Amber kept her mouth shut tight while he sank his nails further into her scalp and pressed her head down with his other hand. She didn’t even scream because she didn’t want to risk opening her mouth.
Then she heard footsteps running towards them. She couldn’t see anything, but she desperately hoped it was someone coming to help her. Suddenly, the pressure on her head eased and she saw the man’s feet shift away from her. She looked up to see Kev grabbing the man by the throat.
‘You fuckin’ cheeky bastard!’ he yelled. ‘What the fuck do you think you’re playing at?’
The man tried to say something, but his words made a choking sound. Without releasing his grip Kev propelled himself forward, overpowering the man and hammering into him till his head hit the wall. Amber’s first reaction was one of gratitude. Thank God Kev had arrived when he did!
For a moment she stood and watched, revelling in the fearful expression on the man’s face. He deserved it after what he had done to her.
‘Fuckin’ arsehole!’ she yelled. ‘See how you like it.’
But then Kev carried on. Not content with slamming the man against the wall once, he did it repeatedly. The sound of his head impacting the solid brick and his agonised screams filled Amber’s ears and she grew tense. As she watched in horror blood began to spatter against the wall and she could see a look of sheer terror on the man’s face.
At first, she was wary of intervening, recalling Kev’s earlier mood. But as the blood spatter thickened to a dense crimson patch and the man’s screams became more desperate, she knew she had to do something.
‘Kev, that’s enough!’ she yelled. But he didn’t seem to hear her. ‘Kev, Kev, please stop. You’re going too far.’
‘Help!’ pleaded the man who was now in tears.
Amber had visions of Kev beating the man to death. Desperate to stop him she rushed forward and grabbed his arm. ‘Kev, Kev no!’ she yelled again.
Kev swung around, tugging his arm out of her hands then swiping her across the face with the back of his hand. He glared at her and she could see the madness in his steely eyes. Amber raised a hand to her chin, which was throbbing from the angry blow, but her concern was more for the other victim. ‘Please, Kev! You’ve gone far enough. You’re gonna kill him.’
For a moment he gazed through her then a light seemed to ignite in the back of his eyes, and they softened. But he was still irate. ‘Bastard deserved it!’ he yelled.
He turned back towards the man who was cowering, afraid to move. Kev raised his hand and pointed his finger into the man’s face. The man shrunk back, squeezing himself tightly against the wall and then grimacing as his damaged head pressed against the bloody patch on the bricks.
‘You’re fuckin’ lucky she stopped me,’ Kev ranted. ‘If she hadn’t been here, I’d have finished you good and proper. Don’t ever fuckin’ think of doing anything like that again! You can fuckin’ pay for it like everyone else.’
Then he walked away, leaving the man slumped against the wall, and Amber followed him to her spot on the corner. With his back to her, he spoke as he walked away, but his words were rushed as though he felt obliged to utter them. ‘Sorry for hitting you. It was that bastard’s fault! He made me do it. Y’know I don’t normally hit women.’
Amber clutched at this meagre show of remorse, hoping he’d take her back home after her ordeal. But he didn’t. Instead he jumped inside the car, started the engine, and pressed down hard on the gas.
‘See you later!’ shouted Amber as he tore off down the road.
Once he was gone her usual anxiety returned. She peered down the tunnel to see the man heading towards her once more. Amber stepped away, wary in case he tried to drag her back into the tunnel. But she could tell by the way he was walking that there wasn’t much chance of that. He appeared disorientated and battle-weary and, once he’d reached the mouth of the tunnel, he headed off in the other direction with his head slumped and his wound dripping blood onto the back of his clothing.
Amber was glad the incident was over, but she didn’t entertain any thoughts of Kev being her heroic knight in shining armour. She was steadily getting to know Kev, and she realised that the reason he beat the man up wasn’t in defence of her. It was because he was protecting his own reputation. Amber was now Kev’s property and the man had taken liberties in trying to take it for free.
42
April 2000
Amy had noticed that Cliff hadn’t been around the house for a couple of weeks. At first, she couldn’t have been happier. Maybe it was finally an end to the shame and humiliation of his night-time visits. But her happiness was marred by the change in her mother.
The moodiness was returning, and her mother was irritable once more. She wondered what had made Cliff stop coming round and was tempted to ask her mother. But she was wary of being snapped at and, besides, she didn’t want her mother thinking she missed his visits.
She was saved from having to ask when her mother raised the subject with her one day. They were in the living room watching TV as usual. Her mother had had a good deal to drink and was in one of her belligerent moods. Nathan seemed to grow tired of
