by Natasha West
Sophie was shocked. ‘What if I say no?’
April considered that, and she knew the answer. It made her sick. ‘If you say no, you can stay. Barry will get someone to come and get you, and you’ll be moved.’ She turned to him. ‘Right?’
Barry nodded. ‘Yeah, of course, but-’
‘But I don’t want you to do that, Soph,’ April continued. ‘I want you with me. We can keep each other safe; I know we can. Do you remember what you said to me after that first night we spent together? We’re stronger together. I believe that. I really do. I can’t make you come with me, but please, please consider what I’m saying. I need you, and I promise I’ll do anything it takes to protect us both. Protect you.’
Sophie fell into quiet thought for a moment. Eventually, she looked at Barry. ‘You told them where we were. She might forgive you for that. But I don’t. You people keep telling us that we need you.’ She turned back to April. ‘But twice now, you’ve been the only reason I’m alive.’ She nodded. ‘Of course I’ll come with you.’
April had thought this might be a bigger discussion. But Sophie was putting herself into April’s hands with barely a question. She knew then just how deep their love went. To the depths of trust. She smiled at Sophie and nodded. ‘Thank you. You don’t know what that means.’
But Barry was less moved. ‘Hold your horses, alright? This is all happening too… Look, this is stupid.’
April shook her head. ‘It’s the smartest move I know to make. I hope you feel better soon, Barry. Your wife worries.’ She grabbed Sophie’s hand, and they turned and walked out, leaving Barry sputtering in his hospital bed.
Twenty-Three
Sophie and April were outside the hospital, under a new morning sun. Sophie was wrecked. It had been the longest night of her life. All she wanted to do was fall into a bed. But there was no bed. There was nothing. She didn’t have anything. Except for April.
‘So, what now?’ Sophie asked April.
‘I’m not sure yet,’ April said. ‘I’m still trying to figure this out.’
‘You don’t have a plan?’ Sophie asked. April’s dynamism over the last few hours had her thinking April was going to bust out some amazing scheme.
‘Yeah, I’m sorry, I don’t yet. I just need a minute,’ April said, rubbing her temple.
Sophie was suddenly reminded that April was still only a human being, despite all evidence to the contrary. ‘It’s OK, April. We’re stronger together, right? This isn’t all on you. We’ll figure something out together.’
April looked at Sophie. ‘I don’t deserve you.’
‘Yes, you do. You definitely deserve me. And you deserve to have a normal family and to feel safe,’ Sophie told her. ‘You deserve everything. I just wish I could give you that.’
‘Even though I ruined your life?’ April asked.
‘Stop thinking that way. You gave me something I’d never had, and I’m grateful to whatever deity sent you because you’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met. Literally.’
A tear slipped down April’s cheek. ‘Shit. Now I really have to come up with some cool plan.’
Sophie wiped the tear away with her thumb. ‘Actually, I do have one thought. It’s initially a bit dodgy but hopefully good in the long run.’
April was interested. ‘What?’
‘I was thinking… I was thinking we might go and see Becky,’ Sophie said hesitantly.
April’s face went through roughly twelve emotions in one second and landed on outrage. ‘Did you fall on your head?’
***
Sophie was standing behind a row of scarves, trying not to look conspicuous in the large, bustling clothes shop. She was wearing sunglasses taken from a rack at the front of the shop, a long dark coat taken from the winter collection, a bobble hat from knitwear. ‘Psst,’ she hissed to Becky, folding t-shirts and putting them on a shelf. Becky didn’t turn.
‘Psst,’ Sophie tried again. Becky carried on folding.
‘For fuck’s sake,’ Sophie muttered to herself before she walked up behind Becky and said, ‘Becks, can you hear me or what?’
Becky spun around, and several t-shirts flew up into the air. ‘Sophie!’ she screamed.
‘Jesus, Becky, shut the fuck up!’ Sophie urged through gritted teeth.
Becky was immediately contrite. ‘Sorry. I just can’t believe you’re here! I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. The police were outside my flat for weeks, and then they buggered off when it all looked fine, but they told me about you and Apr-’
Sophie pressed a finger to Becky’s lips. ‘Please, don’t say anything else. Just meet me around the back of the shop, OK? We can talk then.’
Becky mimed turning a key on her lips and throwing it away. Sophie gave her a nod and began to walk to the front of the store.
She was almost through the front door when she felt a hand on her arm. ‘Excuse me, Madam.’
Sophie turned, and a security guy was on her. It was only then she remembered that she was wearing a load of stuff from the shop. ‘Oh, shit, no, I didn’t mean to-’
‘Come with me, please,’ the man said, pulling her through the shop. She was stuffed into a small office, plonked on a swivel chair. ‘I’m sorry, this was a misunderstanding, my friend Be-’ she started to say to the security guy, but then the door bust open and Becky herself was there. ‘Ha, Sam! You found the plant, good work!’
Sam was confused. ‘What?’
‘Yeah, I put her in all that stuff and told her to walk out with it to see how good security was. Janice’s idea.’
Sam didn’t look fully convinced. ‘Did you?’
‘Yeah, we did it last year too. You weren’t working here then, were you?’
‘Err, no.’
‘Well, Janice is really pleased with you, anyway. Says you’re doing a great job.’
Sam wanted to believe that. ‘Oh?’
‘Yeah. I do too. I was thinking maybe we could go for that drink you mentioned?’
Sam was a believer now. ‘Yeah? Great. How about Friday?’
Becky smiled. ‘Sounds good. Anyway, you can go back to your post now. Wouldn’t want to miss any real shoplifters, would we?’
Sam was all smiles. ‘No, we wouldn’t!’ He dashed off, a spring in his step.
Once he was out of the security office, Becky rounded on Sophie. ‘I can’t believe you had a go at me for being indiscrete and then you try and waltz out wearing half the shop. You absolute bell-end!’
Sophie stood from the swivel chair. ‘I know, I’m a twat. I’m so sorry. You really saved my arse.’
‘And now I’ve got to go out for a drink with that plonker!’ Becky complained.
Sophie sighed. ‘Becky, I’m sorry. My head’s all over the place, I forgot I was wearing that stuff.’
Becky shook her head. ‘I wanna stay mad at you. But it’s really good to see you, mate.’
Sophie grabbed ahold of Becky, and they hugged. Once the moment was over, Becky got straight to business. ‘So, what’s going on?’
Sophie took a deep breath and proceeded to tell Becky the shortest version of the story that she could. She skipped over the parts Becky knew about, namely, the ones she’d been actively involved in starting in the first place. It was no time to be throwing blame around. Because she was glad to see Becky too, her oldest and dearest friend. Whatever she’d done had been done with a good heart. And Sophie needed her help. ‘So April’s around the corner, waiting for me now,’ she finished. ‘And we’re broke, we’ve got no place to stay, and I was hoping-’
‘My nan’s house?’ Becky finished.
Sophie nodded. Becky’s nan had died a few years ago and left her house to Becky. Becky had wanted to sell it, but after a survey was done, it was found to have serious structural problems that Becky would have had to pay tens of thousands to repair before she could even put the house on the market. Becky didn’t have the money, and a youthful indiscretion with a couple of credit cards that she was still paying of
f meant no one would give her the loan. So the house was currently in limbo.
‘You know it’s not in a great state? I haven’t been there in weeks,’ Becky warned her.
‘We just need a place to stay off the radar until we can figure out a better plan,’ Sophie said. ‘It doesn’t matter what state it’s in.’
‘You may come to regret those words,’ Becky told her.
‘I won’t,’ Sophie assured her. She was done moaning about the standard of accommodation. There were bigger things to think about.
***
Sophie put the key in the door of the dilapidated house in the poorest part of town with more gratitude than she’d ever felt in her life, until the door wouldn’t open.
‘What’s going on?’ April asked, half an eye on the street, checking for anyone who might be watching. They were back in Sophie’s hometown, and that felt dangerous.
‘I don’t know. The door’s unlocked, but I can’t seem to push it open,’ Sophie told her.
April looked at the door. ‘Come on; we’ll push it together.’
April and Sophie put their shoulders to the door and counted down from three, giving an almighty shove that was more successful than they anticipated, and they both fell through the door, over a mountain of post, the obstruction that was holding the door shut. Sophie looked up from the floor at her new home. The wallpaper was peeling away at the top from age and rotting from the bottom with rising damp, racing each other to strip the wall. The carpets looked to be older than the electric bulb, an indistinct brown colour.
‘Hey, you remember when we moved into the house in Forlorn?’ April asked, getting to her feet and putting out a hand to Sophie.
‘Yes,’ Sophie said, accepting the lift.
‘Do you remember how much you complained?’
Sophie nodded. ‘I know what you’re getting at. But no, this place is a palace as far as I’m concerned.’
They walked into the living room. There was an old blocked off fireplace, a TV that was cube-shaped, and some lumpy old sofas.
‘So you’re alright with staying here?’ April asked. ‘Because I was expecting you to turn your nose up.’
Sophie regarded the room. ‘It’s free, and no one will know we’re here. They’ll think we’re still in police protection, not back in my home-town.’
‘Until that contact they have tells them we left,’ April noted.
‘It’s just for now.’
‘I’m not complaining,’ April said. ‘Becky came through.’
‘Enough to forgive her little social media adventure?’ Sophie asked.
April raised an eyebrow. ‘I do still slightly want to boot her in the arse. But less so than I did.’
Sophie smiled. ‘I think she’d probably take that.’ She looked around her at the place. It just needed a hoover, some polish, and it was habitable. But Sophie would have slept in a dirt hole if needed. All that mattered was that she and April were together and safe.
Twenty-Four
April woke up in the creakiest bed she’d ever slept on in her life. But she didn’t care about the frame or its lumpy mattress. Sophie was next to her, and she’d found them this place. It gave April hope. They were doing OK.
Only now, they needed a longer-term plan. Becky had given Sophie a few hundred quid so that they could eat. But what happened when that ran out? They needed jobs, a permanent place, and, ideally, to get out of this town. Maybe abroad. Spain? Lots of Brits went to live in Spain; the country was brim full of ex-pats. But that wasn’t a perfect solution either, the political situation being what it was. They might go and be deported back in a few months, boomeranged right back to their problems.
‘No, the house doesn’t have a helicopter pad. It’s a two-bed semi,’ Sophie mumbled beside her.
April smiled at her dreaming girlfriend. ‘What?’
‘There’s not a pool, no. But there’s quite a big puddle in the backyard,’ Sophie went on.
‘Sophie, you’re dreaming,’ April said.
Sophie opened her eyes slowly. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘You were talking in your sleep. I think you were showing a house to some renters with unrealistic expectations. Any of this coming back to you?’
‘Nothing,’ Sophie said. ‘Did Becky call?’
‘She has the number for the burner?’
‘She bought it for me,’ Sophie said, groping around for the phone under the bed.
‘In cash?’ April checked.
‘In cash.’
‘OK, good. Becky isn’t a completely safe person; they know about her.’
‘I think that’s what makes her safe. People think she’s too dappy to know anything.’
‘Which is usually true,’ April said.
‘Exactly.’
‘Did she have any luck with that thing?’ April asked.
‘She’s putting out feelers now,’ Sophie told her.
‘What does that mean?’ April frowned.
‘She’s asking her brother.’
‘How come he knows people who sell fake IDs?’
Sophie smiled. ‘Because he’s a bit shady, that’s why. Black sheep of the family. But he loves his sister.’
‘I just hope we can trust him.’
‘I practically grew up with Liam. We can trust him. I mean, he might be prone to moving stolen goods on occasion, but he’s not a bad guy. He’s just never been keen on legitimate employment. He’d rather risk getting nicked than do a nine to five.’
‘But… you don’t think there’s any chance he might know someone, you know…’
‘I know what you’re thinking, and I really wouldn’t think so.’
‘I guess I’m just paranoid. I mean, it just seems sometimes like they’re everywhere.’
‘Yeah,’ Sophie said sympathetically. ‘It must feel that way. But they don’t know everyone. Even if they did know Liam and he knew about the bounty, he wouldn’t do that to us. He’s a lazy dirtbag, but he wouldn’t trade our lives for money. He’s not like that.’
‘I hope you’re right,’ April said.
***
The phone went later, while April and Sophie were sitting in the living room, watching the funny little TV. They both jumped at the ring. Sophie checked the number. ‘That’s Becky.’
She answered the phone, and April listened to Sophie’s half of the conversation, which ended with Sophie writing down an address. And then she screeched, ‘A thousand each? How are we gonna find that kind of money?’ She listened to the answer to that and eventually said, ‘Yeah, I know, I’m sorry. I appreciate you getting us this contact. Tell your brother I owe him. Yeah, I know he’ll make that joke, so you tell him not to be disgusting, alright? OK, see ya, Becky. And again, I don’t know what I would have done without you.’
They said their goodbyes and Sophie hung up. ‘OK, good news and bad news.’
‘The good news is we know where we can buy fake passports. The bad news is we have to come up with two grand to get them?’ April supplied.
‘That’s about the size of it,’ Sophie nodded grimly.
‘So, the next question becomes, where the hell do we find two grand quickly?’
Sophie didn’t respond for a second. ‘Mmmm.’
April felt hope rise. ‘That sounds like you’ve got an idea.’
‘I do. But again, it’s risky.’
‘It’s all risky,’ April responded. ‘But we’ve gotten this far. So what’s your idea?’
‘My parents.’
April shook her head. ‘Forget what I said; that is way too risky.’
‘They keep that much in their personal safe. More, in fact. My mum doesn’t trust banks,’ Sophie explained. ‘We could go over there right now, be out in ten minutes. They’ll give it to me if I need it, I know they will.’
‘And if they’ve got someone keeping an eye on your parents?’ April asked.
‘Then I guess we’ll need to be sneaky.’
‘The woman who nearly got a
rrested for accidentally shoplifting yesterday is gonna sneak in like James Bond?’ April asked dryly.
‘Do you have a better idea?’ Sophie asked shortly.
