Revelation by Jo Fenton

Author:Jo Fenton [Fenton, Jo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: darkstroke books
Published: 2020-02-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

Sunday 5/2/89

Daniel

It takes me ages to get to sleep. I’m seriously freaked out by what’s happened today, but I’ve got Alan coming round in the morning, and I need to sound sane and sensible when he arrives. Eventually I drop off at about three, and wake again four hours later, feeling foggy-headed and gritty-eyed.

I force myself to get up and shower and dress, then knock on for Becky at just gone eight. Miraculously, she’s awake. She opens her door to allow me an uninterrupted view of pink check pyjamas and un-brushed hair.

“Dan, you’re up. Are you okay?”

“I guess so. I reckon I should have some breakfast. Maybe a slice of toast. Do you want to join me? Perhaps get dressed first?”

She promises to pick me up from my room in about ten minutes. From long experience, I know she means twenty, but that’s fine. I return to my room, and start to tidy it. It’s not in too bad a state, but there are a few crumbs around from last night’s pizza. There’s a vacuum cleaner in the cupboard next to the bathrooms, and I grab it to give my room a quick blitz before breakfast. I’m just putting the vac away when Becks appears, in more normal attire of jeans, sweatshirt and trainers. Her hair has been tamed, for the moment at least.

We’re sitting in the dining room with toast and coffee before she says anything beyond trivialities.

“What are you going to say to Alan?”

“I don’t know yet. Tell him what happened, I suppose.”

“Does he know about Rick?”

“What about Rick?” I ask cautiously. Even now, I don’t know how much Becky knows. I suspect not much.

“What is there to tell?” she counters, then looks apologetic. “Sorry, Dan, forget I said that. I just meant… Oh, I don’t know… I suppose Alan just needs to know that Rick died in tragic circumstances. Isn’t that the standard terminology?” Her tone is bitter, and despite the horrible gnawing in my gut that returned as soon as Rick’s name was mentioned, a spark of curiosity forces me to speak.

“What does it matter to you?”

“What do you mean? Of course it matters to me. He was one of our crowd. He was your closest friend. He was a nice guy. Why would it not matter?”

“You’re very sweet, thank you. I suppose it’s easy to assume that because it affected me so much, that no one else really cared. I’ve been very selfish as usual.”

“You’re not selfish. It’s really hard to know what to say sometimes, so I guess we just try to carry on as normal. Then you’re left thinking no one is bothered. We should all talk more.” She looks directly at me with a sympathetic smile. “I am bothered. I know it can’t be to the same extent as you, but I can imagine how I’d feel if something like that happened to one of my best friends.” She looks away for a moment, and stares out of the window as she says, “That came home to me only too clearly yesterday.

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