by Bowes, K T
“What do we have here?” Sophia mused, zooming in on the picture of the garage forecourt. The wording on the road sign opposite distorted to a fuzzy line of colours and she decreased the zoom until it became readable. “Grey Street.” Sophia sat up and screwed her face into a frown. “Well Melody whoever-you-are; I’m coming to get you. I bet that’s not your real name, anyway.” She zoomed in again and focussed on the bottom corner of a hoarding over the woman’s head, proclaiming the name of the garage. It looked like ALL written in white letters on a blue background.
“Coming to get you,” Sophia sang in an eerie voice, opening Google and searching for car dealerships on Grey Street, Palmerston North. Her jaw dropped in surprise as Foxhall Motors appeared at the top of the page in a prominent position only gained through sponsorship. “So the garage is real,” Sophia whispered. “But are you real, Melody Foxhall?”
Chapter 7
Deceit and Justice
“How was maths?” Sophia lay on her back staring at the ceiling, her knees bent and her feet buried in the bed sheets. A beetle danced on the floor making its infernal click as it contorted its hard body and she tried to ignore it, pressing the phone harder to her ear.
“Yeah, good,” Dane replied. “I can show you what you missed.”
“Thanks.” Sophia chewed her bottom lip. “Sorry about before. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“You did,” Dane said. “There’s an edge to you lately, Soph. I know you’re stressed but you either let me help or don’t ask.”
“Sorry,” Sophia repeated. “I’m conflicted. I grew up with these morons telling me what I can do and then when they’re done telling me what not to do, my mother runs off with a guy in a suit and my dad’s being catfished.”
“Yeah, I know.” Dane sighed. “Adults are stupid.”
“Where are you?” She sounded wistful.
“That’s why I’m ringing. I’m next door at Declan’s. He’s babysitting his little brother and we’re just chillin’ and doing homework. Wanna come round? I’m planning our trip.”
“Okay.” Sophia sat up with renewed interest. “Shall I bring the laptop?”
“Is Edgar home?”
“Yeah, he got in half an hour ago. Why?”
“Leave the laptop where he can get to it. You had it last night and today, so he’s not spoken to her for more than a day. If he’s hooked enough to wanna move to Palmy, he’ll log on tonight to talk to her.”
“But we don’t want that, do we? He’ll get in even deeper.”
“Yeah, but I wanna see how deep he already is.” Sophia heard the smile in Dane’s voice. “Come over and you’ll see what I mean.”
Sophia dragged on her trainers and found Edgar in his bedroom. He smiled over at her from the bed but looked glum. “I’m nipping next door to the Harris’s place. Declan’s got the maths notes for me which I missed today.” Sophia pulled the laptop from behind her back and held it out two handed. “Did your computers come back on or do you still need this?”
Edgar sat up and his face broke into a smile. “Yes please, I could do with catching up. Don’t you need it?”
Sophia shook her head. “Apparently not.” She handed it over and turned in the doorway. “You’re doing a lot of work in the evenings lately, Dad. Is that why you’re changing jobs?”
Edgar’s rugged good looks drooped under his daughter’s scrutiny and he looked old for a moment. “Kinda,” he answered and Sophia smiled, impressed with how he’d stuck to the truth.
“I won’t be more than an hour,” she said, fixing her gaze on his hands as they stroked the device on his knee. “Then we need to talk about your bombshell.”
Edgar cringed and nodded. “Okay. See you later.”
Sophia escaped and strode down the hill, climbing the steps to Declan’s almost identical house next door. Before she raised her hand to knock, the door swept open and a small boy aged around six greeted her with chocolate on his face. “Hi,” he said, staring at her. “Dec said I could let you in.”
Sophia nodded and shifted from foot to foot. “Are you going to?”
“What?”
She chewed her lip and glanced behind him, hoping for rescue. “Let me in?”
“Yeah.” The dark-haired boy continued to stare, glittering dark eyes in an oval face. He leaned against the doorframe balanced on one leg and Sophia spotted the caliper on his other.
“Hey, dude! Let her in.” Dane appeared behind him, skipping down the broad stairs from the first level in bare feet. “Don’t make her stand on the doorstep; it’s rude.”
“She didn’t take her shoes off!” the child protested, moving backwards and almost pitching downstairs to the basement. He wobbled and Dane grabbed the scruff of his neck.
“You didn’t tell me to,” Sophia protested, embarrassment making her neck flush. She struggled to keep the whine out of her tone. “I want to leave them indoors; I don’t want crickets in them.”
The child sniggered and wrinkled his dark, button nose. “She’s scared of crickets.”
“You’ll be scared of me in a minute,” Dane retorted, giving the boy a light shove. The kid took a step back and overbalanced again. “Bloody hell, these stairs are dangerous!” Dane caught him and yanked the slender body behind his.
“Mum always said that about ours.” Sophia stepped across the threshold and kicked off her trainers, placing them next to Dane’s discarded flip flops.
“Is she dead then? Can’t she say it anymore?” The boy peered around Dane’s back, his curiosity devoid of malice.
Dane half turned. “Levi, piss off.”
The child’s mouth opened up huge and round. Sophia saw his baby teeth interspersed with a few gaps. “I’m tellin’!” he exclaimed and spun around, clambering up the stairs on all fours and dragging the caliper across the carpet.
“You do that,” Dane called after him and reached for Sophia, pulling her into his body. She inhaled the masculine scent of deodorant and balmy maleness from the warm evening. He’d been ordered to cut his hair before the principal’s return and Sophia reached up and fondled the shaggy waves hugging the back of his neck. She let her fingers twirl the curly ends and pressed her cheek against his shoulder. He held her, palms running gently up and down her back and infusing her with confidence and love.
“Hey, oh, sorry.” Declan sounded embarrassed, appearing from a hallway to the left and standing at the top of the stairs. “What did Levi do?”
Dane smiled at Sophia and his blue eyes twinkled. “He’s being a pain.” Dane kissed the end of her nose and released her. He turned and shrugged at Declan. “Just being Levi.”
Declan nodded, his dark hair falling into his eyes. “Yeah, I get it.” He jerked his head towards Sophia. “Come up. I’ll get you a drink.”
Sophia gave a half smile and followed Dane up the stairs, keeping a tight grip on his hand as he turned left, emerging in a bright kitchen diner with green painted walls. She shook her head. “This is freaky; it’s almost identical to my house.”
“Is it?” Declan asked, running cold water into a glass and adding ice cubes. “They look the same from the outside but I always wondered.”
Sophia nodded and accepted the glass, hearing the ice chink around in the water. “Yeah, you should come over sometime.”
Dane narrowed his eyes and she saw an unexpected glint of jealousy cross his expression, under control and swept away with surprising speed. She smiled at Declan. “Calli could come too.”
“Thanks.” Declan nodded and leaned his bum against the counter. “It’s crazy how we’ve all gone to the same school for the last four years and only now become friends.” He dragged a hand across his handsome face. “Why is that?”
Dane raised an eyebrow and pretended to focus on something outside the window, leaving Sophia to state the obvious. “We hung around with different friends, I guess.” She stared at the side of Dane’s head, looking for help and receiving nothing. Bloody mindedness surfaced with the realisation
the boys had probably spent the evening talking about her private problems. “Dane ran in a gang and you hung with the holier-than-thou crew.” She finished the unflattering appraisal with a flick of her long dark curls and pouted, hand on hip in a defiant stance.
Declan gaped. “Oh.” The conversation halted like a car hitting a power pole and Dane let out a snort of laughter. His eyes twinkled with mischief
“That’s my girl,” he breathed and the flush crept further up Sophia’s neck. She contemplated leaving.
“What’s a holy thou?” Levi asked.
Sophia exhaled an irritated breath as the dark-haired boy prodded her in the back. She thumped her glass on the counter and whirled around, not sure if she intended to bowl the little boy over in her hasty exit. Dane’s arm appeared around her chest, hauling her backwards into his body. She didn’t see him move but his lightning reflexes kept her pinned against him. His other arm snaked around her guts. Declan looked like someone kicked him in the balls. “It’s when a group of Christian friends tell other people what they should or shouldn’t be doing.” His down-turned lips gave him a look of sadness.
“Ahhhh.” Levi hopped up and down on his good leg and nodded for emphasis. “I know them friends.” He hopped to the door and announced, “I’m gonna watch Monsters Inc.”
“Okay, I’ll put it on for you. I don’t want you climbing on the back of the chair again.” Declan left the room, long muscular arms hanging by his sides and the stride of a man.
Dane spun Sophia around, crushing her breasts against his ribs. He locked his hands in the small of her back so she couldn’t move. “I ran a gang, did I?”
“Yes!” Her eyes blazed in defiance. “I’ve still got the knife wound to prove it, remember?”
Dane cocked his head and swished long, dark eyelashes. “Yeah, I remember.” He lifted her, sliding her up his body and fixing his lips over hers. When he released her, Sophia felt emptiness wash through her insides and clung on, pushing her hands under his armpits and smushing her face against his chest.
“Were we that bad?” Declan spoke before he entered the room, closing the door behind him and giving the couple a chance to spring apart.
Sophia shrugged. “Not you personally,” she conceded. “Some of them were. They went to the same youth group as me and shone like the stars against the rest of us. Maybe I’m just jealous because I don’t have a hotline to God and things don’t always look black and white to me.” Sadness chilled her from head to toe and she wanted to go back in time and change everything. She used to have a hotline to God. She used to see the black and white instead of myriad greys which darkened her soul and left her with the sense of being just outside something wonderful.
Dane heard the cry of her heart and wrapped his left arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his ribs. He twirled a dark curl in his fingers, offering an unexpected show of public solidarity. Declan eyed them both with curiosity and then nodded as though satisfying some inner question. “Come and sit in the sun room,” he said, waving his arm in invitation. Dane claimed the sofa and pulled Sophia down next to him, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. Declan sat in an armchair opposite and through the double doors to the lounge came the sounds of monsters terrifying cartoon children in their beds. Dane turned towards Sophia. “I’ve explained to Dec what’s going on,” he said. No judgement, no opinion, just plain, painful fact. Sophia winced. “We think it’s possible for two people to be on one Facebook profile at the same time without the other knowing.”
“How?” Sophia looked doubtful, her nose wrinkling in disbelief. “Of course the other person would know. And wouldn’t one log the other off?”
“Yeah, but listen.” Declan leaned forward. “People have it on their desktops and their phones, right? So you must be able to have it in two places. And people don’t always log out of either, do they?”
Sophia nodded, the action slow and calculated. “So, you think we could watch what Edgar’s doing right now?”
Both males nodded their head with vigor. Dane spoke. “Dec can log in with his phone and we’ll watch them talking. We just need to not touch anything, otherwise they’ll figure something’s up.”
Sophia ran her hands over her face and covered her eyes. “This is so embarrassing. My father’s being catfished and I want to watch.” She sighed and Dane rested his hand on her thigh.
“We don’t have to, Soph. It’s ok.”
“Or Dane and I could do it,” Declan suggested. “We could tell you what they say.”
Sophia squeezed the bridge of her nose between thumb and forefinger and inhaled. “Do it. He’ll be talking to her right now.”
Declan paused, phone in hand and conflict crossed his face. “Is it like lying though? Aren’t we being deceitful?”
Dane shook his head and snatched the cell phone, his expression dark. “No, Dec. We’re being like cops, trying to right an injustice.” He stood, muscles bunching as he moved away from the glare of the evening sun. Declan’s brow knitted, still not sure. Dane shook his head and handed the phone back. “Fine. We’ll use mine.” He reached into his back pocket and withdrew a battered cell phone, the screen cracked from one side to the other.
Sophia sighed. “You need data and that thing’s knackered. Use mine.” She held hers out and Dane took it without reply, unlocking the screen using her passcode. Sophia’s eyes widened in surprise but she didn’t challenge it, no longer understanding how Dane just knew things.
“Ok, I’m in.” Dane sat down next to Sophia and they crowded around the screen but Declan remained seated, conflicting with his own integrity. “I’ve logged out of your Facebook and into his profile.”
“Open the message box when the light goes out,” Sophia said, keeping her voice low. “Now.” Dane clicked and the message filled the screen. To her own surprise, Sophia inhaled and sat back, a hand over her face. “I can’t do this. I don’t want to see.”
“Turn it off; I knew this’d be bad.” Declan stood up.
“No!” Dane stood and turned around, ignoring the rugby captain’s hand on his shoulder. “Get off me, man!”
“You’re upsetting her!” Declan reached for the phone and Dane rounded on him.
“I don’t wanna hurt you, man, but I will.” His voice oozed menace and Declan took a physical step back. Dane held the phone aloft and spoke to Sophia. “You wanted this and now you don’t. Decide.”
“I don’t know! I don’t know!” She rocked forward with her face in her hands. “I don’t want to watch my father having a dodgy conversation with someone who isn’t who he thinks.” When she looked up, her eyes glittered with unshed tears, her face a mask of agony. “Read it but if it’s yukky, don’t repeat it.”
Declan sat down again and Dane’s blue eyes connected with Sophia’s. “I can do that for you,” he said, his voice tender. “If that’s what you want.”
She nodded and Dane turned away, watching the phone screen with frightening intensity. A mix of emotions passed across his face and he said nothing, the silence in the room growing to an audible hum. “Where’s Calli?” Sophia asked, the tension making her voice crack.
Declan relaxed, sitting back in his seat and resting large hands on his knees. “She doesn’t come here. My mother doesn’t like her. We meet at her place or out somewhere else.”
Sophia cocked her head. “Doesn’t like her? Why? What did she do?”
Declan’s shoulders gave an aimless shrug. “I don’t know. Calli’s just Calli. It’s not her fault she ended up in foster care but Mum thinks she’s a bad influence.” He picked at a thread on the chair arm. “She’s the opposite actually; driven, focussed and academic. She makes me study when I don’t feel like it and ensures my life’s so miserable when she beats me in class it forces me to work harder.” He smiled, the expression wistful. “I don’t deserve to be head boy. If she was a dude, she’d be it.”
Sophia sighed. “I don’t deserve to be head girl. She could’ve done that instead of me.”
<
br /> Declan shook his head. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to imply you weren’t good enough. Calli wouldn’t do it, anyway. Can you imagine it?” His eyes crinkled at the thought of Callister Rhodes lecturing Year 9s. He snorted. “She went to the CHILL room once with some of my friends. This kid came in for help because these other boys spat at him.” He leaned forward, pride in his eyes. “She banged their bloody heads together, right in front of the Year 9 dean.”
Sophia smothered her laugh with a trembling hand. “What did he do?”
Declan sat back. “Laughed himself sick.”
Sophia nodded. “I bet. What was meant to happen?”
Declan shrugged. “Long conversations and mediation. Calli decided she knew a quicker way.”
“Far out. Does she still go in the CHILL room?”
“She’s banned.” Declan grimaced but amusement lingered on his lips.
“How do you know all this stuff about spying on people online?” Sophia leaned into the sofa cushions and massaged her sore temples. Anxiety leaked from every pore and she tugged her tee shirt away from her neck.
Declan winced. “Mum caught me chatting to Calli online and went crazy.” His brow narrowed. “We weren’t being inappropriate, but I didn’t know she could see from her phone at the same time as we talked online.”
“So, she knew your password? Why didn’t you change it?” Sophia watched as Declan shifted in his seat, discomfort etched on his handsome face.
“That’s not how it works here. She’s just trying to protect me from being an idiot and then regretting it.” His cheeks flushed as though his own choice of words condemned him and Sophia left the subject, not understanding his circumstances and devoid of the energy to try.
“Ah, this isn’t good,” Dane said, looking up from the phone. “He’s offering her money to come up to Hamilton.”
Chapter 8
Other People’s Problems
“What?” Sophia rushed him and reached for the phone, jumping when he held it above his head.
