The Darkest Water by Mark Edwards

Author:Mark Edwards [Edwards, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published: 2024-04-16T00:00:00+00:00

26

AUGUST 1995

The police turned up on their doorstep a few minutes after five. There were two of them, a man and a woman, both in uniform, standing in the hall, talking to his mum and dad. Calvin crouched on the landing at the top of the stairs and watched from behind the balustrade. The cops were holding their hats in front of them and their lips were moving, but all Calvin could hear was blood rushing in his ears and the echo of his mother’s wail. She was clutching at his dad, who looked like he was about to collapse himself.

The female police officer noticed Calvin watching and caught his eye. He had to hold on to the banister as he came downstairs, to stop himself from falling.

His dad turned his head as Calvin reached the bottom step. His eyes were red and he looked ten years older.

‘Oh, son,’ he said. Then, ‘It’s Freya.’

Drugs. They were going to say she’d died from taking drugs. Milo had persuaded her to inject heroin and she’d overdosed. Or he’d given her ecstasy or acid and she’d had a bad reaction to it or done something stupid. A guy in a band Calvin had liked when he was younger, The Shamen, had drowned after taking MDMA. Calvin had heard of people jumping off buildings after taking LSD, thinking they could fly.

He’d tuned out, thinking about all the ways Freya might have died from taking drugs, when he heard the female police officer saying his name. He stared at her. She had acne scars, and that sent him into another reverie: Freya complaining about the spots on her face and their mum telling her not to pick at them or she’d get scars.

The policewoman was saying something about a van.

‘Pardon?’ he said, snapping back to attention.

‘I was telling your mum and dad, the van crashed on the way back from Carlisle, following this gig . . .’

A crash? Not drugs?

The officer went on, but he interrupted her. ‘Who was driving?’

The officers exchanged a glance, as if they weren’t sure how much information they were allowed to impart. The male officer said, ‘Simeon Stewart.’

The first thought that entered Calvin’s head was: I wonder if he was wearing his army coat.

‘Who’s that?’ Calvin’s mum asked.

Calvin heard himself say, ‘Milo’s brother. Is he okay?’

The male cop squirmed a little. ‘A few cuts and bruises but he’s fine.’

‘What about the others?’ Calvin asked. He could hardly get the words out. ‘Milo and Piper.’ To his parents he said, ‘Milo’s sister.’

‘They’re fine too.’

Of course they were. Of course they fucking were.

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