The Shoestring Club by Sarah Webb Page B

Told you he was married, did he? I’ve seen it all before, believe me. You’ll be grand. You’ll get over him.’
    This makes me sob even louder.
    ‘Here, you’re not going to puke, are you?’ The taxi driver eyes me suspiciously in the rear-view mirror. ‘You’re looking that way.’
    I press my lips together and shake my head. Unfortunately he doesn’t believe me. The car screeches to a halt.
    ‘Out!’ he says. ‘I’m not cleaning this damn car for the second time tonight.’
    ‘No, please, I won’t puke, I’m OK.’ But even to my own ears the words sound a little slurred.
    ‘I said out.’ He jumps out, opens the passenger door, grabs my arm and pulls me out, his rough fingers digging into the bare flesh of my upper arm. I stagger towards the footpath.
    As he accelerates away and the cold air hits my skin, I realize I’ve left my jacket on the back seat. At least I’m still clutching my bag. I look around. And where the hell am I anyway? The run from Ballsbridge to Dalkey is pretty straightforward, but I seem to be in the middle of an industrial estate. I sit down on the edge of the pavement and start to cry. And then my stomach lurches and I vomit its contents onto the road, managing to splatter both my shoes and the bottom of Pandora’s skirt. I wipe my mouth with my hand and then look up and down the street for a taxi, but it’s deathly quiet.
    I peer in my bag for my mobile, half expecting to have lost it again. But no, it’s there. I hold it in my hand and think for a second, staggering a little, my head still fuzzy. I right myself and I consider ringing Jamie, before remembering he hasn’t replied to my message. Then I get the overwhelming urge to ring Ed. I must talk to Ed – right now. Everything that has happened between us melts away. Ed will know what to do; he’ll make me feel safe.
    The rings sound funny but eventually he answers.
    ‘Hello?’ he says, his voice groggy with sleep. ‘Who is this?’
    ‘Ed!’ I wail. I’m so overwhelmed to hear his voice I start to cry again. ‘I just had the most horrible night. And I’m lost. Can you come and get me?’
    ‘Jules, it’s the middle of the night. I thought someone had died. Where are you?’
    ‘I don’t know! I told you, I’m lost.’
    ‘Are you drunk?’
    ‘’Course I’m drunk, ’s Friday. I was in Dicey’s.’ I stop. Shit, Noel. What do I tell Ed? Noel’s pretty much his boss. But Ed’s my friend. He’ll understand.
    ‘And Noel tried to rape me. You know, Noel Hegarty.’
    There’s silence for a second.
    ‘Jules, you can’t say things like that.’ He sighs. ‘What really happened?’
    ‘But it’s true. He was choking me, and then Mickey came out and—’
    ‘Jules, hang on a second.’
    I hear a noise in the background, and a voice, and he’s gone.
    ‘Ed!’ I yell, slightly hysterically. ‘Don’t leave me! Ed!’
    ‘I’m here, all right. Calm down.’
    ‘Who’s with you?’ I ask when he comes back on the line.
    ‘Lainey. We’re in Paris.’
    ‘But I need you, Ed,’ I wail. ‘Can you come and get me?’
    ‘Didn’t you hear me? I’m in Paris, Jules,
Paris
. You’ll have to ring your dad or Pandora.’
    ‘Noooo! They’ll kill me. And I’ve lost my jacket.’
    ‘You’re not making much sense. And rewind, what happened with Noel?’
    ‘I was outside in the beer garden with Noel and Mickey, and Mickey went inside and Noel pulled up my skirt and called me a slut and tried to . . .’ I stop and start to cry. ‘He was pinning me up against the wall and everything. Then I kneed him in the balls and Paddy rang me a taxi. But the stupid man made me get out. I’m on the side of the road and it’s freezing.’ I sniff and rub my tears away with my hand.
    There’s a deathly silence. I hear Ed say, ‘Shit,’ under his breath.
    ‘Do you believe me?’ I ask him in a small voice. ‘About Noel. Ed? Are you there?’
    ‘Yeah, yeah, I’m here. Are you sure about all this, Jules?’
    ‘Yes!