They’ll be at school soon, Katherine realises. Becca will disappear along with her familiar leather satchel and Katherine won’t see her for the rest of the day. She thinks about the words she wrote. How amazing Becca is, what a special friendship they’ve got, how it could grow into something even better. Surely reading it would make Becca think more of her, not less? She steals another look at Becca’s face in profile. The soft contours of her golden skin. Then she looks down at the sand-coloured satchel. There’s a sleeve on one side with no clasp. Carefully she slides the letter out of her bag and slips it inside Becca’s satchel.

December 2021

December 2021

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Mark

Mark stares at the wall opposite. It’s bliss, he thinks, this feeling. He’s not cold anymore, for a start. And his body doesn’t hurt even though the purple and yellow bruises all over his torso prove that he’s taken a proper beating. He’s floating more than flying; bobbing up and down in a cloud of cotton wool. He feels amazing.

Mark was never a fan of drugs growing up. And he knows – somewhere inside his head, or maybe as deep as his gut – that he shouldn’t have dabbled today. But his whole body was in agony, the pain having grown rather than shrunk overnight, and the spice was calling him.

He looks at the spliff suspended between his fingers. It’s only half smoked but the tip is smouldering, dreary grey without the spark of a flame. How long has he been staring at the wall? He’s got no idea, but the sky is black again so it must be evening at least. With gargantuan effort, he picks his lighter next to him off the sofa and flicks it at the end of the joint. Then he closes his eyes and takes a long, hard toke, keeping the drug inside him for as long as he can hold his breath. Finally he exhales, but he can already feel its effect spreading through him, taking him deeper into paradise. Or oblivion.

He leans back against the matted velour sofa and turns to face the window. He watches a couple walk by, arms entwined, laughing at something, oblivious to him sitting in the shadows. The woman reminds him of Beth, something in her gait, and his mind meanders back to her again. He was half expecting the police to turn up today, and he’d been planning his mix of denials and no comments about the note he delivered. But no one came, which weirdly felt like a disappointment. Like even though he’s making progress, she’s still controlling things.