was a half-smile there, finally, but he still looked pale; different.
As soon as Charli heard the bathroom door close, she got up and went to the laptop. She opened it and logged quickly on to her Facebook page.
There were more messages than she would have time to read before Danny came back. She scrolled through them, the conversations that had sprung up beneath each comment.
perv dad = perv kids! lol!!
u r so ignorant
least i’m not a perv
no, just a moron
if he did stuff to those girls he probably did it to his own kids as
well …
When she heard the flush, she logged off and closed the lid of the laptop. She was back on the bed by the time Danny came back in. He looked excited.
‘We can sue them, yeah? You see it on the news and stuff. When people are arrested or accused of something and then it’s proved they didn’t do anything, they get tons of money. Compensation or whatever.’ He nodded. ‘Those twats on Facebook won’t be laughing when we’re the ones in a mansion with a couple of sports cars parked outside.’ He flicked his fingers, as ‘gangsta’ as it was possible for any white fourteen-year-old from Polesford to be. ‘Safe.’
‘Sounds all right,’ Charli said. Looking at her brother and wondering if the time would ever be right to ask him the question. Wondering if it had ever occurred to him, to ask her.
If he touched those girls …
They both froze as the track ended and the sound of their mother crying softly next door began to leak through the thin wall. Charli looked at Danny, but he dropped his head and stared down at the carpet. As soon as the next song started, he walked quickly to the CD player and turned the sound up, just enough.
SEVENTEEN
Helen was already in bed by the time Thorne came back from the bathroom. She lay with a pillow propped up behind her, wiping off her make-up and dropping the used cotton-wool balls on the floor beside the bed. Thorne began to get undressed.
‘Bit bloody nippy in here.’ He rubbed his arms and bent to press a hand to the radiator. It was only lukewarm. ‘Well, no chocolate on the pillow was bad enough, but this has definitely cost them their five-star rating,’ he said. ‘If it’s not the full works for breakfast, I’m inclined not to come back.’ He looked to Helen for a reaction and she glanced up. ‘I might even write something snotty in the visitors’ book.’
She gave him a thin smile and carried on wiping.
They had managed another half an hour or so downstairs, before Paula had finally noticed Thorne stifling his third or fourth yawn in as many minutes and told them there was no need to be polite. Thorne could still hear music playing. It was possible of course that they had made an effort to be sociable simply because they had visitors, and had been every bit asdesperate to turn in as Thorne and Helen, but Thorne had them marked down as regular night owls.
He could empathise with a nurse’s need to kick back a little after a day at the sharp end in a major hospital; to decompress. No matter what time he or Helen got in after a late shift, even if Alfie was asleep, it was rare for either of them to go straight to bed. It always took a while for the buzz to settle or the disgust to dissipate. A drink would often be taken to help the process along. TV might be watched in silence or, very occasionally, whoever was in bed woken gently and some of the day’s darker moments shared.
Helen’s were almost always the toughest to talk about, and to hear.
It was possible of course that taxi drivers felt that same need to wind down at the end of a long day, but Thorne strongly suspected that Jason Sweeney just enjoyed drinking.
Though still not exactly thrilled that they were here at all, he was glad that he had listened to Helen and packed pyjamas. He put them on quickly and swapped his dirty T-shirt for a clean one. Helen was wearing one of his T-shirts too. He could see the top half of it above the duvet: Johnny Cash
As soon as Charli heard the bathroom door close, she got up and went to the laptop. She opened it and logged quickly on to her Facebook page.
There were more messages than she would have time to read before Danny came back. She scrolled through them, the conversations that had sprung up beneath each comment.
perv dad = perv kids! lol!!
u r so ignorant
least i’m not a perv
no, just a moron
if he did stuff to those girls he probably did it to his own kids as
well …
When she heard the flush, she logged off and closed the lid of the laptop. She was back on the bed by the time Danny came back in. He looked excited.
‘We can sue them, yeah? You see it on the news and stuff. When people are arrested or accused of something and then it’s proved they didn’t do anything, they get tons of money. Compensation or whatever.’ He nodded. ‘Those twats on Facebook won’t be laughing when we’re the ones in a mansion with a couple of sports cars parked outside.’ He flicked his fingers, as ‘gangsta’ as it was possible for any white fourteen-year-old from Polesford to be. ‘Safe.’
‘Sounds all right,’ Charli said. Looking at her brother and wondering if the time would ever be right to ask him the question. Wondering if it had ever occurred to him, to ask her.
If he touched those girls …
They both froze as the track ended and the sound of their mother crying softly next door began to leak through the thin wall. Charli looked at Danny, but he dropped his head and stared down at the carpet. As soon as the next song started, he walked quickly to the CD player and turned the sound up, just enough.
SEVENTEEN
Helen was already in bed by the time Thorne came back from the bathroom. She lay with a pillow propped up behind her, wiping off her make-up and dropping the used cotton-wool balls on the floor beside the bed. Thorne began to get undressed.
‘Bit bloody nippy in here.’ He rubbed his arms and bent to press a hand to the radiator. It was only lukewarm. ‘Well, no chocolate on the pillow was bad enough, but this has definitely cost them their five-star rating,’ he said. ‘If it’s not the full works for breakfast, I’m inclined not to come back.’ He looked to Helen for a reaction and she glanced up. ‘I might even write something snotty in the visitors’ book.’
She gave him a thin smile and carried on wiping.
They had managed another half an hour or so downstairs, before Paula had finally noticed Thorne stifling his third or fourth yawn in as many minutes and told them there was no need to be polite. Thorne could still hear music playing. It was possible of course that they had made an effort to be sociable simply because they had visitors, and had been every bit asdesperate to turn in as Thorne and Helen, but Thorne had them marked down as regular night owls.
He could empathise with a nurse’s need to kick back a little after a day at the sharp end in a major hospital; to decompress. No matter what time he or Helen got in after a late shift, even if Alfie was asleep, it was rare for either of them to go straight to bed. It always took a while for the buzz to settle or the disgust to dissipate. A drink would often be taken to help the process along. TV might be watched in silence or, very occasionally, whoever was in bed woken gently and some of the day’s darker moments shared.
Helen’s were almost always the toughest to talk about, and to hear.
It was possible of course that taxi drivers felt that same need to wind down at the end of a long day, but Thorne strongly suspected that Jason Sweeney just enjoyed drinking.
Though still not exactly thrilled that they were here at all, he was glad that he had listened to Helen and packed pyjamas. He put them on quickly and swapped his dirty T-shirt for a clean one. Helen was wearing one of his T-shirts too. He could see the top half of it above the duvet: Johnny Cash
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