Lady Read online

  Contents

  Cover

  Also by Melvin Burgess

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Other books by Melvin Burgess

  An Angel for May

  Bloodsong

  Bloodtide

  Burning Issy

  The Cry of the Wolf

  Doing It

  Junk

  Nicholas Dane

  Sara’s Face

  The Baby and Fly Pie

  This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

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  Epub ISBN 9781448188031

  www.randomhouse.co.uk

  This edition first published in 2015 by

  Andersen Press Limited

  20 Vauxhall Bridge Road

  London SW1V 2SA

  www.andersenpress.co.uk

  2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

  First published by Andersen Press Ltd in 2001

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

  The right of Melvin Burgess to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

  Text copyright © Melvin Burgess, 2001

  British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data available.

  ISBN 978 1 78344 303 1

  For Jude

  one

  It was me and Wayne heading down Copson Street. Michelle and Dobby were there too, trailing behind. They were jealous, both of them. She fancied Wayne and Dobby fancied me, but it was me and Wayne, me and Wayne, me and Wayne all morning. He was leaning over and smiling, tickling me and touching me. I wasn’t going to say no, was I?

  We’d been trying to lose them for the past hour, but we hadn’t really got off with each other yet, so we couldn’t just push off. I knew what was going on between us right from the first but I think it had just been occurring to him as we went along. We were outside Somerfield’s and Michelle and Dobby had dropped back outside the baker’s when he reached forward and tickled the palm of my hand. It sent little shivers up my arm. My hand closed around his and we gave one another a little squeeze, and that was it. We were holding hands. We turned and looked into each other’s faces and …

  I was just thrilled. You know? That moment. I just love that moment. I could do it over and over again until the end of my life. I mean, all right, he wasn’t the first boy ever, or even the first boy that month. In fact, the way I was then he’d have been pretty lucky if he was the first one that week. But still – it just made me shine. There was the sunshine sparkling on the wet pavements. There were the people and the shops, there was Dobbs fancying me and Michelle all jealous because she wanted what I had, and there was Wayne smiling down at me, all pleased and happy because I was holding his hand. He was gorgeous. I was gorgeous. Isn’t that just about the nicest thing you can think of?

  He leaned down to my ear and whispered, ‘Let’s go.’

  ‘Where do you want to go?’ I asked. I glanced back. Michelle had walked up near to us and she was standing there looking daggers.

  ‘In your knickers,’ said Wayne and I said,

  ‘Ooh, yeah.’

  He looked surprised. He bent close to me and whispered in my ear, ‘You’re making my head go.’

  I grinned. He was lovely, he was mine. He put his arms round me and he sort of snuffled in my ear. I giggled. It made me tingle all over, but I was bothered about Michelle. I looked over his shoulder at her. ‘I’ll talk to you later,’ I mouthed, but she pulled a face and looked away. I suppose I should’ve said something to her before. I was making a mess of things, really. It was a pity in some ways because I thought we might all be friends, and I mean, you can get on and off with the boys in a crowd, but if you fall out with the girls, you’re out. It made me angry with myself, because I’d been through enough friends recently. But I knew I wasn’t going to stop myself.

  I’d been off my head lately. And it’d been great, you know? Really, really great. The best time I’d ever had. Only, I was getting fed up. Well, not fed up – tired. It’d been going on a long time. It’d been a lot of boys and a lot of late nights and a lot of voddies and a lot of Red Bulls and a lot of e. That crowd, Michelle and Dobby, even Wayne – they weren’t me. I’d even been thinking, maybe I’d give my old friends a ring. Annie. That crowd. They’d still be there.

  But Wayne made me forget all that. I wanted him. And I was going to have him.

  We ran off round behind Somerfield’s into the car park. I was giggling. I was thinking, Here I go again! Michelle and Dobby stared after us but they didn’t try to follow. We ran through the car park and on to the road behind it. We got round behind the wall and Wayne stopped and turned to face me and we put our arms round each other and we kissed. It was a funny kiss because we were both out of breath as well as being turned on, but after it was done we both let out a long sigh and pulled each other close. What a relief!

  ‘I’ve been wanting to do that all morning,’ groaned Wayne. I glanced round, but the others were well gone. I relaxed. He reached for my mouth again and THIS time the kiss went right through me. I made a little ‘Oh, oh,’ noise, and that turned him on even more. I hung on to his neck and held up my face and ground myself right into him.

  ‘Jesus,’ said Wayne. He slid his hands under my top and down the side of my bra. His hands were lovely and warm. I was underdressed as usual. ‘Where can we go?’ he asked, looking around as if a bed was going to spring out of the ground.

  ‘There’s nowhere to go,’ I said, and I laughed because – I dunno. Like I say, there’d been all these boys lately. Everyone had been saying it. Annie, my best friend at school had said it, my mum had said it, my sister Julie had said it. ‘All those boys!’ I’d wanted them all so much but now, somehow, I was kind of pleased that there was nowhere to go. It was like, poor old Wayne, just his luck! I’d have shagged him up against the wall for a bag of jelly beans a month ago but times were changing.

  Well, maybe they were.

  I slid out from under him and ran off, laughing at him. I was twisting round to look at him and that’s why I ran into the alchie.

  He was standing on the pavement right in front of me with a can of Special Brew in his hand. I banged right into him, full on. I thought maybe he was going to get nasty but he smiled and touched me gently on my hip.

  ‘Steady, steady,’ he said.

  I smiled back because … well, because I was it, wasn’t I? No wonder Michelle was jealous! Wayne fancied me like anything. Dobby fancied me – I knew that, the way he looked at me, although he never said. And now even this alchie. I could see him glancing down at me, and I expect he was jealous of me as well, because I had everything and he nothing. All right, he was just a tramp, he wasn’t going to get anywhere near me. But still. I want everyone to fancy me. Not just the sports stars and the pop stars and all the boys. I’d like the old men and the young men and everyone to fancy me. I’d like the money in y
our pocket and the dirt on your shoe to turn round and look at me when I go past.

  Then I thought, What’s he doing? And I stepped back quick – what right did he have to touch me? Just because I banged into him? Wayne didn’t like it either. He said, ‘Keep your hands off,’ in a sharp voice, and I said,

  ‘Excuse me!’

  ‘Why, what have you done?’ said the alchie, and he gave me this shitty little smile.

  I’d seen him around. I’d seen him on the bench by the flowershop near the telephone booths drinking with old blokes, and I’d seen him sitting in a blanket on a piece of cardboard with a dog on a piece of string at the other end of Copson Street, begging for change. He never even got it together to sell the Big Issue. He wasn’t old, he was a young man. You’d think he hadn’t had time to get worn down. He was still good looking under the dirt and the booze. He looked strong. He had nice hair, he had a good face. But …

  ‘You’re just an alcoholic,’ said Wayne, and I said,

  ‘Yeah!’

  He gave us this crooked look. ‘Give me a quid and I’ll leave you alone,’ he said. He said it like it was half a joke.

  ‘I’m not giving you anything,’ said Wayne.

  The alchie glared at us. Maybe he was just being friendly, but he shouldn’t have touched me. Then he nodded at me and said, spitefully, ‘And your girlfriend’s a slut, so what?’

  ‘Get lost!’ I yelled. That just made me so angry. So angry! Calling me names like that. I lashed out and knocked his can of Special Brew out of his hand. I didn’t mean to. I was just fed up suddenly. I was fed up with things going all wrong. I mean! Everything could have been just right so easily. Everyone fancied me. I had Wayne there with his tongue practically hitting the floor. I should have been smiling my head off! But instead I had Michelle pulling faces at me and now this drunk. I mean, why do things work out like that? I could have fancied someone else, or Michelle might have been decent about it and understood, and the drunk could’ve been – I dunno, somewhere else. But it had to be shitty, didn’t it? It had to be. It just seemed like everything I wanted to do lately had to go wrong because of other people.

  I caught the can just right. It flew out of his hand and banged on to the ground. There was this horrible silence before my whole life vanished.

  He was furious, you could see it in his face. He wasn’t all that tall, Wayne was taller, but the alchie was a grown man and Wayne took a step back. ‘My drink!’ he squeaked as it fell. The beer spurted out on to the road and he scrabbled on his knees to get it before it all went. He got up and stood there shaking the can by his ear, slowly realising that there was nothing left. Then he got furious.

  ‘My bitch, you little drink. My bitch!’ he yelled. He was so angry about a little drink of beer. Wayne started laughing, because he got bitch and drink mixed up, but then he lifted his hand to grab me and I had to step back quick.

  ‘Sorry!’ I gasped. But he kept coming at me. He was falling on top of me. I had to run backwards. It was amazing – him so upset about a can of beer. He was about ready to pull my head off, I could tell by his face – it was all twisted up with rage and hate and horrible things. I was running backwards and he was still coming, so I had to twist round and leap away. Then I looked back but he was still right there, right there with his hands on my clothes. It gave me a fright but I still thought then that I could get away with a few steps.

  ‘Wayne!’ I shouted. I ran a few fast steps and looked round, but even before my head turned I could hear his breath right in my ear and that’s when I started to get really scared because he just kept coming.

  Something strange was happening. Everything around us seemed to be frozen. I was having to run really fast. I was thinking, The police station is just around the corner. I bombed up through the car park and on to Copson Street and then on to Hill Street by the police station. I could have opened the door and got in, but the bloody place was only closed, wasn’t it? I forgot, they shut it down a couple of weeks ago. I just had time to grab the door and tug and scream and then run off. I could feel his fingers in my hair – I swear he was that close. I didn’t dare stop. I was screaming at people to help me but, funny thing, everyone just watched me go. They didn’t seem concerned, they just looked mildly surprised.

  He was yelling something at me, but he was getting all wheezy already. I’m amazed he made it that far. I ran round the corner and behind the shops. He was on my back the whole time. I was terrified. Why wasn’t anyone stopping him? None of it made any sense. Then I was round behind the café. There was the smell of grease and dustbins and before I knew it, I was falling over the bins. I was on my hands and knees. I rolled over in the rubbish and there he was, still right on me, staring down.

  I screamed, ‘Leave me alone!’

  He looked at me, he licked his lips and he glanced over his shoulder and back at me. I knew what he was thinking. We were on our own. It was crazy. It was Saturday, it was the middle of the day, but somehow we were on our own. He couldn’t rape me but he could pull my clothes about and feel me up and get angry with me if he wanted.

  ‘You little bitch!’ he yelled, so full of anger I was terrified.

  ‘Get away! You bastard!’ I screamed. I was looking around for Wayne and the others but they weren’t there. Why weren’t they there? He smiled at me again and stepped closer. I got back on all fours facing him and bared my teeth at him.

  As I watched him, his face changed into pure shock.

  ‘Oh, God, no. I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ he said. Actually he more or less screamed it. He was backing off with his hands up near his face as if I was going to do something to him.

  ‘You’re for it, you’re dead,’ I told him. I was trying to stand up but I couldn’t.

  ‘No, oh God, no! I didn’t mean this to happen, please! Oh, Jesus Lord, not again!’ he said. He looked awful, really upset. I couldn’t help myself. I jumped forward and bit his hand. I bit it! ‘Get off me!’ he yelled. He stumbled backwards and fell over. I was off. I didn’t have any trouble leaving him behind this time. I jumped clean over him and I was away. I’ve never run so fast. I didn’t pause to look for Wayne and the others. I was so scared I ran straight back home, yelping, ‘Mum! Mum! Mum!’ as I went. And all the time I was thinking – I bit him? I couldn’t believe I’d bitten him.

  The running was so good. I didn’t know why, I never liked to run. Even though I was scared I had this big thrill about going so fast and even after I knew the tramp was miles away, I still kept running and running and I couldn’t understand how it was I wasn’t out of breath.

  All around me the world was changing. The cars, the dustbins, the grass, the dog shit on the tarmac, the feet that had been and gone – everything left its taste on my tongue. Things were crowding into my mouth and my nose. At the same time, everything I could see was moving further away and growing tall and slow at the same time. The world was changing shape, growing in one direction, closing down in others. I was in one weird state! As I came haring round by Yew Tree Road and turned into the estate, I remember thinking, It must be fear’s done this to me. My house was only fifty metres away, about two seconds at my speed, and I started howling and barking, ‘Mum! Mum! Mum!’ at the top of my voice as I got close. I jumped right over the little brick wall at our front and ran round the back and in the door. Mum was in the kitchen.

  ‘God Jesus!’ she yelled as I came in.

  ‘Mum, Mum, Mum, I’ve had this terrible scare, Mum,’ I shouted, and I flung myself at her.

  Mum screamed and I stopped in my tracks. She looked terrified! I’ve never seen such a look on her face. ‘Get away!’ she screamed. ‘Back! Back! Shoo!’ She reached out and grabbed hold of the frying pan and flung it at me. I just stood there, I was like a dummy, I watched the oil spilling out in a silver flash and then the pan caught me right on the side of my face.

  ‘Ow! Ah! Mum, what for? What’s wrong?’ I shouted, but she’d gone mad. She was crawling backwards on to the worksurface, getting
her feet off the ground and staring at me with that terrible, mad face.

  ‘Get away!’ she screamed again, and her hand was groping along the worksurface for something else to chuck at me. I took a few steps forward, shaking my head, which really hurt. I only wanted a cuddle! I put my arms out and fell on to my nose.

  ‘It’s mad!’ she shouted. And she started banging on the window shouting, ‘Mad dog! Mad dog! Help!’

  She’d gone hysterical. I ran out of the room to get help just in time to see my brother Adam come down the stairs. I started to ask what was wrong with Mum, but I could see by his face that he was scared, too.

  ‘Stay away, get back, Adam. It’s a mad dog, it might have rabies or something,’ Mum yelled. I thought … Dog? Rabies? What? Adam turned and ran up the stairs, and then it clicked. I realised – there must be a mad dog in the house! I looked around and I couldn’t see it anywhere, but it had to be right there because Mum was staring straight at me. She looked at me like it was clinging to me. I was terrified but at the same time I was just devastated. In an emergency like this, Mum was showing what she really thought and felt about me. I mean, there she was shouting desperately at Adam to get away, but she couldn’t spare the time to even say my name, and the thing must be almost at my feet. I thought – at my feet! I screamed and jumped about ten feet in the air and ran up the stairs after Adam.

  ‘Run, run,’ I barked and Mum screeched, ‘Run, Adam!’ His room was nearest, and you know what? The bastard slammed the door in my face. Can you believe that – a mad dog on the stairs and he slammed the door in my face!

  ‘Adam, no!’ I howled, but all he did was bellow,

  ‘Go away! Go away! Bad dog!’

  I ran to my own room. I couldn’t see the dog anywhere – it was terrifying, like it was invisible or something. I pushed the door open and sprang in. I spun round and tried to lock the door but, you know what? I couldn’t do it. It was so weird. I was fumbling with the handle and I suddenly realised, no wonder I couldn’t close it, I was trying to do it with my mouth. There was this awful, weird moment when I was hanging there from the handle with my mouth, thinking … What am I doing? Then I dropped to the ground and jumped up on to my dressing table out of the way and there was the dog on there with me.