room?’
‘I did need to sleep. I told you: I was tired.’
‘And when you wake up, the party is over. Magda, Miss Danielle, whatever she’s called has gone safely on her way. The minibus has been returned. And, apart from your hangovers, everything is all right with the world?’
He nodded, eager to confirm my summation. ‘Something like that. I don’t know how they managed to organize it, though. And it wasn’t quite as straightforward as you suggest. We had to face our families. They’d been worried stiff about us.’
‘Well, that’s a real fucking shame, Trevor,’ I hissed, letting him hear real venom.
His head jerked, taken aback by my new tone. ‘It’s the truth,’ he protested.
‘No, it’s not. You’re covering for them. Something bad happened up there, and you know it.’
He shook his head frantically.
‘What was it, Trevor? Dancing, bit of light smooching, everyone having a good time … until one of the guys tries to take it just a bit too far?’
‘No. It wasn’t like that.’
‘The girl doesn’t like it. This is not fun any more. The guys try to persuade her to loosen up.’ I spread my arms, jiggling, looming towards him, playing the drunk. ‘But this is just scary. The girl is frightened now. Only the boys can’t smell that fear. Or if they can, they mistake it for sex. They want to continue to party. She’s being unreasonable. Fucking slag, after all. A foreigner. She wants this really. What else did she think was going to happen?’
‘Nothing like that happened.’
‘Was she raped, Trevor? Was she slapped around? Was she held down? Or was she just so terrified by that time that she acquiesced and you bastards put the conquest down to your fucking charm and social skills?’
‘No one was hurt!’ he yelled. ‘No one was abused or assaulted. Why won’t you believe me?’
I went up into his face and yelled back, ‘Because you weren’t fucking there – you said that you were asleep.’
He dropped his face into his hands. ‘You don’t understand,’ he shrieked. ‘This has nothing to do with that woman, this has to do with Boon.’
He shook his head frantically, retracting even before I had had a chance to ask him for confirmation.
‘Boon Paterson was there?’ I asked, not concealing my surprise.
He backtracked fast, stammering, ‘No … No … We dropped him off … I just told you that …’
‘You’re lying, Trevor. What did you mean when you said that this had to do with Boon?’
‘Nothing. You confused me. It was a slip of the tongue.’
I tried to run some sense into it. If Boon had been there, why had the group decided to cover it up? And why hadn’t he turned up with the others the following morning? I had thought that I had two separate instances of missing people. Was it possible that they might both be in the same basket? Magda and Boon?
Jesus, had my apartheid crack been closer to the mark than I could have realized?
‘Was Boon hurt?’
‘No.’ He replied sharply. But there was another tiny time-lag here that I picked up on. The response and some kind of a memory association ever so slightly out of synch. ‘Boon wasn’t there. How could he have been hurt?’
‘You said no one was hurt up there. You used the plural.’
He shook his head sharply. ‘You got me confused. I meant her. The woman wasn’t hurt.’
‘Trevor, no one knows I’m here.’
‘What do you mean?’ He shrank away from me, and his eyebrows rose as he sensed the beginnings of a threat.
And it had crossed my mind. To shock it out of him. A short right jab to the nose to let blood, pain and ratcheted sinew unlock the vault. But could I take the risk that, in his current state, pain wasn’t what he wanted? The catharsis of punishment?
‘Everyone thinks I’m in North Wales. No one would ever know that you told me anything.’
‘There’s nothing to tell you.’
‘You can stop it here, Trevor. You can get me off all of your backs. And it stays just between
‘I did need to sleep. I told you: I was tired.’
‘And when you wake up, the party is over. Magda, Miss Danielle, whatever she’s called has gone safely on her way. The minibus has been returned. And, apart from your hangovers, everything is all right with the world?’
He nodded, eager to confirm my summation. ‘Something like that. I don’t know how they managed to organize it, though. And it wasn’t quite as straightforward as you suggest. We had to face our families. They’d been worried stiff about us.’
‘Well, that’s a real fucking shame, Trevor,’ I hissed, letting him hear real venom.
His head jerked, taken aback by my new tone. ‘It’s the truth,’ he protested.
‘No, it’s not. You’re covering for them. Something bad happened up there, and you know it.’
He shook his head frantically.
‘What was it, Trevor? Dancing, bit of light smooching, everyone having a good time … until one of the guys tries to take it just a bit too far?’
‘No. It wasn’t like that.’
‘The girl doesn’t like it. This is not fun any more. The guys try to persuade her to loosen up.’ I spread my arms, jiggling, looming towards him, playing the drunk. ‘But this is just scary. The girl is frightened now. Only the boys can’t smell that fear. Or if they can, they mistake it for sex. They want to continue to party. She’s being unreasonable. Fucking slag, after all. A foreigner. She wants this really. What else did she think was going to happen?’
‘Nothing like that happened.’
‘Was she raped, Trevor? Was she slapped around? Was she held down? Or was she just so terrified by that time that she acquiesced and you bastards put the conquest down to your fucking charm and social skills?’
‘No one was hurt!’ he yelled. ‘No one was abused or assaulted. Why won’t you believe me?’
I went up into his face and yelled back, ‘Because you weren’t fucking there – you said that you were asleep.’
He dropped his face into his hands. ‘You don’t understand,’ he shrieked. ‘This has nothing to do with that woman, this has to do with Boon.’
He shook his head frantically, retracting even before I had had a chance to ask him for confirmation.
‘Boon Paterson was there?’ I asked, not concealing my surprise.
He backtracked fast, stammering, ‘No … No … We dropped him off … I just told you that …’
‘You’re lying, Trevor. What did you mean when you said that this had to do with Boon?’
‘Nothing. You confused me. It was a slip of the tongue.’
I tried to run some sense into it. If Boon had been there, why had the group decided to cover it up? And why hadn’t he turned up with the others the following morning? I had thought that I had two separate instances of missing people. Was it possible that they might both be in the same basket? Magda and Boon?
Jesus, had my apartheid crack been closer to the mark than I could have realized?
‘Was Boon hurt?’
‘No.’ He replied sharply. But there was another tiny time-lag here that I picked up on. The response and some kind of a memory association ever so slightly out of synch. ‘Boon wasn’t there. How could he have been hurt?’
‘You said no one was hurt up there. You used the plural.’
He shook his head sharply. ‘You got me confused. I meant her. The woman wasn’t hurt.’
‘Trevor, no one knows I’m here.’
‘What do you mean?’ He shrank away from me, and his eyebrows rose as he sensed the beginnings of a threat.
And it had crossed my mind. To shock it out of him. A short right jab to the nose to let blood, pain and ratcheted sinew unlock the vault. But could I take the risk that, in his current state, pain wasn’t what he wanted? The catharsis of punishment?
‘Everyone thinks I’m in North Wales. No one would ever know that you told me anything.’
‘There’s nothing to tell you.’
‘You can stop it here, Trevor. You can get me off all of your backs. And it stays just between
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