Dark Waters by Mary-Jane Riley

Author:Mary-Jane Riley
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008285104
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2018-02-02T05:00:00+00:00

20

Cambridge 1976

Life was brighter, more adrenaline-fuelled with Willem back centre stage. He never apologized about the sex with Rachel, never explained; he acted as though the rift had never happened. I was happy with that; I didn’t want to re-open old wounds, especially as they had healed over. I did take a stand on one thing, however – Stu.

‘He’s coming with us,’ I said when a trip to the pub was decided upon.

‘Darling, he’s dreary, so provincial,’ said Willem, dismissively.

‘No, he’s not, he’s been a good friend to me. When you weren’t.’ I looked Willem straight in the eye, determined to stand my ground and claw back some of the self-respect I had lost over the Rachel affair.

Willem shrugged. ‘A dull Barnardo’s Boy, that’s all he is. Dull, dull, dull.’

‘Still.’

‘Don’t blame me if he leeches the fun out of everything.’

I had won the battle. And I had learned that Stu was an orphan, which went some way to explaining his neediness.

Willem’s mischievousness knew no bounds. Somehow he managed to persuade some of the students from the mountaineering club to put cones on all four spires of King’s College chapel – they had to be taken down by steeplejacks at great expense. At his instigation, a Robin Reliant was punted down the river; it was he who organized a streak around Cambridge, taking in the Round Church and Jesus Green Lock, ending with a naked punt along the River Cam. He himself didn’t take part, but such was his charisma he was able to persuade others. Including us five. Including Roger, who’d had a phobia of water since his father had thrown him in the deep end of a swimming pool. And Stu, often the butt of Willem’s cruel jokes – Stu took part as well.

I remember standing shivering on the corner of Adams Road and Wilberforce Road just as the sun was rising, fervently hoping that no one would see my white goosebumped flesh. We all avoided each other’s eyes, yet we did it.

‘One, two, three, go!’ shouted Willem. ‘Remember it’s for charity.’

Was it? I don’t remember, but we ran naked down that track, down pavements, across roads, not looking at one another, wanting it to end, but wanting Willem to be proud of us and reward us with his good humour.

I think Stu stuck around out of sheer bloody-mindedness. He knew Willem didn’t like him, but he was damned if he was going to give him the satisfaction of going away, however many times Willem told him to ‘fuck off, darling’.

Then came the evening we went to the church.

‘An event,’ Willem exclaimed one evening as he burst into my room without so much as a knock on the door. ‘I want you to come.’ He flung his arms around me. I wriggled. I wasn’t too keen on these physical displays of affection, particularly when Stu was around, as he was that evening.

‘Gerroff … I’m trying to come to terms with Kant.’

‘Aren’t we all? Oh, I’m sure he’s a jolly good fellow, but put him away and come with me.

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