The Playdate (20 page)
She stared at him, furious. Why would nobody believe her?
“So how do you explain this, then?” she shouted. She marched out of the room and opened the front door. Allen and the police officer followed her outside. Even as she went to fling open the lid of the recycling box she could tell that something
was different. The lid had been replaced properly, not left half-cocked as she remembered from earlier.
Allen and the police officer peered over her shoulder as she took it off.
It revealed an empty green space, dotted with specks of black dust and tiny cardboard strips. Debs pointed inside it.
“The stones were there—and they’d been taken out of there,” she said, turning her finger to her neighbor’s garden. But instead of the black earth from earlier, she could see the giant pebbles once again lined up.
She knew before she even looked that the chalk note behind her had disappeared, too, the dark green powder wiped away.
“They were there,” she said. “I think.”
Suzy put her car in neutral, pulled on her hand brake, and turned off the engine. With the flick of a long finger, she pressed the button that replaced the roof with a soft
burr,
took off her seat belt, and pushed back in the seat. Five minutes. Just to gather her thoughts outside the hospital, before she went in. Callie had been difficult to judge yesterday. Sweet, passive Callie, with flashes of anger in her eyes, her voice louder, less hesitant than usual.
Suzy looked in her rearview mirror at the redbrick Victorian hospital behind her. Last night was the first time she had been back since the twins were born. She’d never forget the shock she felt when the ambulance had pulled up at the emergency entrance of this grim old building, with its tired magnolia walls and belligerent drunk men and floors stained with dried blood and vomit, so far removed from the spotless white clinics of Colorado that, in heavy pants, she had asked a doctor if they were in the right place. Thank God, Callie, her new neighbor,
had been there to tell her that it would be fine. That the doctors and nurses were fantastic. That she had given birth here, too, and that she would stay with Suzy in place of Jez, for those long five hours until the twins burst into life in the birthing room with gulping, blue gasps.
She and Callie had locked eyes at that moment, dropping their jaws, laughing in delight at sharing this life-affirming moment. Suzy had gripped Callie’s hand, tears flooding down her face, knowing that she had found a true friend in this woman who had witnessed her body and mind at their most vulnerable and shameful and exposed, and not left her alone.
And true friends, she thought, checking herself in the car mirror, forgive.
Callie was hurting, and it was logical for her to blame Suzy. All Suzy had to do was be there. Give her the time and space to realize she could trust her again.
A familiar shape passed Suzy’s car, interrupting her thought. She turned her head to look.
The woman was in her seventies, perhaps, or had maybe just had a hard life. She appeared to have come out of the hospital, and was walking up Northmore Hill. She was average height, but heavy, her body bulking out the light blue raincoat she wore over a pleated navy skirt. It was her legs that Suzy couldn’t help noticing. They bore no relation to legs you saw in magazines. These were not the sinewy calves of children that helped them grasp their way up climbing poles in the park or run after a football. Neither were they the sculpted calves of women she was used to seeing in the city, coltlike in strappy sandals or black tights and tall leather boots.
No, she had only ever seen legs like these once before. The calves were almost as wide as they were high, heavy with fat,
the color of raw sausages. Blue veins snaked across the deadened, pore-blocked skin. Lumps burst out in random spots, like broken mattress springs. There was simply no ankle. Instead the thickness extended down and was squashed into sturdy brown shoes, which the woman was currently attempting to move as quickly as she could. Her effort was palpable. She was leaning at forty-five degrees just to sway her bulk uphill, her wide, shapeless back dropping and rising heavily.
Why was she rushing?
Suzy looked around. A lithe young traffic attendant was racing up the other side of the road, fifty yards farther down the hill, his long legs carrying him at an incredible pace. The old lady glanced behind her nervously. He knows her ticket has just expired, Suzy thought. He is chasing her. The cheetah and the warthog.
“Go on, hon, you can do it,” Suzy said under her breath.
The traffic warden bounced between two cars and stood rising and falling on the balls of his feet, like an athlete on the start line, waiting for a space to cross. Trucks thundered down Northmore Hill, thwarting him. Suzy turned to watch the old lady. She was slowing down rapidly now, her chest heaving to inhale more oxygen, her legs petering out in their task of propelling her massive bulk up the unforgiving gradient.
She put out a hand and leaned on a blue Ford Fiesta, and took three deep breaths. She looked behind her, with a hunted expression, and saw that she still had time.
Suzy checked. There was a two-second gap in the traffic as a bus slowed down to stop. Taking his chance, the traffic warden sprinted across the road. There was a bounce in his step, as if the tarmac was his own personal trampoline. In five great leaps he was across the road and racing toward the old woman.
With enormous effort, she was now squeezing herself through the small gap between the front of her car and the one in front, wincing as her body wobbled and shook against the hard surfaces. In her hand, Suzy could see a key. The old woman scrabbled to point it at a lock, her eyes searching out the traffic warden, who was now coming at twenty paces.
Her mouth opened, as if she was groaning. She managed to open the door and heave her body inside the car, using big, hammy hands to pull her giant legs inside.
The traffic warden reached the back of her car, his eyes wide and excited.
“Nearly there,” Suzy whispered.
With a final desperate effort, the old lady swung her door shut and started her car, just as the man dived off the pavement and attempted to walk in front of it to see her parking ticket. The old woman flipped on her turn signal and began pulling out into the traffic as he reached her window.
It was too late. The wheels were already turning.
As the old lady was flashed into the traffic by a white van, the traffic warden raised his hand as if in salute. His mouth opened to reveal a great big gleaming smile. He’d lost the game this time. Next time she’d be his.
Suzy sighed. Time to go in and face Callie again.
* * *
Callie was sitting in a seat beside Rae’s bed, staring out of the window. She looked up.
Suzy smiled, hoping for one back. There was definitely a movement around her friend’s mouth, even if its intention was unclear. But it was something—better than yesterday, when she had refused to make eye contact at all.
“Where’s Rae?” she asked gently, moving carefully into the room.
“In the playroom with another kid.”
Suzy leaned down and gave Callie a kiss on the cheek. She smelled a little peaky. She was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday and there was a smear of makeup under her eyes. The hair that framed her forehead was sticking up as if she had slept with it pushed into a hard surface.
Suzy gave a big sigh. “Well, that sounds promising.”
“They’ve put her on antibiotics for her leg,” Callie said. “Her heart is OK but they’re going to keep her till teatime.”
“I let the plumber in with your spare keys, by the way. He said the doll had got stuck on something and he’d have to replace the part. Shouldn’t take long.”
“Thanks,” Callie said, distracted. There was something about her face Suzy couldn’t place. A firmness in her jawline.
“Hon—what is it?”
Callie looked up at her. Suzy could see the battle going on in her friend’s eyes.
“Suze—I’m just confused. A policeman’s just been here about Rae’s accident. He told me that he’d interviewed Debs this morning and she said you didn’t tell her to hold Rae’s hand? She said no one had told her that Rae mustn’t run.”
Suzy opened her eyes wide with astonishment.
“What? That’s crazy. I specifically explained that Rae falls over easily and that she had run away from you on Monday night. I swear to you, Cal, that’s what I said. Jesus. Why would she do that? Ask Ms. Buck. She must have overheard the conversation.”
“Apparently, she didn’t—they’ve asked her. Anyway, he’s gone to the canteen to get some tea—can you speak to him?”
Suzy touched her shoulder. “Sure.”
Callie pulled away and stood up. She rubbed her eyes.
“Sorry—look. I’m just tired. And it’s this place—I hate it. I’m just so confused. I mean, why would she have purposely ignored what you said?”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s just. Oh, I don’t know. I just wish you hadn’t asked her to bring Rae home.”
The accusation hung in the air. Suzy waited. She had to be very careful here. Callie clearly hadn’t slept.
“Hon, listen to me. I know you’re angry, and I know you’re worried. But you have to understand, I would do everything in my power to protect Rae as much as one of my own kids. I love her like family. I love you like family. And you don’t think I wasn’t awake all night wishing I hadn’t asked that woman to do it? There’s no way I would have asked her if she hadn’t been a teacher. And sorry, Cal, but you had already allowed her to look after Rae at after-school club. You made that decision. Everything happened so quickly, I was just trying to do my best for you. You weren’t there and I had to get Rae home . . .”
Callie looked at her and rolled her eyes. She shook her head.
“I know . . .” she whispered. “It’s just, Suze, I am going crazy in that flat. You have no idea how bad things have been for so long. Then when I eventually try to change things—three DAYS after I leave her, this happens. And now we’re back in this fucking place again.”
Suzy made sure that Callie saw she was listening intently to her. That was important. “Don’t blame yourself, hon. Blame me for trusting a teacher. Jesus, it just goes to show you can’t trust anyone with your kids. I’m thinking of taking Peter and Otto out of nursery after this.”
She waited for Callie’s reaction but her friend’s face had
changed. She wasn’t listening to Suzy anymore. She was looking past Suzy, down the corridor.
“Oh, great. Here we go,” she said quietly.
Suzy turned to where her friend’s eyes were directed.
A big man with a deeply tanned face, Viking-white curls bouncing around his jaw, was striding down the corridor beside a tall, wide-shouldered girl with long black hair. They were both wearing khaki jackets and had soft bags slung over their shoulders.
She had always thought Tom had an open, generous face. But the expression on it now was as far removed from that first impression as possible. His blue eyes were bloodshot with lack of sleep from the overnight flight and glittering dangerously. Callie shrank physically as he approached. Suzy moved beside her protectively.
“Where is she?” he demanded. Up close, he was unshaven, a faint blond fuzz around his jaw. Callie pointed toward the playroom at the end of the ward, gritting her teeth. She’s trying not to cry, thought Suzy. She’s frightened.
“I want to speak to the doctor,” he boomed, walking past Callie. At the sound of Tom’s voice, Rae popped her head out of the playroom and came limping toward him, throwing her arms round his neck as he leaned down. Kate stroked her arm. “Hi, sweetie,” she said in her confident, well-spoken voice.
Callie stood frozen, watching them. This is what it would be like, Suzy realized, to see your husband with a new partner—with your kids. She shuddered, and reached an arm round Callie. The stiffness from moments ago simply melted away. Callie fell into Suzy’s side, letting her hug her close.
That was better, Suzy thought. She knew it would just take time. Friends forgive.
“The way he speaks to you, hon,” she murmured. “It’s not right. Don’t worry, I’ll stay till he’s gone. I’ll go and find that police officer and get your tea.”
She left Callie in the corridor and headed toward the canteen, spotting a police officer looking for sugar beside the checkout.
“Hey,” she said. “I’m Suzy Howard. Callie Roberts’s friend—you wanted to speak to me?”
“Yes,” he said, looking at her, surprised, pointing her toward an empty table. “I’ll just put these down and take some details.”
She gave him what he needed, then talked through what had happened on the phone with Lisa Buck and Debs.
“So you are quite sure you told Mrs. Ribwell that Rae had to be watched on the road because of her condition?” he said, pencil hovering above his pad.
“Absolutely.”
“And can you think of any reason why she would deny that?”
Suzy sucked in her lips as if making a difficult decision.
“To be honest, between you and me, I find her a little strange. She seems a little confused and distracted. Maybe that’s it. Maybe that’s all it was?”
“OK,” he said, shutting the pad. “Thanks for your help. We’ll be in touch if we need anything else.”
“You’re welcome,” she said, standing up and taking Callie’s tea from him. As she took it her finger touched his by accident.
He gave her the type of smile that Suzy was used to men directing at her. Slightly too wide; eyes too searching.
Yeah, bozo, she thought. Get on with the job.
Returning his smile, she nodded and headed back down the corridor toward Rae’s room.
She heard Tom before she saw him.
Turning the corner, she came across Callie slumped against
the wall. Tom was back in the corridor, remonstrating with her, Kate silent at his side. Kate had a serious look on her face. She stood there in judgment, his ally, making it clear that she knew everything unsavory there was to know about Callie; that she and Tom had picked her character and mothering skills apart at night in bed in whichever mountain cabin or jungle tent they happened to be sleeping in.
