Tape by Camden Steven

Author:Camden,Steven [Steven Camden]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks
Published: 2013-12-15T16:00:00+00:00

Ameliah feels the cold air on the back of her neck. She pulls her thick grey hood up over her curls and lets out a sigh. She has no idea what time it is, but the sun has moved behind the houses across the street and it feels like a while since Heather left. The backs of her legs ache from standing for so long and she can feel hunger bubbling in her stomach.

She thinks about Heather, in the park with Simone and the others, talking about girly things and tapping their phones. She wonders whether Heather made up an excuse for her not being there. Whether anyone even asked.

A double-decker bus rolls past and Ameliah spots the same advert for holidays in Turkey she has seen three times already. She shakes her head and looks down. Nan will be worried about where she is. She didn’t leave a note and doesn’t have a phone. She looks back through the bush at the building, resigning herself to leave, and then Joe steps out of the front door.

At first she keeps her distance, staying two lamp posts away as she follows him along the pavement of the main road but, as he turns on to the high street, the safety of scattered strangers and the fading sun make her feel like she can get closer.

She remembers a cartoon with a hunter following a rabbit, him disappearing behind a tree every time the rabbit turned round. She makes sure to look into shop windows, as though she’s interested in buying something.

He moves with purpose and she has to skate between people to keep up. His brown workman’s jacket makes him seem younger somehow as he walks through the sliding glass doors of the supermarket.

Picking up an empty basket, she watches him turn round the far end of the fruit and vegetables aisle. She hangs back, moving past the end of the aisle and peering round the corner of the next. He walks straight past it so she shuffles up the aisle to make sure she stays behind him.

Ameliah can feel her heart beating as she moves past stacked boxes of cereal and it hits her that she has no idea what she’s doing. She remembers begging Dad to let her sit in the trolley when they went shopping, him telling her she was too big now, shaking his head, then giving in and lifting her into the mesh cage. A smooth green melon cool in her lap as Dad steered around, speaking their shopping list out loud to remind himself.

— Careful, dear.

The old lady lays her hand on Ameliah’s shoulder, stopping them from colliding. Ameliah snaps out of her daydream, scanning the aisle both ways over the old lady’s shoulder.

— Are you OK? You look lost.

Ameliah feels herself start to panic.

— What? No. I’m fine. Where did he go?

— Where did who go, love?

The old lady shakes her head as Ameliah walks away from her, moving past the tea bags. She jogs along the end of the aisles, looking down each one.

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