Fall of Hope (Book 1): Real Heroes Don't Wear Capes (19 page)

As
the car pulls up, he can hear Kelly whisper to Danny in a mocking
jibe as he nudges him. “How'd you fancy having me as your new
daddy?”

Bobby
catches Danny biting his lip before he speaks to the woman in the
red, second-hand
Chevrolet Spark
.

“
Hey,
honey. Are you boys having fun?”

Danny
hesitates before he fakes a smile for his mother's benefit.

“
I
will start the dinner after a quick shower.”

“
Man,
I'd pay to see that,” Josh comments.

“
I'm
filthy.”

“
I
bet you are,” Jack titters.

Toad
pulls a pack of
Sovereign
cigarettes
from his back pocket with a smirk.

“
Did
you say something, sweetie?” Danny's mum asks as she looks
toward Jack.

“
Nothing,
Miss Summers, just that you look nice today.”

Bobby
can tell by the way she curls her hair around her finger that she
hears compliments like that all the time. Judging by her reaction,
she is not immune to the flattery either.

“
Oh,
stop,” she chuckles. When she turns back to Danny, without so
much as a mild brush, Bobby knows where Danny gets his piercing blue
eyes from.

“
Don't
be over ten minutes, unless you want me to take the cheese.”

“
No,”
Danny splutters. “I'll bring it now. Bobby and I will give you
a hand.”

“
I'll
give her a hand,” Josh mutters again. Jack nods in agreement.

Lighting
his cigarette, Toad glares at Danny. As he speaks, the words sound
more like a demand than anything. “Bobby's hanging out with us,
aren't you?”

“
No,
I'll help.” The eyes glaring through Bobby force him to drop
eye contact before he slides out from between the boys.

“
Don't
miss playing with your friends just to help me.”

“
I'll
help you out your knickers,” Jack comments.

“
Bet
she doesn't wear any,” Josh chimes in. If Danny's mum hears
them, she doesn't mind what they are saying at all.

Toad
doesn't smile, but glares harsher at Bobby. His narrow eyes can only
mean he will regret his decision sometime later. Bobby saw Jack give
him that look in Year 7 when he asked to copy his homework and Bobby
hadn't complied. Two weeks later, while having a shower after
swimming, Jack took his towel and threw his clothes out the changing
rooms. That meant he had no choice but to hide his modesty behind his
hands and step out. Everyone stood staring as they queued for the
bus—the most embarrassing moment in his life. He can still hear
their laughter now.

This
may catch up to him later, but right now the relief is bliss.

“
No,
I was coming round yours to collect something anyway,” Bobby
lies. He isn't proud for doing so, but Miss Summers seems to buy it
as she grins. “Okay, hurry up with the cheese then.”

Miss
Summers drives off, making no attempt to get around the corner fast.

“
Danny,
tell your mum when she's ready for a fat cock rammed up her ass, I'm
right here.” Josh grabs himself through his pants.

Danny
drops him a look of disgust as he picks up the pace, and Bobby
follows with enthusiasm at his heels.

•

Propped
against the green counter with the rainbow tiles, Bobby watches Danny
grating the cheese. Neither mention the events moments previous; it
is irrelevant now, or at least they pretend it is. It seems easier
that way and always has.

As
Danny fiddles to keep the bowl steady, they partially listen to the
radio host. He yaps on about a competition to meet a new
up-and-coming star he has never heard of. And, despite his youth, he
cannot help feeling the age creeping upon his life. '
In the midst
of life, we are in death
'. He hadn't concentrated on the hymn's
meaning before, but he does now only to realise how accurate it is.

Between
the ticking clock and the grating motion, it causes a sensation to
spread inside Bobby's chest. He doesn't understand the feeling, but
if he had to put a name to it, he would say it's grief for a life
that has not yet died.

His
mother used to listen to
Elton John,
Bruce Springsteen
,
or bands like
Crowded House
and
Mike and the Mechanics
.
Often he would catch her dusting away in the front room with the
stereo on. She would shake her hips to the beat while belting out her
favourite song, '
Don't let the sun go down on me
'. She isn't a
fan of
George Michael
, but that is her song. She claimed to
view it from a different angle every time she heard it, but that was
before Benji died.

“
We've
got a shout out for someone named Bobby now. Bobby Ames, your friends
on the
other
side
would
like to let you know your time is coming, so prepare yourself. And
here's a song dedicated just to you, Bobby Ames. I hope you find what
it is you are looking for.”

A
familiar tune comes from the speakers which he heard coming from his
brother's room occasionally. He associates the song with the secret
woods at the bottom of his garden—'
Somewhere only we know
'
by East Sussex band,
Keane
.

“
Bobby,
are you all right? Bobby?”

The
tugging at his sleeve is distant as he listens to the music at full
blast. It infiltrates his ears enough to make him scream, until Danny
shakes him back into reality to find he is gripping the portable
stereo with both hands.

“
Bobby,
talk to me.”

As
the silver object falls from his hands and onto the counter, Danny's
expression is confusion. If Bobby is honest, he swears he can see a
glimpse of disgust brimming within his eyes, but he shakes it from
his mind the way one may hope to avoid a certain and painful truth.

“
Sorry,
I don't know what happened,” Bobby mutters as he moves out from
his mate's hold.

That
was disgust, but why would he look at me that way?

“
It's
okay. Y
ou
were acting funny and shouting at the radio.”

Rubbing
at his face, Bobby attempts to replay what just happened and finds he
can't.

The
radio was playing. The host dedicated a song to me, but then what?

“
What
did I say?”

“
I
don't know. You were speaking too quickly to catch anything, but it
sounded like 'it's not me you want', or something to that effect. Who
were you talking to?”

Danny
regards his lifelong mate
with
something close to fear from the opposite counter. Bobby can see it
for sure now. Danny wants to look concerned, but there's much more in
that expression.

It's
fear. He's scared of me. Scared, or sickened.

As
Danny searches his eyes, Bobby plays along with the concern because
that is all it is, isn't it?

•

“
You
were grating cheese.”

“
Yeah,”
Danny confirms.

Each
movement inside the plastic clock pinches his skin as he glances at
the sunset tiles. He runs his fingers over his jaw where the trace of
stubble touches the tips.

“
And
the guy on the radio said my name. He gave me a message and dedicated
a song to me—a song that means a lot.” Bobby shakes his
head and glares back at the other boy. “Didn't you hear it?”

It
is Danny's turn to look at the floor. When he speaks again, the
severity of the words hit him like a ton of bricks.

“
The
radio hasn't been on, Bobby.”

Bobby
can see the regret lingering on his face as he looks back to the bowl
he had moments ago been standing at. The discarded grater now lies on
the floor with yellow strands tossed along the tiles.

“
But
I heard it.”

Danny
crouches to pluck up the cheese strands. As he does, he explains that
the switch on the wall is off, so the radio cannot have been on as he
is claiming.

“
You
were standing there one second, then shouting the next. Nothing else
happened.”

“
Is
everything okay in here? I thought I heard raised voices.”

Dressed
only in a lilac towel, Danny's mum crosses her leg as she leans
against the wooden frame. Water trails down her blushed and exposed
skin from her soaked curls. If not for the haze of confusion in his
mind, he might feel bashful to find his trousers tightening at the
sight. But as it is, he turns to stare at the side of Danny's head in
the hope he will say nothing about what transpired.

“
No,
we're fine. I dropped the grater and got annoyed that's all.”

Bobby
exhales in a slow but steady wave. As her deep ocean filled eyes fall
on him, he believes she knows the truth, or at least suspects. Yet,
if she does, she only smiles that sensual smile of hers and
rearranges her towel.

“
The
cheese is ready,” Danny says as he discards the dirty remnants
in the flip-lid to Bobby's left. While he is doing so, Miss Summers
drops him a wink before peering in the bowl.

“
That's
great, I'll be down in a minute.” She slips away and, a moment
later, she is upstairs. The floorboards creak on the landing, then a
door closes up there.

“
Maybe
you should get to bed early tonight,” Danny says without
skipping a beat.

With
his brow furrowed, Bobby glances from the bowl to the radio.

Is
lack of sleep to blame for this and for seeing the figure in the red
hood? The painting?

“
Yeah,
I will. I'll catch you later.”

“
You're
not staying? Mum always makes too much. We can eat before we go to my
grans.”

Peeling
himself from the counter, Bobby considers having a hot meal. The
thought of it being the best dinner in history as Danny believes it
to be is extremely tempting. Yet, he makes the excuse his mother will
need him to help make their dinner. He hopes he doesn't hear the
trembling in his voice when he lies again.

For
someone who hates lying, I'm sure doing my fair share lately.