Bad Company Read online

  Diane hadn’t been one of those at the school gates, but was she going to throw something at me now? I couldn’t have borne that.

  ‘You’re in a mess,’ she said. She kept staring at me. The suspense was awful. What was she going to do? Finally she let out a long sigh. ‘You didn’t tell on me, did you?’

  ‘Of course I didn’t,’ I said at once.

  And then she smiled. Or did the sun come out? At that moment they seemed like one and the same thing.

  ‘I knew you wouldn’t.’ She came toward me and started brushing down my blazer. ‘Well, that should prove to you the kind of people who are in this school. Not our kind of people at all.’

  She linked her arms in mine. ‘Come on. We’ll show them. We don’t need people like that.’ She laughed loudly and wrinkled her nose in disgust. ‘Scum of the earth.’

  Everything was all right again. Diane was still my friend.

  And did I need her! Because no one else was talking to me. As we walked along the corridor, anyone we passed turned away from me. They hardly looked, they never smiled. That was to be my punishment. Every one of the pupils in the school was a part of it. No one was to talk to me. I was to be ignored. ‘Sent to Coventry’ I believe is the stupid expression.

  I didn’t care. I had Diane. We walked to each of our classes, arms linked, while she whispered insults about them all and made me giggle.

  Murdo’s class was the one I was dreading most and as we filed in they all turned from me one by one.

  Murdo was at his desk, and despite my efforts I was still in a mess.

  ‘What on earth happened to you?’

  I sensed they were all waiting for me to tell on them. They were expecting it. I hesitated, wanting them to worry for a bit.

  ‘There’s such a lot of rubbish in this school, it’s very hard to avoid rubbing against it.’

  Diane giggled, and so did I. The rubbish I was referring to was the rest of my class.

  He didn’t answer that. He knew what had happened. He most probably thought I had got everything I deserved.

  What surprised me was that he didn’t mention the collage or me, or Ralph Aird. He went through his lesson as he always did and when the bell rang he dismissed us. All of us except Diane and me. He motioned to us to stay behind and we stood at his desk while everyone else filed out.

  ‘Why me?’ Diane mouthed. I shrugged. After everyone had left he closed the door quietly and came back to where we stood at his desk.

  ‘What you did to Ralph Aird was despicable, Lissa. But I know you weren’t alone.’ His angry eyes turned to Diane. ‘And you’re too much of a coward to even admit it. Well, I’m going to tell you thisss, Misssy!’ Now his spit was directed on Diane. She sucked in her cheeks and I could see how angry she was too.

  ‘You don’t have the right to reprimand me. I haven’t done any –’

  Murdo’s hands gripped the desk lid and I saw his knuckles grow white. ‘Don’t you dare interrupt me, girl!’ And with that he lifted the lid and smashed it down so hard even the glass in the windows shuddered. ‘I want you both to know that I will be watching your every move from now on. Now get out of my sight before I get really angry.’

  I didn’t want to see him really angry. So I was off, pulling Diane behind me.

  ‘I hate that man!’ Diane said as soon as we were safely out in the playground. She was shaking with fury.

  I was angry too. ‘I hate him as well.’ He would never let me forget what I’d done, and I hated him for that.

  Diane pulled me round to face her and stared so hard at me that I blinked. ‘No, Lissa. You don’t understand. I really hate that man.’

  And she said it with such venom I was afraid.

  Chapter Twelve

  May 10th

  Here I am writing in my diary again when I swore I never would. But I have to. I don’t know why but writing things down seems to make them clearer to me. And so much is happening. Only now, I’ll keep my diary well hidden. I won’t ever risk J.B. finding it again.

  He’s been acting very suspiciously, since the business with me which he caused, no one could deny that, and not getting that job, which I also got the blame for by the way. He also lost his job in Burgers A GoGo. He didn’t fit in, the manager had told him. I could have told him that ages ago. He’s ancient compared to the other waiters. He’s just been moping around the house since then. I heard Mum trying to talk to him the other morning before she went off to work. Her voice was filled with worry. Snatches of, ‘You can’t go on like this.’ And, ‘Something else will turn up.’ And most significantly, ‘You can’t go on blaming yourself.’

  And then, yesterday, something changed. There was a phone call, just after I came in from school. His voice was soft as he answered it and that made me suspicious right away. Then he told me to keep an eye on Margo, he had to go out for a while. He was back within half an hour, but there was something different about him. I couldn’t figure out what it was until today when he was striding about the house, doing the housework, hoovering, yet all the while concentrating hard, as if his mind was on something else entirely.

  He had a purpose.

  Has he got the chance of another job? If that’s the case, why hasn’t he told Mum about it?

  Or is it something else? Something dark and sinister and called Magnus Pierce?

  It was. I know that now. But at that time, I had enough to worry me just going to school every day.

  ‘Could someone partner Lissa here?’ Miss Day, our science teacher, looked around the classroom. Everyone else was working in pairs but as usual I was on my own. When Diane wasn’t at school I was always on my own. And Diane wasn’t at school today. She was off for her interview at Adler Academy and the thought that I might soon be losing her scared me. I just had to get into Adler Academy too.

  ‘I said!’ Miss Day tapped the desk with her pencil. ‘Can we have a partner for Lissa Blythe?’

  Everyone found somewhere else to look. Since that day when I’d come back to school not one of my classmates had broken breath to me. Most of the time I didn’t care. I had Diane. Even though our friendship was frowned upon by Murdo, who disliked both of us now, and by J.B. He wanted me to stop seeing her altogether. He might have been able to stop me seeing Diane after school – and he had. But he had no power over who I was friendly with in school. Especially since, thanks to him, I had no other friends.

  But on days like these it would have been pleasant to have someone to sit with in the canteen during lunch, instead of eating by myself at a long empty table. Listening to the throb of conversation and not being able to join in.

  ‘No one wants to be my partner, Miss,’ I told her.

  ‘Nonsense, Lissa!’ and just then to my utter astonishment and terror, Ralph Aird stepped forward.

  ‘I’ll be her partner, Miss.’

  Miss Day beamed. ‘Ah good, Ralph. That’s what I like to see, turning the other cheek.’

  Miss Day lived in a born-again Christian world, but I was afraid that if I turned the other cheek to Ralph Aird he’d most probably punch it.

  Ralph Aird came to my table without a word. There was a smug look on his face – but there was always a smug look about him now. As if he’d won something over me. Now, he had friends galore. He was included in every group, smiled on by teachers, especially Murdo who was always involved in deep conversations with him. Now, he never missed school. I had begun to think I had done him a favour destroying that collage.

  Yet I still remembered the way he had spat out those words at me. ‘You’re goin’ to be sorry.’ And he still made me afraid.

  Ralph Aird had been a wasp up my nose for too long to think he’d just fly off without stinging me. Every night I waited to hear our old car’s windows being smashed, or maybe I’d wake in the midnight dark and sniff, sure I could detect the smell of petrol being poured across the doorstep before he set our whole house ablaze.

  All I knew was he was planning to do something.

 
; I held my breath as he came toward me. Would it be today? An accident in the science lesson? I glanced at a jug of maggots Miss Day had ready for one of her experiments. I had a sudden nightmare vision of Ralph Aird grabbing them and pouring them down my throat. There would certainly be plenty of people willing to hold me down while he did.

  ‘Can’t have wee Lissa on her own, can we?’ he said sarcastically.

  ‘Doesn’t bother me,’ I told him.

  ‘’Course it does. You used to be the big shot. And now, look at you. Not a soul’s even talking to you.’

  He was trying to goad me but I wouldn’t listen.

  ‘Don’t care.’

  Still he couldn’t let it go. ‘Nobody likes you, Lissa. But do you know what I tell them? Because I’m always sticking up for you.’ He sniggered. ‘I tell them,’ his voice was soft, so soft Miss Day would never hear him, ‘I tell them to feel sorry for you. Because you’re pathetic. Really pathetic.’

  And that’s when he really got through to me. Not with his hate, and not with his threats, but I just couldn’t, wouldn’t take his pity.

  I looked around for something handy, and there it was, that big jug of maggots. I lifted it and before he knew what was happening I had tipped the whole squirming lot over Ralph’s head.

  You could have heard him yell in California. He did a war dance and shook his head wildly. The maggots were everywhere. The whole class went wild. I was screamed at and called every horrible name under the sun. It was lucky I was in Miss born-again Christian Day’s class or I would probably have been expelled. As it was, I was sent to the headmaster and reprimanded. I didn’t care. I’d shown Ralph Aird that there was nothing pathetic about me!

  But I just had to get out of that school. I screamed that at Mum when she got home that night. ‘Why can’t I go to Adler Academy?’ I yelled.

  ‘With Diane Connell?’ J.B. said softly. He was already shaking his head. ‘The sooner she goes there the better. Get you two separated and maybe both of you will behave like human beings.’

  ‘She’s the only friend I’ve got!’ Why couldn’t they understand that? They both knew that no one spoke to me at school any more, except Diane.

  ‘That’s your fault,’ he had the nerve to say. ‘It’s up to you to prove you’re not as bad as they think.’

  That was rich coming from him. ‘Like you, I suppose.’

  He stood right in front of me, making it impossible for me not to look at him. ‘I want to tell you something, Lissa. I brought you up to think you were better than other people. I worked hard, but I wanted money and more money. So you could dress better than other people, live in a better house. Have better holidays. Material things, Lissa. I thought that’s what was important. I brought you up to think that too. But it’s people who matter, Lissa. I’ve tried all my life to get away from my background, from the poverty I had when I was a boy. But I’m going to tell you something you don’t know.’ He hesitated, and sat on the edge of the sofa so that his eyes were level with mine. ‘You never knew your granny, my mother. She died before you were born. But do you know what she was, Lissa? She was a cleaner in the schools. She worked really hard all her life. You should be proud of her. I should have been proud of her. Instead, I was ashamed. I wanted something better – and I didn’t care how I got it.’

  Why did he have to tell me these things now? He’d never told me this before. Why now?

  ‘You still want to go to Adler Academy?’

  Mum stepped in angrily. ‘It’s out of the question anyway! Adler Academy costs money!’

  ‘That’s OK. He can pay for it with his new job.’

  I’d caught him off guard. His face flushed red, his eyes darted to Mum’s.

  ‘What new job?’ she asked.

  ‘Didn’t tell you about that, did he? Didn’t tell you about the phone calls either, eh? Or the sneaky visits somewhere. Must be a new job … a new job with an old boss, called Magnus Pierce!’

  And I ran out of the room and upstairs and the last thing I heard before I slammed my door shut was Mum’s worried voice. ‘Jonny, not again. What’s going on?’

  Chapter Thirteen

  May 29th

  I met Magnus Pierce today as I walked home from school. I’m sure he was waiting for me. His big Mercedes was parked by the kerb. I knew it was his by the registration plate. MAG 1. I would have crossed the street to avoid him but by the time I noticed his car I was too close. And anyway, suddenly he stepped from the car and held the door open so that it blocked my way. He was so tall, so broad, so threatening. Yet, anyone seeing him with me would have thought he was, perhaps, a favourite uncle.

  ‘Lissa!’ he said, as if in total surprise. The street was alive with people, brushing past me, rushing to catch buses, but suddenly, I felt very alone. ‘I’m so glad I met you. You can pass a message on to your dad. Tell him to give me a call, will you? Let me know how he’s getting on.’

  Doesn’t he realise I know they’ve been phoning each other? I didn’t say that, of course. I didn’t say anything.

  He asked how things were with me, but I only shrugged my shoulders. And then he said something that shocked me.

  ‘They’d be better if you were going to that Adler Academy though, wouldn’t they?’

  Does he know everything? Of course, he must. J.B. probably tells him.

  Though, when I got home, he pretended to be surprised when I told him. No, more than surprised, horrified. Good actor, J.B.

  ‘You met Magnus Pierce!’ he said and he grabbed me by the shoulders, looking all concerned. As I said, good actor.

  ‘Yes. And he insisted I tell you.’

  And he had. As he stepped back into the Mercedes he had said softly, ‘You take care going home now. These days you can’t be too careful.’ Then he smiled his bright white scary smile. ‘You make sure you tell your dad I was speaking to you.’

  ‘Don’t ever talk to him again,’ J.B. snapped at me.

  Who is he trying to fool? Does he think I haven’t noticed his suspicious behaviour?

  ‘Please, Lissa, Magnus Pierce is dangerous. I’m doing my best to protect you. If only you knew …’ He sounded so sincere I almost believed him, except that as soon as I was in the kitchen pouring myself some milk there he was back on the phone, his voice a whisper.

  I had passed the message on. ‘Get in touch, J.B.,’ Magnus Pierce had said. And he had.

  After that day, everything seems to have moved so fast. Like a rocket spiralling out of control. I remember the next day so well.

  I had never seen Murdo so smug. He strode up and down the class, saying nothing. Humming some tuneless Highland lilt. You always know when Murdo is angry. He bellows, he throws chalk around the room, he slams down his desk, spittle bursts through his clenched teeth. And his hair goes wild.

  And you always know when he’s happy. Because he hums tunelessly, just as he did that day. As we all trooped into his classroom he beamed at every one of us, even Diane and I. It was all very fishy. The whole class knew that something was in the wind but he waited until we were all seated before he decided to put us out of our misery.

  He rubbed his hands together, gleefully. ‘I have wonderful news. Wonderful news,’ he said in mounting excitement. And when Murdo got excited he could spit for Britain. ‘Our school has received a great honour. We should be very proud. The Council has chosen one of our number to design its new Millennium Logo. One of our number. Someone in this class. I wonder if any of you can guess who it is?’

  But we didn’t have to guess for long, because Murdo’s smile focused on only one person. Ralph Aird.

  ‘Come here, Ralph, and stand beside me.’ He opened his arms to welcome him and Ralph stood up sheepishly. He had a look on his face that was a cross between smugness and embarrassment.

  ‘Come here, Ralph,’ Murdo said, ‘and bask in some glory.’

  Ralph shuffled towards him.

  Murdo continued. ‘Our Ralph has been commissioned. Commissioned, mind you.’ He poi
nted a stubby finger at Harry Ball. ‘Tell me what commissioned means, boy!’

  Harry spluttered trying to think of an answer. ‘Is it something to do with a prison sentence, sir?’

  The class fell about laughing. Even Ralph Aird giggled.

  Murdo raised his eyes hopelessly. ‘You may be a whizz kid at maths, Harry, but your command of the English language is deplorable. Commissioned!’ he explained to us, with some extra spit, ‘in this case means he’s getting paid for his work!’ There was a gasp from the class.

  Ralph stood up straighter, pride written all over him. Murdo slapped him on the back. ‘Yes. We have a professional artist in our midst!’

  Murdo began to clap then and, without hesitation, so did the rest of the class. Not hesitantly, but with enthusiasm and pride, like I’d never heard before.

  ‘Good on ye, Ralphie boy!’ someone shouted.

  ‘Terrific!’ Nancy called to him.

  Even Asra stood up and gave him an extra special cheer.

  Of course it was all Murdo’s doing, I told myself. Working behind the scenes, making sure Ralph’s potential wasn’t lost forever. But as I listened to the class applauding, and watched their faces, their genuine pleasure for Ralph’s success, I felt alone. None of them had spoken to me in weeks because of what I’d done and I hated them and yet, here they were delighted for Ralph Aird of all people.

  I looked at him beaming like an idiot and I realised with dismay, I was jealous, jealous of Ralph Aird. In that same moment, he looked at me. He always looked at me with disgust, as if he hated me and for a second that was the look he gave me. And then, the look changed to a puzzled frown and then gave way to a smile that spread across his face. And I knew he could read the envy in my face.

  Diane leaned toward me and tugged on my arm. ‘He probably only got it because they felt sorry for him. He’s a loser.’

  ‘WHAT WAS THAT!’

  Murdo’s voice boomed out and the applause died in an instant. Silence fell. Total silence.

  Murdo took a deep breath and strode up the aisle to where Diane sat. ‘Stand up, Miss Connell.’