Chapter Forty-Eight Si
Then he’d refused to say any more and hung up, cos sometimes Adam was a bastard like that.
When he burst through the door, the first thing Si saw was Zig, sitting on the sofa with his knees drawn up and his arms wrapped around them. He wasn’t wearing his Converse, and his feet looked weirdly vulnerable in a pair of Si’s Tardis socks.
The second thing he saw was Zig’s backpack, on the desk with a hard-faced Adam standing between Zig and it. Si’s heart sank. No wonder Adam hadn’t wanted him to go by the flat and find all Zig’s stuff gone.
“Gonna tell me about it?” he said with a sigh.
Zig glanced at Adam, then nodded jerkily, uncurling himself from the sofa and standing up.
Sasha appeared from the back room. “You can come in here. I’ve made tea for you. It’s in there.” She was holding two mugs, which she brought out for herself and Adam.
Zig took a step, then faltered. “Not sure I can do this.” He glanced at Adam again.
“Yeah, you can. Tell Si what you told me. About your dad, and what he wants you to do.”
What the hell was going on? How come Adam knew all about it and not Si?
Didn’t Zig trust him enough to tell him? But then why would he talk to Adam? They weren’t exactly besties. Si felt hurt, and bewildered, and really fucking worried.
He followed Zig into the back room. As Sash had promised, there were two steaming mugs of tea in there on the counter. Zig picked one up, wrapped his hands around it, then put it down again.
Si looked him in the eye. “What are you gonna tell me, then?”
Zig took a deep breath. “Adam said you know my dad’s here. That we talked.” He swallowed and picked up the mug again.
Was he waiting for an answer? Si nodded, not trusting himself to say anything without going off on one because whatever this was, it couldn’t be good.
Zig lifted the mug to his lips but didn’t drink. He put it down again. “Dad said . . . He said I gotta do one more job for him. You know. Nicking stuff.”
All the tension in Si boiled over. “I defended you!”
“What?”
“All this time, everyone’s been telling me you’re no good. Mum and Dad. Sasha. Adam. Even bloody Corin, who don’t know anything more about you than what Adam’s told him. And here was muggins, telling ’em all to lay off. Saying they shouldn’t go hanging dogs by giving ’em a bad name.”
“Huh?”
“Told ’em, it was six years ago you broke my— broke up with me, and you can’t judge a man by what he was like as a teenager.
Told ’em to give you a chance, and you’d surprise ’em.
Well, more fool me. Guess I’m the only one surprised, as it turns out.
” There was a great hollow cavity in Si’s chest, and it hurt like nothing had ever hurt before.
Zig’s eyes were wide. “No, wait. I’m not gonna do it!”
“How come you’re leaving me, then? Cos don’t try to tell me you ain’t. You’d be halfway to gods know where by now if it hadn’t been for Adam and Sash.” Si’s eyes prickled, and he blinked furiously.
“I didn’t know what to do!”
“From the look of that rucksack, you had a pretty good idea.” Si folded his arms.
Adam poked his head round the door. “He’s buggering this up, isn’t he? For fuck’s sake. Si, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but he was actually trying to be noble. His dad threatened you.”
“Me?” Si turned to Zig. “Is this true?”
“He said he’d make sure you had an accident on your bike.” Zig’s voice was high and breathy, and getting higher. “I couldn’t risk you getting hurt, but I couldn’t go along with him; it’d never have ended, and fuck, you’d have hated me for it anyhow—”
Si grabbed hold of him and held him close until the panicked babble subsided and Zig was taking deep, shaky breaths in his arms. “You daft bastard,” Si murmured fondly.
Zig sobbed and said something indistinct into Si’s chest, which had somehow filled up so fast his ribs felt tight.
“Was that you going, ‘Yes, Si, I’m a daft bastard’?”
Zig pulled back and gave Si the shakiest smile he’d ever seen, those mismatched eyes glistening. “Something like that. But what are we gonna do? I can’t let him hurt you.”
“Zig, love. You don’t have to sort it all out by yourself. I know he’s your dad and he’s messed with your head all your life but, well, he’s only a petty criminal, ain’t he? They have coppers to sort them out. Like the one I’m mates with, remember?”
There was a penny-dropped look on Zig’s face.
“And if the coppers can’t sort him, you’ve got me.
And Adam, and Corin, who’s a black belt in the old martial arts.
And Sash, and let me tell you, I wouldn’t wanna be the one who’s threatening anyone she cares about.
But it ain’t gonna come to that. Chances are, your dad’s breaking all kinds of parole conditions being here.
He ain’t gonna want to risk going back to jail. ”
“And Trent? He’s worse than Dad, seriously—”
“Same applies. All I gotta do is have a word with Rob the copper. And maybe some of the lads I work with. Just in case.” Si pulled Zig in close once more and kissed him. “We’ll sort it out. You don’t have to worry no more. Now come on, let’s get you home.”
“You sure you wanna? All the trouble I cause you . . .”
“Ah, but I heard you don’t mean to,” Si reminded him, his voice gruff. “You go grab your shoes from wherever you’ve left ’em.”
Zig’s laugh was small, but it was there. “Sasha nicked ’em. Said if I was gonna run out on anyone, I’d have to do it in me socks.”
“They ain’t your socks,” Si pointed out fondly. “Look good on you, though.”
“Wanted something to remember you by.” Zig sniffed.
“That forgettable, am I?” Si teased gently.
“I never forgot you. Not once. You were the one that got away.”
Gods, much more of this and Si was gonna end up a happy puddle on the floor.
He pulled himself together. “We’re gonna take your stuff back home, and go to bed, and in the morning, we’ll make a plan to deal with all this.
Together. And involving the proper authorities.
” He shook his head. “You ain’t on your own no more. Not now; not ever.”