Chapter 8
There was an alternative to finding a way to get Marcus to move to America. Jake thought of moving away himself, somewhere Marcus couldn’t find him. Although he knew there would be a permanent position waiting for him at his current school when he had completed his Initial Teacher Training and qualified, he also knew that he could apply to another local authority for a teaching post. He could start over. After all, he was free and single, with no responsibilities; nothing to keep him there. So why wasn’t he seriously considering it?
Jake’s attention wandered over to Faye. He watched her as she opened several kitchen cupboards before turning his way and throwing her hands up in exasperation. ‘Where do you keep the first aid kit?’
‘It’s in the cupboard under the sink unit.’ Jake cocked his head in that direction.
Faye found the box and sat down beside Jake. She spread the contents of the little white box on the table. Antiseptic cream, gauze and bandages.
Jake moved his right hand towards her.
Marcus lifted his chin and peered across the table at Jake’s wound.
Faye gagged.
‘What is it?’ Jake searched her face.
Faye got up from the table. ‘I’m sorry, I …’ she crossed the room and stood by the patio doors, her back to him, and took deep breaths. ‘I just can’t stand the sight of blood.’
Marcus started to laugh. ‘And you call yourself a friend?’ He turned in his chair to look at her. ‘Actually, who are you?’ Marcus looked at Jake and then back at Faye. ‘Wait – are you together?’
Jake knew what he meant by together . The look of shock on Marcus’s face at the possibility that he had moved on from Eleanor already was obvious.
Jake quickly said, ‘We’re just friends, okay?’
Faye added, ‘We’re also work colleagues.’
‘Colleagues? Then what are you doing here? Aren’t you both meant to be at school, or something?’
Before Jake had a chance to answer, Marcus asked, ‘Where were you last night, Jake?’
Jake’s eyes flickered to Faye. This was awkward. ‘I was out babysitting for a friend.’
‘And you stayed over?’
‘They were caught out in traffic and didn’t get home until late. I slept on their couch, if you must know.’ Jake avoided Faye’s gaze.
Marcus got up from the table and took the chair beside Jake that Faye had just vacated, and looked at Jake’s hands.
Faye turned around. ‘Jake, shouldn’t you go to the hospital to have that treated.’
Marcus looked at Jake.
Jake knew that taking a trip to casualty meant that Faye would have to inform the head where he was, and that might mean dragging his personal life – meaning Marcus – into it.
Jake looked at Marcus and rolled his eyes at that thought. He’d already put his career on the line by going in search of Marcus. He was meant to be at work.
Jake glanced at Faye. They were meant to be visiting the police station to report his stolen bike. He didn’t want to get Faye into trouble with the head. He didn’t want to get into trouble himself and put his teaching qualification on the line. As it was, Jake knew he was taking liberties, making an excuse to leave work ostensibly to visit the police station to report a stolen bike when both he and Faye knew it wasn’t necessary. He could report it over the phone. It was only a bike – albeit a stupidly expensive one.
Jake thought it served him right. He’d been so preoccupied with thinking about Faye that he’d forgotten to lock it. It was just bad luck that an opportunist had noticed it. Faye must have seen the look on his face when he’d answered the phone to Lydia. She’d gone with him out of concern. Jake knew that now.
He nodded at Marcus to get on with it.
Marcus got out the antiseptic, some gauze and some bandages, and proceeded to dab the cuts, cleaning the wounds. ‘The bleeding is stopping, so that’s good,’ Marcus commented. Jake winced. Faye turned back to the patio door and focused on the view out into the garden.
Jake turned his attention on Faye.
She hadn’t asked why Marcus had attempted to break into his home yet – but he could tell by her expression that she was waiting for an explanation. Faye turned around as Marcus was bandaging Jake’s hands.
Jake asked, ‘Are you okay, Faye?’
Faye nodded. ‘I feel so silly that I can’t stand the sight of blood.’
‘Not at all. I knew someone just like you.’
Marcus looked up.
‘What?’
‘You said you knew someone. What you should have said was …’
‘Oh, just get on with bandaging my hands, will you?’ Jake said testily. He did not want to get into another argument with Marcus. He wished he hadn’t brought up Eleanor.
‘Are you done yet?’ It hadn’t taken long, and he wanted Marcus to leave.
Marcus finished wrapping the last piece of bandage around Jake’s wrist and taped it. Jake grudgingly acknowledged that Marcus hadn’t done a bad job. He held up his bandaged hands at Faye. ‘You can come over now. Look, no blood!’ He couldn’t resist a little joke at her expense.
Marcus said seriously, ‘She’s right, you know. You really should go to the hospital and have your hands looked at by a professional.’
‘Why? Don’t you think I trust you to do the right thing, Marcus?’
Faye looked at Jake; the comment seemed strangely out of context.
Marcus stood up abruptly, knocking the chair over. ‘I see you’re back to your old self.’
‘Why wouldn’t I be? Has something changed since last we met?’
Marcus stormed out of the kitchen and slammed the door.
Jake returned his attention to his newly bandaged hands. He glanced at Faye, and caught her expression. ‘What?’
‘You didn’t thank him.’
‘And what precisely should I be thanking him for?’ Jake’s patronising tone continued, ‘Breaking into my house? Cutting my hands to shreds? What would you suggest?’
‘I suggest,’ Faye interjected, ‘you start by thanking me for not informing the head.’ She folded her arms. ‘Yet.’
She walked to the kitchen door and opened it.
‘Where are you going?’ Jake asked, suddenly worried.
Faye walked out, slammed the door behind her and stood on the other side, breathing hard. His sarcastic tone of voice had riled her, but she wasn’t really angry with Jake. After all, he was right; all this wasn’t his fault. She was angry with herself for not listening to her instincts. She knew she should have left right away and taken Jake to hospital to have his injury looked at. After all, he was still her student and her responsibility during official school hours. So why hadn’t she? She thought Jake might be surprised to learn that she wasn’t thinking of herself, and of getting into trouble with the head for taking him home in the first place, aware that he had not left work to sort out his stolen bike but his personal problems. She knew instinctively that Jake would not want the head to know that.
‘He’s got blood on his beloved rug, you know.’
Faye looked up to see Marcus sitting on one of the chairs in the hallway. There were two small wooden chairs set against the wall either side of a compact telephone table. . He was leaning forward, elbows on his knees, examining the rug.
She frowned at him. ‘I know.’
He looked up at Faye. ‘He’s going to be angry.’
She shrugged. A bit of blood on a rug was the least of her concerns right now, and she imagined Jake’s too. Marcus sat back in the chair. He motioned to the phone on the side table next to him. ‘I’m waiting for a cab.’
Faye noticed a small overnight bag at Marcus’s feet.
Marcus followed her gaze. He kicked at the bag. ‘Are you looking at that?’
Faye wasn’t really all that interested in hearing about Marcus’s spats with his fiancée. ‘It’s none of my business.’
‘Oh, I think it is. I’m sure you’ve got better things to do with your time than spend it searching for me.’
‘How did you know Jake was looking for you?’
He sighed and rolled his eyes. ‘Lydia, of course.’ Her name rolled off his tongue like the word disgusted him. ‘She knows I have an … um … what does she call it? A substance problem.’
‘Alcohol,’ Faye said bluntly. The first way to kick it is to admit it , she thought. That was what various counsellors had chanted, anyway. Her father had had a stressful job in the police, and his alcohol problem had got out of hand. He’d been stone-cold sober since he’d retired. But that was the reason she never had a drop in the house – that and the fact that she’d had her own issues in the past, which she didn’t want to think about. Now she never kept a drop of alcohol in her flat; not even wine.
Marcus didn’t respond. He avoided eye contact.
Faye looked at him.in surprise. She gleaned that it wasn’t alcohol, but something more serious. It was no wonder he was keeping quiet.
Faye stood there and studied Marcus intently. She wasn’t surprised he wouldn’t talk about it. He’d be taking a risk admitting he might be in possession of an illegal substance, never mind what it was. She could easily have called the police and had him arrested, especially as he had tried to break into Jake’s house.
There was the sound of a cupboard door closing in the kitchen. Faye glanced in that direction. ‘Does Jake know about your … substance issue?’
Marcus studied his hands.
Faye guessed not.
‘Issue – I prefer that word to Lydia’s. I’m not the one with the problem.’
Faye rolled her eyes. Spoken like a true addict , she thought, guessing he was putting all his issues at Lydia’s door, and perhaps at Jake’s too.
‘So, I expect you know I had a row with my fiancée,’ said Marcus, changing the subject. ‘I keep an overnight bag at work to take to a hotel, just in case we have what Lydia calls one of our little crises .’
If he had just been staying at a hotel, Faye wondered, then what was all the fuss about? Why the urgency to find him? She got the impression that Marcus was not telling her the whole story. And why should he? It really was none of her business. Still, it did intrigue her.
There was a crash in the kitchen. Marcus and Faye turned towards the door. It sounded like a china mug hitting the floor. ‘Damn and blast it!’ Jake’s voice thundered.
‘Jake’s trying to make himself a drink,’ Faye stated.
‘Not having much luck, is he?’ Marcus added.
They could hear the kettle boiling in the kitchen. Faye wanted to pop her head in the kitchen and ask him if he was okay, but she didn’t want another sarcastic retort. She thought it best to give him some space just for the moment. This must have come as a shock, finding Marcus there, and then getting hurt into the bargain. However, she didn’t much care for waiting around in the hall with the person who had caused all this.
Faye’s gaze shifted to the glass on the dining room floor. She turned back to Marcus, glaring at him. ‘Why did you come here last night?
‘Someone stole my wallet. I needed a place to crash for the night. I didn’t expect Jake would be out.’
Faye pursed her lips. She hoped Marcus didn’t ask which friend Jake had been babysitting for. She said, ‘Did you report it to the police?’
‘What – in the state I was in last night? I’d more likely have been arrested.’ He cocked his head to one side. ‘Besides, there’s not a lot I could tell them. It could have happened in Timbuktu for all I was aware.’
‘Ah.’
‘It’s not all that surprising. I got what I deserved. I don’t exactly frequent the most salubrious places in town when I’m in search of some stuff.’ Marcus immediately shut is mouth, staring at her, wide-eyed.
Faye realised he’d forgotten himself and hadn’t intended to say that. A silence ensued as Faye imagined this smartly dressed corporate exec wandering around some sink estate in search of some stuff . Of course she was making assumptions – she had no clue where in London he went in search of drugs, or what sort of people dealt them. But she could imagine it wasn’t Chiswick on a Saturday evening.
She had an idea that Jake knew more than Marcus gave him credit for. Part of his teaching training would include ways of detecting substance abuse among his students. He knew the signs. It explained Jake’s behaviour that morning after Lydia’s call.
Faye breathed a heavy sigh. Marcus was going to get himself into some serious trouble. Losing a wallet was one thing, but this guy could find himself losing something a whole lot more precious in pursuit of his next fix – his life.