Chapter 10

It was two in the morning when the train rolled into Brighton Railway Station. If it hadn’t been for one of the passengers waking me up, I would have still been sleeping on the trains return journey. All groggy I staggered off the train. Once I went through the ticket barrier, I searched for the nearest bathroom to freshen up. After letting the water run for a while, I realised the water wasn’t warming up. As soon as the cold liquid touched my face, it fully woke me up. I was ready to begin my two-mile walk to Sussex Square where Bobby lived.

Coming out of Brighton Station, I felt the icy weather bite into me. Pulling my smartphone out of my pocket, I pressed the power button. The screen came to life, showing me the temperature and time. It was two-thirty in the morning, and the temperature was minus two degrees Celsius. I zipped up my jacket, turned on my Google Map app and punched in the postal code. It showed the street name and forty-five minutes. Pressing the blue start icon on the screen the arrow appeared. I began to walk towards the direction the pointer showed. From the station to the beach, it was a maze of side roads. There wasn’t a single person on the streets at this time. The seafront, on the other hand, was livelier, especially around The Brighton Pier. I was tempted to jump into one of the taxi’s to take me to Sussex Square, but I thought, best not too. The fewer people I have contact with in Brighton the better. My journey down here wasn’t exactly a social visit. The last thing I needed was a taxi driver giving the whole nation a description of me on the evening news. I continued to walk along Marine Parade, keeping an eye on my smartphone for directions. I was almost there.

“Five minutes to your destination,” the mousy female voice said from my smartphone.

I was cold, hungry and I needed sleep. Luckily, there was a takeaway shop which was open. It wasn’t far from Sussex Square. Again, I was sceptical if I should go inside. I looked through the shop window. Behind the counter, two men, both of them in black polo shirts were preparing the food. One was slicing kebab off the turning burner, while the other was on the salad prep. A third person was behind the cash register taking the orders. Behind the counter, five hungry mouths were waiting in queue to put their order. “Fuck this I’m starving,” I said quietly. Ten minutes later. I was sitting at a bus shelter, my face buried into a chicken kebab.

Bobby lived in a luxury block of flats. The building was painted white, consisting of two floors. I found the door number. It was in the middle of the street, overlooking the sea. I checked the intercom. A list of names was illuminated, showing the names of the residence. Bobby’s was the first, definitely the penthouse. How much I wanted to kick the door down, but I needed to be patient.

The roar of a car’s engine filled the quietness of the night. A taxi stopped in the middle of the street. A few moments later a couple tumbled out of the vehicle, both of them intoxicated. As soon as the car door closed, the taxi speeded off down the street. The couple began to walk towards me. They were holding onto each other, not to fall over. I pretended to push one of the buttons on the intercom. Once they were next to me, I spoke.

“Come on Bobby, open the door, man,” I said into the intercom.

“I’m sorry sir, I don’t think there is anyone with that name in our building,” the drunken man said. Both of them looked at me, their eyes slowly closing. Suddenly the woman’s eyes shot open.

“Honey isn’t that the scary guy on the top floor,” she said.

The man’s lips curled downwards like a sad clown. He said, “The one with the giant friend.”

“You mean bigfoot, honey.” She began to giggle, without stopping.

The man put his hand into his pocket, retrieving a key. It took him a while to open the front door. As they entered the building, the women started making retching sounds. “You’re going to be sick again!” the man yelled. He grabbed her from the waist, helping her up the stairs. I stood there, holding the front door open.

“That wasn’t too hard to get inside,” I said. I grinned.

Now that I was inside, I needed to find somewhere to hide. It didn’t take me long to find the perfect place. On the ground floor, was a gas/electricity utility cupboard. Inside were all the metres for each flat. The tiny room was big enough for me to sit on the floor with my legs crossed. I had the door slightly open, watching the front door. It was after four in the morning. My eyes began to feel heavy.