Getting over Gabe

C H A P T E R 14

C H A P T E R    14

Katy, said the card,

       Happy sixteenth birthday! You’re legal!

     And, just to let you know, I’m sorry for what I did. Please don’t press charges. We can be together again. Back to how it used to be, I love you.

                                                                    Gabe

I felt sick to my stomach, and my head was pounding.

‘How does he know my address? How does he know my address? How does he have any idea where I live?’

‘Katy, it’s okay. Stay calm.’

‘It’s not okay! And how am I meant to stay calm when he sent me this. And he knows where I live!’

‘I don’t know! I don’t fucking know! The bastard won’t be brave enough to do anything but send you stuff, and you don’t even need to read it. You can tell Sue and Des!’ I could see he wasn’t staying calm though. His jaw was clenched, and he said it through gritted teeth.

‘No, I don’t want to tell Sue or Desmond…Oh God, oh God…’ I wasn’t quite sure why but I really didn’t want them to know. Maybe it was the pitying looks I knew they’d give me, or how if Leah over heard about Gabe, I’m sure others would hear about this. And news travels fast, I’m sure within a week everyone would know. No, I wouldn’t tell them.

I think Cam could see how adamant I was that they wouldn’t know, because he said, ‘Or we could burn it…’

‘What? Where? We’d end up setting the house alight, and I don’t have any matches anyway!’

‘I have a lighter. And we could do it in the barbeque out back. You don’t even need to open it.’

I surprised myself, the words just seemed to slip out. ‘Okay. It’s dangerous, but okay. I don’t want this thing near me anymore.’

  ‘Really?’ he said skeptically. ‘I didn’t expect you to say yes.’ He grinned. ‘But let’s do this thing!’

I smiled weakly. ‘Yeah, let’s.’

At first it wouldn’t light, because the coals beneath it were slightly wet from the rain two nights ago, but Cam recovered a piece of  dry card from the recycling bin, and we put the tissue wrapped parcel- I refuse to call it a gift- onto the card, which we had, in turn, placed on the wet coals. Cam took the lighter from a pocket in his jeans, and he stood around the barbeque so it would be harder for anyone to see what we were doing through the window.

‘Do you want to do the honors, or shall I?’

I put out my hand. ‘I got this one.’ I said, smiling slightly.

I took the lighter from him. Twice the flame failed to come, but the third time it succeeded, and I lit the end of the blue tissue, smiling as the flames engulfed the corner of the package, darkening the thin paper, and making it brown, the paper curling up at the ends.

I saw Cam fidgeting, and once I’d given the lighter back to him he started fiddling even more. And then I saw why. In his un-bandaged hand was a cigarette.

He saw me look. ‘I’m stressed. I never got one earlier, and the package from that dick has made me feel even worse. Let me off this one time? Please? I really need a smoke.’

‘Fine. I guess it was handy you had a lighter in the first place, even if it was for a dirty habit.’

‘Whatever.’ He lit it, and put it between his lips. I tried to hide my look of disgust at the smell, and what I knew those things had done to Gran.