Squishy Taylor and the Bonus Sisters (7 page)

‘We can’t keep Not-John a secret anymore,’ Jessie whispers.

‘But we promised!’ I say. I remember staring into Not-John’s eyes and swearing not to tell.

Vee looks torn. A promise is a promise. ‘But if the dad is half as terrified as Alice –’ she starts.

‘But what if we’re right? What if his dad
is
Mr Hinkenbushel? What if we need to protect him from his dad?’ I say. I know I might be wrong. But I might also be right. ‘We can’t deliver him into the hands of his enemy.’

‘Squishy, this is serious! Stop being stupid,’ Jessie says in her most horrible grown-up tone.

I was serious. It just came out a bit dramatic. I glare at her. ‘I’m not being stupid!
You’re
being a
know-it-all goodie-goodie.’

Jessie comes over towards me but accidentally kicks Baby in the shoulder. Baby falls over onto one fat cheek and starts wailing.

‘Look what you just did to my brother!’ I say, and step forward to pick him up.

‘
Your
brother?
Your
brother? He’s
our
brother!’ Vee says, teaming up with Jessie. Don’t know why I’m surprised.

We all bend down, racing to pick him up first.

Bang!
All three of our foreheads smash into each other. ‘Ouch!’ we all shout.

Jessie picks up Baby and stands shoulder to shoulder with Vee. They glare at me with
matching twin-glares
.

‘Fine!’ I yell. ‘Have him! I don’t even care. I don’t even want him. Not if I have to live with stupid evil twinsies. And your stupid mum. I don’t want any of you.’

My guts lurch, like something awful just happened. I wish I was in Geneva. I wish Mum never went to Geneva. I wish I could take back what I said and still be friends with Jessie and Vee. But I can’t. I just said something really mean.

‘What’s going on, you lot?’ Dad comes over, holding the phone away from his ear. ‘Good grief, what’s that smell?’

Vee is still clutching her forehead. ‘It’s
doggie-do
,’ she says. ‘Squishy left it on Mr Hinkenbushel’s doormat and now it’s everywhere.’

‘You did
what?!
’

Baby struggles in Jessie’s arms, crying. Dad is staring at me in horror. I am staring at Vee, feeling huge waves of
betrayal
roll over me. Also, my head is pounding where it got smashed.

‘It was revenge!’ I half-sob, half-shout. ‘I did it because of how he yelled at your mum! You guys thought it was
funny
,’ I plead, glancing at Jessie and Vee. Jessie still looks furious, but Vee is white. She looks like I feel.

‘Dad …?’ But I don’t know what to say next. Which is weird.

Dad looks at me for a long moment. I think I see a kind of understanding in his eyes. There’s a tinny voice coming out of his phone and finally he puts it to his ear. ‘Sorry, mate, I’m going to have to call you back.’

‘There’s something else as well,’ Jessie starts in her
know-it-all
voice. She’s going to tell about Not-John.

‘Not now, Jessie,’ Dad says, taking Baby.

‘But –’ Jessie starts.

‘Not –’ Dad says.

‘It’s about –’ Jessie tries again.

‘Jessie, this is
not
the time.’

I’ve never heard Dad use that tone with anyone except me. It shocks me. It’s like being in a parallel universe where I actually have a sister.

‘Right now, I need to talk with Sita. Alone.’ Dad only calls me Sita when things are really serious. He turns and walks into his and Alice’s room.

I stare at Jessie, feeling sick. Vee told on me and I said something horrible. And now Jessie wants to tell on Not-John. I’m thinking of Not-John’s white face. He said whatever was waiting for him was
worse than jail
. We can’t break the promise we made him.

‘Please, please don’t tell yet,’ I whisper. ‘We promised.’ I look at Vee, remembering the promise, and she looks undecided. But Jessie is stony. I try to bargain. ‘Give me one hour. If it’s not sorted out in an hour, I’ll tell them myself.’

‘Sita!’ Dad calls in the kind of voice you can’t ignore.

‘Please …?’ I beg.

Vee turns to Jessie. She’s asking Jessie to wait too, with her eyes.

‘Half an hour,’ Jessie says grimly.

I spin and run in to Dad.

He says all the things. About how it was bad for Mr Hinkenbushel to shout at Alice, but that didn’t mean it was OK to put dog poo on his doormat. About how he knows I must want to do funny things to make Jessie and Vee like me. About how he’s glad I like Alice enough to want to protect her, but that she’s quite capable of protecting herself.

‘You know, Squisho, those two aren’t just stepsisters.’

I can hear the ‘
bonus sisters
’ talk coming and I bite my lip and nod, thinking about how I just said Alice was stupid and that I didn’t want Baby. I hate being told off when people are actually serious. Both Mum and Dad are a bit proud when I’m a
rebel
– I can hear the laugh of it in their voices. But Dad doesn’t think anything is funny right now. And he won’t stop talking. Every minute he keeps going is a minute less for me to get to Not-John and warn him to run away, or convince him to turn himself in.

‘Are we clear?’ Dad says finally.

I nod.

‘Look at me, Sita,’ he says. I look up into his eyes. ‘I love you,’ he says and pulls me into a hug.

‘Dad?’ I start, my mouth in his shoulder.

‘Yeah, Squisho …?’

‘Can I run down and grab my silver jumper? I think I left it in the car.’

‘Um. Sure.’ He sounds a bit surprised, but lets me go.

I dash out into the kitchen. ‘I’m going down to grab my silver jumper out of the car,’ I say to Jessie and Vee, doing quote fingers, hoping they’ll understand what I mean. I
bolt
out into the stinking corridor. The clock is ticking.

I know it’s probably faster to take the lift, but I can’t bear to stand still. I pound down the stairs. The stairwell
stinks
for at least the first four floors. Has someone walked with dog poo on their shoe down every single corridor? Then I realise: of course someone did. Not-John’s dad, with the ‘missing’ notice.

This is another piece of evidence that Mr Hinkenbushel is Not-John’s dad. What am I going to do if he is? I can’t turn Not-John in to his dad if his dad is that horrible.

When I reach the bottom of the stairs, the car park is just as creepy as ever, but I can’t care anymore. There’s nobody else here. I
cannon
between the cars to Not-John’s door and knock, forgetting any secret code.

He looks pleased to see me until he realises I didn’t bring any food.

‘Why did you run away?’ I ask.

‘Because I … my dad … he just … What’s that
smell
?’

‘Is your dad Mr Hinkenbushel and you ran away because he chained you in a cupboard your whole life?’

‘Um … what are you talking about?’ Not-John is staring at me like I’m crazy.

‘OK fine, I was wrong.’ I’m almost disappointed, but then I realise it’s a good thing Not-John’s dad isn’t that mean. ‘So why did you say it will be worse than jail?’

‘Because it’s a
stepmum
!’ he wails. ‘My dad’s got a new girlfriend and we’re going to move in with her and my life is
OVER
.’

I just keep staring at him.

‘What?’ he asks. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘You want me to protect you with my life against your
stepmum
?’

‘Well, I didn’t actually ask –’

‘Have you met my stepfamily?’ I interrupt.

‘Well, yes … but that’s different. You’ve lived together forever, and you never fight,’ Not-John says.

I laugh. ‘Are you kidding?’

I think about the
horrible
thing I just said to my stepsisters and how Vee betrayed me. But I realise those things aren’t even that important. ‘You have to talk to your dad,’ I say. ‘He’s talked to your grandma. The police are looking for you, and so is everyone in this building.’

Not-John goes pale and looks around the storeroom. ‘I need to get out of here.’

‘Maybe you should talk to your dad,’ I say.

‘He doesn’t care.’

Not-John starts shoving things into his schoolbag. This is not going to plan. If he runs away, where we can’t protect him,
anything
might happen. I think about his dad, who must be really worried. I remember how scared Alice looked when she heard a child was missing from the building. Not-John’s father must be a
million
times more scared than that. I suddenly think how sad Mum was when I decided not to go to Geneva, and how much I love her. It gives me an idea.

‘OK, OK,’ I say. ‘New plan. You pack your bag. Wait by the grate. I’ll go outside and signal when it’s safe to leave.’ I pause, making things up. ‘Um, there’s three policemen out there, so you’ll have to wait for me to distract them, and listen carefully for my signal.’

Not-John nods seriously.

I
bolt
to the lift.

‘Dad, ring Alice,’ I say, as I burst into the kitchen.

‘What? Why?’ Dad asks, turning towards me from where he is sitting with the twins. Jessie is sitting upright and Vee is sprawled back on her chair. They both look
sulky
, like Dad has been telling them off too.

‘Quick,’ I say. ‘This is important.’

‘But you said –’

‘Dad! Call her!’

He starts rummaging for his phone.

I gesture at Jessie and Vee, pointing downwards and pulling a big anxious face, trying to make them understand how important this is.

Dad has found his phone, but he still isn’t dialling. He’s sitting there, looking at me. No wonder Mum broke up with him.
He’s so hopeless
.

‘Did Alice take her phone?’ he asks.

The twins chorus, ‘She always takes her phone!’ and I can tell they are on my side, at least for now.

‘What do I say?’ he asks.

‘Argh!’ I snatch the phone and call her myself. ‘Alice, are you still with Not-Jo–the boy’s dad? Yes? OK, meet us down the side of the building in seven minutes. Bring him. It’s important.’ Everyone is staring at me. ‘Come on!’ I say, as I push the phone back at Dad. ‘There’s no time!’

We all run out the door. Vee takes Baby from the rug and Jessie takes the key. Dad just flutters his arms around, saying,
‘What? Who? Why?’
and follows behind us.