A House Without Windows (22 page)

“I found it on a train.”

“What train?  Why were you on a train?”  His mother sighed with exasperation.

“I didn’t want to tell you.  I went to see my dad.”

“Good God!”  His mother’s face blanched under the fluorescent lighting.

“I knew you wouldn’t like it, but I just had to see him. Now I wish I hadn’t though.”  He bowed his head and looked at the floor.

“So this money was just sitting on a seat next to you, was it?”  Skipping over the domestic issues, Farnes tried to keep the discussion on track.

“There was this rich-looking bloke opposite with a briefcase.  When he fell asleep I took the briefcase to another carriage on the train and opened it.  I was hoping there might be enough money in it to pay Mum and Dad back.  That’s all I wanted to do.” 

Joss felt relieved at the confession.  He turned to his parents; his mother, sitting furthest away from him, briefly covered her face with her hands.  He noticed his father placing an arm around his mother’s shoulders:

“Joss, we’ve brought you up to know that stealing is wrong!” 

“I know it is, Dad, but when Mum phoned to say the money was missing I knew I had to find a way to replace it!”  To see his father so angry was upsetting Joss more than the police interview.  He started to cry with the sure and certain knowledge that he’d let his parents down very badly. 

Farnes rose from his chair:

“I’ll organise some tea for you all and I’ll be back in a moment.”  He turned and walked towards the door, closing it quietly behind him.

Joss let the tears fall freely:

“I’m bad like him!  I’m no good! I’m going to be locked up!”  He bent forward and sobbed loudly, unable to control his emotions.

His father shifted around in his seat and Joss felt an arm go across his back.

“You’re not bad.  Don’t ever think that, eh?  You’ve just not acted in the right way.  We didn’t realise how badly you needed to see your real dad.  In a way some of this might possibly be our fault for not listening to you.”

“He’s mad!  He frightened me!”  Joss sobbed and wiped his eyes.

“I told you he was mad, you stupid boy!”  His mother almost spat out the words.  He had never seen her so angry.

“I-I’m s-so sorry!”  Hiccupping, he took some deep breaths to try and regain his equilibrium.  He felt his father’s hand rubbing his back:

“Let this be a warning to you.  You’ll probably have a caution, but it’s your first offence so it’s highly unlikely you’ll be locked up.  Think hard and see if there’s anything else you can help the police with, eh?  It might stand you in good stead.”  His father’s hands came back to rest in his lap.

When Farnes came back in the room with three cups of tea on a tray, Joss took the hot liquid gratefully.

“There’s some sort of diary or address book in the envelope with the rest of the money.”  His voice was clear and concise, and Farnes pricked up his ears:

“Where’s the envelope?”

“Under my bed.”

“Was there anything else in the briefcase?”

“No.”

“I’ll send a constable round and he can bring it back.” 

Joss nodded, eager to make amends.

“Where were you travelling to?”  Farnes chewed on some gum.

“I was coming home to Norwich.  I’d been to Ardlington to see my dad.”  Joss made a point of not looking at his mother.

“Had you done this journey before?”

“No.  It was the first time I’d ever seen my dad.”

“You’ve got to sixteen and never met your dad?”  Farnes momentarily stopped chewing in surprise.

“He’s in a secure hospital.  Holmleas.  Have you heard of it?  My dad’s Edwin Evans.”

“Ah yeah, I know that place.”  Farnes seemed uncomfortable.

A silence settled over the room.  Joss twisted his hands together backwards and forwards.   He wanted to clear the slate once and for all:

“He said he’d be getting out.  He said he’d be coming for my stepfather.”  Joss looked at his parents.  His mother’s face had frozen in terror.

“Idle threats.  He won’t be getting out of there in a hurry.”  Farnes made a mental note to look back in the archives for anything relating to Edwin Evans, but first he had to put the teenager in front of him out of his misery:

“You’re going to receive a caution this time Joss, as you’ve admitted your guilt and it’s your first offence.  The caution will stay on your record and you may have to disclose it if you apply for certain types of jobs later on in life.  I expect you know quite well that you can’t go around stealing money from your parents and stealing items that do not belong to you.  Now we know of course why the owner of the briefcase did not report it stolen.  Printing and distributing counterfeit money is a crime in itself, but hopefully we’ll be able to see if there’s
anything in the address book that might help us catch the criminals.  You’ll need to give your details to the sergeant on the desk and be fingerprinted, but after that you’re free to go.”

As they made their way out of the station a short while later, Joss stayed close to his father:

“Can I ride back with you?  I’m not Mum’s favourite person at the moment.”

“Yeah.  Hop in.”

Joss waved to his mother as she opened the driver door and sat down.  There was no response.

“Be thankful you only got off with a caution, eh?”   

“Perhaps the address book will be useful to them.”  Joss nodded to his father and gave a rueful smile. “I’m such a twat.”

“No, you were entitled to see your real dad.  You just went about it in the wrong way.  If you want to see him again I’ll drive you down there.” 

“You’d do that for me?”  Joss looked up in surprise.

“Of course.  Mum will have to get used to it.  We can’t stop you from seeing him.”

Joss looked over as his father started up the engine:

“You’re my real dad.  I don’t want to see Evans again.  There’s something about him that gave me the creeps.”

“I can’t say I’m disappointed to hear that, because I’m not.” Liam reached over and ruffled the top of his son’s head.

“He wants Mum, and he wants you out of the way.  As far as he’s concerned I shouldn’t have been born at all.”

“He’s a sick man.  H
opefully he won’t be getting out of there.  Don’t worry.  You just think about your nice girlfriend.  We’ve also got Easter coming up, and Amy and Toby will be here.”  Liam put the car in gear and pulled out of the car park.

“I think he’ll get out.  I think he’ll be able to fool them that he’s sane.  You didn’t see him, Dad.  He’s…..evil.”  Joss shivered, remembering the burning black eyes so much like his own.  He wondered whether to tell his father that Evans now knew of their whereabouts, but at the last moment he decided to keep the information to himself.

“Don’t worry Mum with any of this.  She doesn’t need to start thinking about Evans again. If you have any more concerns tell me, and we’ll talk it over.” 

“Ok, Dad.”

“Have a word with your mum when we get home.  She’s got a long list of jobs lined up for you to do to start paying off your debt.” 

Joss sighed as they joined the main road.  An evening spent talking on the video phone to Tara and Benny now seemed rather less likely.

CHAPTER 57

Peering unobtrusively through the net curtains covering the large bay window in the main living room, Joss looked on with envy as he saw his father and Toby step out of the Range Rover.  His stepbrother was obviously his father’s son, with the same soft Canadian accent and the same gentle laid-back air about him.  After gathering copious amounts of luggage from the boot they made their way up the driveway to the front door, laughing and joking.

“Hey little brother!  Good to see you!” 

Joss stepped forward to receive a hug from the red-haired livewire whom he realised with a pang of regret was actually not his stepbrother at all. 

“Hi Toby.  Good flight?” 

“Bearable.  I spent 7 hours listening to some of Francois’ new ideas for Kick & Scream songs.  Some of them are awesome, but the majority suck!”

Although he was only 18 months older, Toby seemed so grown up.  For the first time Joss felt a little in awe of the confident, strapping young man who stood in front of him:

“Hi Beth!”  Toby gave his stepmother a bear-hug as she came out into the hallway to greet him. 

“Toby, I swear you’ve grown another two inches!  You’re taller than your father now!”  Beth extricated herself from Toby’s vice-like grip, and held him at arm’s length to look him over.

“You bet!  I’m six feet four inches and ready to rock!”

Joss could see he only came up as far as Toby’s shoulders.  He reasoned with some dismay that he would probably have to spend his entire life looking up at his erstwhile stepbrother.

“You’ve got your usual room, Toby.  I’ve put some towels in the en-suite for you.”  Beth smiled at her stepson’s exuberance.

“Awesome.  I’ll have a shower now if that’s ok?  I could certainly do with one.” 

“Boy, you’re sure full of energy!”

Joss felt another pang of envy as he noticed an affectionate expression on his father’s face appear whilst watching his eldest son running up the stairs three at a time.  Soon the sound of running water and Toby’s melodic voice permeated into the rooms downstairs:

“Good to have him home, eh?” 

Joss smiled at his father and mumbled something in agreement. 
All it needed now was for his super-intelligent sister to come home at Easter, and then he could safely disappear into the background, unwanted and unexciting; a pain in the arse who should never have been born in the first place.

He felt his phone vibrate; Tara was on the line.  With some difficulty he ran up the stairs four at a time, opened the door to his bedroom, and accepted the call:

“How’s it going, Joss?” 

Hearing her voice made Joss want
to reach out and touch her.  He closed his door for privacy and flopped down on his bed:

“It’s not.  I’m still grounded for another two weeks, and to make it even worse the fucking rock god’s turned up now.”

“Who?”

“Toby; the groupie’s delight.  He lifts his little finger and all the girls come running, one after the other.”

“Ah, Toby.  He sounds dreamy.  When can I meet him?”  Tara laughed and pretended to swoon.

“Never, if I have anything to do with it.  He’s only here a week though.  He’ll piss off back home after Easter.”

“It’ll be ages now until we can meet up again.”  Tara gave a smile to melt his heart.

“Monday week at school.  Life sucks.  Are you going away for Easter?”  Joss hoped Daniel Summerlee hadn’t got his foot in the door.

“Nah.  At home with the parents.  How about you?”

“Grounded here with the parents, the rock god, and my sister.”  Joss stuck a finger down his throat and pretended to retch.

“Oh, you poor thing!”  Tara’s tinkly laugh ech
oed through the phone’s speaker.

“And there’s the big turkey dinner to get through yet as well.”

“I’m sure you’ll be able to manage that.”

Joss heard a gentle knock on his bedroom door:

“Gotta go.  Speak to you soon.  Love you.”

“Love you too.”  Tara blew him a kiss.

“Who’s there?”  Joss sat up and put his phone back in his pocket.

The handle turned and Toby’s lanky frame filled the doorway.  Freshly showered and wearing a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt, he ran his fingers through his damp hair and grinned:

“Hey, little brother!  Are there any good nightclubs around here?”  He came and plonked himself down on the bed, much to Joss’s irritation. 

“Yeah, in Norwich, but you’ll have to go on your own or with Amy; I’m grounded.”

“I heard about that.  Dad was telling me on the way back from the airport.”

“Great.  What else was he telling you?” 

“Only that you didn’t come home on time and went to see your dad without telling them.”