A phone’s text message alert chimed and Maddie retrieved her phone from her bag to check it. It was a text from Greg. Her stomach dropped as she remembered what she had said to him yesterday. She put her phone back in her bag without reading it, her hands still shaking.
The silence stretched and twisted between them.
‘You can answer it. I don’t mind,’ Jade said.
‘It’s Greg. It can wait,’ Maddie replied.
Jade was watching her closely again, unnervingly so.
‘Listen, I’m sorry about that woman. It was years ago…’
Jade waved her away. ‘Hey, it’s fine. We all have a past, a few skeletons in the closet and all that. I’m not one to judge.’
Maddie exhaled and reached into the bag for some cucumber.
‘Ben’s dad was in touch yesterday. Wants to start making formal plans to get custody and stuff,’ Jade said with her eyes on the swans as they glided past.
‘Oh, wow!’ Maddie said. No wonder Jade was in a strange mood today. ‘Is that what you want?’
Jade scrunched up her crisp packet in a tight fist. ‘No, but I don’t really have a choice… unless me and Ben run away or something…’
‘What? You can’t run away with him. That won’t solve anything and it’s not fair to Ben – or his dad.’
Jade turned abruptly in her seat. ‘Whose side are you on?’ Her tongue was razor sharp.
‘Yours, of course. It’s just… I know what it’s like to not be able to spend time with your kids. It’s a cruel punishment for anyone.’
‘You don’t have any kids, so you don’t know what it’s like.’
‘Yeah, well, I can imagine anyway.’ Maddie paused. Could she though? Her pain had been from wanting and not getting rather than having something taken away. ‘Ok, maybe I don’t know what it’s like, but he is Ben’s father. He should be involved in his life.’
The truth of it was that she wanted to be a part of Ben’s life.
‘If he’s around, but Ben would forget him pretty quickly if he wasn’t.’ Jade’s voice was low. ‘Kids are resilient.’
Maddie frowned at her. ‘I don’t know if it works that way.’
‘He’s really young. He’d move on.’ Jade’s voice was cold.
‘Jade, you can’t honestly believe that! What did Mark do to you that was so bad?’ Maddie expected her to say that he had cheated on her or, God forbid, hit her or something.
‘He dumped me by text message! What kind of twat does that?’
‘While you were pregnant?’
‘No, I told you. We were together for a few months, he dumped me by text message, then I got together with him for one night later on – revenge shag, you know – and then I found out I was pregnant.’
‘But what was his reason for dumping you in the first place?’
‘He just said that since we hadn’t been together long and he had the new job on the rigs starting, that it was best to end it before he left rather than have me hanging around, waiting for him.’
That didn’t sound too unreasonable, but Maddie was not about to admit that. Jade’s eyes were booming and crashing with anger.
‘Anyway,’ Jade continued, her voice trembling, ‘we need to talk about our plan. We said we’d help each other out if things changed. Well, it looks like things might be changing for me, so… you know…’
Maddie had no idea what she was talking about.
‘What do you mean?’
Jade’s voice dropped to a whisper, as quiet as a breath. ‘The plan. You know, you kill mine and I’ll kill yours. We mustn’t talk about it here though.’ Jade looked around anxiously. ‘Anyone could hear us. And keep any messages between us to Snapchat, so that they delete straight away.’
Maddie started to giggle. Jade certainly had a weird sense of humour – or maybe had watched too many Tarantino movies. ‘Yes, you’re right. That woman over there with the Daschund looks like she could be trouble.’ Maddie nudged her playfully, pleased the atmosphere had lifted again. ‘So tell me more about the others living in our flats.’
‘Well, downstairs is Nosy Nora. Her name’s actually Peggy and she’s about 90, likes to stick her nose in everyone’s business. Always poking her head out the door when I’m coming home with someone. Her place smells like cat piss and cabbage. It’s nasty. She’s proper old.’
Maddie thought about the kicking on the door and screaming the night she arrived.
‘Maybe she’s just lonely? Do you know if she gets any visitors? Has any family nearby?’
‘How would I know? I’ve not stopped to ask her life story. She’s always having a go at me. Stupid stuff like making sure the entrance door closes properly behind me and not playing my music too loud. She’s a right pain.’
‘And the other flat?’
‘That’s Luke. You’ll never see him. He’s in his mid-thirties or something, works in computers I think and obsessed with gaming. He’s like a vampire – all skinny and pale, doesn’t like sunlight. Nice-looking though if that’s your thing. I had a one-nighter with him once last year. Didn’t go anywhere with it ’cos he doesn’t say much. I don’t think he earns much money doing whatever it is he does. He’s harmless enough though.’ She looked at her watch. ‘Shit, I have to go. I need to get Ben home for—’ She broke off, flicked her eyes at Maddie, then said, ‘You know, nap and stuff…’
‘Oh, yes, right. Well, why don’t you take the rest of the picnic with you? There’s cut-up vegetables, hummus, that kind of thing.’
‘Thanks, but that’s all a bit healthy for me.’
‘Ben can have it later?’
Jade fidgeted. ‘Oh, don’t worry. I have his lunch planned already, but thanks anyway. Ben! Time to go, come on.’
Maddie couldn’t work Jade out. One minute she was biting Maddie’s hand off for free crisps and the next she was turning down freebies. Maybe hummus just wasn’t her thing.
Ben looked up from where he had been digging in the wet soil and obediently toddled over to them. Jade strapped him
