‘Want to share?' I asked, pulling it out of my pocket and lighting it.
She waved the smoke away, pretending to cough. ‘No, I don't! Put it out!'
‘Don't be such a spoilsport,' I said, poking her in the ribs.
If I had to be holed up with an uptight woman, I needed to smoke my gear. I started to relax into a normal state as I puffed on the joint.
‘Why don't you try ringing Cancer?'
She must have been psychic. I wondered if she was, although I didn't believe that anyone could be. The thought had just come to me when she'd said it. My phone was tucked away. It burst into tune as I dug it out.
‘Hello … '
‘Taurus, where are you? We were almost arrested, but they let us off. The police got some of Nick's men. We pretended that we were tourists.'
At least Cancer wasn't in any danger.
‘Where are you?' I asked her, going to the window to make sure my stalkers were still stationed across the road. They were.
‘Matt's taking me home. Where are you?'
It suddenly hit me how impossible her situation was. ‘Cancer, he's married,' I said into the phone.
Why had I even got involved with her problems? I had enough of my own. It wasn't like we had ever been close either. I wasn't close with any of my siblings, let alone one of the most sensitive ones. I always hurt her feelings without meaning to.
‘I know. Don't worry, we needed to clear the air. We've spoken, and he's going back to his wife. I can't be in love with someone that's taken.'
She sounded so convincing. I breathed a sigh. At least I didn't need to worry about the others finding out about our little escapade.
‘Did you know that most men nearing forty go through a midlife crisis? That's probably why Matt fancies you,' I said to reassure her.
‘He's thirty one, not forty!' Cancer said.
‘Nah, he's got to be forty. He's like a dirty old man, isn't he? Although, I quite like an older woman.' I turned back to the room.
Kerry stood with her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows. Chuckling, I cringed when abuse was hurled at me down the phone and in the room.
‘Okay, okay … just shut up,' I said, quietening the women.
They must have been premenstrual.
‘Just get home as quickly as you can,' Cancer said before hanging up the phone.
I wanted to get home. I needed to see Sophie to release some tension. I wasn't sure how I would escape. I was trapped in a flat with guards outside, ready to shoot me on sight.
///
Chapter Ten
‘How much longer will they stand out there?' Kerry asked from the window.
‘Don't lift the net curtain, they might see you.'
She looked at me pointedly. ‘Do you think I'm that stupid?'
It was nearing midnight. I had run out of weed. Booze hadn't magically appeared and I really wanted a hit of coke.
‘We can't stay here all night.' Kerry paced the room, yet again.
I thought Nick's men would have given up, but they were persistent buggers. We had been in the flat for seven hours. Luckily there were tins of soup, so I wasn't hungry for food. The hunger for a beer on the other hand was stronger than it had ever been in my life.
‘I think we may have to stay here all night,' I replied, reaching out to stop her from moving past me again.
Her nervousness got on my nerves. She sighed and glanced towards the bedroom door. ‘Fine, if we're staying here, I'm-'
She stopped talking when I vaulted from the sofa and made a run towards the room she was eyeing up. She caught on and chased me, pulling on my shirt. I was too quick for her as I yanked open the door and threw myself on the bed. It was pushed against a wall. I had to stop myself from colliding with the brick. Kerry stumbled behind me, falling onto my back.
‘No! You got me into this mess, the least you can do is let me have the bed!'
I grunted into the pillow. There was no way I was going to move. The soft duvet cuddled me. I wasn't giving it up for anyone.
She wiggled as she slid off me and onto the bed, leaning against the wall. She braced her hands against my side. I frowned, wondering what she was doing. Thrusting as hard as she could, she yelped when I didn't budge. Her head hit against the wall when the force of her push made her spring back.
‘Ha! You'll never budge me.' I laughed. I couldn't help it.
She rubbed the back of her head as I snuggled further into the pillow, tucking my arm under it.
‘You need to get off,' she moaned.
‘Stop whinging, there's plenty of room for both of us.'
She had brought her feet up and tried to kick me off. The room was tiny. There wasn't even enough room on the floor for me to lie on. I wasn't going to get scrunched up on the small sofa either.
‘Sophie wouldn't like that,' Kerry said, groaning as she had to admit defeat.
I hadn't arranged to see Sophie, so I got away with the usual texts we shared at night. She had signed off an hour ago, happy and completely unaware that I was stuck in a flat with another woman.
‘Why not? Are you going to jump on me when I'm asleep and defenceless?'
Her clenched fists thumped against the bed. I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped me. My leg started to twitch. The longer I stayed still, the harder it was to relax. I hadn't smoked enough to calm my brain.
‘Do you really think you're that irresistible?'
I unburied my head to look at her. Moving onto my side, I propped myself up on my elbow. Her back was against the wall. She had her knees pulled up and her feet rested on the bed right next to me. Her hair was messed up from her efforts of trying to budge me. She was older. Her eyes were not quite as bright as Sophie's.
‘How old are you?' I asked.
Her head fell back against the wall. ‘Twenty eight, why?'
‘I remember you playing with Cancer when we were younger, but I didn't realise you were so old.'
She punched my hip. The force of it rocked me back slightly.
‘I didn't realise you were so horrible.'
Her plump lips puckered in distaste. They would look good with red lipstick on. I shook my head to clear the thought. Kerry was annoying and uptight. She was nothing like Sophie, who was fun and playful.
‘Why do you do so many drugs?'
She glanced at my leg as it bounced up and down. I couldn't stop it moving, even when I tried.
‘I think a lot.'
I was about to bury my head again, to avoid further questioning, when she laughed.
‘What's funny about that?' I asked.
She shook her head. ‘I'm sorry. I just didn't imagine you to be the thinking type.'
What did she mean? Did she assume I wasn't intelligent because I smoked weed? Her assumption made me sit up.
‘Why not?'
She tried to stretch her legs out but mine were in the way. I debated whether to let her put her legs over mine. The thought quickly left when she answered my question.
‘Because you used to be a fitness buff … but you dropped out … '
When her sentence trailed off, a red glow crept up her neck and over her cheeks.
‘You sound like Aries,' I muttered, lifting my legs and gesturing for her to put hers flat.
///
Smiling at me, she glanced away when I raised my eyebrows.
‘Sorry, I just heard how that sounded.'
She was wrong.
‘Don't apologise, if that's how you see me, it's fine. I've always believed that we should be free to be who we want. The system we live in, doesn't allow that. I refuse to play the game and others don't like it.'
She bit her lip and watched me from lowered eyelids. ‘So what do you believe the system should be like?'
‘Free. We should be able to be who we are. If I want to smoke, so be it. It's my body, it's my life.'
She absently scratched her leg through her jeans. ‘But what about crime?'
Now we were getting onto a subject I knew something about. ‘There wouldn't be anywhere near as much crime. Crime is invented by the government to show us that they're in control.'
It had been a long time since someone questioned the way I looked at things. People were not interested in how life really was. They wanted to live in their ignorant world, with the rich people ruling and the poor people suffering.
‘So, you don't think we should just get on with working our guts out for other people?'
The grin that came to my lips matched her own. Was she in the same boat as me?
‘I think we should have the choice to do what we want without others telling us we can't.'
She looked away from me. Her shoulders tensed. Was I making her feel uncomfortable?
‘I once believed that there could be a better world, but I don't think I do anymore.'
Her sigh made my leg jump even more. It was better that she realised the world wasn't a perfect place sooner, rather than later.
‘The big bang happened,' I said. ‘We evolved from apes. We'll evolve again. It's just how it is.'
She shook her head against the wall. ‘Don't you think there might be something more?'
The chuckle that left my lips made her roll her eyes. She was never going to win.