problems with having a distinctive-looking car, Danny. You think it makes a bold statement, but it sticks out like a turd in a punchbowl.’
Danny is working his tongue around his cheek as though counting his teeth. His hair sticks up at odd angles and I can see traces of pimple cream dabbed on his forehead. For all his brazen defiance, he doesn’t look particularly tough or aggressive. He has small hands. Delicate features.
‘Tell me about Sienna Hegarty.’
‘What about her?’
‘Is she your girlfriend?’
‘She’s a friend.’
‘She’s underage.’
‘So what?’
‘How old are you, Danny?’
‘Twenty-two.’
‘Don’t you know any horny girls your own age?’
‘I get my share.’
‘So why Sienna?’
‘Listen, I’m not shagging her, OK, and if she says I am then she’s a lying cow. We’re mates.’
‘Mates?’
‘Yeah. We hang out together. I drive her around the place. Drop her off.’
‘And what do you get in return?’
He shrugs.
‘Come on, Danny, I wasn’t born yesterday. You’re trying to tell me that you hang out with a hot-looking fourteen-year-old because she’s a mate.’
‘Yeah, well, I figured one day, you know . . .’
‘One day?’
‘She might pay out, you know. When she’s legal?’
‘You’re lying.’
‘No.’
‘Sienna was pregnant. You knocked her up.’
‘No fucking way!’ His voice grows shrill. ‘I just take her places. Drop her off. I’m not shagging her. Haven’t touched her.’
‘No?’
‘It’s true.’
‘Either tell me the truth, Danny, or Detective Abbott is going to search your room. He’ll find your hash and your porn magazines and whatever else you’re hiding. Then he’ll take you down to the station and put you in a cell downstairs with the drunks and the perverts and the drug addicts. Do you know how long a night lasts in a place like that? By morning you’ll be an old man.’
Sweat pops out on Danny’s forehead and runs down the side of his nose. He’s trying to look like he doesn’t care, but I can see his mind working.
‘I saw you with Sienna last Tuesday. Where did you go?’
‘We drove around for a while, then I dropped her off.’
‘What time was that?’
‘Seven.’
‘Where did you drop her?’
‘In town.’
He names a street corner on Lower Bristol Road.
‘Why did she want to go there?’
Danny shrugs. ‘That’s where she told me to drop her. She had the address on a piece of paper.’
‘And you just drove away?’
‘Yep.’ One of his feet is jiggling up and down.
‘Where did you go?’
‘A mate’s place.’
‘For how long?’
‘I kipped on his sofa. I was there all night.’
‘What’s your mate’s name?’
Danny reacts as though scalded. ‘What difference does that make? He’s just a mate.’
Something about the response borders on panic. Danny’s eyes have clouded over and his hands are pressed to the top of his thighs. There is something slightly effeminate about the pose. In that instant I suddenly see him clearly. I pull my chair closer and tell him to relax.
‘I don’t want to know your friend’s name, Danny. It’s not important.’
He visibly relaxes.
‘Sienna is a pretty girl,’ I say. ‘Did you tell your mates you were doing her?’
Danny doesn’t answer.
‘It’s important to have a girlfriend, isn’t it? Otherwise your mates might think you’re not interested in girls.’
He blinks at me.
‘I mean, it must be tough - being a mechanic. All those girlie calendars in the workshop, the wolf whistles, the banter about Page Three girls; it’s a job for blokes.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Your mates think you’re doing her, don’t they? They’re in awe of you. Lucky bugger, they say, but I think Sienna just pretends to be your girlfriend.’
Excuses clot in the back of Danny’s throat.
‘I think you arrange to pick her up and she’s all over you, putting on a good show for your mates. That’s when you tell them you need some privacy.’
‘I don’t know what you’re on about.’
‘Sure you do. You’re both trying to hide something. You have a boyfriend . . . and so does Sienna.’
Danny leaps to his feet. His chair crashes to the floor. ‘I’M NOT QUEER! IT’S A LIE! YOU TAKE THAT BACK!’
He’s pleading with me, his face twisting in suffering. I pick up the chair and tell him to sit down. He slumps over his knees, staring at the floor.
‘Listen, Danny, I don’t care how many boyfriends you have. Just tell me about Sienna.’
Pressing his lips tightly together, he contemplates what to do. He can hear his mother laughing in the front room. He glances sidelong at the door.
‘She was seeing someone else,’ he mutters.
Who?’
‘I don’t know. I just dropped her off.’
‘Did you always drop her at the same place?’
‘No, it was different each time.’
‘And then what happened?’
‘I drove away.’
‘You’re lying.’
‘Piss off!’
‘You were curious. It’s human nature. You didn’t just leave her. You wanted to know who she was seeing.’
Danny chews the inside of his cheek. ‘Yeah, well, maybe once.’
‘What happened?’
‘I hung around; parked up behind some trees. I saw a car pull up and Sienna got inside.’
‘Who was driving?’
‘An old dude.’
