The Look of Love (36 page)

All the way
back to her flat, Louise was worried sick. She was in such a hurry
and yet everything seemed to happen too slowly. It was as if
everything was trying to delay her. People kept getting in her way
as she hurried to Saint Peter’s Square, the traffic lights would
change against her making her wait as the cars sped by, even the
tram was too long in coming. And all the time she kept looking for
Victoria, but there was no sign of her. As Louise sat nervously on
the tram, it seemed to take twice as long on its journey.

When Louise
finally got home, she found the flat empty. She knew it was empty
even before she opened the door, but she still ran into Victoria’s
bedroom calling out her name. She stared at the empty bedroom.
Louise was frantic, she ran around the flat searching, as if
Victoria could be hiding somewhere. But there was still no sign of
her.

After she had
searched every room, Louise came to a halt in the middle of the
lounge. She was scared and confused. She was worried sick about
Victoria, but she had no idea where to look anymore. What should
she do? Where should she go? Where could Victoria be?

Louise had a
sudden thought. She ran out of the flat and bounded down the stairs
and banged on Rosanna’s door.

“Rosie! Rosie!
Is Vikki with you?”

There was no
answer. Rosanna wasn’t in.

Louise’s heart
sank. Now she was desperate. Where had Victoria gone? A nagging
doubt began to grow in Louise’s mind. Maybe she hadn’t left the
University after all? Maybe she was sitting somewhere on campus
crying and alone even now. Louise ran out of the house. She was
crying as she ran down the street. Oh, where had Victoria gone?

“I knew the
Headly’s would be a problem,” Connors said, shaking his head in
dismay. He was sitting at his desk. Shawcroft had told him what had
happened as soon as he got back to the police station.

“It was my
fault, Sir. I should have been more careful with the wording.”

“No, there was
nothing you could do. Their solicitor was right. To be fair, we
haven’t cautioned either of them. That will now change. But before
we can prove that Max is our murderer, we must first prove that
Scott isn’t. Our mistake was picking on Max on his own. With his
alibi, there isn’t enough evidence against him to get him into a
line up without a fight.”

“But there is
enough evidence against Scott Headly,” Shawcroft pointed out.

“Yes, but the
last thing we want is for Geddes to identify him instead of his
brother. From what you tell me, Scott probably knows that. No, the
line up is out, at least for the moment. But with the suspicion we
have that they are working together, we could still bring them both
in for further questioning; Scott on suspicion of murder, and Max
on suspicion of withholding evidence. We both know it is the wrong
way round, but if we can put them under enough pressure, I’m sure
they’ll break.”

Shawcroft was
still indignant at his ejection from the Headly household. He
wanted revenge. “I still like the idea of a line up. What if I went
round to the Shere Khan to see if any of the waiters can remember
John King and his dining partner?”

Connors
expression brightened. “Good idea. Check on the Hanaan too. See if
anyone can remember seeing Mike Geddes and Joanne Henshaw together.
The more witnesses we can get, the better. That way, even if we
can’t get Max into a line up, the threat of one might be enough to
do the trick.”

Shawcroft
smiled. “Trick being the operative word?”

“If you’re
insinuating that I might try and bluff young Headly and his
solicitor into changing their story, you’d be right!”

Connors stood
up. “And while you’re out visiting restaurants, I think I’ll
arrange a little surprise for Scott Headly. I think it’s about time
we dropped him down a peg or two. And I know just the person to do
it for us.”

Mrs Thorne
wasn’t pleased. She could understand the crying and the grief. She
felt it just as much as they did. But fighting in the refectory?
And the boy wasn’t even a student. No, she wasn’t pleased at
all.

Chrissy and
Angela were given a stern telling off by Mrs Thorne, who warned
them that a repeat performance would lead to their expulsion from
the University. And Mrs Thorne had added that just because Victoria
and Louise had managed to get away didn’t mean that they wouldn’t
get the same treatment. She didn’t care whose boyfriend he was, she
was not having that kind of behaviour on campus.

The
aforementioned ‘boyfriend’ had already left. Well, thrown out
actually. Mrs Thorne had had Zach escorted off the premises by a
security man. He was under strict instructions not to return
–ever.

Chrissy and
Angela looked scruffy and ragged when they came out of Mrs Thorne’s
office. They were stained with dried coffee and tea. And Chrissy’s
ribs ached from the additional bad treatment they had received from
rolling around on the hard refectory floor. But neither she, nor
Angela were the least bit contrite.

As they walked
slowly back to class, Angela looked up at Chrissy and said
tentatively, “It was a good scrap, wasn’t it?”

Chrissy
immediately laughed. “Did you see his face when we sat on him?”

Angela smiled
broadly. “I liked it best when you tried to feed him that half
eaten role somebody had trodden on!” she said excitedly.

“Yeah! He
nearly gagged!”

“Served him
right! The git!”

Their smiles
faded as their thoughts moved on from the fight to their missing
friends. Angela was worried about them both.

“I hope Louise
caught up with Tori,” she said.

Chrissy looked
thoughtfully at her. “Were you serious about Louise and Vicky?” she
asked.

Angela nodded.
“They’ve moved in together.”

“That doesn’t
make them lesbians.”

“Louise told
me.”

“When?” Chrissy
asked in surprise.

“A few days
ago. But I think I always kind of knew. It was the way Louise would
look at some girl. I could tell straight away that she fancied
Tori.”

Chrissy shook
her head in disbelief. “But Vicky isn’t a lesbian. I’ve known her
for years. She’s never acted in any way that would make me even
think she was a lesbian. Never.”

“They’ve done
it together.”

Chrissy stopped
walking and just stared at Angela.

Angela stopped
a couple of steps ahead of her. She turned and said, “It’s true.
They’re in love.”

“Well, I’ll
take my knickers off!” Chrissy said then shivered. “I’m going to
have to learn not to say that,” she added quickly. Then she had
another thought. “Angie, you aren’t hiding anything from me are
you?”

“No, I am not!”
Angela replied indignantly.

“Alright, keep
your hair on. It’s just that everybody else I know seems to be
changing sides suddenly, so I thought I better ask.”

“Well I
haven’t!” Angela assured her. “I’m as straight as a die!”

“So am I!”
Chrissy said firmly.

“Good!”

“Right
then!”

Having agreed
on their own sexuality, they started walking back to class again.
But they hadn’t gone far before Chrissy voiced her continuing
doubts about her friends.

“I still can’t
believe it,” she said. “I’ve known Vicky for years. She’s had
boyfriends. And Louise doesn’t even look like…well, what you’d
think she would look like if you knew she was a lesbian.”

“What were you
expecting?” Angela replied tartly. “A placard stuck to her head
with ‘I am a lesbian’ stencilled across it?”

“No, but–”
Chrissy sighed. “Oh, I must sound awful. I didn’t mean it like
that. It’s just such a surprise, that’s all. Why didn’t anyone tell
me?”

“What do you
think Tori was about to do in the refectory before ego on a stick
arrived?”

“But if you
knew, you should have told me before.”

“I couldn’t.
Louise was pretty shy about it. I think she was frightened about
what people might think.”

“Well, it’s too
late for that now,” Chrissy replied. “Everybody in Uni is going to
know by tonight.” She paused before adding sadly, “I wonder where
she is.”

“I hope she’s
caught up with Tori,” Angela said. “She didn’t look at all happy
about what happened.”

“Oh, Vicky will
be alright. She’s as tough as an old boot. She’ll just get drunk
like usual.”

Angela wasn’t
convinced. “I hope you’re right. But I also hope she stays sober.
Getting drunk is exactly what Zach wants. She was getting on really
well with Louise. I’d hate to see them break up now.”

That afternoon
both Victoria and Louise were not at class.

Chrissy and
Angela sat together as they waited for the lecturer. Everyone kept
smiling at them. Even though none of them said anything, it was
obvious that they all knew what had happened. Gavin made it even
more obvious. He kept making very unsubtle and lewd jokes until
Chrissy leaned forward over her desk and smacked him on the head
with her ruler.

Mrs Thorne
arrived with the lecturer and sighed with relief as the class
finally got under way. She noticed the two absences and nodded
thoughtfully. It didn’t look like Victoria Kenyon was going to stay
the course. She had already been warned several times about her
absences from class. And now she seemed to be having a bad effect
on Louise Taylor. It would be a shame to have to exclude her as
well. However, the tragic news about Jo Henshaw was exceptional,
and in the circumstances she could afford to be lenient. But there
was a limit to her leniency. Mrs Thorne quickly decided that if
either of them failed to turn up for the following morning’s
classes, then that would be it.

The stone was
black. The lettering was in gold. It was still bright. In Loving
Memory of Donald Kenyon. 1949 – 1997.

Victoria was
sat on the grass in front of the stone. She was crying. She had
been there for nearly an hour when Zach turned up.

“I knew you’d
be here,” he said standing behind her.

She turned and
glared up at him through red eyes.

“Bastard!” she
exclaimed. “Why did you laugh? What was so funny?”

Zach shrugged.
“The idea of you being a lesbian, hey, how did you think I was
going to take it?”

Victoria stood
up and shouted at him. “But you laughed! In front of all those
people! You made a fool out of me, Zach! In front of the whole
fucking University!”

Zach held his
arms out. “Hey, baby, I didn’t mean it! It was just so funny!” He
was almost laughing again.

Victoria was
appalled. “Funny? You think what you did to me was funny?” She
stepped closer to him. “You made me feel ashamed!” she snarled
through clenched teeth. “You made me feel dirty! You made me feel
like shit in front of all those people! You made me feel the way I
felt when my daddy played with me! You’re evil, Zach! Just like
him!”

Zach became
angry. He began slapping her about the head and face. “Don’t you
ever compare me with him!” he shouted. “Do you hear me? I never did
what he did! Never!”

“Liar!” she
shouted back tearfully. “You’re just the same as him! As all the
rest of them! You only want one thing, and you don’t care how you
get it! You’re not in love with me! You just want to use me for
sex! Sex! Sex! Sex!”

All the time
she was talking Zach kept slapping her. Now he slapped her even
harder. She tried to shy away from the blows, but he grabbed her
arm and continued slapping her.

“You bitch! I
never knew you felt like that!”

“Yes you did!”
Victoria shouted back. “You know I hate it! Why else do you think
you have to get me drunk first?”

Zach looked
stunned. He released her, and she collapsed to the ground, sobbing,
but still angry.

“Selfish, evil,
liar!” she wailed. “You used me like he used me! I hate you for
that! I hate you! I hope you die!”

Zach slumped to
the ground next to her. He stared at her as she sobbed and tore at
the grass. He didn’t say anything and she just cried. They stayed
like that for some time. Her sobbing and him sitting and waiting.
Finally, when her sobs had diminished, Zach spoke.

“You’re a daft
bitch, Tori,” he said more calmly. “Why didn’t you ever tell me
that you didn’t like it?”

Victoria
sniffled and rubbed her nose. “I’ve never liked it. I just thought
it was me, because of my dad.”

“And this girl,
the one from McDonalds, Louise, wasn’t it? When you do it with her,
you like it?”

Victoria
nodded.

“And you think
that makes you a lesbian?”

“Yes.”

“Then why does
everyone else knowing about it make you feel dirty?”

“Not dirty,
just–Oh, I don’t know, I just felt so ashamed with all those people
looking at me.”

“Then you can’t
be a lesbian.”

Victoria looked
up. “What do you mean?”

“If you really
were a lesbian, you wouldn’t feel dirty or ashamed. Come on, Tori,
I know babes, and I’ve met some really strange ones, and I’m
telling you, they know what they are and they ain’t ashamed!”

“But I liked
it!” Victoria insisted. “I felt okay, I felt happy. And Louise
loves me!”

“Crap!” Zach
said. “She’s been filling your head with crap, Tori! Get with it!
If anyone is using you, it’s her. You say I have to get you drunk,
well, she’s getting you drunk with words.”

“It’s not like
that!” Victoria said desperately. “She loves me!”

“And I
don’t?”

They were both
getting worked up again, but now Zach’s words made Victoria pause.
She stared at him, and slowly, she shook her head.