Candy by Kevin Brooks

Author:Kevin Brooks [Brooks, Kevin]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

chapter thirteen

Quick,” gasped Candy, jumping off the bed. “Get in the bathroom.”

“Maybe it’s not Iggy?” I said. “Maybe it’s—”

“It’s Iggy. I know what he sounds like.”

“But I thought you said—”

“Just move,” she said urgently. “He’ll be here any second.” She took me by the arm and pulled me off the bed and started leading me toward the bathroom. “Stay in there and keep quiet,” she whispered. “And whatever happens, don’t come out. For my sake. Whatever happens…OK? Now go.” She gave me another shove toward the bathroom.

My legs felt numb as I crossed the room, like lumps of wood with shoes on. I wasn’t sure what I was doing. My head was empty—too shocked to feel anything. No fear, not yet. Just killing numbness.

I paused at the beaded doorway, listening to the sound of approaching footsteps—boom, boom, boom…top of the stairs…boom, boom, boom…along the hallway…

“Joe!” Candy hissed.

I looked at her—eyes wide, face rigid, teeth bared, hands waving, imploring me to go…What else could I do? I turned around and stepped through the beads into the bathroom.

It was a small room—off-white, damp, dark. A faint shimmer of streetlight dappled the glass of a curtainless window set high in the wall, lifting the darkness just enough to show me my surroundings. There wasn’t much to see: broken tiles on the wall, a stained sink, a toilet, a bath, a rust-rimmed water heater.

I moved to one side and stood with my back against the wall…still numb…but starting to feel it now. The fear. The beating heart, the tightening throat, the rapid breathing…out of control…too fast, too strangled, too loud. I could hear Candy outside, scrabbling around, cursing under her breath…I didn’t know what she was doing, but I guessed she was checking around the room to make sure I hadn’t left any telltale signs. I heard her pause for a moment, and then I heard her skipping across the floor and jumping into bed—and half a second later I heard the sound of the door opening and Iggy’s voice booming across the room.

“What you doing?”

“Nothing,” Candy replied, her voice remarkably calm. “I thought you’d gone over to Karl’s.”

A brief silence—the soundless sound of Iggy’s eyes sweeping the room—then the door closed and I heard his footsteps crossing the floor.

“Yeah…” he said. “You got that number?”

“What number?”

“The guy…what’s the matter with you? What you looking at?”

“Nothing.”

“You out of it?”

“Just a bit…I was hurting—”

“Don’t use it all—you’ll need some later. And you ain’t getting no more—I told you that.”

“I know.”

“Yeah, well…”

I heard him move across the room again…then rummaging sounds, things being thrown on the floor. I guessed he was at Candy’s dressing table.

“Shit,” he said, “look at this mess…You wanna get yourself cleaned up, girl. You living like a sick pig. Where the hell is it?”

“What?” Candy asked him. “What are you looking for?”

“I told you—the guy’s cell phone number…the guy with the gear…”

“What gear?”

He didn’t answer, just kept searching through the stuff on the dressing table. I imagined his big hands sweeping the

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