Dead Connections

Chapter 2 - Forced to be the cook

Chapter 2

I didn’t know that any of this misfortune would happen to me. I thought it would be an ordinary night, like any other. It was a Friday… A typical, boring old Friday. School had finished as usual, I’d done all the usual crap I did at home and then I went to the arcade with my friends, like every other Friday evening.

Thinking of it now, if I had never gone out with all my mates, I wouldn’t be in the situation right now. I wandered if they had heard that I had been taken. Maybe mum had phoned the police. She probably phoned the police as soon as I was like 1 minute past my curfew. Dad would have gone out looking for me. He would have driven up to that arcade and started questioning everyone there. He had a picture of me in his wallet from when we both went ice skating together and we got our pictures taken together in the photo booth.

If my friends heard, they’d probably think it was a joke, and that I was getting them back for that April fools stuff they did on me. It wouldn’t be until the police started asking questions that they’d realise I wasn’t joking.

I led on my mattress with my face mushed against the rough pillow and thought.

I tried to relive the whole night so I could figure out what I did wrong.

“Be home by ten then, no later,” mum said, slapping a crisp £5 pound note into my open palm and throwing my coat at me. “And wrap up. You’ll catch your death at this time of the year.”

“It’s not that cold,” I replied with a smirk, putting my coat on anyway. Mum smiled at me, pecking me on the cheek.

“But we can never be too safe, can we honey?” mum said in a tone that indicated that she didn’t want to talk about it and further. It was the typical ‘I’m always right, you’ll always be wrong’ mum tone. I sighed, nodding, as I put the money into my pocket and turned, heading for the front door. Mum followed me closely, like a lost puppy. “Call me when you get to the arcade remember, and don’t talk to strangers.”

“Chill mum,” I sighed. “I’ll be fine. Just relax. I’ll be back by ten.”

“Ok,” mum replied, pulling herself together and standing up just that little bit straighter. It was hard to keep a straight face. I was only going to meet up with a few of my friends at the arcade. I wasn’t going off to fight in a war or anything. But then again, mum was mum. She had to be super serious otherwise she’d be a completely different woman. “Ok,” mum repeated, more to herself than to anyone else. I could see her hands shaking. “I’ll see you at ten then honey. Have fun. Enjoy yourself.”

“I will, I will,” I replied, my voice sounding slightly awkward from trying not to laugh. Jeez, she had to calm down. “I’ll see you later.”

I remembered setting out at about 8pm, wandering to my friend’s house so her mum could drive us. My twin brother, Zack had kept bugging me before hand, claiming that I was going out with a boyfriend or something (not that I had one) and I had told him to go and die in a hole. Something he always said to me. It was funny really. Those were probably going to be the last words I said to him… ‘Go die in a hole!’

Dad had also given me £20 to spend, oblivious to the fact that it was mum who always gave me £5 to spend on Fridays at the arcade. So I’d always set off with £25 instead, with mum and dad both holding the same desire to get some change at the end of the night. I told them that wasn’t likely since it was very expensive at the arcade, and mum had nodded. Dad, however, just rolled his eyes and stood by the window as I walked down the street.

I remembered walking up to my mate’s house; the long walk up the large hill in Farmborough and through the dark alleys. I couldn’t remember seeing anyone pass me, and the only cars that went past were small buggies or mini’s, something considered cool from where I came from.