Blood Rush (Lilly Valentine) (20 page)

‘What I do know is that when they came back here it was
all-out
war,’ Miriam continued. ‘Chika did everything she could to get Tanisha kicked out and Tanisha did the same. One night there was a huge fight and Tanisha ended up in hospital.’

‘Was Chika charged?’ Lilly asked.

Miriam shook her head. ‘Tanisha wouldn’t play ball, but after that we got her out of here.’

‘It sounds like it got pretty bad.’

‘To be honest,’ Miriam said, ‘I was worried that one of them might get killed.’

The café on Queen Street served shocking food. The state of the kitchen was more shocking still. It wasn’t a shock that its
nickname
was Dirty Mick’s or that Health and Safety had tried to close it down three times.

Jack opened the door and the smell of a deep fat fryer, full of filthy oil and carbonized food, hit him. He scanned the tables and clocked Chika in the corner, sitting with a younger girl. When she saw him, Chika scowled. He moved across the greasy floor and stood over her.

‘I’m busy,’ she said.

The other girl looked up at him. Something about her was familiar.

‘Are you deaf?’ Chika shouted.

‘No, Chika, I’m not,’ Jack replied.

‘Then why you still here?’

‘Because Tanisha McKenzie’s case is back in court this
afternoon
,’ Jack said.

‘And you think I’m interested?’ Chika sucked her teeth. ‘Cos I think you must be mistaken about that.’

Jack stood his ground. ‘Thing is, Tanisha’s got herself a shit-hot brief.’

‘Is that right?’

‘Afraid so, and this afternoon her brief is going for bail.’

‘Let them,’ said Chika.

‘She’s going to tell the judge what Tanisha said happened on the night Malaya was attacked,’ Jack said, ‘and I won’t have
anything
to say she’s lying.’

Chika blinked at him.

‘If she’s successful then Tanisha’s getting out of jail,’ Jack
narrowed
his eyes. ‘And something tells me you don’t want that.’

When she didn’t answer, he smiled and turned on his heel. He got as far as the door, when Chika called after him.

‘Wait for me outside.’

The policeman leaves and Chika leans over to Demi.

‘I gotta go.’

Demi doesn’t understand. ‘With him?’

‘It’s complicated,’ says Chika.

You bet it’s complicated. Demi has had it drilled into her by Chika that whatever happens, you sort it yourself. You don’t need the police.

Demi’s head spins. Everything is topsy-turvy.

‘You’ve got to trust me,’ says Chika.

Demi flops back in her chair.

‘While I’m gone I need you to do something for me.’ Chika opens her eyes wide.

Demi will do anything for Chika. Surely she knows that.

Chika brandishes a key. ‘I need you to let yourself into my house, understand me?’

‘What if your mum’s there?’

Chika waves away Demi’s concern. ‘She ain’t gonna stop you. Go to my bedroom right, and in my top drawer you’ll find something.’

‘What?’ Demi asks.

Chika glances to the door where the policeman is hovering. ‘Just something. You gotta pick it up and take it to sixty-three B Clancy.’

‘Sixty-three B Clancy,’ Demi repeats.

‘Right. Danny will be there.’

Demi feels her heart race at the mention of the man with the scar.

‘Do I have to?’

‘He’s expecting a delivery around six,’ says Chika.

‘He scares me,’ says Demi.

‘Trust me, you’ll be a lot more scared if he don’t get what he wants.’

Jack glanced from the windscreen to his passenger. Chika was utterly still, staring straight ahead into the road, yet she fizzed with latent energy. She reminded Jack of an animal about to spring.

He tapped the steering wheel with his fingernails. Whichever way he turned it, he couldn’t fit the pieces into the jigsaw.

‘Why are you doing this, Chika?’

‘Doing what?’ she grunted.

‘Helping me.’ Jack jabbed a thumb at his chest. ‘I’m a copper. The filth, the feds, Babylon. Whatever you call us these days.’

‘So?’

‘I’m the enemy, remember.’

‘You telling me not to bother?’ Chika clicked her seat-belt free and put her hand on the door handle. ‘Cos I’ll gladly fuck off.’

‘Chika,’ Jack warned.

‘I’m serious.’ She threw the door open, narrowly missing a man waiting to cross the road. He dodged out of the way, swearing and shaking his fist.

Jack slammed on the brakes. ‘Shut the door, Chika.’

Chika stared at him, refusing to move. The car behind blared the horn and gunned its engine. Passersby stopped to look at the commotion.

‘I just want the truth, Chika,’ Jack said.

‘I’ve told you the truth.’

The whole road was at a standstill, all eyes focused on Jack and Chika. The driver in the car behind got out and began to shout at them. Jack ignored them all, concentrating on his witness’s face. Was it possible she could put aside her hatred and prejudices?

‘All right,’ he said. ‘Tell me again what happened.’

Chika dragged the door shut and Jack pulled off.

‘Me and Malaya was on her jump in,’ said Chika, ‘and we goes to Hightown to have bit of a laugh, do some spraypainting and that.’

Jack nodded. This much he knew was true. ‘What did you do?’

Chika spat out a laugh. ‘We legged it, innit.’

‘Why?’

‘Cos we’re slipping in their area, and if they catch us they’re gonna hurt us for real,’ she said.

‘Where did you run to?’

‘You know that, man. We go to the rec thinking we can
outrun
’em, get through the fence on the other side.’

‘But you couldn’t?’

Chika shakes her head slowly. ‘They’re right on our tail,
understand
, and Malaya ain’t no Olympic athlete. They catch her pretty much as soon as she gets in there.’

‘What about you?’ Jack signalled and turned left into the car park for the Crown Court.

‘I got hid in some bushes.’

He parked and pulled on the handbrake. ‘But you could see clearly?’

‘Yeah,’ Chika said, ‘and hear dem.’

The car park was almost empty. Court sessions had finished for the day. Only this case remained.

‘That must have been hard,’ said Jack.

Chika looked out of the side window into the growing shadows. ‘I didn’t know what to do.’

 For the first time since Jack had met Chika, she sounded like any other young person would.

‘What happened to Malaya?’ Jack asked.

‘She was on the floor and at first it was just one of them,
shouting
at her, putting the boot in a bit.’

Jack winced, imagining a fifteen-year-old lying helpless as she was kicked. Mr Stephenson had confirmed that the fractures to Malaya’s forearms meant she’d tried to protect her head and face.

‘I thought maybe they might leave her, you know, after she got a bit mashed.’ All trace of anger and arrogance had disappeared from Chika’s voice. ‘That’s what I was hoping anyways.’

‘But it didn’t happen like that?’

She wrinkled her nose. ‘They all joined in, gave her a proper beating. Well, you seen the state of her.’

He had. Witnessing horrific injuries was a part of every
copper’s
job. Traffic accidents, shootings, stabbings, Jack had seen the lot. It didn’t get any easier, and the sight of Malaya Ebola’s face was imprinted on his brain.

‘Was Tanisha McKenzie there?’ Jack asked.

‘Yeah.’

‘Are you sure it was her?’ Jack said. ‘It was dark and you were hiding.’

‘I’m telling you for real, she was there. Me and Tanisha go way back and I’d know her anywhere.’

Outside, the sun was sinking and without the engine on, the temperature in the car had quickly dropped.

‘Did Tanisha take part in the attack on Malaya?’

Chika didn’t hesitate. ‘Yeah.’

‘Are you absolutely sure because she says that although she was there, she didn’t take part.’

‘I seen her punch Malaya in the stomach and I seen her kick her in the head.’

‘Tanisha says she didn’t touch her.’

 Chika shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. ‘She’s lying.’

A trickle of sweat ran down Lilly’s back. She was completely
flustered
, running late for court and stuck in horrendous traffic.

She pounded her fist on the steering wheel. ‘Come on!’

She was wondering if she should take a detour when her mobile rang.

‘Lilly Valentine.’

‘It’s Nikki from the nursery.’

Lilly’s heart sank.

‘I’m afraid we need you to collect Alice.’

‘What’s wrong?’ asked Lilly.

‘She’s been unsettled all day’ – Lilly could hear Alice
screaming
in the background – ‘and now we just can’t get her to calm down.’

‘I’m working,’ Lilly offered desperately. ‘You know how she is.’

Nikki sighed. ‘Yes I do, and we just can’t deal with her this afternoon. I really think she needs to see a doctor.’

‘She’s not ill.’

There was a silence until Nikki spoke. ‘You really do need to collect her.’

Lilly hung up and dialled Jack’s number.

‘Lilly?’

‘Hi Jack, where are you?’ Lilly asked.

‘Court.’

‘Why?’

‘We have a case on this afternoon. Is the name Tanisha McKenzie ringing any bells?’ he said.

Lilly didn’t have time to joke. ‘I meant why are
you
at court? It’s only a bail ap. Couldn’t you send Miss Teen Sensation?’

 ‘If you mean Carla, no I couldn’t. You know full well how important this is, Lilly, and you were the one who told me to either get a statement or bring my witness to court.’

‘You have Mboko there?’

‘Large as life and twice as ugly.’

Lilly groaned. Not only could Jack not pick up Alice, he had just decimated the central plank of her application. She thought frantically. Dare she ask Penny again? After Saturday’s fiasco she wouldn’t be keen, but perhaps if Lilly begged. She dialled Penny’s number and got voice mail.

‘Shit.’ Lilly threw her mobile on to the passenger seat, where it bounced and fell on to the floor. Within seconds it rang. She reached over, flapping her hand towards it. When she couldn’t get it she leaned from the waist, her side digging into the gear stick. The car swerved and bounced off the curb with a thud. She straightened the wheel with her left hand and wiggled the fingers of her right. As she finally touched the phone, the car thumped the pavement again.

‘Penny?’ she shouted into the phone.

‘Sorry, no.’

‘Hi, Karol.’ Lilly’s voice was flat.

‘You seem very disappointed,’ he replied.

Lilly forced a laugh. ‘Not at all, it’s just that I was hoping Penny could collect Alice from nursery. Her dad can’t do it and I should have been in court five minutes ago.’

‘Penny is in London. I believe she and Henry have tickets for a West End show.’

Damn. Lilly had thought it funny when Penny had told her she and her husband were instigating date nights once a month, ‘to keep dialogue open’. It had been years since Lilly had been on a date. Then again it had been years since she had had any dialogue with anyone.

‘I can do it,’ said Karol.

 ‘What?’

‘I can pick up your daughter.’

‘You can’t do that.’

‘It would be my pleasure,’ he said.

Lilly was stunned into silence.

‘You have been kind enough to give me work when many will not,’ he said. ‘Where I am from we try to repay such kindnesses.’

‘Thank you,’ was all Lilly could manage.

A scowl was painted across Annabelle’s face as she waited on the steps of the court.

‘Where have you been?’ she demanded.

‘The Bushes,’ Lilly replied, ‘and it’s a good job I did.’

She strode through the building with Annabelle scuttling after her. If Chika was going to give evidence, Lilly would have to hurl everything she’d learned from Miriam in her face. It wasn’t going to be pretty.

As she hurried across the atrium she caught sight of the
prosecuting
barrister and stopped dead. He was in conversation with Kerry, making notes on his brief.

‘Jez Stafford QC, no less,’ she called out. ‘What brings you to sunny Luton?’

He beamed at her, displaying straight white teeth. ‘When I heard you were defending I couldn’t resist.’

‘Your charm has no effect on me,’ Lilly smiled.

He kissed her on both cheeks. ‘There was a time I remember when that wasn’t the case.’

‘Once.’ Lilly held up a finger. ‘A long time ago. And I was very pissed.’

He tossed his head back and laughed. Lilly noticed Kerry
looking
longingly at him.

‘So what are we doing today?’ Jez rubbed his hands together. 

‘The usual,’ said Lilly. ‘You tell the judge that a fifteen-year-old should be locked up indefinitely for a crime she didn’t commit and I tell him that’s a pile of shit.’

‘We have a witness, Lilly, she’s here at court.’

‘Have you met her?’

‘Not yet.

It was Lilly’s turn to laugh. ‘Good luck with that.’

Demi taps gently on the door and listens. There’s no answer so she slides the key Chika gave her into the lock and lets herself in. She’s glad Mrs Mboko isn’t at home.

She hurries up the stairs to Chika’s bedroom. It smells of her, all lipgloss and weed. There’s a set of drawers at the end of Chika’s bed with a Nigerian wrap draped over the top like a cover. It’s purple and grey batik. Demi runs her finger along the beautiful design before reminding herself to hurry.

The top drawer doesn’t open easily. It’s packed with so much stuff, the runners have buckled. Demi jerks it out as far as she can. There are at least twenty vests and T-shirts crammed inside. Not so long ago Demi would have been stabbed by envy.

Gran says being jealous is a sin. Thou shall not covet thy brother’s goods. But it’s so hard not to when everyone seems to have so much and you don’t have anything at all. Does Jesus think that’s fair?