Someone Like me (14 page)

chapter 27

‘Don’t you just love English weather,’ announced Malika. The train had just emerged from the Eurotunnel and was speeding through the British countryside, sheets of rain lashing against the windows. My phone beeped as soon as I switched it back on. A text from Mum.

Arriving back on Monday. I’ll text you flight times later when I can find them.

I showed Malika.

‘Doesn’t it bother you? Has she always been so vague?’

A picture of Mum, bottle of wine in hand framed in the kitchen doorway at home sprang into my mind. I looked away.

‘What is it?’

‘I think Mum drinks too much,’ I said quietly. Saying it aloud felt like I was releasing a burst of air.

‘I don’t mean she staggers around the streets with a bottle under her arm, shouting at people, she goes to work and does normal things, she just drinks too much, that’s all.’

‘Does she get violent?’

‘No, never!
It’s not like that, It’s hard to explain, but I don’t remember a day ever, when she didn’t have a drink.’

‘
Maman  has the odd glass of wine with dinner, she’s not the best example of a good Muslim.’

‘When did you start wearing a headscarf?’

‘When I was ten. Mum used to talk about Aunt Nora a lot. I hated seeing her so unhappy and every day I prayed for her to feel better. I started reading about Islam more and that’s when I decided. I feel more comfortable wearing my scarf, protected somehow.’

‘There are a few Muslim girls at my school and they all wear it,
it’s part of the uniform. And forget what I just said – about her drinking I mean. You’re not worried about coming now are you? Mum’s alright really, and she won’t care what you you wear.’

‘She won’t be expecting someone like me though, will she?’

Malika dozed with her head against the window. I opened her laptop to look at my emails. Tess and Fiona had both written to me.

Hi Jas,

I so wish you
were here! Mark is furious because Khaled hasn’t been to band practice since the row at the party – I know he blames you – so I’m keeping out of his way as much as I can. But I don’t care about any of that because Josh is now MY BOYFRIEND!!! He is adorable and I can’t wait for you to meet him properly. We’ve been hanging out at his place – would you believe they have a swimming pool! I don’t want his family ever to come back from holiday so that we can hang out here together for the rest of the summer. I’m trying to persuade him to have a pool party but he’s not convinced…yet!

As  regards
the other stuff: I asked Fiona about information on Khaled – see her response below. I haven’t heard from Helen but Fiona has been in touch with her.

  Bad news about Sara’s brother, but it means I get to see you sooner . . .

Love Tess xxxxx

Fiona’s email followed on:

Hi Tess,

This is what I know about Khaled. He is a RAT. His mum lives up North and he won’t talk about her – he stays with a foster family now. I asked him once about his dad – big mistake. No sisters and brothers, he’s got a cousin. He lives in one of those flats up by our old school with his foster mum. He’s very protective of her – he got into a fight once when one of his friends dissed her. I haven’t spoken to him since we split and I hope I never see him again.

Helen said the police have been back to see her and said they know more about the boyfriend now, but she still made out she didn’t know what his name was. Let me know when Jasmine is back.

Fiona.

That was the second example of Khaled losing his temper. And he obviously hadn’t had an easy childhood.

I sent Tess a text to tell her we were on our way home. She replied straight away.

At last! Josh is having another party tomorrow night.

So
Sadie  still  wasn’t  home.  It was hard  to  stop tracking her when her brother was now involved with Tess. I tried logging into her account again but the password had definitely been changed. A cold feeling crept  through my stomach, it looked like I wasn’t going to have any choice. Determined now I logged onto Facebook. With disbelief I stared at the screen. Sadie had changed her status to single. Quickly I clicked on her  ‘friends’  page.  AJ  was  no  longer there. What had happened in Ibiza?

I closed the laptop down and shut my eyes, my head propped against the headrest.

The train arrived at St Pancras on time and as we were lugging our cases through the barrier, a voice called out my name.

‘Tess!’ I screamed. Tess and Mark were waving a large piece of cardboard in the air. ‘Jasmine and
Malika’ was written in large letters. Tess stood out in orange today – a floaty top and a swirly skirt. A whoosh of emotion overwhelmed me. I hugged Tess and grinned awkwardly at Mark who was standing behind her.

‘This is
Malika, my sister,’ I said proudly. She let go of her case and proceeded to give Tess and then Mark two kisses each. Mark took our cases and led the way through the station, where a car was parked.

‘It’s Mark’s,’ said Tess. ‘He passed his test last year. I didn’t think we’d make it – I had to persuade him to drive as fast as possible …’ she paused to wink at me, ‘but he didn’t need much persuading.’

I pretended I hadn’t noticed. Tess and I jumped into the back of the car, letting Malika have the front seat. Mark sped  off with a screech of tyres  just  as a traffic warden appeared and was about to tap the car registration number into his machine.

‘Lucky,’ said Mark, ‘that would have cost me a fortune.’

Tess bombarded Malika with questions. As we neared home I turned to Tess.

‘You’ve been very good,’ I said, ‘you haven’t mentioned lover boy once.’

‘Oh you mean Josh,’ she said, her face coming to life, ‘Josh with the ripped muscles and the chiselled cheekbones, my boyfriend Josh.’ She giggled loudly.

‘Please
Tess,’ said Mark, ‘you’re putting me off my driving. I’m glad you’re back Jasmine,’ he said and I ignored Tess who was digging me in the ribs. ‘She’s been unbearable since she met him, maybe you can talk some sense into her.’

‘Is he still in your band?’ I asked.

He nodded. ‘Khaled’s back too. I had to do a lot of grovelling on Tess’s behalf, but I persuaded him to stop being an idiot.’

‘Stop exaggerating,’ Tess said. ‘You know he was in the wrong.’ I prodded her and gave her a warning look. I didn’t want her drawing any more attention to Khaled than was necessary. Mark caught my eyes in the mirror and gestured with his head towards
Malika, she was fast asleep. After that we all kept quiet and watched first the sun and then a rainbow emerge over the shiny wet streets. I was glad to be back after all and even gladder that Mum wouldn’t be home for a while. Mark unloaded the car while Tess showed us to our room.

‘You’ll have to share, I’m afraid.’ It was a small room with
one  single  bed. ‘There’s  a camp  bed underneath the bed,’ she said.

‘Are you both up for coming to see Mark’s band tonight? It’s in the hall down the road. Then there’s Josh’s party tomorrow night?’

Malika’s eyes had widened.

‘Can we go?’ she asked.

‘Of course,’ I said. ‘We can do what we like now.’ At the mention of the party all my earlier resolve had disappeared. Whether Malika wanted to go or not there was no way I was going to miss the opportunity to snoop around Sadie’s house.

Tess left us alone to have a rest.

‘We will spend time looking for Nora won’t we?’ Malika looked concerned.

‘Of course we will. I’m sure everything is
linked, only I can’t see how exactly – yet.’

It was going to be a busy weekend.

CHAPTER 28

The hall was adjacent to a busy pub. Chairs were lined up around the edges of the room, and a few tables were scattered here and there. There was a counter at one end opposite the stage, which Josh had turned into a makeshift bar. Choice was limited to beer or coke. I bought a can of each and took them back to the table where Malika was sitting. Bits of yellowing sellotape and blu-tack clung to scraps of paper all over the wall from previous gatherings. Despite the old and tired décor it felt good to be somewhere so familiar.

Malika
and I were the first ones there.

‘How was Sara?’ I asked. ‘You were a long time on the phone.’

‘I was worried that she was regretting letting me come to England, that she would have preferred me to stay with her, but it seems to be the opposite. She says she is relieved I am here with you so that she can concentrate on sorting out everything with Uncle Ali.’

‘She doesn’t want you to get upset, that’s all.’

The band had started setting up on stage. Mark appeared, dragging some heavy equipment behind him. He stopped when he saw me and came bounding  over.

‘I’m so glad you could make it.’

I shrugged. ‘Malika wanted to see what a real live English band was like. Thanks for letting us stay, by the way.’

‘No worries. I’ll chat to you later, we need to set up.
I’ll be interested to know what you think.’

He continued dragging the equipment across the stage. I noticed Khaled was on stage now. I hoped there wasn’t going to be any trouble.

The room quickly started filling up and I went and got a couple more cans in case they ran out. Tess arrived with Josh. It was the first time I had seen them together. He was all in black, t shirt and jeans and his blonde hair was spiked up into points with gel. He didn’t look happy though, in fact Tess looked like she was giving him a lecture. He gave Tess a quick kiss before he made his way over to the stage to join the rest of the band.

‘Is he alright?’ I asked Tess as she came over. She frowned.

‘It’s his family. Even though they’re miles away they’re still getting to him. His sister’s split with her boyfriend and she keeps phoning Josh up. Honestly, she treats him like a therapist. There’s more to it than that, though.’ She narrowed her eyes. ‘There’s something he’s not telling me.’

‘It all sounds a bit heavy,’ I said.
Malika appeared beside us and started chatting to Tess.  My mind was racing at the news about Sadie, when I heard a voice saying my name. I looked round. It was Fiona.

‘Hey,’ I said. She nodded at me.

‘Do you want to sit down?’ I asked. Her hair was swept up on the back of her head and she was wearing a denim dress and high sandals. She sat down in the seat next to  me and  pointedly turned her  back  to the stage. Things obviously weren’t any better with Khaled.

‘How’s it going?’ I asked.

‘Who’s that?’ She indicated Malika, who was deep in conversation with Tess.

‘She’s my sister.’

‘Sister?’ Fiona spluttered.

‘It’s a long story,’ I said.

‘You didn’t reply to my email. I thought we were supposed to be working together?’

‘There was a lot of stuff going on which I didn’t expect. Family stuff, you know. It’s not every day you find out you have a sister.’ Bubbles of irritation were starting to fizz in my stomach. ‘Tess told me about the party and the row with Khaled. Has anything else happened with you?
Or Helen?’

She stared at
Malika. ‘How can she be your sister? Oh whatever, I don’t really care.’ She swigged from her beer. ‘Helen’s mum phoned. She’s worried about Helen. She’s been having nightmares. Her aunt was puzzled by why she only wants to see us. I think it’s because Helen’s hoping we will find out what happened to Miriam. Some chance!’

Tess sat down next to us.

‘Malika’s gone to the loo,’ she said. The band were still warming up on stage, the crowd lively now. I recognised a few faces from school, but there were lots of people I had never seen before.

‘What can we do?’ said Fiona. ‘Has anything else happened?’ I told her what Tess had told me about Khaled at the party. Fiona nodded her eyes scanning the room behind me. We’d been talking for a while and
Malika hadn’t  returned.  ‘Where’s  Malika?’ I  stood  up and looked over towards the toilets.

‘She’s there,’ Tess pointed in the direction of the stage. ‘And look who she’s talking to.’

I followed her gaze. Malika and Khaled were standing together at the side of the stage. Fiona bristled beside me. I hoped she wasn’t going to cause a scene.

‘I’ll go get her,’ I said. I hurried over to
Malika. Khaled saw me approaching and said something, they both turned around.

‘I wondered where you’d got to,’ I said. ‘Is he bothering you?’

‘Relax Jasmine man. You never told me you had a sister.’ Khaled was also wearing a black shirt and black jeans, obviously some kind of uniform adopted by the band. I had to admit he looked good. He was looking from me to Malika, his eyes moving back and forth. At that moment Des came over.

‘Khaled, we’re on now.’

‘Right,’ he said, ‘one minute.’ He beckoned me over. ‘I need to speak to you. Meet me in the interval. Outside, OK?’ Next minute the lights were turned down and the deep throbbing sound of the music started up. I took Malika’s arm and led her back over to our table. Fiona’s glare was steely through her thick black fake lashes. I ignored her and sat down with Malika.

‘He was nice,’ she said.

‘Do you realise who he is?’ She shook her head.

‘That’s Khaled,’ I hissed.

She stared at me. ‘No way! He’s really nice.’

‘What did he say?’

‘Nothing much, he asked who I was, how long was I here for. He’s not how I expected. He looks familiar somehow. Where are his parents from?’

‘I don’t know. He wants to speak to me in the interval. Fiona will really like that. You remember she split up with him recently, so she’s a bit touchy around him. I’m surprised she’s here actually.’

‘Can we go and watch the band now?’ asked Malika.

‘Well don’t expect too much,’ I said. ‘Let’s join Tess over there.’

We pushed through the crowd who were gathered round the stage, cans in hand, dancing to the music. I felt relaxed, my third beer slipping down easily now, the music pulsing deep inside me. It was good to be home. I watched Malika out of the corner of my eye, she was clearly enjoying herself. I shouted in Tess’s ear, telling her about Khaled.

‘Look after
Malika when I go outside will you?’ She nodded, still singing along.

‘Josh is great isn’t he?’

‘How’s it going with you two – apart from the counseling sessions?’

A big smile lit up her face. ‘Great. I really like him and he says he likes me too. Can you believe that? We have a lot of fun. Too bad his
family are due back soon.’

‘When?’
I asked.

‘Sometime next week.
I’m not looking forward to it – they probably won’t approve of me. You should see the amount of stuff his sister has, clothes, perfume, shoes. She actually has a room just for her clothes! Josh isn’t like that at all, he’s really down  to  earth.’  I  rolled my eyes at her, although I was thrilled to hear about Sadie’s bedroom; I had pictured it so many times before. Maybe I could even get to see it?

‘Sorry, I know I can’t stop talking about him. How about you? How did it go with your Dad?’

‘It was getting better actually. He was trying and I was starting to understand why he left.’

We listened to a few more songs,
then Mark announced that the band were taking a short break.

‘Don’t go away,’ he announced to the room, before
bounding off the stage. Tess and Malika headed off to get   some   more   drinks   and  I  wandered  outside.  I wondered where Fiona had got to; I hadn’t seen her for a while.

It was dark now, so I stood in an area which was lit up by the street lamp. Should I be wary of Khaled? The door swung open throwing a burst of laughter and music into the air. A shape appeared silhouetted in the doorway, becoming Khaled as he wandered over to me, pausing to light a cigarette. The glow illuminated his face momentarily. He blew a stream of smoke into the air as he came towards me. I turned my nose up.

‘Gross,’ I said, ‘watch where you’re puffing that thing. What do you want?’

He smoked silently, flicking constantly at the butt of his cigarette.

‘I heard about the party,’ I said.

‘So you know about me and Miriam?’ he asked.

I nodded. ‘Is that why you attacked Tess?’

‘I didn’t attack her….well I didn’t mean to. I was wound up and the police had been round questioning me and I thought she must have told them something. Now I
realise it was Fiona all along. What did I ever see in her? Getting back at me like that could put me in jail.’ He took a long drag of his cigarette.

‘It wasn’t Fiona.’ I said quietly. He looked at me, his eyes boring into mine.

‘So who was it then?’ he asked.

‘I can’t tell you but it was nobody you know.’ No way was he going to hear Helen’s name from me.

‘Jasmine, give me a break.’ He threw his cigarette butt to the floor and ground it out aggressively with his foot. ‘The police came to see me. Again. I came clean. I told them I went out with Miriam and everything that happened.’

‘Which is?’

‘I saw her on the Saturday night when she was on that course. I walked her back to her hotel, only I couldn’t go right to the door in case Fiona saw me. I dropped her at the corner of the street, just round from Euston road. She was supposed to text me the next day if she had a chance to meet up with me again. It never happened. That was the last time I saw her.’

‘Is that what you told the police?’

He nodded. He looked tired, his eyes heavy. 

‘So there’s nothing you haven’t told them?’

‘Nothing, I swear. My girlfriend has been murdered and I couldn’t tell anybody.’ His voice caught in his throat. ‘It’s hard, man. I’ve been all over the place. I’m sorry I had a go at Tess, it’s not her fault.’

‘Have you told her that?’

He shook his head. ‘I’ll talk to her. Are you coming to the party tomorrow?’ He nodded. ‘Maybe you can speak to her then?’

   
‘Yeah. I like that idea.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘I need to get back.’

A loud rustling sound behind me made us both turn round. The yard was empty. Khaled’s eyes narrowed, glinting in the dark. I followed him towards the door, the noise from inside welcoming now. He paused at the door.

‘Your sister, Malika, is she coming tomorrow?’

‘Yes,’ I replied.

‘Cool,’ he said and went inside. I noticed he had developed a spring in his step. I sighed and followed him in. Why did I have a bad feeling about this?