Chapter 9

I managed to avoid seeing Shona for nearly a fortnight. But before then, the parents caught me revising. Twice.

Any hope I had of them being supportive were quickly dashed. After my poor mock GCSE exam results, they were convinced that I was wasting my time. They thought I should relax and enjoy myself. They thought a little last minute revision wouldn’t improve my prospects much, and would only serve to get me all stressed out.

What the parents didn’t know that my improved understanding of how my enhanced memory ability worked was paying dividends. Logical subjects like Maths and Sciences had become straightforward for me and I even secretly harboured ambitions to match Elize’s performance in them. Even illogical subjects like languages and arts became easier. The only problem was subjects where coursework made up a significant proportion of the final mark – that was something I would never be able to catch up on.

In short I continued revising, although doing it as discreetly as possible to avoid giving the parents more opportunities to discourage me. And I didn’t consider it last minute: I’d started revising seriously weeks beforehand and it was still a while before my exams started.

I knew it was inevitable that Elize would host a study session with her nerd squad sooner or later, I just didn’t realise it would be that Saturday.

I had broken off from my own studying to thermohydrate a tea bag, when the girls descended on the kitchen for similar reasons. Shona squealed and rushed forward to seize me in a fierce hug.

“Thank you,” she gushed. “I owe you big time.” Then more quietly she added, “Grandma’s doing much better. She’s going to church again, and her sister’s making arrangements to move in.” Then she kissed my cheek.

“I told you what I wanted by way of payment and you’ve provided it,” I asserted. “You owe me nothing.”

“You paid Mitch for something?” sneered Cathy. “What scam has he pulled off this time?”

Shona released me. “I asked Mitch for his help, despite not being sure whether he was a scam artist or genuine,” she insisted. “He provided everything I asked for. I don’t know how he did it, but now I’m definitely on Team Mitch.”

“Oh yes? How much did you pay him?”

“All he asked for was my silence.”

Cathy didn’t have a snappy comeback. I took that as my signal to make my escape with my mug of tea, but Justine took Shona’s place and gave me an equally fierce hug, making my senses reel with her intoxicating scent.

“Elize told me what you said,” she whispered. “That was really sweet.”

“Does that mean you trust me?” I whispered back, resisting my desire to kiss her because of the presence of the others.

“Yes. I just wish you’d trust me in return.”

At that point, if she’d pressed me harder, I might well have folded.

Cathy spoiled the moment. “Not another one,” she snarked. “Am I the only one not taken over by Mitch’s Borg Collective?”

“He’s my baby brother and I love him,” said Elize, “but I have no idea what these two see in him.”

“Well he’s not getting into my panties so easily.”

“Cathy, that was uncalled for,” scolded Elize, as the other girls gasped in horror.

“Cathy,” I said, “you’re a friend of my sister therefore I will treat you with respect. I’d be grateful for you to do the same to me. I’m not some sort of evil Svengali.” Then, in an attempt to lighten the mood, I turned to Justine and grinned, “You tell her, slave!”

Justine punched my arm. “Ow, ow, ow.” I fell to the ground, rolling around in a pretence of agony that a professional footballer would be proud of.

“What’s going on in here?” asked Mum, having come to check what all the commotion was about.

“The baby of the family is acting his age,” smirked Elize.

“Ow?” I added, rubbing my arm and looking at Mum in the hope of some sympathy.

“Just get up, you baby,” said Elize. She took hold of my good arm and gave a totally unnecessary pull to help me to my feet.

“Oh well, if it’s only Mitch getting hurt, I’ll leave you to it,” said Mum, making her exit.

“Mu-u-um!” I protested in vain.

“Cathy,” said Elize once Mum was out of earshot. “My brother has done nothing untoward with either Shona or Justine, and I think all three deserve an apology.”

Cathy looked chastened; she nodded. “I’m sorry, Shona. I’m sorry, Justine,” she said. Then, when she turned to look at me, she bore a look of genuine distress that I’ll never forget. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She shook her head, “I can’t...” then she rushed from the kitchen.

Shona and Justine went after Cathy. Elize looked at me warningly. “Don’t follow us, give her some space,” she said, then she too left the kitchen.

I nodded. From the clumping up the stairs, I guessed Cathy was heading back to Elize’s room. Whatever was happening with Cathy had to be bad, but I couldn’t see how it could be my fault.

The girls had left the kitchen without any refreshments. I knew how they liked their coffees, so I made and labelled a mug for each and put out some cake and biscuits too. Then I carried everything upstairs on a tray. I placed the tray outside Elize’s door. There was urgent, hushed conversation taking place within. I knocked on the door and called out, “I’m leaving coffee outside on a tray.”

“Thanks Mitch,” Elize called back. “Now go away.”

I went back downstairs to get my mug of tea. It had gone cold, so I nuked it for a few seconds in the microwave. When I went back to my own bedroom, I saw the tray had disappeared from outside Elize’s room.

I buried myself in revision and forgot all about the girls until there was a tentative knock on my door. Since the visitor didn’t burst straight as Elize would have, it had to be one of the other girls. “Come in,” I called.

My visitor was Shona and she looked very grim-faced. “I have Cathy’s permission to tell her story, but first I need you to promise not to be an asshole about it.”

“Shona, you didn’t like me very much but you’re a friend of my sister. When you turned up here asking for my help, did I treat you with anything but respect? I assure you, I’ll do the same for Cathy. Shut the door and find somewhere to sit.”

“Um, can we leave the door open, please?” Shona asked.

I guessed she wanted the others to overhear our conversation. But I had nothing to hide. And it would appease the parents if they caught us. “Sure,” I said.

Shona elected to sit on the side of my bed, then leapt straight into Cathy’s story.

“When Cathy was twelve, she was snatched off the street by two men in a van. They put a hood over her head so she couldn’t see where they went. After a drive of several hours, they took her into a secluded house surrounded by trees. For the next two days the men repeatedly raped her. Then they put the hood back on, drove her for several more hours, then dumped her, naked and bleeding, on the other side of town.”