Billy Summers

He looks out and sees nothing but the deserted street. The rain is still coming down but the wind has let up a little. He pulls the curtain closed and checks his watch, which he never took off. It’s quarter past four in the morning. He puts on the shorts, lies down on the couch, and tries to think what he should do with her when she wakes up, but what’s jamming up the forefront of his mind, ridiculous but true, is that her unwelcome appearance in his life has probably put an end to his writing, and just when it was going well. He has to smile. It’s like worrying if there’s enough toilet paper when you hear the town’s tornado siren go off.

The body wants what it wants, and so does the mind, he thinks, and closes his eyes. He means only to doze but falls fully asleep again instead. When he wakes up the girl is standing over him, wearing the T-shirt he got her into when he put her to bed. And holding a knife.

CHAPTER 14

1

‘Where am I? Who are you? Did you rape me? You did, didn’t you?’

Her eyes are red and her hair is every whichway. Her picture could be next to hangover in the dictionary. She also looks scared to death, and Billy can’t blame her for that.

‘You were raped, but I didn’t rape you.’

The knife is just the little one he used to pry up the splinters in his feet. He left it on the coffee table. He reaches out and takes it from her. He does it gently and she makes no protest.

‘Who are you?’ Alice asks. ‘What’s your name?’

‘Dalton Smith.’

‘Where are my clothes?’

‘Hanging from the shower rod in the bathroom. I undressed you and—’

‘Undressed me!’ She looks down at the shirt.

‘And dried you off. You were soaking wet. Shivering. How’s your head?’

‘Aches. I feel like I drank all night, but I only had one beer … and I think maybe a g-and-t … where are we?’

Billy swings his feet to the floor. She backs away, hands coming up in a warding-off gesture. ‘Would you like a cup of coffee?’

She considers it, but not for long. She lowers her hands. ‘Yes. And do you have aspirin?’

2

He makes coffee. She swallows two aspirin while she waits for it, then slowly goes into the bathroom. He hears the door lock, but that doesn’t concern him. A five-year-old could bust that lock, and a ten-year-old would probably bust the door off the hinges in the bargain.

She comes back to the kitchen. ‘You didn’t flush. Ugh.’

‘I didn’t want to wake you.’

‘Where’s my phone? It was in my jacket.’

‘I don’t know. Do you want some toast?’

She makes a face. ‘No. I’ve got my wallet but not my phone. Did you take it?’

‘No.’

‘Are you lying?’

‘No.’

‘Like I should believe you,’ she says with shaky contempt. She sits down, tugging at the hem of the T-shirt, although it’s long and everything that needs to be covered is covered.

‘Where’s my underwear?’ The tone is accusing, prosecutorial.

‘Your bra is under the coffee table. One of the straps was broken. Maybe I can knot it together for you. As for underpants, you weren’t wearing any.’

‘You’re lying. What do you think I am, a whore?’

‘No.’

What he thinks is that she’s a young girl away from home for the first time who went to a wrong place where there were wrong people. Bad people who loaded her up with something and took advantage of her.

‘Well I’m not,’ she says, and begins to cry. ‘I’m a virgin. At least I was. This is a mess. The worst mess I’ve ever been in.’

‘I can relate to that,’ Billy says, and with absolute sincerity.

‘Why didn’t you call the police? Or take me to the hospital?’

‘You were messed up but not circling the drain. By that I mean—’

‘I know what it means.’

‘I thought I’d wait until you woke up, let you decide what you want to do. Maybe a cup of coffee will help you figure it out. It can’t hurt. And by the way, what’s your name?’ Best to get that out, so he doesn’t screw up and say it himself.

3

He pours the coffee, ready to dodge if she tries throwing it in his face and then running for the door. He doesn’t think she will, she’s settling down a little, but this is still a situation that could go bad. Well hey, it’s bad already, but it could get worse.

She doesn’t throw the coffee at him. She sips some and makes a face. Her lips press tight together and he can see the muscles in her throat moving even after it’s gone down.

‘If you’re going to throw up again, do it in the sink.’

‘I’m not going to … what do you mean again? How did I get here? Are you sure you didn’t rape me?’

That isn’t funny but Billy can’t help smiling. ‘If I did, I think I’d know.’

‘How did I get here? What happened?’

He sips his own coffee. ‘That would be the middle of the story. Let’s start at the beginning. Tell me what happened to you.’

‘I don’t remember. Last night is your basic black hole. All I know is I woke up here, hungover and feeling like somebody stuck a fencepost up my … you know.’ She sips her coffee and this time she gets it down without having to repress a gag reflex.

‘What about before that?’