Pretend (52 page)

As I walked on to my road, I relaxed as the silence of the night surrounded me. It was dark and everybody was probably still in bed so I quietly crept to my front door, searched for my keys and then turned it in the lock.

             
"Hey," a familiar voice said from behind me, making me jump.

I was so shocked that I couldn't even speak. My eyes scanned around for a sign that anyone else was around but there was nothing.
 

             
"You don't look too happy to see me Apr
il."

             
"No, it's not that, I'm just heading out," I said as I tried to hide the panic that was taking over my voice.

             
"Now we both know that
that isn't true
, don't we?
You were just about to walk inside," he said as a small smile filled his face.

             
"Please Jake, now's not a good time
,
my parents are asleep-"

             
"You see this is what I mean when I say
that
you're like the rest
,
always lying!" He said as he punched the door behind me.

             
"Now
,
you and I both know that your parents are still away so let's stop playing games and talk like adults
, shall we?" H
e said in a low and angry tone.

             
"Please don't hurt me," I whispered as the tears started to flow again.

             
"Oh sweet, sweet April,
I would never hurt you. I just want to talk and since you let me down the other day I thought
that
I would surprise you," he said as he stroked the side of my face, making me flinch.

             
"Now
,
are you going to invite me in?" He said as he gently pushed the door behind me and led me in.

             
To say that I was scared was the understatement of the year. I was terrified. I was alone in an empty house with Jake and no matter how calm he was acting I knew that there was something about him that I could never trust. If I got him mad in any way he could flip. I had to at least play along until I could find a way out of this.

             
"
Erm
...Would you like a drink?" I asked as I tried to get rid of the nervous sound in my voice.

             
"That would be great. See how nicely we can get along?" He asked as he went through to the living room and sat down.
I nodded my head to say yes and then headed towards the kitchen, turned on the light and headed towards the phone on the counter. We never really used it as it hardly ever worked but I prayed to God that today would be different. I quickly ran the tap to sound as though I was preparing a drink and then
quietly picked up the phone ready to dial
Crystal's house number, thank God that I knew it.

             
A slight smile crept on my face as I heard the dial tone. I quickly punched in the numbers as quick
ly
as I could.

             
"Who you calling?"
A voice said, making me jump out of my skin.

             
"Just phoning Crystal to let her know that I'm staying here tonight and not coming back to hers," I lied.
Please work, please work.

             
"Well you can do that after
, can't you?" H
e said as he slipped the phone out of my hand and put it back down.

             
Why was this turning into the worst night of my life?

             
"Ok
,
let's start again
, shall we?
" Jake said as he took hold of my wrist and pulled me towards him.

             
"I can be a really nice guy and if you play along tonight then I will continue to be a nice guy but if that is going to be a problem
for you then perhaps I won't stick to my end of the bargain, understood?" He asked as he stared into my eyes.

             
"Yes," I mumbled as a feeling of terror filled my entire body.

             
"Good, now let's skip the drink and talk since you can't be trusted," he said as he dragged me towards the stairs.

             
"No, I don't want to go up there. We can talk in the living room," I protested as I struggled to get my arm free.

             
"Did
you not hear a word that I said?
" He shouted as he threw me onto the floor just in front of the stairs.

             
"See
,
this is what gets me angry!" He shouted as he kicked the wall.

             
"You never listen, none of you. I try to be nice, treat you good and what do you do? You sneak around and you lie that's what and then you want me to feel sorry
for you! Do you?
" He screamed as he lifted his fist in the air, ready to hit me.
I closed my eyes and shielded my face with my arms.
 

             
"Put that fist down right now," a stern voice said from the front door.

             
"Or what?"
Jake asked as he swung
a
round to face Mrs Staples who was now stood at my front door.
I couldn't see her clearly because of the tears in my eyes but I could make out her shape. She always reminded me of Big Momma from
the film
Big Momma
’
s House and I have never been happier to see her.
 

             
"Or you and my little friend
here
are going to have an encounter that I'm sure you'll regret for the rest of your life young man," she said as she kept her eyes fixated on his.
That's when both Jake and I spotted the rifle in her hand. I didn't even care that she had it right now, I was just glad that she was here.

             
"
Woahh
, ok just calm down," he said as he threw his hands up in the air in defeat.

             
"If there is one thing
that
I can't stand, it's a woman beater! There is nothing I'd like more right now than to pop a bullet in your-"
 

             
"Ok, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He said as panic ran through his voice.

             
"Oh don't you say sorry to me, say it to her," she said through gritted teeth.

             
"I'm sorry," he said as he swung round to face me with tears in his eyes.

             
"Like you mean it!"
She said as she dug the rifle in his back.

             
"I'm sorry April, I truly am," he said as the tears flowed down his cheeks.
I swear this guy had multiple personalities.

             
"Tell her that you will never bother her again," she said as she dug the rifle deeper into his back.

             
"I will never bother you again, I promise," he said as he struggled to piece his words together.

             
"And you better make sure you mean it and do you want to know why? Because if I ever see you around here again or hear that you have come within a metre of this girl next time I won't just threaten you with this, you understand?"
He nodded his head to say yes.

             
"Good and I'll be watching you
,
so don't think I won't. I'm head of neighbourhood watch little boy and if I even get a hint that you've been around here, I won't hesitate to call the cops and believe me I know them
very
well and a pretty little boy like you wouldn't last a week in prison, got that?" She said in a low voice.

Even I was scared as I watched from down on the floor.

             
"Now take yourself and your red truck and get the hell out of here!" She said as he ran off towards the door.

             
"And I know your license plate too! I'm watching you!" She shouted as we heard him run down the path, start up the engine and drive away.

             
I breathed a sigh of relief and slowly got up from the floor. I don't know what came over me but my first instinct was to run over and give Mrs Staple
s
the biggest hug ever and so I did.

             
"Thank you," I whispered.

             
"Oh,
it's
ok sweetheart, don't you worry about him, he's gone now," she said as she stroked my back.

             
"Why don't you come on over to my house so
that I can fix you a drink?"
S
he said as she wrapped her arm aroun
d my shoulders and led me out towards
the door.
I quickly
ran back into the kitchen,
t
urned off the tap
, locked the front door of my house and followed her in silence. This just wasn't my day. In fact this just wasn't my week.

             
"Right
,
you take a seat over there," Mrs Staples said, pointing towards the brown sofa that was against her red, painted, living room wall.

             
"Thank you," I said as I sat down.

             
I watched as she sat down on the chair across from mine, placed the rifle on the floor and then took a deep breath.

             
"Where did you get that?" I blurted out without thinking.
 

             
"Mr Staples left it for me in his will," she said as a smile filled her lips.

             
"He always worried that I'd need a little protection when he was gone so he left me old
Bearnie
here in his will. I hate weapons and wanted it out but I suppose a small part of it reminded me of him. I didn't ever want my
gran
babies to get their hands on it so I emptied out all of the bullets and just kept it under my bed," she said as she stared down at it with sadness in her eyes.

             
"So it never had any bullets in?" I asked in shock.

             
"Oh no, I wouldn't have a clue how to shoot the damn thing but it did a nice job of scaring that little thug earlier," she said as we both let out a small laugh.

             
It felt good. I never talked to Mrs Staples much before but one thing I realised instantly was that I liked her.
 

             
"I never had you down as a girl that would know someone like him," she said as she raised one eyebrow.

             
"Well he acted very differently when I first met him, I guess you can't trust every friend that you have," I said, sadly.

             
"Very true but you live and you learn," she said as she winked at me.

             
"So I assume that a pretty young thing like you should have a boyfriend protecting you, where is he?" She asked as smile filled both of our faces.

             
"At home, he doesn't know that I was here or about Jake, the boy from earlier. He would go mad if he knew what happened, he's very protective," I said as the thought of Aiden made me smile.

             
"Well from the smile on your face he seems special," she said.

             
"He is."

             
"Do you love him?"

             
"Yes
,
I think I do," I said as I looked up at her.

             
"Well then when you find someo
ne worth loving you hold on to them
. God knows that I loved Mr Staples, got on my nerves half the time but I loved that man more than I ever loved anyone before. It still gives me butterflies just thinking about him. When
you find that kind of love
,
you hang on for dear life," she said as she stood up and smiled at me.

             
"Now how about I fix you a nice hot cocoa?" She asked as she looked down at me.

             
"That would be lovely, thank you," I said as I smiled up at her.

             
"Ok,
I won't be a minute."

             
I suddenly thought about Aiden, I'm sure he would be wondering where I was by now. I quickly slipped my phone out of my pocket and switched it back on. I was greeted by eleven missed calls and three more messages from Kyle's mom. I quickly typed a message telling her that I was safe and ok and then opened a new message to send to Aiden.