‘It sounds to me like your mum’s totally stressed out, which is understandable,’ Suzie went on. ‘And drinking while she’s on painkillers will have confused her, so maybe you should lay off with the questions for a bit. Give her a chance to get better before you talk to her about this again.’
‘What’s the point?’ Holly replied flatly. ‘She won’t tell me anything. She’ll just say what she always says. “You’re a child,”’ she mimicked. ‘“And you’ll do as I say, or else!”’
Before Suzie could reply to that, they heard the scrape of a key in the front door.
‘That’ll be Rob,’ she said, standing up.
‘Rob?’ Holly’s eyes widened in fear.
‘He came round last night to tell me he’s moving to Scotland,’ Suzie explained. ‘He’d had a row with his mum and had nowhere else to go, and it was raining, so I let him sleep on the sofa.’
‘You’re not getting back with him, are you?’
Suzie realized that it must seem odd to Holly that she had let him in after everything he’d done. And she couldn’t blame her, because she’d feel the same if a friend told her they were entertaining a violent ex. But this was different – Rob was different – so she said, ‘No, I’m not, but he’s been working on his temper and I think he deserves a break.’
‘I should go home.’ Holly scraped her chair back.
‘You don’t have to do that,’ Suzie said.
‘You won’t tell him about my mum, will you?’ Holly asked. ‘Please, Suzie. I don’t want anyone to know. They’ll say she’s crazy, and I’ll get taken away.’
‘I won’t say anything,’ Suzie assured her. ‘But you’d better put your face straight, or he’ll know something’s wrong and start asking questions.’
The front door opened and Holly jumped when a blast of cold air circled her ankles. Suzie seemed to think Rob had changed, but Holly hadn’t forgotten the scary way he’d looked at her the first time they’d met, and she was terrified that he might have found out she had helped Suzie to set him up that night.
‘Only me,’ Rob called out as he came inside.
‘I think I’d best go,’ Holly whispered, rising to her feet.
‘Don’t be daft,’ Suzie said, waving for her to sit back down. ‘It’ll be fine, I promise.’
‘Sorry I’ve been so long,’ Rob went on. ‘I walked down to the offy to replace that wine we drank last night, and – Hey!’ His voice suddenly changed, and Suzie frowned when he said, ‘Who the fuck are you?’
‘I need to see my daughter!’ a woman answered, and Holly’s stomach flipped when she realized it was her mum.
‘Wait there, I’ll talk to her,’ Suzie said, going out into the hall and pulling the door to behind her.
‘Where is she?’ Holly heard her mum yell. ‘I know she’s here, and you’ve got no right to stop me from seeing her. She’s my daughter, not yours.’
‘No one’s disputing that,’ Suzie replied. ‘But she’s upset, so why don’t we—’
‘So she is here?’ Josie cut her off angrily. ‘HOLLY? Get out here right now! You’re coming home!’
The kitchen door opened and Holly, who had been leaning towards it, jerked away when Rob walked in. He hesitated when he saw her. Then, smiling, he closed the door, saying, ‘I take it that’s your mum?’
Holly nodded and eyed him warily as he put the bag he was carrying onto the counter.
‘Don’t worry, Suzie’ll calm her down,’ he went on as he took two bottles of wine and two packs of cigarettes out of the bag before crunching it into a ball and stuffing it in a drawer. ‘She looks a bit rough, mind. Has she been in a car crash or something?’
‘She got attacked,’ Holly said. ‘Last night in the alley.’
‘Oh, yeah, I think Suze mentioned that,’ Rob said, taking a cigarette out of the open pack on the table and lighting up. ‘Must have been quite a shock for you.’ He squinted at Holly through the smoke. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘OK,’ she murmured, twisting her hands together nervously.
In the hall, Josie was shouting again, and Holly heard Suzie tell her to quieten down – that some of the neighbours were watching and one of them might call the police.
‘I don’t give a fuck!’ Josie roared. ‘I’ll scream the whole fucking street down if you don’t fetch my daughter out!’
Holly winced. Her mum swore at her when she got mad, but she’d never heard her swear at anyone else, and it was embarrassing.
‘Right, here’s what I’m going to do,’ Suzie was saying. ‘I’m going to ask Holly if she wants to talk to you, and if she does, I’ll let you in. But if you so much as raise a finger to her, you’re out. Do you understand?’
Groaning when her mum screeched that this was none of Suzie’s business and she had no right to kidnap her daughter, Holly pulled the door open and went out into the hall.
‘Stop it,’ she cried, feeling guilty for bringing trouble to Suzie’s door when she saw her mum trying to force her way inside. ‘It’s not her fault.’
‘Do you want me to let her in?’ Suzie asked, glancing at Holly over her shoulder as she held Josie back. ‘I’ll send her away if you don’t. Your choice.’
Holly nodded and then folded her arms defensively when Suzie let go of her mum.
‘Baby, I’m sorry,’ Josie cried, stumbling into the hallway and rushing to her. ‘I didn’t mean to scare you. Come home.’
‘I don’t want to,’ Holly said, disentangling herself when her mum pulled her into an awkward embrace. ‘You’ll try to make me leave again.’
‘We’ve got to,’ Josie hissed, flicking a hooded glance at Suzie. ‘It’s not safe here any more.’
‘Why?’
‘You know why.’
‘No, I don’t, ’cos you won’t tell me.’
‘Right, I’ve had enough of this,’ Josie said through gritted teeth. ‘You’re coming home, and that’s the end of it!’
‘Get
