Bone by Bone (24 page)

‘My son is innocent,' he said fiercely. ‘I know, I swear, there is no way he would hurt a girl, a little girl like Autumn.'

That was when he'd told Jacob about Laura's attack on his son and shown him the photographs of Levi's injuries. Aaron said he'd been about to go to the police regarding Jacob's assault on his son, but now he'd met him, he believed Jacob hadn't hit him and he wouldn't report him.

‘She's hounding me, Jacob. She's gone to the school, God knows how many times, to complain about me and my son. She's reported me to the police for
vandalizing
her little girl's bike. That garden you two were working on – the police came round here, accusing me of destroying it. I mean, do I look like the kind of man that would trash a lady's garden? All I want,' he said, his voice trembling, ‘is to care for my son. I'm working flat-out to gain custody of him. That woman's accusations could jeopardize my case.'

Jacob cleared his throat. His voice sounded louder – as if he'd put his mouth closer to the receiver. He said, ‘The bottom line for me is how can you trust a person who beats a child? I want you to know that going to speak to Aaron was the last thing I was willing to do for you. I don't want you to ask me for help again. I don't want to work with you. I don't want to run a business with you. When you're in college, I don't want you to speak to me. If you ever go back to British Military Fitness, I will act as if I have no personal connection to you. You no longer exist for me.'

There was a click as he hung up. For several minutes Laura simply sat in her office, watching the strawberry tree tossing in the wind, holding the phone in her hand.

AUTUMN

W
hen she woke, it was as if she'd been transformed during the night. Her bones were made of lead. Her head was filled with dandelion seeds, soft as thistledown, like the clocks her mother had taught her to blow, telling the time as the seeds drifted away:
what's the time, Mr Wolf? One o'clock, two o'clock…
Her mouth was dry and she felt nauseous. She thought she'd feel better, knowing that she didn't have to go back to school, but she was worse.

She lay in bed and thought about her mum. She could hear her bustling around downstairs; the smell of coffee and burnt toast drifted up to her room. Because of her, her mum had lost her job. She didn't believe her mum thought it was all fine and soon she'd be some big-shot boss, hiring and firing employees at will. She couldn't imagine her like Barney, all red in the face, telling people off:
and if you bring that kid again…

Her mum had been saving up to start her own company with Jacob and now that wouldn't happen. Her mum would return to being at home and she'd be sad, like she used to be; that time when she was a colourless version of herself and nothing had been fun. And it was her fault.

She thought of all the things she hadn't told her mum: about Levi following her to school and what might have happened if the man and the dog hadn't appeared, or she hadn't seen the other children in Briar Lane. About Levi sitting in the park, late at night, watching her and how he knew she knew he was there. How he was really behind the paint-attack. That he'd cut off her hair. And that terrible…
thing
on Facebook. It made her stomach twist in knots and she couldn't breathe properly, but she couldn't tell her mum because she'd be even more worried than she was already. And what would happen when the police came and took her away? Would she have to go to prison? Who would look after her then? Her dad? He'd only ruffle her hair and tell her to
stand up for herself.

Her mum was always there for her. She didn't disappear off to Nepal or Namibia. Her mum loved her, even when Autumn hadn't been nice to her. Actually, she thought, with a hot rush of shame, she'd often been angry or sulky. Mum had taken her away from school and those horrid girls and Levi. Her love for her mum was so big it hurt to think about it. It was like a sharp-edged disc inside her chest. She'd paint an extra-specially nice picture for her, she decided.

She rubbed her eyes and stumbled downstairs to attempt to eat some breakfast. She didn't want her mum to be anxious.

She lay on the sofa, sipping hot Ribena and watching CBBC. She couldn't even bring herself to get up and put
Deadly 60
on or set out her paper and inks. Her stomach was sore, a dull but sharp ache, as if she'd swallowed a bag of nails, all heavy and spikey, and so, when her mum was on the phone, she crept outside to the garden for some fresh air. She still wasn't dressed and it was cold. The air was like needles piercing the back of her throat. She took deep, raggedy inhalations and watched her breath freeze in clouds around her. She was a dragon from a fairy story. She gave a little roar. After a few moments, she felt calmer, and the pain in her stomach eased but her fingers and toes started to go numb.

She turned to go back inside and that's when she saw it. The words in the white-grey dawn, livid and blood-thirsty, scrawled unevenly over the house.

Bone by Bone

She didn't know what it meant but it must be a warning, a grisly message to her and her mum, of what might happen to them if they didn't leave it be, if they didn't stop complaining about Levi and his dad to the school, to the police… The words were spray-painted, the edges blurred when you got up close, the paint gloss-smooth over the little lumps in the wall, like the house had goose bumps. There were some drips, shiny-sticky.

She thought she was going to retch. She put her hand over her mouth and backed away. She looked up and saw her mum in the window of her office. She was on the phone, holding the receiver with one hand and gesturing with the other. Her face was a pale smudge through the condensation and the tangle of ash branches. She might turn around at any moment and see her.

Autumn was frozen to the spot. It was her fault that this had happened too. It must have been Levi. She could imagine him wielding a spray can, dreaming up the words that would terrify her, the small, secret smile he had when he was hurting her, the frightening light in his eyes. He knew where they lived. If she'd told her mum about him waiting for her that morning, or about the times he'd sat on the swing and watched her, maybe she could have stopped him. Maybe this wouldn't have happened. Did her mum even know about the words on the wall? She hoped not. She'd be afraid, knowing that Levi had, somehow, climbed into the garden. He was so agile and athletic, maybe he'd scaled the fence using the strawberry tree like a rope and a ladder.

She looked up one more time and, averting her eyes from the message, she ran back indoors and locked the kitchen door behind her. She would have to make sure her mum didn't go into the garden.

LAURA

L
aura thought Autumn would be her old self now that she didn't have to return to school, but she seemed even more unhappy. She was tired, withdrawn, almost catatonic. She spent most of the morning lying on the sofa and groaned and flat-out refused when Laura asked her to come to the bank with her. Laura gave up. She'd go later, when Autumn felt up to it.

As soon as she got the Internet up and running again, she could set up a new email address and start searching for schools outside their catchment area. And she had all the time in the world now that she had no job to go to, or school run to do. She'd start right now, by phoning their Internet provider – and then calling Barney to see if he'd calmed down. Maybe she could persuade him to let her take unpaid leave?

As she waited for the call centre to take her off hold (there were three people in the queue ahead of her), she wondered how she was going to afford the mortgage. She'd have to find a tenant. A new job if she couldn't talk Barney round. And what was she going to do about Autumn's education? The council was unlikely to support her plea to place her daughter in another school when they heard Social Services had been notified and she was facing a court case for assaulting a child. In the meantime, what should she do about Levi? Mr George hadn't phoned her back. There seemed to be no end to the lengths Aaron was prepared to go to bully her and Autumn. The school hadn't intervened. Neither had the police.

PC Emery had rung that morning. She'd sounded kind, asking her if she was okay, if her little girl had heard anything in the night, if Laura had managed to switch the alarm back on (
Yes, No, Not yet
). Then she'd cleared her throat and said they'd gone to see Aaron Jablonski, who'd denied using the key code to her garden, letting himself in, and spray-painting poetry on the wall.

‘He said, “I don't even know who Emily effing Dickinson is,”' said Emery. ‘At any rate, he couldn't have been responsible. Mr Jablonski had an emergency call-out last night. For IBM. He showed me the paperwork. He clocked off at 5 a.m. Got an hour's sleep before we arrived on his doorstep.' There was a pause and Laura expected the police officer to wind up the conversation. Instead, she said, ‘While we were there, we went through Mr Jablonski's records. He keeps a hard copy and a computer record of all the call-outs he makes, his time-sheets and his invoices for the work. There was no record of him ever visiting you at 6.30 p.m. on the twenty-sixth of October to mend your laptop. On the day in question, he made two call-outs to private residences in Filton and Abbey Wood and then he drove straight to the MoD's site, also in Abbey Wood, where he worked until 8 p.m.'

‘He's lying,' Laura had said, before hanging up.

She had no evidence to back up any of her claims. There was no one on her side.

Laura, standing in the hall glaring at the phone, realized that she only had one option left. There was one thing she hadn't done – spoken to Levi's mother.

At three in the afternoon, she packed a bag with some of Autumn's books, a pad and felt tips, a couple of apples and a carton of juice. She tossed some clothes towards Autumn, who was still lying on the sofa.

‘Come on, Autumn. Put these on and let's go.'

‘Where? I don't want to.'

‘You won't have to even get out of the car. Come on, hurry.'

‘I'm not wearing these!' she said disgustedly.

It seemed to take forever for Autumn to return from her bedroom dressed in a different outfit and put on her shoes.

‘Where are we going?' she asked again.

‘It's a surprise,' said Laura.

‘I don't like surprises.'

As they pulled over on the kerb, a hundred yards away from Ashley Grove, Autumn sat up straight.

‘You promised I wouldn't have to go back to school.' Her voice was high-pitched, bordering on hysteria.

‘It's okay. School's almost finished. Everyone will be coming out and going home in a minute.'

‘Why are we here, then?'

‘I'm going to find out who Levi's mother is.'

Autumn stared straight ahead. ‘You're not going to ask him, are you?'

‘I brought some things for you to do. In that bag. It could take a while. We don't know if he'll go straight home or not.'

Laura, who hadn't taken her eyes off the children starting to filter out of school, spotted Levi. He was unmistakable. Taller and broader than the other kids, there was something polished about him. In the dull light, his skin gleamed. From this distance, she could see how like his father he was – the same spare figure, the square shape of his jaw, the jut of his chin were all Aaron's. As he came out of the school gates, he pulled a black woollen cap over his head and slouched, his gait rolling, down the road. With a lurch, Laura recognized the hat. It was the one he'd been wearing when she'd pushed him and he'd hit his head.

She put the car into gear and pulled out. It was a long shot, trying to follow the boy, but it was the only option she had left. She didn't dare go after him on foot as he'd easily see her and Autumn. In any case, she thought he might have some activity, an after-school club to attend; he might be heading to Filton to see his dad, or hang out with friends, and they could be waiting for a while. At least they could stay warm in the car.

At first, it wasn't difficult to follow him. He walked along the main road with a couple of other boys, on the opposite side from her. The traffic, as usual for this time of day, was heavy and they crawled along. But, at a roundabout, Levi took a right and when she followed, the road cleared. She pulled over, waiting for him to catch up and pass them, hoping that in the poor light, he wouldn't notice them sitting in a parked car across the street from him.

‘Mum! What are you doing?' hissed Autumn.

And then Levi turned towards them. He skipped across the road, waving at the boys he'd been walking with. He ran right in front of the car. Autumn instinctively ducked down and faced away. Laura froze, staring straight ahead. Levi darted between her car and the one in front and jogged down a side road. He was heading towards Montpelier, where they lived. Laura wondered if he knew someone there. Of course, he could still weave through the side streets towards Cheltenham Road and go elsewhere, she thought.

She waited a couple of minutes and then eased the car into the road and down the side street. Levi was in the distance, his twin shadows caused by the street lamps splayed out across the kerb.

‘We're following him?' hissed Autumn. ‘Mum, are you, like, totally insane?'

‘Shush. Just watch him. See where he goes.'

Levi was no longer jogging, or walking with his former gangsta gait. He pulled himself erect, easing his rucksack over both shoulders. Before he reached the bottom of the street, he veered right and disappeared into the darkness.

‘Where did he go? Can you see him?'

Laura drove a little faster. Forgetting to check her mirrors, she slammed on the brakes near where she'd last seen Levi. The car behind screeched to a halt and the driver blared his horn.

‘Shit.'

She was about to pull over when she saw it: a tiny path running between the ends of the gardens, its entrance overgrown with ivy.

‘Where does it go?'

Autumn shrugged.

Laura tried to take the next right, but the street had been blocked off to car drivers and she had to stop sharply. The driver behind honked his horn again. She backed up and swung the car around, heading the way they'd come. She turned left onto the road they'd originally parked on, and then took the first left. Just as she turned, they saw Levi, crossing the road in front of them. He started walking down the street opposite – a one-way street.

Laura swore and drove down the next road. To her consternation, instead of running parallel, the street curved and started to dip downhill. Laura took the first right, up a steep hill. She'd lost him.

But he was there, walking straight towards them. Laura was forced to drive past the boy. In the wing mirror she saw him open a gate and enter a garden.

‘Which house is it? Look now and see which one it is.'

Autumn pulled the seat belt away from herself and knelt up to look out of the window. ‘Got it,' she said.

At the top of the road, Laura turned left and parked the car.

‘Do you want to come with me or would you rather wait here?'

‘You don't know which house he went in to,' said Autumn sulkily.

‘Well, you can tell me – or show me and then I'll take you back to the car. I'm sure the last thing you want to do is see Levi again.'

‘It's okay,' mumbled Autumn, climbing out of her seat.

They walked back down the street until Autumn stopped.

‘You're certain it was this one?'

Her daughter nodded. It was a tall, thin terraced house, similar to their own, but there the similarities ended. The gate that Levi had walked through was ajar, stuck fast on an uneven paving slab. The front garden was waist-high in brambles, a tangled mass that almost engulfed the path; thick, thorny stems arced out of the briar. The house had once been rendered with cream cement; in the vapid light of the street lamps, it seemed grey and was fissured with cracks. Parts of the exterior were coming away or had fallen off, to reveal uneven brickwork. The front door was streaked with mould and the paint had bubbled and peeled away. A greenish slime ran down the wall above the door all the way from a crack in the gutter on the roof, which was missing some tiles. The only light came from the window on the ground floor and they could see that the woodwork was splintered and rotting; the pane did not fit properly and a gap was clearly visible.

‘Do you think this is his friend's house?' said Laura. She realized she was whispering.

Laura carefully stepped around the open gate and walked slowly towards the house, dodging the bramble tendrils. Autumn quickly followed her. When they were a few feet away, half hidden by the dense undergrowth, she peered into the front room. The curtains were hung haphazardly and didn't quite close. A desk lamp on the floor was lit. There was a sun-bleached sofa and a dining room chair piled high with school books. Balanced on the top was a plate, a fork and a glass, all unwashed. The TV was on in the corner, with the sound turned down.

In the centre of the room stood Levi. He had dumped his bag by the door and was wearing a tracksuit. He was moving gracefully, almost methodically, backwards and forwards and turning in a half circle. It was as if he was dancing in slow motion. She didn't know what he was doing – and then it came to her: he was practising Taekwondo.

There was something dreadfully wrong. She could feel it in her bones. There were no other lights on in the house. Even the door into the room he was in led into an unlit hallway. There was no sound, nor smells of cooking. She had a horrible thought: that this really was Levi's house, the one he lived in with his mother. And simultaneously, she had another smaller, nastier thought: now she could not, in all conscience, go inside and confront his mother, and for that, she was grateful. She felt sickened by herself, by her cowardice. She turned back towards Autumn, who was staring wide-eyed at the boy, spinning and circling and kicking an invisible assailant with stealthy grace in the dilapidated house. The two of them crept down the path and onto the pavement.

‘I'm sorry, love, but there's one more thing we have to do,' Laura said when they were in the car.

Laura didn't know the address, but she'd dropped Jacob off once. He lived in Cotham, a genteelly fashionable suburb where professional couples and students were interspersed with independent film companies, edit suites and graphic design offices. Because of the traffic, it took much longer than she'd expected to reach his neighbourhood, and then she couldn't find his street. Swearing under her breath, she drove around for a few minutes, until she spotted it – wide, residential, but with a launderette-cum-café on the corner. Laura parked behind Jacob's Land Rover and, leaving Autumn in the car, walked across the small paved front yard, past a rose bush in a glazed blue pot. She was struck again by the incongruity of Jacob's flat. His basement bedsit was once a well-to-do person's parlour in a three-storey Georgian house; there were stone roses above the bay windows and the plaster cornice's were intricately patterned overlapping ferns. Now this beautiful, spacious room was cluttered by a bed, a sofa, a coffee-table, its surface covered with a stack of horticultural text books, empty beer bottles, and coffee mugs; an exercise ball looked as if it were escaping, and a pile of pads and boxing gloves were heaped haphazardly in one corner.

Her hands were clammy and her heart was beating irregularly. She wiped her palms on her jeans and knocked. When Jacob answered, he was still in his BMF kit: camouflage trousers and a blue vest. He crossed his arms and the muscles in his biceps bulged.

‘You were right. I didn't tell you the truth,' she said.

‘What do you want?'

‘Levi cornered her. He tore up her—'

‘I don't want your excuses.' He took a step back and seized the door as if to slam it in her face.

‘I lost my temper!' she shouted.

Jacob paused.

‘I know it won't change your mind, about me, or working together, or, or anything, but I wanted you to know the truth. What really happened. For the sake of our friendship.'

‘Go on,' he said grudgingly and folded his arms again.

‘Well…' She took a deep breath. She couldn't say she'd felt threatened; a little intimidated but not seriously threatened. It hadn't been self-defence. She hadn't been protecting her daughter. ‘I pushed him. I wanted to hurt him.' She swallowed uncomfortably and felt the blush start to flame in her cheeks and rise towards her hairline. ‘I pushed him and he fell. He hit his head on a stone and cut his cheek.'

Jacob's expression was unreadable. They stood staring at each other. Her face was burning. Eventually Jacob nodded, curtly. He shut the door.