BooksBarbecue
Back The Source Save as PDF
Chapters (53)
  1. The Source
  2. Dedication
  3. Contents
  4. Marie ~ London ~ 2006
  5. Carly ~ Warchester ~ 1996
  6. Marie ~ London ~ 2006
  7. Carly ~ Warchester ~ 1996
  8. Marie ~ London ~ 2006
  9. Carly ~ Warchester ~ 1996
  10. Marie ~ London ~ 2006
  11. Carly ~ Warchester ~ 1996
  12. Marie ~ London ~ 2006
  13. Carly ~ Warchester ~ 1996
  14. Marie ~ London ~ 2006
  15. Carly ~ Warchester ~ 1996
  16. Marie ~ London ~ 2006
  17. Carly ~ Warchester ~ 1996
  18. Marie ~ London ~ 2006
  19. Carly ~ Warchester ~ 1997
  20. Marie ~ London ~ 2006
  21. Carly ~ Warchester ~ 1997
  22. Marie ~ London ~ 2006
  23. Carly ~ Warchester ~ 1997
  24. Marie ~ London ~ 2006
  25. Carly ~ Warchester ~ 1997
  26. Marie ~ London ~ 2006
  27. Carly ~ Warchester ~ 1997
  28. Marie ~ London ~ 2006
  29. Carly ~ Warchester ~ 1997
  30. Marie ~ London ~ 2006
  31. Carly ~ Warchester ~ 1997
  32. Marie ~ London ~ 2006
  33. Carly ~ Warchester ~ 1997
  34. Carly ~ Warchester ~ 1998
  35. Marie ~ London ~ 2006
  36. Carly ~ London ~ 2001
  37. Marie ~ London ~ 2006
  38. Carly ~ London ~ 2001
  39. Marie ~ London ~ 2006
  40. Carly ~ London ~ 2001
  41. Marie ~ Just outside Warchester ~ 2006
  42. Carly ~ London ~ 2001
  43. Marie ~ London ~ 2006
  44. Carly ~ Deptford ~ 2002
  45. Marie ~ London ~ 2006
  46. Marie ~ Deptford ~ 2004
  47. Marie ~ London ~ 2006
  48. Marie ~ London ~ 2005
  49. Marie ~ London ~ 2006
  50. Marie ~ London ~ Six months later
  51. Acknowledgements
  52. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  53. Copyright

‘I didn’t! I swear, Jase, I didn’t call them. Ma must have.’

He laughs.

‘It must have been her,’ I beg. ‘I promise you, Jase. I’d never—’

‘Do you think I believe this shit?’ I jump as he shouts into my ear. 132‘Ma’s drunk from the moment she wakes up to when she passes out again and everything in between, and you’re telling me she called an ambulance because she actually noticed Kayleigh having a fit?’

‘She did! No one else could have done it.’ I brush away Doctor Twena’s hand on my shoulder. ‘And then I had to come with her, didn’t I? I couldn’t just leave her with them. You should have seen what they did to her in the ambulance—’

‘Shut up,’ he interrupts. ‘I mean it. Shut up.’

I swallow, pulling the cord tight so my hand goes white.

‘I’m sorry,’ I mumble after a moment.

‘You shouldn’t have called me,’ he says.

‘But how else would I—’

‘You know the rules. How many times do we have to go over it? No questions. No mess. You have no idea what we’re up against – what I’m up against. You know I’m a sergeant now. We’ll have to make it up.’

I start to cry.

‘I can’t leave,’ he says. ‘For fuck’s sake, Carls, I can’t even tell you what I was doing when you rang. How would I explain bailing, right here and right now? And the fact you’re both in an actual hospital means there will be questions to answer just because of where you are—’

‘But Jase—’

‘Is she OK? Kayleigh? What’s actually wrong with her?’

‘I don’t know. I reckon so but they won’t even tell me anything proper because they say I’m too young.’

‘So lie. What the hell is the matter with you? Do they want your passport? Birth certificate? Just say whatever you need to say to get her out.’

I finger the frayed badge on my school blazer as he fades for a moment, disappearing into a burst of static at the other end of the line.

‘Carls, listen to me. Even if I show up in civvies it will get back to base. And then the questions will start – there’ll be more loose 133ends to tie up. We can’t have that. It will be worse for all of us, trust me. We can’t have any questions. It’s bad enough what happened at the clinic.’

‘How do you even know about that?’

‘How do you think I know?’ I have to pull the phone away from my ear even though I know the doctor is still watching, his shadow hovering along the wall.