, with a heavy blue sky and squinting bright sunlight. But she managed the full 5K without stopping, along the seafront and back. It was slow,
but it was there. Sweat pouring off her, she walked straight into one of the touristy Brighton rock shops, and rewarded herself with a can of Coke.

  So, she was ready. Good work, Cathykins. She could run five kilometres, swim thirty lengths, and she could even cycle 20K, though she was glad she didn’t have to go near the bike till the actual day. Still, every cloud and all that: her tweets and blog about the bike accident had done wonders for sponsor pledges. She was up to more than £8,000 now. The most recent press release she’d written – ‘Plucky mum vows to compete despite crash’ – was coming out in the local paper today and should generate another wave of pledges.

  Julia at Duchenne Together had rung to see how Cath was doing. She said, laughing, admiring almost, ‘Every triathlete needs a gimmick,’ then hastened to add that she obviously didn’t advocate being knocked off your bike. Bit literal, was Julia. But bless her, she’d linked Cath’s blog to the Duchenne Together Facebook page, which had thousands of friends who’d all shared it with their thousands of friends, plenty of whom had clicked to pledge.

  When she walked down Sisley Street, Cath glanced at Minette’s house, expecting to see her and Tilly out on the bench in the sunshine, but there was no one there. Cath showered and made a sandwich. She was almost looking forward to hearing what Minette had to say; however bad, it would be a relief after the last three frustrating days. Gina hadn’t been able to find out anything about the night Minette stayed over. Davey had completely clammed up, the little whatsit, and Lola, as usual, knew sweet Fanny Adams. Cath didn’t trust Davey not to have done something daft. He was so keen to see his dad, he might forget their golden rule. Suppose Minette had let him talk to Andy on the phone? Cath’s head ached at the thought of it. She just had to find out if anything had happened, and try and win Minette back round. Or, failing that, decide what to do.

  Cath hoped she hadn’t pushed Minette too far when she’d spoken to her from hospital. Hopefully she would understand that she’d been concussed, and not in her right mind. She remembered her saying as much at the time.

  She’d tried again to ask Davey about it this morning. He wheeled himself into the kitchen, wearing his school uniform, a book in his hand. He went over to the cupboard where the cereal was kept, but Cath stood in front of it.

  ‘Before you get settled, I need to talk to you.’

  He pushed himself over to the table, and opened his book.

  ‘Davey, can you put that away?’

  He moved the book slightly out of reach, but she could see that he was still trying to read it. She snatched it up and put it in the bin.

  ‘Hey! That’s a school book,’ he said.

  ‘Tough.’

  He treated her to his sceptical Andy face. She’d retrieve the book later but there was no need to tell him that. ‘Focus on me, please, Davey. The other night, did you remember our golden rule? What is it?’

  ‘Don’t tell anyone more than they need to know,’ he intoned.

  ‘That’s right. So, what did you tell Minette? Anything she didn’t need to know?’

  He didn’t say anything.

  ‘Just tell me what happened, from the moment Minette collected you from school.’

  ‘Don’t remember.’

  Stubborn little swine. ‘Davey, you will remember if,’ she searched round for something that was important to him, ‘if you want to have breakfast.’ She hated threatening, but honestly, it was blood out of a stone.

  Davey glanced at the cupboard. He was always starving in the mornings. He took a deep breath. ‘Mrs Wallis stayed with me when you didn’t come. Then Minette came and I showed her the way to Busy Tigers. At Tilly’s house, me and Lola and Tilly had pasta and watched CBeebies and played rummy with Abe.’

  ‘Very good.’ Cath opened the cupboard so Davey could see the cereal. She moved the Shreddies, his favourite, to the front. ‘Then when did you go to our house?’

  ‘After tea. We had stories, then went to bed.’

  ‘Absolutely nothing else to tell me, Davey?’

  ‘Oh. The man next door came round.’

  ‘Abe?’

  ‘No, the other one.’

  Oh, did he now? ‘Did you talk to him?’

  ‘I was already in bed.’

  Cath could work out the rest of that herself. She took down the Shreddies. ‘OK. And then the next morning?’

  ‘I woke up at six thirty-three. Minette gave us breakfast,’ he said, looking meaningfully at the cereal, ‘then we took Lola to Busy Tigers, then Minette took me to school. Gina collected me. Then you came home.’

  Cath saw she wouldn’t get any more. She had to hope that Davey was telling the truth. She kissed him and poured out a large bowl of cereal, which he started eating before she’d even put the milk in.

  Now the kids were at school and Minette was fifteen minutes late. She said she’d be here at ten thirty. Every minute that passed made Cath feel more agitated. She unloaded the dishwasher, put the kettle on, and was just wondering if she ought to text again when there was a knock at the door. Minette was alone, looking flustered. ‘Sorry I’m late.’

  ‘Hey, don’t worry! Lovely to see you.’ Cath kissed Minette’s cheek. Minette let her but didn’t move towards her, or reciprocate. ‘Where’s my Tilly?’

  ‘Home with Abe.’

  ‘Well, I’m honoured you’re using precious child-free time to come see me.’

  ‘Mmm.’

  This was going to take a bit of work. ‘Cup of tea?’

  ‘No, thanks.’

  ‘Or water? I need some. Rehydrating after my run.’

  ‘You’re still doing the triathlon?’

  ‘Of course! I’ve raised loads of money, local businesses are sponsoring me. I’m all over the Duchenne Together website. It’s not that bad anyway, I’m just a bit bruised.’

  ‘What happened?’

  They sat at the kitchen table, opposite each other in their usual seats.

  ‘Someone in a parked car opened their door on me and I just came straight off the bike.’

  Minette winced.

  ‘It might have been so much worse. I could have been run over but the car coming along stopped in time.’

  ‘Were you unconscious?’

  ‘Must have been. I remember turning into the London Road, then I don’t remember anything till I woke up in hospital.’ Cath wasn’t going to tell Minette – or anyone – how much more she could remember. She launched into her prepared speech. ‘I was so grateful to you for looking after the kids on Monday.’

  ‘Yeah?’ Minette laughed, shakily. ‘You could have fooled me.’

  ‘You’re angry with me. I’m so sorry.’

  ‘Are you surprised, Cath? You were so weird about the whole thing, and rude, actually.’

  Oh, was I, actually?

  ‘The thing is, I was concussed,’ Cath said. ‘The nurse was cross with me for talking to you. I wasn’t supposed to ring anyone.’

  ‘Well, I wish you hadn’t. You really upset me. And Gina was just as bad.’

  ‘She’s a bull in a china shop sometimes.’

  ‘You both are.’

  Minette wasn’t being quite as politely restrained as Cath had expected. Well, good for her. ‘I’m really sorry, Minette.’

  Minette took a deep breath, before starting what Cath recognised as her own prepared speech. ‘You know, Cath, I thought I was doing you a favour by picking up the kids. And you clearly expected that I would, because you’d put my name down as a contact.’

  ‘I had to give two names, and we’d only just moved here and I didn’t know many people.’

  ‘Don’t you think you ought to have mentioned it? It came as a complete surprise.’

  Cath leaned across the table and put her hand on Minette’s arm. ‘You’re right, I should have. It just slipped my mind. I know I keep saying I’m sorry, but I am. And another thing I’m sorry about is not giving you more background about me and Andy, before you got an ear-bashing from Gina. Can I tell you now? Being honest wi
th you is the least I can do to make it up to you.’

  Minette sat back in her chair and folded her arms. ‘Go on.’

  Cath marshalled her thoughts, working out the best way to start. Well, the beginning, of course. ‘Gina and me go way back, you know. We were at school together in Eastbourne. I lived with her and her parents for a few years, after my mum died. Gina got married young, she didn’t pick well. This was years ago, I was in Birmingham and I didn’t see her that often. Then one time I dropped in unexpectedly and couldn’t believe the state of her. Bruises everywhere. Broken arm. Gave me all that walked-into-a-door crap, and I got her out of there, it weren’t pretty, but she got out. That man she married, well he’s dead now and he’s definitely not in the upstairs department, if you know what I mean.’

  ‘I’m sorry for Gina. But you were telling me about Andy?’

  ‘Sure I can’t do you a drink? I’m going to have one.’

  ‘No, thanks.’

  Cath put the kettle on. ‘Gee and me, we made a pact that we would never stay with a man who laid a finger on us. And we’ve stuck to it. Well, she’s never been with another bastard, ’scuse my language. Not saying I like her boyfriends cos I don’t, usually. Ryan for instance, he …’

  She thought she heard Minette sigh, and she moved on quickly. ‘Anyway, Andy and me had a good marriage, I thought. I’m skipping a lot here. I never thought he was the violent type, not at all. Then one night, back in, where we lived then, Troubletown …’

  ‘Harrogate?’

  ‘Yes. We had a massive row and he walloped me.’ Cath’s face darkened, thinking of it. ‘Have you ever been hit?’

  ‘No.’ Minette looked concerned, for the first time.

  ‘You can’t imagine what it’s like. The shock. No way as I saw it coming. One minute this man is your other half, you’re a team. The next you’re on the floor, your face hurts like buggery and he’s standing there, you don’t even recognise him.’

  The kettle clicked and she stood up, poured water into a mug.

  ‘Actually, please could I have a cup, Cath?’