Chapter 28
I stare at the phone. I have to read the text again to make sure I got it right. Holly is next door at Teri’s house?
I grab my keys.
And now I’m outside Teri’s house, banging on the door, ringing the doorbell, trying to get Holly’s attention over the music. I keep calling her name. ‘Holly! Open up!’ I’m banging the door with my fist. The neighbour across the road opens her front door.
‘Everything all right?’
I’ve been shouting, haven’t I? I turn around. ‘Everything is fine, Mrs Patel, thank you!’ I can hear Holly laugh inside, and I have to assume that she can’t hear me, because I would hate to think she’s ignoring me.
Mrs Patel closes her door, but not all the way.
I pull out my phone and call her again. Holly’s phone rings on the other side of the door. The music stops.
I bang the door once more. ‘Holly, open the door.’
It’s Teri who opens it, all smiles, her face a little flushed, her long dark hair messed up. ‘Hey! Kate! Hi. Have you been knocking for long? We were dancing.’
‘Good to hear you’ve made a remarkable recovery.
’ I push past her and straight into the living room.
It’s marginally tidier than the last time I was here, but it’s still incredibly messy.
I guess she spent so much time at my place with me looking after her that she’s forgotten how to look after herself.
But this isn’t any ordinary mess. There are bags, shopping bags from places like Zara and H&M, all over the shabby sofa.
Holly is standing there, also a little flushed, giggling.
‘What on earth is going on here?’ I am shocked at the state of her.
Her blonde hair has streaks of blue through it.
Her eyebrows are thick and black. On her eyelids is a palette of eyeshadow in bright rainbow colours, and her eyelashes are so dark and thick they must be fake.
Her lips are big, plump and red. I’m fairly certain that if I’d passed her in the street, I wouldn’t have recognised her.
‘We were dancing,’ she says, a sheen of sweat on her top lip.
‘What the hell is that on your face?’
‘I did her makeup,’ Teri says, coming to stand next to her. ‘And her hair.’ She rearranges a strand of Holly’s blue hair. ‘What do you think?’
‘Are you out of your mind?’ I say, staring at Holly.
‘What’s the matter with you, Kate?’ Teri asks, head tilted. ‘Don’t you like her new clothes?’
I was so focused on her face that I didn’t even register the clothes she’s wearing. And now I’m thinking, how could I possibly miss that? She’s wearing a red tartan miniskirt, black tights, black boots and a dark green T-shirt. I blink a few times.
‘Where did you get those?’
‘We went shopping,’ Teri says.
I cross my arms. ‘And how did that happen, exactly?’
Holly shrugs. ‘I dropped by Teri’s. She always said I was welcome.’
‘And you are, sweetie. Anytime,’ Teri gushes. Then to me, she says, ‘Holly was upset. I don’t know what happened between you, but she needed a bit of cheering up. I thought it would be nice to hang out.’
‘Hang out,’ I repeat. ‘Really.’
‘Well, yes. Why not? I miss Holly since I moved out.’
I snort a laugh. ‘You only moved out two days ago.’
‘She was upset, Kate. What’s the matter with you? Must you resent what little fun she can eke out? Seriously? Must we all be as miserable as you?’
I open my mouth, repeatedly. Like a blowfish. And as much as I hate to admit it, it hurts.
‘I thought doing a little makeup session would cheer her up,’ she says. ‘And it’s not like you would ever do that for Holly, is it?’
‘Her father—’
‘Yes, I know. Daddy would disapprove. But Daddy isn’t here, is he?’
I look at Holly. She looks down at her skirt. I swallow a swirl of panic. Surely she didn’t say anything, did she?
‘Max is in Zurich,’ I say.
‘Yes, Kate. I know. You only told me fifty million times. Anyway, we went shopping on the high street, and you should see what we bought. We had a great time. Didn’t we? Show Kate your black top, Hol.’
Hol?
Holly makes a beeline for the shopping bags, no doubt relieved to have something to do, away from my disapproving gaze. She bends down to rummage through one of them, then holds up a black top against her chest.
I blink. It’s a sleeveless sheer top with sequins here and there, certainly not enough to cover her breasts, if she ever were to wear it, which is never.
‘Don’t look like that,’ Teri says. ‘It’s just a top. Daddy doesn’t need to know, does he? It will be our little secret. Just like the car accident.’
I blink a few times. Even Holly looks a little shocked that she brought it up. But, of course, Holly has no idea what’s going on here. I never got the chance to tell her. What with ferrying Max’s corpse back and forth.
But I am so angry I can barely get the words out. ‘Holly, go home, clean yourself up and get changed. You look ridiculous.’
‘Hey, relax, Kate,’ Teri says.
I stare at her, dumbfounded. ‘What’s wrong with you? You’ve made her look like a clown. You’ve bought her clothes that are completely inappropriate.’
‘Come on, Kate! Where’s your sense of fun? She’s sixteen years old! You’re supposed to be the young one but look at you, turning into a headmistress. The skirt and boots look great on her. And we got a leather jacket too!’
I am vaguely aware that these are the sorts of things I might have told Max, once upon a time. She’s sixteen years old. Let her have some fun.
Well, not anymore. I snatch the top out of Holly’s hands and throw it on the floor.
‘Kate! What are you doing?’ she cries.
I pick up her other clothes from the floor, the clothes she was wearing before she got changed, and shove them into her arms. ‘Go home, Holly, now. And you…’ I turn to Teri. ‘How dare you? Who do you think you are? You think you can lure her here with some cheap baubles and some new clothes?’
‘Hey, none of this was cheap,’ Teri says, a smile tugging at her lips.
‘Stop talking to her like that!’ Holly cries. ‘You’re sounding crazy!’
‘She’s not your friend, Holly. I know you think she is, but she’s not.’
‘Yes, she is!’
‘No, she’s not. She took that video of you to hurt you, so she would have something on us, on you.’
Holly shakes her head at me, like she doesn’t know who I am anymore.
I reach for her arm, but she jerks me away.
‘Why would you say something like that?’
‘Because it’s the truth. She’s using you. She took the video so she’d have something to show the police.’
Holly’s face goes white. She turns to Teri.
‘Oh, sweetie,’ Teri says. ‘Kate is lying.’
My jaw drops. ‘I’m—’
‘I would never do that to you, Holly, sweetheart. I took the video to protect you, but then I realised we would never need it, so I deleted it. Here, take a look.’
I watch, dumbfounded, as she picks up her phone from a shelf, unlocks it and hands it to Holly.
‘You didn’t delete it,’ I say. I was going to add, ‘I did,’ but she’s talking over me.
‘See for yourself,’ Teri says, as if I wasn’t in the room. ‘You are welcome to go through all my photos and videos. You’ll see, it’s not there. I deleted it ages ago.’
‘No you didn’t,’ I snap.
Holly flicks through Teri’s phone.
‘She didn’t delete it,’ I say. ‘I did.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Teri says. ‘You don’t know my pin. You couldn’t access my videos even if you wanted to.’
Holly nods to herself as she hands the phone back to Teri. ‘It’s not there.’
‘No, it’s not there because—’ I point to my chest ‘—I deleted it.’
‘What’s wrong with you?’ Teri says. ‘Why would you lie like that? Are you trying to hurt her?’
‘Don’t you dare. Just—’
‘Oh my God!’ she exclaims, wide-eyed, as if realisation dawning. ‘Oh, my God. You’re jealous!’
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’
‘You’re jealous of my friendship with Holly. You’re trying to pit us against each other.’
‘That’s not true, and you know it,’ I hiss.
‘But, Kate, why?’ she asks. ‘You’re the one who told me that you were leaving Holly. You showed me the stash of money you’ve been squirrelling away. You told me you were renting a house for yourself…in… Wait, where was it?’ She taps her chin.
I can barely breathe. ‘Don’t you dare.’
‘Hull,’ she says. She turns to Holly. ‘You knew, didn’t you?
Kate said she was going to tell you. She was…
How did you put it? Building up to it. She saved all this money, thousands and thousands of pounds, and she’s got herself a house and a job in Hull.
When are you leaving, Kate? Not long now, I assume.
Then it’ll just be you and your father, Holly.
’ She turns back to me. ‘So I don’t know why it bothers you so much that Holly and I are friends, since you won’t be here much longer. ’
My cheeks feel hot. I’m grinding my teeth so hard they’re in danger of splintering. ‘You’re a liar,’ I say. ‘You’re a horrible person and a liar.’
Meanwhile, Holly looks like she’s going to faint.
‘Holly, it’s not true.’ I reach for her, but she takes a step back. ‘She’s lying to you. Listen to me, Holly. Look at me. She’s lying to you. I’m not leaving you.’
‘That’s not what you told me,’ Teri says.
‘Shut up,’ I snap.
‘You’re going to leave me with…him?’ Holly whispers, a look of absolute horror on her face.
‘Don’t,’ I hiss. ‘Don’t say a word. Go home, Holly. We’ll talk later. Just give me a moment with Teri and go home.’
But it’s like she can’t hear me. ‘You’re leaving me with—’
I raise a finger. ‘Holly, don’t say a word. Go home. I’ll be right there.’
Holly looks from me to Teri, then takes off and runs out of the house.
‘Now that was interesting,’ Teri says, head tilted. ‘What was that about?’
‘Why would you say something like that?’ I cry. ‘You know that’s not true. You’re just hurting her for nothing. Because you’re sick. You’re just…evil.’
‘Don’t say a word?’ She narrows her eyes at me. ‘That’s very…specific. What is it about? What was she going to say?’
‘Nothing.’
She looks at me, haughtily this time. It sends a chill down my spine. She nods slowly, then comes closer, until her face is inches from mine. ‘Do not ever wipe my phone again. In fact, don’t even touch my phone, Kate. Ever again.’
‘Or what?’ I ask. ‘What are you going to do?’
‘You have no idea what I’m capable of. Now get the fuck out of my house.’
She nudges Holly’s bag on the floor with her foot. I pick it up.
‘Next time I see you in my house, it better be you bringing me the fifteen thousand pounds you owe me.’ She takes me by the shoulders, swivels me around and pushes me towards the front door. ‘Five days, Kate, or I’m going to the police.’