Second Base (12 page)

Dan closed his eyes. ‘Stop talking, Pete. Right now.’

‘Why?’ Was it his imagination or did Pete actually sound pleased?

A finger stabbed his chest. He ignored it. Counted to ten. Then again.

‘Pete—’

‘Don’t you like the truth? Can’t you handle it?’

‘Shut up!’ Dan roared. He opened his eyes. Whirled. Struck out. His balled fist struck flesh.

Pete crumpled to the ground, sprawling in the hallway with his legs spread wide. A spot of blood trickled from his left nostril.

Glaring down, Dan longed to punch him again. He wanted to throw his fists around and scream until all the words faded away into white noise he could ignore.

Pete stood and thumbed the blood from his nose. When he next spoke, his voice was rough, clogged with pain. ‘Karen deserves more. I’ve said it before. She loves you, but that love deserves everything you can give her. If you can’t do that, then step the fuck away and make space for someone who can. Even if that isn’t me.’

He stalked out, abandoning Dan to the thunderous silence.

Karen walked three miles before stopping. Tears blurred her vision so completely, she could no longer see. The street lamps above her ranged from dim to off. A car streaked by, music blaring from the open windows, a lively, cheerful beat completely at odds with her own turmoil.

Across the street, a takeaway shop specialising in fried chicken, tossed greasy scents into the air. Her stomach growled and she inwardly cursed herself for leaving her noodles behind.

She patted her pockets. Mobile. Keys. Purse? She groaned. ‘Bugger it.’ Scrambling for the phone, she flicked through her recent calls and found Cindy’s number. Seconds later the line began to ring. And ring. And ring. Eventually Cindy’s chirpy voicemail message kicked in, telling her to leave a message that included one deviant sexual secret.

Classic Cindy.

‘Hey, I don’t know where you are, but I need you. I’m on my way to yours now and I’m on foot. I don’t know how long I’ll be, but I really hope you’re there. Please be there. I can’t go home right now. Call me when you get this.’

She hung up and started walking.

After a few minutes Karen began to recognise more of her surroundings. Though relatively new to the area, she knew Leicester well enough to navigate her way to the flat she once shared with Cindy. Unfortunately that was six miles away.

Karen prepared herself for a long and lonely walk. After half an hour the tears began. She couldn’t help it. Thinking of Dan and his stupid, gorgeous face, and the idiot decisions he’d made. It only made her want to turn and run back home. To hug him. To kiss away the gormless look and make him promise to explain his thought process.

Because how could he? What could possibly make him think that Pete was a good idea for a playmate? Even without the disastrous kiss of the night before?

She walked further then became aware her phone was buzzing. When she lifted it from her pocket the number was one she didn’t recognise. ‘Hello?’ she ventured.

‘Hi, is that Karen?’

‘Speaking. Who is this?’ The voice was warm. So familiar.

‘It’s Sith.’

Karen stopped walking. ‘Oh.’

‘Sorry, is this a bad time? I meant to call you before, but I didn’t know what you were doing. Then I realised that I’d
never
know what you were doing and that now was as good a time as any. I did say I’d call you. Sorry, I’m babbling.’

‘Right. Yes, sorry. It’s okay, I forgot.’

‘Are you okay? I looked forward to hearing your voice but this isn’t the voice I remember. You sound like you’ve been crying.’

She gnawed her bottom lip. ‘I have.’

‘It
is
a bad time. I’m sorry. Should I go? I’ll go.’

‘No, wait.’ Karen clutched the mobile with both hands. ‘Don’t go, please. I need to talk to somebody.’

‘What is it?’

And the story fell out of her. All of it.

The party. Her mother’s terrible news. Her father’s appearance. The kiss in the back garden. The punch. She told Sith everything about that day, her conversations with Dan in the car, the munch, then their argument afterwards. The most awkward dinner she had ever experienced and then Pete, showing up at the door wearing that ridiculous leather mask and shouting ‘surprise, baby!’ as she stepped into view.

By the time the story was over, her throat ached. Weak knees and blurry vision stopped her moving any further and she slumped onto a chipped plastic seat beneath a shattered bus shelter.

‘Wow. That was—wow.’

Karen felt a crawling surge of guilt. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to offload like that. We just met.’

‘Sounds like you needed it. Where are you?’

She looked left, then right. ‘A bus stop on Uppingham Road. I’m trying to get to Highfields.’

Sith sucked in a sharp breath. ‘That’s miles away. You’ll be out there all night.’

‘It’s fine. I can walk.’

‘No.’ His voice became firm. ‘I can’t let you walk all that way. It’s not right. Let me pick you up.’

Karen immediately shook her head, even though he couldn’t see it. ‘Don’t let me be a bother.’

‘It’s no bother. I’ll come get you. I live on Lodge Farm Road anyway. I can get to you in five minutes. Where exactly are you?’

‘You really don’t need to.’

‘Do you want me stuck at home wondering if you’ve been mugged or murdered? Come on, Karen.’

She snickered. ‘You’d see justice done, right?’

‘I don’t know; can you afford me?’ A pause. ‘Please, Karen. Where are you?’

Sighing, she searched for a road sign. ‘Station Road is on my left. On my right is a big park.’

‘Manor Field? That’s great, don’t move. I’ll be there in five.’ He hung up.

Not knowing what else to do, Karen waited at the stop, kicking her feet back and forth against the dirty pavement.

She watched several packs of teenagers walk by, one cluster most certainly smoking copious amounts of weed, while another talked about nothing but getting their hands on the next dose. Two cars drove by in that time. No busses.

An elderly woman tottered into view and sat beside her, her liver-spotted hands gripping the lead of a small brown ball of fur masquerading as a geriatric terrier. She smiled once and after the second time, took the smile in return as an excuse to start conversation.

‘My little Ellie is thirteen years old, y’know.’

Karen sighed inwardly. ‘That’s sweet. Is she at school?’

The woman gave her a sharp look. ‘School? What would a dog be wanting with school?’

Of course she’s talking about the damn dog. Heaven forbid it might be a grandchild.

‘Finishing school.’ She kept her gaze focused forward. ‘Some people send their dogs to finishing school to learn things like ‘sit,’ ‘stay,’ and ‘beg.’ Then again, at thirteen she’s probably past it now. You know what they say about old dogs and new tricks.’

The woman peered at her through rheumy eyes, clearly trying to decide if she was the butt of some expansive joke.

Karen hoped she wouldn’t figure it out.

When a car did finally slow down on the approach, she leapt up and waved frantically. It stopped and Sith stepped out, smiling his dimple heavy smile.

‘Hey, Karen. Hop in.’

She did at once, sparing the glaring old lady only a glance as she buckled herself in. As Sith drove on, the woman stood, jerking her dog forward a pace so she could wave her middle finger at the departing car.

Karen caught a glance in the side mirror and stifled a laugh. ‘Guess she figured it out.’

The streets sailed by in blurry smudges of orange and black. The deepness of the night eventually gave way to brighter lights as they neared the busier streets of the city centre.

Only then, did Sith speak. ‘I’m sorry for what you’ve been through.’

Karen squirmed in her seat. ‘It’s fine.’

‘But your mother . . .’

‘She’s a fighter; if she’s going to go, she’ll do it kicking and screaming. And we’ll have good times before she goes.’

‘If you need anything,’ he murmured. ‘Advice. Questions answered.’

She looked a question at him.

‘My aunt, three years ago. Cervical cancer. By the time they found it there was nothing anyone could do.’

‘I’m sorry.’

He shrugged. ‘I’m okay. I won’t lie, you never fully recover, but I’m okay.’

Karen watched his profile. She waited for him to turn but he never did, his gaze focused straight ahead, never wavering, never flickering. Eventually he took the road alongside the retail park and eased on to St George’s Way, passed the Phoenix Cinema. From the corner of her eye she saw the time flashing at the top of the Mercury Building, the large red numbers glittering in the night. Then the display changed to show the temperature. Two degrees.

She silently thanked Sith for his insistence in coming to get her. Her coat and thin blouse beneath were simply not thick enough to withstand that sort of cold, even with the cardigan in between.

As he eased onto London Road, she gave him directions, steering him into the deepest depths of Highfields.

Ten minutes later Sith stopped outside a thickset flat of dirty grey stone with dingy lights gleaming in a sporadic pattern across the windows. He sighed. ‘Here? You’re sure?’

‘Cindy and I used to live here. Now she shares with her girlfriend.’

‘But she didn’t answer when you called?’

‘No.’ Karen grinned. Tried to. ‘Probably busy spiking Sam’s food.’ She caught Sith’s curious look. ‘Sorry, private joke.’ She patted his knee and offered a small smile. ‘Thanks, Sith. You’re really sweet.’

‘My pleasure.’ He seemed to want to say more, but when he didn’t, Karen clambered out the car and flicked the door shut. As she hurried up the steps he called to her. ‘I’ll wait until you go in.’

The urge to tell him not to bother rose strong within her, but he was unlikely to listen anyway. Nodding, she pressed the buzzer for number three.

Silence.

Karen stared at the grimy front door and the spiderweb of cracks through the glass. Inside, the hallway was dark but for a flickering light off to the right hand side. The acrid scent of stale urine and weed flooded her nostrils until she ducked the lower half of her face into the upturned collar of her coat.

She rang again. ‘Come on, Cindy. Please.’

Another ring. This time she kept her finger on the buzzer, listening to the sharp sound echo through the intercom beneath the panel of buttons.

‘Everything okay?’ Sith’s voice chased her up the steps.

‘It’s fine. I’ll ring her. She’s probably asleep.’ But as she went through the motions Karen knew Cindy wasn’t in the flat. Even the lights in the windows were off. She stepped back long enough to check. They were easy to recognise, having leaned out of them many a night to escape the fumes of Cindy’s chain smoking habit.

Again the phone switched to voicemail.

‘Damn it, Cindy, I need you. Please open the door.’

A gentle hand touched her shoulder. She spun around, but it was only Sith, gazing at her with a kind, sad smile. ‘She’s not here, Karen.’

Tears stung her eyes. Frustration, she told herself. Not self-pity and certainly not distress at her sudden loneliness. ‘I’ve nowhere else to go. I can’t go home—I don’t want to see Dan right now.’

‘Don’t you have any other friends?’

The question cut deeper than Karen ever realised it could. ‘Of course I do. But not that I can stay with. There are people from university. People in the same research building as me.’

‘Those aren’t friends, Karen. What about those two from the munch? They seemed nice.’

‘They aren’t local. They’ll be heading home by now.’

Sith massaged her shoulders. ‘Come on.’

‘Why? Where, Sith? Where the hell am I going?’ It wasn’t fair to snap at him, she knew that. But the frustrations of the day were catching up to her.

‘Come with me.’ He smiled again. The dimples pricked his cheeks and gave him the air of a cheeky five-year-old. ‘I’m not leaving you out here by yourself.’

‘I’ll sit in a pub. Maybe grab a drink. Or six.’

‘If you could afford a drink you would have called a cab here rather than walking. Let me help you.’

She looked up into his bright hazel eyes and saw genuine concern there. The need to help. The
desire
to help.

‘I can’t.’

‘Why? If you want a drink, I have lots. I’m a rum drinker but I’m sure I can rustle up something else if you prefer. You’ll be indoors. Warm. Then, when you’re ready, I’ll drop you off wherever you like.’

The tears stopped threatening and proceeded to slide down her cheeks. ‘You’re so nice. Why are you being so nice?’

‘I like you.’ His hand left her shoulder and drifted up, the pads of his fingers brushing her cheek. He wiped away the tears. ‘Let me help.’

‘What about Dan?’

His gaze darkened. ‘I’m not offering to take you home so I can ravish you. I just want to get you somewhere warm so you can relax after a hard day. I like you, but I’m not a monster.’

Mortified, she leapt to correct him. ‘I didn’t mean that.’

‘You’re nervous, fine. You met me this morning and already you’ve sat in my car and let me drive you around. But I’m not a madman, a rapist or a murderer. I’m not even a Tory; I only vote Green.’ The smile touched his lips again. ‘I’m a barrister.’

‘In training,’ she added with a sniff.

‘I’m not going to do, or expect anything of you. Let me take you home.’

Again she searched his face, for some sign of deceit or untruth. Nothing.

Karen sighed. ‘Fine. Let’s go.’