Chapter 8
The ride back into town gives me plenty of time to reflect. A few people glance at my face so I pull the cap down further. My body is a mass of pain in a way that I could never have imagined but I'm managing, just about, maybe through gritted teeth but I'll get there.
The fact that I've just murdered someone doesn't overly figure as I'm more focused on self care. If I try hard enough I can obliterate the scene and almost believe that it never happened. My mind drifts to Gale and I wonder if he'll be in the office by now. Oddly I'm not in any rush to check, as solitude is a greater need. Hopefully J.J will see to Podge if I'm late home. He's normally pretty good like that.
The bus turns into Shaftesbury Avenue and I limp off carefully at my usual stop. I've got fleeting thoughts of maybe still being able to make something from the evening. Common sense halts this any further when the mirror gives me a sharp reality check.
Crossing into Leicester Square I begin to run like the wind. Hazy faces fly past me like a movie on fast forward. My vision blurs as I race across roads, fighting through the pain as cars' screech and honk swerving to avoid me.
"Stupid Bitch!" yells a voice blasting his horn, which echoes through my head like a tin train rattling in a tunnel.
As far as I'm concerned the voices are miles away. When I run I feel only freedom, no pain just a chance of escaping from me, I run down the steps two at a time and dash across the road into Hyde Park.
Tourists dawdle along, lovers all bug eyed sitting by the café which is always busy. Dogs bark happily as their owners chase them, a serene scene which once again leaves me out. I walk onto the grass in search of my hideaway. Stopping in front of the large hedge I quickly look from left to right before burrowing my way inside. Thoughts of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe flitter past me but there's no Narnia waiting.
I stand up on the mossy bank, home to Swans and Ducks and breathe deeply. However my private sanctuary is not so private tonight. A moonlit figure sits feeding a swan. It takes me only a second to realize who it is before my resolve crumbles and I run to him.
"Gale!"
"Kiz...my God, what the fuck happened to you?"
He holds onto me as I cry a river. Sitting me down carefully on the dewy carpet he blinks as we both stare out at the twinkling water, watching the lights cut through it like precious jewels.
He turns to look at my tear stained face, "I don't know who did this to you but they're so dead."
His voice is monotone but I find it comforting, I guess that he's a little stoned. I breathe in and out grateful for his presence.
"You don't need to worry about that."
"I do."
"No you DON'T."
He turns and holds my face gently searching my eyes for answers.
"What do you mean? What are you saying?"
"He's dead," I whisper looking away, throwing a pebble into the water and watching it ripple.
"That's good." He turns away, "Who was it? Anyone I know?"
I shake my head, "No one. He was no one."
Gale escorts me home after asking if I need to stop off at the hospital. I shake my head, insisting that I've felt worse...that's a lie but I can't be doing with his fussing.
As we approach Waterloo Bridge J.J walks towards us. He can barely stand and he stinks of wee.
"You alright iz?"
YOU ARE READING
Kizzy fly by night.
Mystery / ThrillerA young runaway arrives in 1980s London determined to escape from her past. However, the past is reluctant to let her be. She can run and lose herself in the darkest pit of the city but it is only a matter of time before she is found. A tangled we...
