Time To Play by KA Richardson (best book club books of all time TXT) 📗

away. Stevie-Lea owed him an explanation. It wasn’t even that she was good in the sack; he’d told her she was every time they’d had sex, knowing in his wise nineteen-year-old heart girls needed to be told all the time. It was that she was his. The few times he’d lost his temper and lashed out at her were her fault anyway; she’d always taunted him and pushed his buttons.

He stumbled up the path and started banging loudly on the door. ‘Stevie-Lea, open the door. It’s me, GC, Stevie!’

He heard her open the bedroom window, and she leant out and yelled, ‘What the fuck are you doing, GC? Go the fuck away.’

‘Stevie, please. You owe me an explanation,’ whined GC, looking up at her.

‘I owe you fuck all. Now naff off. You’ll wake the whole bloody village.’

She slammed the window shut and GC felt his rage burn. He hadn’t heard the whisperings she shared with her new boyfriend upstairs – there was no way he could have – but he was fuming. How dare she just dismiss him like that?

He lost his temper, slamming his fists on the front door and screaming her name over and over. Wake the whole village? I’ll wake the whole bloody city, you selfish cow.

As the front door opened suddenly, GC tipped forward and almost lost his balance. He grabbed the side of the door and stood slowly, plastering a grin on his face. ‘Knew you’d come round.’

As GC’s eyes connected with the man at the door, they widened in shock, realisation taking a moment to dawn.

‘Name’s Kyle. Stevie-Lea told you to fuck off. Now I’m telling you. And I’ll say it real slow so you can understand. FUCK … OFF.’

‘And who are you? Man-fucking-mountain?’ GC squared up to the male in the doorway, his chest stuck out as he waited for a reply.

Kyle didn’t speak, he moved quickly instead, his fist connecting with the side of GC’s jaw like a bumper car at the fairground. GC felt his head spin around and his legs go beneath him as he flew backwards and landed hard on his backside. He heard the door slam as he lay there looking up at the stars.

It took him a few minutes to clamber to his feet, and when he did, he grabbed the nearest thing he could in temper. The rock impacted with the bedroom window; the bang echoed around the street. Most of the glass flew inside the room, but small shards sprinkled over the garden, and GC heard the roar of man-mountain inside and realised he didn’t want to face that wrath twice, so he turned tail and ran.

It felt like his feet were pounding for hours as the path changed from paved to undergrowth. But he kept running, convinced the big man was right on his heels. Tree branches slapped him in the face as he ran, and he registered how much his jaw hurt. He could still taste the metallic tang of blood around his back teeth, and for a moment he wondered whether something was broken.

When the ground slipped away beneath his feet, he felt his arms flail outwards as a scream escaped and he fell forwards. The freezing cold water was like another slap to his face and he inhaled sharply as his body went into shock and froze momentarily. It was long enough for the water to take him, though.

It had been raining persistently for two weeks now, and yesterday had been especially heavy. The River Wear had risen, bursting its banks in places, and there were now fast whirling rapids where it had been calm previously. The flow carried GC away quickly, and he opened his mouth to yell for help. Seeing his weakness, the dark river sent a wave crashing into his mouth, the water filling it instantly and making him gag in response as it hit his throat. He coughed and spluttered as panic set in.

Any remnant of the alcohol and drug stupor fled from his mind as he fought the water, trying to stay afloat. He tried to swim, flapping his arms hard and wishing he had paid more attention in his PE lessons at school.

His teeth chattered as the water dragged him further towards the city. He opened his mouth to scream again and was suddenly pulled underneath the surface as his foot snagged on something unseen. Struggling, he kicked his other leg at whatever it was and tried to free himself. But the river had other ideas, and the tree gripping his foot held steady.

The waves shifted suddenly as a large branch interrupted the flow. GC felt the cold air on his face and gasped in a few eager breaths, shuddering breaths as he tried not to cry in fear. He tugged hard at his leg, his tears clogging his throat. But the tree held fast.

His movements did dislodge the large branch behind him though, the end swung round suddenly and connected with the side of his head. The impact was hard enough to make him see black curtains closing in, and there was nothing he could do to stop them. His eyes fluttered closed, and the river pulled him back down.

GC didn’t feel the water replace the air in his lungs, he didn’t feel the tree release his ankle, and he didn’t feel the river carry him further into oblivion.

Container Truck, Southern England – 2 November

The steady drone of the diesel engines was constant. Elvie Aquino was sitting huddled in a corner of the container. Her knees were pulled up to her chest, and she was doing her best to ignore the strong smell of urine from the bottom end of her nightie. Sweat from the start of her journey had dried and set, making her clothes stiff. Her dark hair was no longer shiny; it hung in limp strands around her face.