A. N. T. I. D. O. T. E. (5 page)

‘No, I reckon I’m right,’ Nosh insisted as we headed up his garden path. ‘Or maybe they’re reporters waiting to do an exclusive story …’

‘I thought you were meant to be the voice of logic and reason,’ I reminded him.

‘Oh, yeah! I forgot! In that case, like you said, maybe they’re just waiting for someone to come out of the house opposite.’ Nosh grinned.

As we walked into Nosh’s house, I took one last curious glance back across the street before Nosh’s dad shut the door. The two men were both looking my way – watching me intently.

I FROWNED DOWN
at the VAULT application’s password screen on Mum’s phone. Why had she wanted me to get hold of this in particular? What was on it? I needed to crack her password and to do that I had to try and think like Mum. What sort of password would she use? I sighed. Knowing Mum it could be anything. I glanced across the room at Nosh, who was in his own bed, deep into his
Spiderman
comic.

Think, Elliot! Think!

I had to work out what the password was – I
had
to. How about ‘Nosh is nosy’! No, too short! How about ‘Nosh is very nosy’! No. Still too short! Maybe if I … Without warning, the door to Nosh’s bedroom burst open. I’m surprised it didn’t fly off the hinges or at least crash through the wall to fall to the landing on the other side.

Halle stood in the doorway.

And was she cheesed off, or what! She had a expression like a constipated elephant and her whole body was poised like a cobra about to strike.

‘You maggot-faced little ratbag!’ Completely ignoring me, Halle strode across the room and lifted Nosh bodily out of his bed by his pyjama lapels.

‘Dad! DAD!’ Nosh yelled at the top of his voice.

‘Julian told me what you said about me, you … you …’ Halle released Nosh suddenly and he fell back against his pillows.

I moved cautiously back against the headboard of my own bed as I watched, grateful that I didn’t have any older sisters!

‘What’s the matter?’ Nosh’s dad called from down the stairs.

‘Dad, Halle’s trying to kill me!’ Nosh shouted.

‘Halle, leave your brother alone.’ Nosh’s dad ran up the stairs. From the sound of it he was taking them two and three at a time. This was obviously something that had happened before.

‘D’you know what he told Julian yesterday?’ Halle turned to her dad as he entered the room, her eyes still blazing. ‘He told Julian that I was trying to find a way to dump him because he had bad breath and BO, but I hadn’t told him yet because I wanted to break it to him gently, without hurting his feelings.’

Nosh’s dad’s lips twitched.

‘It’s not funny, Dad!’ Halle was spitting nails by now.

‘No, it’s not. Nosh, why did you tell the poor boy that?’

‘He deserved it. He
has
got bad breath and BO,’ Nosh replied.

Nosh’s dad moved like lightning to intercept Halle. Nosh, very wisely, cowered back against the wall. ‘Halle, go downstairs and calm down.’

‘Yeah, go on. You talk about helping and protecting all creatures? You call yourself
green
?’ Nosh taunted.

‘Not when it comes to you, you little brat! You’re the only exception!’ Halle bit out.

‘Halle …’ her dad began.

‘Call yourself an ANTIDOTE member? ’Cause I don’t.’

‘Harrison!’ Nosh’s dad had that look of ‘here we go again’ written all over his face. Between the two of them he was definitely fighting a losing battle.

‘I should tell ANTIDOTE about you. Get them to throw you out,’ Nosh continued.

‘ANTIDOTE already know all about you. I told them what a little oik you were when I worked there last summer,’ Halle said with satisfaction.

‘I bet they didn’t believe a word.’

‘You wanna bet?’

‘Halle, please go downstairs. I’ll deal with Nosh,’ her dad begged.

‘You’d better. If I get my hands on him …’ Halle threatened. ‘You just tell him to keep away from my boyfriend.’

‘Why’d I want to hang around your scabby
boyfriend
?’ Nosh asked indignantly. ‘I’d rather have my appendix out without an anaesthetic!’

‘Dad!’ Halle fumed.

‘Nosh, shut up –
please
!’ Nosh’s dad implored.

Halle turned to flounce out of the room. Only then did she notice me.

‘Elliot, I don’t care if your mum says you are cute – you must be a moron to hang around with my brother!’ Halle said scathingly.

A flame of shamed embarrassment shot from my head to my toenails and back up again. Now Halle wasn’t the only one who was annoyed!

Just you wait till I see you next, Mum, I silently fumed. How many people had Mum said that to? I’d never be able to show my face in our street again!

As Halle marched out of the room, Nosh’s dad sighed. ‘Nosh, why d’you keep teasing your sister? You know she always rises to the bait, so where’s the fun in it?’

‘I can’t help it, Dad,’ said Nosh. ‘Halle shouldn’t keep picking such dreggy boyfriends, then I’d have nothing to tease her about. And this latest one … He’s the dregs of the dregs!’

‘Was it absolutely necessary to tell him that?’ Nosh’s dad asked patiently.

‘You wouldn’t want me to lie about it, would you?’

‘No … but that doesn’t mean you have to volunteer the information either. Just try to be a bit more tactful
in
future – in the cause of household harmony and my blood pressure, OK?’

‘OK, Dad!’ Nosh grinned.

Nosh’s dad turned to me. ‘Are you all right, Elliot? Is there anything I can get you?’

‘No, I’m fine thanks,’ I replied.

What a lie. I was far from fine. Mum was missing. Uncle Robert was locked up. And watching Nosh and his dad had made me … not exactly sad, but kind of wistful. Lots of people say that you can’t miss what you’ve never had – but it’s not true. I never really knew my dad. He went to live in Canada when I was less than three years old and I hadn’t seen him since. I always thought of him as a tall, shadowy figure whose face I could never quite remember. I’ve seen photos of course, but it was hard to equate the man in the photos to a real, living, breathing person. At Christmas and on my birthdays he used to phone me. He had a great, deep booming voice like an actor. I remember his voice more than his face and even that I haven’t heard in years. He and Mum had a huge, heated quarrel over the phone the last time he called on my birthday. It was all my fault really. When I handed the phone back to Mum, I was in tears. I couldn’t understand why he never came to visit me, or why we couldn’t go over to Canada to see him. Every time Dad phoned, he promised that next time … next time he’d be wishing me Happy Birthday or Merry Christmas in person – but it never happened. I guess
Mum
must’ve had enough the last time Dad phoned. She told him that the next time he spoke to me, it’d better be as he promised – in person. That was over two years ago. I hadn’t heard from my dad since she’d said that. My dad … It’s not that I wanted Nosh’s dad to be my father. It’s just that I sometimes thought how wonderful it would be to have a dad of my own. A dad who was here – especially now.

As Nosh’s dad left the room, I buried my feelings before I turned to Nosh.

‘I thought you were a goner for sure when Halle leapt across the room at you,’ I told him.

‘You’re not the only one,’ Nosh replied dryly.

‘And just when did Halle pick up that thing about me being cute?’ I remembered, anger flaring through me again.

‘Oh, that. It’s a joke between your mum and my mum. My mum happened to pass it on, that’s all,’ said Nosh.

‘That was good of her,’ I said with disgust.

‘You know what mothers are like,’ Nosh shrugged.

‘Yeah, but your mum doesn’t go round showing you up,’ I pointed out.

‘Yes, she does. She just doesn’t tell everyone I’m cute, that’s all,’ Nosh grinned.

I could see I wasn’t going to get much sympathy from him so I turned back to Mum’s phone. I was going to crack this password if it killed me.

An hour later, my eyes felt like they were full of sand and my head kept nodding forwards.

‘Elliot, I’ve just thought of something.’ Nosh suddenly lifted his head from his comic. ‘According to Halle, ANTIDOTE are holding a protest against Shelby’s tomorrow afternoon. Why don’t we go and see if we can get to speak to one of the ANTIDOTE bosses? They might know something about your mum and uncle.’

‘But I’m going to meet up with Mum tomorrow morning – remember? She’ll tell me what’s going on.’

‘What if …?’ Nosh began.

‘What?’ I prompted when he didn’t continue.

‘Nothing.’ Nosh shook his head.

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously but he didn’t say another word. With a shrug, I returned to Mum’s phone. Frustrated, I turned it off and buried it under my pillow. I snuggled down and decided to sleep on the problem!

‘Hurry up and switch off the light, Nosh,’ I said sleepily. ‘And good night, Mum – wherever you are.’

The last bit I mouthed silently. It wasn’t that I was embarrassed about Nosh hearing me particularly. I just wanted to keep it to myself. As if that way, Mum would sense it or feel it more. ‘Take care, Mum,’ I whispered again – just to make sure.

Wherever she was, whatever she was doing, I hoped that somehow she knew that I was thinking of her.

THE MOMENT I
woke up, I
knew
it was going to be a good day. I could feel it. The sun was already shining bright and warm through my window and the moment my eyes were open, I felt wide awake and alive with the feeling that
things
were going to happen today. Smells of bacon and toast wafted up from downstairs. Another reason to get up! I sprang out of bed, only slowing down slightly when I saw that Nosh was still fast asleep. I dug out my watch which was under my pillow next to Mum’s phone. Eight-thirty. I had forty-five minutes before Mum was going to call. Today this whole business would get sorted out once and for all, and Mum would come home. I felt as if just by thinking it, I could make it happen. The power of positive thinking! Mum would come home and I might even crack her password – just for good measure.

I crept out of the room, deciding to have a shower before doing anything else. After that, I got dressed, then had another crack at Mum’s password before going
down
for my breakfast – and Nosh was
still
asleep!

When Nosh’s mum saw me, she said, ‘You and Nosh are alike in a lot of things – but not when it comes to getting up in the mornings! I have to scream at him until I’m green, then blue, then purple in the face before he shifts!’

‘Nosh and me are alike?’ I said, surprised. ‘In what way?’

‘Just a minute.’ Nosh’s mum went out into the hall and yelled at the top of her lungs. ‘Nosh, out the bed
now
or you can make your own breakfast.’ Then she came back into the room.

I sat down at the breakfast table waiting for her to explain. I didn’t think Nosh and I were alike at all. In fact, sometimes it surprised me just how well we got on considering that we had so little in common.

‘You and Nosh think about things in a similar way. And you both tend to let things get on top of you and then think there’s not an awful lot you can do about it. You both give up far too easily.’

I could feel myself getting hotter with every word she spoke. What a load of rubbish!

‘That’s not true. I don’t give up on things …’

‘I’m not talking about things. I’m talking about giving up on yourself. Your mum says …’

‘What does my mum say?’ I prompted icily when Nosh’s mum trailed off.

‘Never mind.’ Nosh’s mum shook her head. ‘It was
tactless
of me to bring up the subject now. I’m sure you’ve got a lot of other things on your mind. Don’t worry about your mum, Elliot. She’s just the person to straighten this whole mess out.’

It’s amazing how rapidly you can go off some people. Until that moment, I’d always quite liked Nosh’s mum. Now she’d plummeted like a lead balloon in my estimation. I glared at her, wondering just what she and Mum had said about me and Nosh.

‘Now don’t get your boxer shorts in a bunch!’ Nosh’s mum laughed. ‘You look like you’re about ready to pounce down my throat.’

I smiled reluctantly, then not so reluctantly when she put a plate of toast, scrambled eggs and bacon in front of me and a huge glass of orange juice.

Nosh didn’t put in an appearance until I’d finished my breakfast and my second glass of orange juice. He was in the middle of the longest yawn I’d ever seen. I glanced down at my watch. Ten past nine. I stood up and moved past him.

‘See ya, Nosh. I’m popping home for a while,’ I told him.

‘Why?’ Nosh frowned.

‘I’ve got a phone call to … make – remember,’ I told him pointedly.

‘Oh, yeah!’ Nosh’s eyes opened wide. ‘I forgot about that. Hang on a minute. I’ll come with you.’

‘You can’t. You’re still in your pyjamas.’

‘It’ll only take me a minute to change,’ Nosh replied.

‘Not until you’ve had a shower, Harrison,’ his mum said firmly. ‘And Elliot, if you want to make a phone call, you can make it from here. You don’t have to go to your house to do it.’