Marked (5 page)

But I had Jed’s attention. “What happened?”

“Not a lot really. He sort of grabbed at her … stood over her and took her by the shoulder. Like I said, hassling her. It was weird.”

“On the jetty? With everyone watching?”

“Well, there was no one else around. Except me.”

“So what did you do?”

“Me? I didn’t do anything. I mean, it was none of my business. And anyway, he could’ve been her father.”

“Except you didn’t think he was, did you?” His eyes were fixed on me, and he shook his head slowly. “So what happened then?”

“She sort of shrugged him off and jumped onto the ferry. He seemed mighty pissed off, and then he went back to his car.”

“And that’s all?” He wasn’t brushing it aside though. Seemed to be taking it seriously. Maybe too seriously – he obviously reckoned I should’ve stepped in and sorted Bullyboy out.

“Yeah, suppose so.”
But it wasn’t, was it
? “No. There
is
a bit more. He was waiting at the ferry the next day too. Sitting in his car. It was raining, pissing down, and Kat was on her bike. He waited till she took off and then just drove past her and that’s the last I saw of him.”

“And you thought he was waiting for her?”

“Yeah, I did. Still wondered if he could be her father. But if he knows her, why didn’t he give her a lift? It was fair pissing down.”

“What does he look like?”

“Bit older than you maybe. Big guy, shoulders about a mile across.” I spread my arms to show him. “No idea who it was?”

He shook his head.

“There’s something else too.” I hesitated and then dropped my eyes. “No … you’ll just laugh.”

Another shake of the head. “No, I won’t. Go on.”

“Well, he had some kind of harness under his jacket. I thought … I thought he might be carrying a gun.” I shot him a warning glance. “You said you wouldn’t laugh.”

“I’m not laughing. Let’s hope we don’t come across him again. Kat too, for that matter.”

A good listener, Jed. Dad had warned me not to get too close to him, but I wasn’t so sure about that. He was easy to talk to, and I felt like I was finally struggling out from under a mountain of garbage. Any other adult would’ve laughed at me and told me to grow up and stop imagining things.

I did come across Bullyboy again though. The very next day.

A school counsellor once told me I’ve got a high IQ. He must’ve been dreaming. I mean, here I was standing outside an ice-cream shop – too chicken to go inside and too soft to drag myself away.
And
wasting a perfectly good Sunday afternoon. It was warm, and I should’ve been on the beach. So how clever does that sound?

Kat was inside, working. The window was covered with glossy images of ice-creams, gelatos and other ninety-six per cent fat-free health foods. Every now and then I’d catch a glimpse of her through the gaps. And at every glimpse I’d back away quickly, terrified she’d see me. I
had
to be a moron.

I’d imagined wandering inside, browsing the menus, having a casual word with Kat behind the counter, maybe getting myself a waffle, chatting her up. That’s what I’d imagined, but I hadn’t actually
thought
about it. Not till I got here anyway. Now that I was here, standing on the footpath,
now
I was thinking about it. Thinking about Kat, and how she didn’t want me invading her space. How it must seem to her. How every time the gods were slapping her down, she’d look up and find me watching. And here I was again, hanging around like a pus-laden zit on her chin.

So what the hell was I doing?

I’d come across on the ferry with Jed. He’d promised to help a mate fix his outboard, and I’d invented some groceries we needed from the supermarket. I was kidding myself though. I knew I’d see Kat tomorrow at school, but I wanted to see her
today
.

So what was I?

Crazy?

Some kind of pervert?

Somehow, I think Jed would’ve understood. “If you reckon Kat’s a bit on the filipticious side,” he’d grinned, “you wait’ll you see Blissy.” He liked making up his own words and sometimes he was hard to understand, but I got the drift that Kat’s mum was a bit of all right – and that he had the hots for her. So I thought he’d understand.

I’d been gazing around hopelessly, wondering what to do next, but suddenly I focused on one of the cars parked on the far side of the street. And it felt like an elbow in the gut. I knew that car. A green Ford – and I knew the man sitting behind the wheel too. Bullyboy. Staring straight at me.

I looked away quickly. What was he doing here? Waiting for Kat? But why? And had he really been watching me? Or was I going mad? My heart picked up a few notches and I could feel blood thumping through my head. A twitching shudder at the back of my knee. Fear.

Bullyboy hadn’t ever done anything to me. He hadn’t even threatened me. That first day I’d seen him, his eyes had told me to keep my nose out of his business, but he’d never actually
said
anything. Why then, was I so scared?

It’s hard to act casual when your body’s got the shakes, but I tried. I turned slowly, as if deciding which way to go, letting my eyes pass briefly over the car. Then I began walking back up the street. But there was no doubt about it – every time I glanced around, he was watching me. Eyes boring straight into me from the other side of the road. Why? And what was he doing there?

I was trying to keep my cool, to walk normally, but at the first corner I slipped around it and started jogging. Jed was at the marina, thank God, where he’d said he would be. And no sign of his mate, which was even better. I wanted to catch him alone. He was lounging against an alloy trailer boat. The hood was off the motor, and he was clutching a fag in one hand and a can of beer in the other. Another couple of cans were sitting on the hood.

“Well, that didn’t take long.” He grinned and peered at the empty backpack I was carrying. “Thought you were off to get some groceries. Changed your mind?”

“No … um …”

His grin faded. “What is it? You look like you’ve got a hedgehog tangled in your Y-fronts.”

“It was … you know, that bloke I was telling you about? The one who was hassling Kat.” I told him about seeing Bullyboy outside the ice-cream shop.

“Did he do anything?”

“No. Like I said, he just sat there staring at me.” Put like that it all sounded pretty silly. You’re allowed to look at other people. It’s not against the law.

But again, Jed seemed to be taking it seriously – and I was grateful. Really grateful. Could imagine trying to share this one with Dad.

“So Kat was inside working, and he was outside in the car? Should we ask why
you
happened to be there too?” He smiled briefly. “No, we probably shouldn’t. You’d better be careful – it’s pretty easy to be labelled a pervert in a town like this.” He shook the beer he was holding and took a final swig. Then he crushed the can and tossed it into the boat. “Tell you what. Wally’s gone off to get some fuel. Shouldn’t be long. When he gets back, we’ll borrow his wagon and cruise past the ice-cream parlour. See if this guy’s still there.”

I nodded.

“Another thing …” He hesitated as if wondering whether to tell me. Then he seemed to make up his mind. “I saw Blissy last night. She cooked up a feed.” Another pause. “There’s something … I dunno … I hadn’t noticed it before, but I reckon she’s scared. Both of them, they seem sort of nervous.”

“And you think …?”

He shrugged. “Dunno. Anyway, here comes Wally.”

The green station wagon was still parked opposite the ice-cream shop, with a man sitting in the driver’s seat. I was wearing Wally’s shades and covering the side of my face with my hand, so I only caught a glimpse of him. But it was Bullyboy, all right.

“Don’t know him,” muttered Jed beside me. “Never seen him before. You’re sure it’s the same guy?”

“Yeah. Don’t think I’m gonna forget him in a hurry.”

“Bit scary having him hanging round like that.” Jed was driving one-handed, scratching his head. “Maybe I’d better have a word with Blissy.”

“Shit no! Kat’ll go clean off. She’ll know it came from me. Let’s just leave it for a bit.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment or two. “Okay, you’re probably right. There’s a fine line between looking out for someone and poking your nose into their business. Doesn’t pay to step over it. I’m going to keep my eyes open. You too. I don’t like any of this.” Another pause – plenty to think about. “But what about the gun? Dirty old men perving at kids don’t usually go that far. D’you really think he might’ve had one? You didn’t actually see it?”

I shook my head. “No, but there was something under his jacket. It looked like one of those shoulder holsters. You know, like plain-clothes cops wear on telly.” I was trying to picture what I’d seen – his jacket falling open – but all I could see was the bullyboy anger in his eyes. “At first, I didn’t think it could be a gun, but now … I dunno,” I said.

“I guess that makes two of us,” said Jed as we eased into a parking space near the launching ramp where Wally was waiting.

Kat was sitting on the jetty when Jed dropped me off the next morning, but she stood up when she saw me. Clutching her bag to herself, like some kind of barrier, she gave me a sour look. “You were hanging around the ice-cream shop yesterday.”

“What?” I wasn’t ready for this.

“Gelato Heaven. You were hanging around while I was working.”

“Um … yes, I did go there.” I’d been pretty sure she hadn’t seen me, and I was floundering. “I … I wanted a gelato. Then I saw you were in there … and I sort of lost my nerve. Thought you’d think I was pestering you. So I didn’t come in.” Some of it was true.

She didn’t say anything. Just stood there glaring at me with her arms folded across her bag. I couldn’t tell whether she believed me or not, and I wished the ferry would hurry up and get here. I could see it over her shoulder, ploughing its way across the channel.

Finally, she snorted softly and gave me a slight nod. Then she turned away.

We stayed pretty well clear of each other for the rest of the day. She spent the ferry ride sweating away at some homework and then made her way to school with a couple of other girls. I had enough sense not to gatecrash the party and walked by myself, turning things over in my mind. Obviously, she hadn’t been overjoyed to see me at the ice-cream shop – but it was weird. How had she known I was there?

If the school day had started badly, it finished on an even worse note. I strolled to the gates with Simon, chatting about the local firebugs. He reckoned it was crazy to suggest that last week’s house fire could’ve been an accident – like all the other kids he was hyped to boiling point. The idea of a serious arsonist on the block had put some real spice into Cooksville life.

We parted at the gates and I turned towards the ferry wharf, head down, hands in pockets, backpack hooked over one shoulder. Wouldn’t say I didn’t have a care in the world, but as Mondays go, this one had been okay. I’d managed to stay out of Burger’s way, I’d kept more or less out of trouble and I’d just about convinced myself I could smooth things over with Kat.

I peered around, wondering where she’d got to – and that was when things started to fall apart. She was well ahead of me with another group of kids, and I watched as they disappeared around the bend. Then I saw something else. A car parked in the shade about fifty metres away. It wasn’t the only one – there were several others parked along the street, mostly parents picking up their kids. But this was a dark green Ford. A station wagon.

They call it deja vu. It’s when you come across something that seems to have already happened, maybe in a past life. Or, in this case, the day before. The same car … and the same sense of fear. My heart was pounding. It was like walking into an ice shadow – cold prickles down the back of my neck. I’d been sweating in the heat of the day, but now my shirt was cold and clammy, sticking to me across the shoulders. I was frightened. No way did I want to walk along this street if Bullyboy was there, waiting. But was he? The car was there, but there was no one in it.

Anyway, who would he be waiting for? Kat had already gone past, heading off down to the waterfront and the ferry. So who else?