The Look of Love (35 page)

Victoria
reached up to it. “Yes. It sort of seemed like a good idea at the
time.”

“I don’t think
I’ve ever seen you with short hair. It looks nice.”

“Thanks.”
Victoria paused for a moment, staring down at her coffee. Then she
looked up and suddenly blurted out, “Oh, I’m sorry, Chrissy!
Everything you said about me is true! I am a destructive, stupid
cow! But it’s going to stop, I promise you!”

“Where have I
heard that before?” Chrissy replied, unimpressed.

“I mean it this
time!”

“You always
mean it!” Chrissy snapped back at her. “You’re always turning over
a new leaf! Your life is littered with them! It never means
anything!”

“I’ve
changed!”

“How so?”
Chrissy demanded.

Victoria
glanced at Louise, seeing the expression on her face. She looked
across the table, and found that Angela was looking at her with
that same expression. They both knew what she was going to say.
Only Chrissy was sitting there, oblivious to the change that had
taken place in Victoria’s life.

Victoria
realised that this was the moment of truth. Dayna and Sam would
have called it coming out. She never realised how appropriate those
words were, and she suddenly understood why Louise had never been
able to tell her. It was like coming out of her shell, like
stepping out into the open. They would all know. She would be
revealed and exposed. And once done, it could never be undone.

Chrissy waited
expectantly for an answer, which Victoria was finally about to
give, when a familiar voice said, “Hey, Tori, baby! Where’ve you
been, girl?”

Shawcroft faced
stern opposition from the Headly family when he turned up early in
the morning with another constable to pick up Max. Max looked
terrified at the mere sight of the policemen, and he retreated
rapidly into the kitchen. Mrs Headly rang their solicitor even
before Shawcroft had finished telling them why he was there. At the
same time, Scott and his father kept Shawcroft and the constable
from getting any further in the door. Both Scott and his father
were openly hostile, and there was a lot of pushing and
shoving.

“You’re not
getting in!” Scott shouted. “And you’re not taking my brother!”

His father was
also shouting. “You have no right to do this! How dare you come
barging your way into our house this early in the morning! Our
solicitor will hear of this! It’s not right, I tell you!”

Shawcroft did
his best to be diplomatic, but it wasn’t easy. “We have the correct
documents, Mr Headly,” he said in as calm a voice as he could
manage, dragging the paperwork from his pocket as the four of them
jostled about in the doorway. “Your son isn’t under arrest; he is
merely helping us with our inquiries.”

Scott didn’t
wait for his father to answer. “Then why him? Hey?” he quickly
demanded, shoving Shawcroft back and crumpling up the documents he
had produced in the process. “Max was home when it happened! Why do
you want to take him in for this identity parade?”

“Max was
Joanne’s boyfriend. We merely wish to corroborate his statement.
There is no reason for this hostility.”

“Then why don’t
you want me? I was out late! I could have done it! Why are you
pinning this on Max? Who have you got to identify him? Is it that
lad you were looking for on the telly?”

Mrs Headly
suddenly shouted out above their voices. “Mr Billing wants to know
what the document is! Give it to me! You can’t come in until he’s
heard me read it to him!”

The pushing and
shoving came to a halt. Shawcroft handed the crumpled document out
to Mr Headly who promptly snatched it and handed it to his wife by
the telephone. She began to read it to Mr Billing on the other end
of the line. There was a strained silence as they all stood in the
doorway listening to her nervous voice.

Scott glared at
Shawcroft. “It is that lad, isn’t it?”

“That’s not
your concern,” Shawcroft replied. “In a moment I am sure your
solicitor will confirm that everything is in order. From that point
on, if you continue to resist my attempts to bring in your brother,
I will arrest you both.”

Mrs Headly had
finished reading the document to Billing. Now she was nodding
repeatedly. Finally she said, “Yes, I’ll tell them.” She turned
with tears in her eyes and said to Shawcroft, “Henry says that Max
can account for his whereabouts at the time of the murder. He also
says that all your evidence points at our Scott and not at Max, and
that you haven’t at any time told our Max that he was a suspect,
and because of this, you have no right to take him.” She paused
while she listened on the telephone again. “Henry says you can’t
take Max with this document, only Scott, because Scott knew when he
was questioned that he was a suspect. But he also says that because
it has Max’s name on it instead of Scott’s, you can’t take him
either. He says this document is no good.” She handed it back to
her husband. “He says we have helped you enough and answered all
your questions. He says we don’t have to let you in. Henry says
he’s coming over.”

Scott and his
father looked triumphant. Mr Headly slapped the crumpled document
against Shawcroft’s chest.

“Get out!”

Shawcroft
sighed as he took the document and stuffed it in his pocket. He
signalled to the constable with him and the two of them backed off.
“I will be back with the correct paperwork, I promise you.”

The policemen
retreated down the driveway. Scott and his father stepped across
the threshold and shook their fists at them, bold in their
victory.

Scott shouted,
“And I promise you that unless you have more than just one copper
with you, you’re still not getting in!”

And Mr Headly
shouted, “Yeah! And remember to cross your T’s and dot your I’s! Or
we’ll toss you out again!”

With the two
policemen seen off, Scott and his father slapped each other on the
back, returned to the house, and slammed the door shut.

“That’s the end
of that!” Mr Headly said, a smile on his face. But the smile died
when he saw his wife. The tears were streaming down her face and
she looked absolutely distraught as she hugged the telephone
receiver.

“Oh, Scott!”
she wailed. “What have you done? Tell me! Tell me the truth, now!
Did you kill that poor girl?”

Louise’s heart
sank at the sound of that voice.

Zach leaned on
the table and smiled smugly at them all. “Wow, what a feast! All
these beautiful babes at one table!” His eyes fixed on Chrissy and
his smile broadened. “Chrissy, baby! You’re looking sweeter every
day! How about a lick?”

“Naff off!”

Victoria
hastily grabbed Zach and dragged him away from the table. She
pulled him all the way across the refectory, where she paused
looking for another free table. Zach took the opportunity to put
his arms around her.

“Hey, girl? Why
so eager?” he said, rubbing his body against hers. “We’ll have
plenty of time later!”

Victoria
ignored his remarks, spotted an empty table, and dragged him
towards it.

“Sit down!” she
said when they got there.

Zach sat, a
puzzled look on his face. “What’s going on, Tori?”

“I’ve got
something to tell you.”

Zach was
quickly on his guard. “Are we breaking up?” he asked
suspiciously.

Victoria
swallowed nervously. “Yes. I’ve found somebody else.”

“And I suppose
you expect me to fade out of the picture, just like that?”

“Please, Zach,
don’t make this difficult.”

“Difficult?” he
snapped. “I’ll give you difficult! You owe me!”

“I don’t owe
you anything!” Victoria protested.

Zach was now
angry. “I got your dad off your back, didn’t I? I fixed him for
you, just like you asked! And now you think you can just dump me?
Well, you’re wrong!” He pointed a finger at her. “Listen, girl! You
and I are a permanent fixture! You got that? You tell this other
guy to take a hike!”

Victoria felt
her face getting hotter. “It’s not a guy. It’s a girl.”

Zach stared at
her. “What?”

“It’s a girl,
Zach. I’m seeing a girl. Do you understand?”

Zach must have
understood, because he suddenly burst out laughing. “You? A dyke?”
he roared. “Who do you think you’re kidding?”

Victoria was
annoyed at him. She spoke without thinking. “It’s the truth! I’m a
lesbian!”

Louise had
watched Victoria and Zach wind their way across the busy refectory.
It was after ten, and the morning break was in full swing. Her
heart had ached when she saw Zach putting his arms around Victoria.
She wanted to run across the refectory and smack him. They had
moved on, and Louise had seen them sit down together. Now all she
could do was watch and wait.

“Oh, I could
smack him!” Angela snarled, voicing Louise’s thoughts. “Why did he
have to turn up now?”

“He had to turn
up sooner or later,” Louise said sadly. She kept twisting around in
her seat and craning her neck, trying to get a better view of them
both as they sat talking.

Chrissy looked
at Angela and Louise. “Am I missing something here?” she asked,
taking a sip of her coffee.

“Louise and
Tori are an item,” Angela said bluntly, craning her neck to see
better like Louise.

Chrissy spat
out her coffee and began to choke. Angela had to get up and pat her
on the back. Chrissy had tears in her eyes when she finally began
to get her breath back.

“What do you
mean?” she rasped hoarsely. “How can Louise and Vicky be an
item?”

Angela was
blunt again. “They’re both, you know, lezzies.”

Chrissy’s eyes
went very wide and round. “What…how…when?” A sudden thought
occurred to her. “But I’ve slept with her!” she exclaimed in a very
loud voice.

Everyone in the
refectory heard her and there was a sudden hush. They all stared at
Chrissy, then in the sudden silence someone on the other side of
the refectory shouted, “I’m a lesbian!” and everyone turned and
looked in the other direction. It was the first time Louise saw
Chrissy blush in embarrassment. It wasn’t a slight tinge of red, it
was a full on blush. Chrissy hastily hid her head under her hair
against the table.

On the other
side of the refectory, Victoria was also filled with embarrassment.
Her words had coincided with a sudden hush in the refectory, and
now everyone was staring at her.

Zach was
laughing louder and louder. “You, a dyke!” he said in an equally
loud voice. “It’s the best joke I’ve heard in ages! You’ve slept
with more boys than there are at Eaton! If you’re a dyke, then I’m
still a virgin!” Zach was now laughing so much he was almost
crying.

Victoria hardly
heard a word he said. She was too busy looking around the refectory
in horror, seeing all the other students smiling and staring right
at her. They all knew, and they were all laughing at her just like
Zach. Victoria quickly got up and ran out.

Louise saw her
go.

“Oh, no!” she
exclaimed, and she got up and ran across the refectory after
Victoria.

Zach spotted
her when she drew level with him. He sprang up from his chair and
quickly grabbed her. “Of course!” he shouted in triumph. “I should
have known! It’s you, isn’t it? The babe from McDonald’s!”

Louise
struggled with Zach in the middle of the refectory. She could feel
his hands on her body and she hated it.

“Get off me!
Let me go!”

Zach just
laughed and lifted her off the floor. But he was no longer in a
humorous mood as he spun her round and round, whispering in her
ear.

“What have you
been telling her, you bitch? Been filling her head with lies? Do
you think you can take Zach’s girl from him? Well, I’ve got news
for you, bitch! Tori’s mine! And she’s no dyke! I know her better
than you! You’ve just confused her, that’s all! She’ll be back in
my bed in no time! But, hey! Don’t worry! You’ve got a nice body!
We can make up a three-some any time!”

Louise began to
cry as she could only kick wildly in the air as Zach spun her
around. She was conscious all the time of everyone watching them.
They were all just a blur, but she could feel their eyes on her.
But there was nothing she could do. Her feet caught the edge of a
table and knocked it over with a crash.

Chrissy
suddenly landed on Zach’s back and he crumpled to the floor. Louise
went sprawling, knocking a chair over. Angela jumped on top of
Chrissy and Zach, and the three of them began to wrestle about on
the floor, knocking more chairs and tables over. Everyone had to
dodge out of the way. Louise stared in shock, frozen to the
spot.

Then Angela
shouted at her. “Louise! Get after Tori! We’ll deal with Zach! Go
on!”

Louise got up
and ran, pushing her way through the crowd. She ran in the same
direction she had seen Victoria leave. She ran as fast as she
could, sobbing all the time, the tears running down her face. She
left the refectory and ran down a corridor. But Victoria was
nowhere to be seen. Louise ran on, burst through some double doors
and found herself outside. There was still no sign of Victoria.

“Vikki!” Louise
shouted in despair. “Vikki!”

There was no
answer. Louise ran around the side of the building, but all she saw
were people she didn’t know who stared back at her.

“Vikki!”

The people
passing by now turned and stared at her even more. Louise hastily
wiped the tears from her eyes. There was no sign of Victoria
anywhere, so she did the only thing she could think of. She went
home. It was the only other place she could think of that Victoria
might go to. She had nowhere else, did she?