‘Yes, he’s nine years old and is showing an early talent for credit card fraud.’
Lizzie has gone quiet which is unusual for my best friend. I can hear Bill laughing in the background.
‘Ems, you need to change your tack with Felix. You have to take control.’
I let out a wail of frustration. ‘I’ve tried, Lizzie, you know that.’
My best mate lets out the heaviest of sighs. ‘Ems, Rory is not coming home, Rory has moved on. Let’s all face facts. You need to stay over tonight and, in the morning, take Felix home. Once home you need to have a conversation with that young man about his behaviour.’
Exhaustion washes over me. Lizzie is right. It’s time to move on.
‘Ems, you made the right decision about letting Rory go. It’s now time to sort out Felix.’
CHAPTER25
FELIX
‘Hello, it’s me again. I’m in Rory’s bed with Baxter. Aunty Emily is in the shower. My plan hasn’t worked out and I’m a bit sad. Rory isn’t here. Tom, his flatmate, doesn’t know where Rory is.’ He removes his socks, squashes them into a ball and chucks them across the bedroom in frustration while Baxter licks the phone screen. ‘BAXTER.’ He wipes the phone screen with his T-shirt.
‘Rory’s bedroom is cool. I will show you.’ Flipping the camera, he scans the room’s grey walls and Rory’s black industrial-style wall shelves opposite the bed with the phone. ‘He hasn’t got a yucky purple carpet like I have. Sorry, Mummy, I know you love my carpet.’ Turning the phone to himself he grins at the camera.
Placing Baxter on a pillow he takes the phone and, standing on the bed, shows his mum the shelves. ‘If you were here, you would tell me not to touch Rory’s shelves. I promise I will not drop or break anything. Check out his orange clock which looks like an old TV with an aerial and buttons for the channels. That is so cool. He has some bottles of aftershave too, but they smell like that stuff you used to use to clean the bathroom. I have smelt them all.’ He turns the camera on himself and wiggles his eyebrows while grinning mischievously. ‘Rory also has a cactus, and it looks like a big fork.’ He points the phone camera at the green cactus and touches it before yelping. ‘I don’t like that plant.’
Sitting back down he pulls the sheets over him. ‘Aunty Emily has been looking in Rory’s drawers for clean bedsheets. I keep telling her I like the ones which are already on the bed. They smell nice and are warm. When I sniff them, I think of Rory, which makes me feel nice.’ He rubs the sheet against his cheek, closes his eyes and pulls what only can be described as a cheesy smile for the camera.
‘I hope Rory comes home soon. Maybe he’s gone out to buy extra Christmas presents?’ Wiggling his eyebrows at the phone camera he grins. ‘Any present from Rory will be cool. There’s a present on the bedside cabinet.’ Holding up the phone he points the camera at the red and gold wrapped gift. ‘I think he bought one for me and forgot one for Aunty Emily, so he had to rush back out to the shops.’
‘Amelie has sent me an iMessage to say she’s secretly opened the corner of one of her presents under the tree. It’s not from Santa. Amelie thinks it’s from her mum’s friend who always buys her cuddly toys. Amelie doesn’t want cuddly toys. She wants rollerskates and a longer skipping rope. In the summer she says we are going to tie her new rope to the back of my bike and she’s going to pretend she’s water skiing on her rollerskates. She wants me to cycle very fast so she can lean back and do tricks like holding on with just one hand or sticking one leg out. I like Amelie, she’s exciting.’ He chuckles away to himself. ‘Do you remember, Mummy, when she cut her own hair? You were so shocked when you saw what she had done your mouth fell open and you didn’t say anything for ages. Amelie got in so much trouble. Her new haircut is what you call amullet. Aunty Emily told me everyone wore mullets long ago. I asked you for a mullet haircut and you said no very quickly. Amelie wants to cut my hair like hers, but I think Aunty Emily would shout a lot. I also think I need to be a good boy for a bit after all the trouble I have caused.’
His smile disappears. ‘Jade has emailed me. My new friend from the train. The one who was in the video when I was in the train toilet. She wanted an update on my plan. Her mum is nervous about what Sidney is going to say when she asks him to marry her. Jade is not worried. Sidney works in the hospital at night, so Jade is staying in the bedroom he’s decorated for her when she stays at his flat. She has sent me a photo. The wallpaper has loads of footballs on it. Jade loves playing football. She’s in her school football team. Her mum has told her that if she asks her one more time about whether they can get a dog like Baxter she’s going to explode. Jade says she’s only asked her sixty-four times since we left them in London.’ Felix smiles and Baxter licks the phone screen again.
Scratching his head, Felix screws up his face at the camera. ‘Jade wants to know whether I will be her boyfriend. She says when we are both back home, we can meet up on the beach and take Baxter for walks.’ He sighs. ‘I like Jade, but I get the feeling she likes me because I have Baxter. The only girl I do like is Amelie. Sai knows I like her but has told me girlfriends get you into trouble. He thinks I should have a girlfriend when I am older. What do you think, Mummy? If Rory was here, I would ask him. When he turns up, I will ask him. I will also ask what he thinks of amullethaircut. Amelie says it’s easy to cut as you just chop the sides very short and leave the back long. Aunty Emily is coming. Bye.’
CHAPTER26
RORY
Ayoung boy with golden hair and a blue stripey top is making his way along the train carriage. My mind is trying to suppress the little inner voice which is whispering,‘he looks like a young Lawrence.’In a flash I am back to the same train journey we used to make every Saturday morning. I used to take him to ballet practice which was always a train stop away. We’d board the train with pockets stuffed with packets of sugary sweets and cans of fizzy drinks. All the things our parents banned us from eating. On the train we’d stretch our legs over two seats each and empty bags of sickly-sweet sherbet into our mouths. Lawrence would then move on to lollipops, and I would hit the tangy jelly sweets that glued themselves to my teeth for hours.
From an early age Lawrence danced. He used to say it started because of Mum and Dad shouting at each other. He’d get so upset at hearing them yell obscenities he’d race out of the back door and up the street. In the disused car park of the old ice cream factory, he’d start to dance amongst the litter left behind by the older boys after one of their nights out drinking cider. As the caring older brother I’d always chase after him. When I found him, he’d be twirling across the car park or leaping into the air, with arms outstretched like an elegant bird. Dad never wanted Lawrence to go to ballet. He said the thought made him feel uncomfortable. I spent years trying to persuade Dad to secretly watch Lawrence in the car park. If he’d seen Lawrence’s dancing ability, he would have changed his mind. When Dad walked out and left us for the woman who had a mobile burger van, Mum and I decided to get Lawrence some proper dance training.
To my relief Alfie carries on talking. ‘On our app you would meet your date at the station of your choice.’
‘We think it would work well for time constrained commuters,’ adds Michael.
Alfie twirls his phone around the shiny train table. ‘We would pilot it at London St Pancras as we think that’s the best station for finding love.’
‘It’s a special place,’ Michael is scrolling through his phone.
I need to steer the conversation away from station romance. ‘So, what do you two do when you’re not designing phone apps?’
Alfie smiles. ‘We both have dull office jobs by day but after work we are musicians.’
‘Oh – what do you play?’
Michael lifts his head up from his phone. ‘We both play the piano, but I also love the drums.’
Alfie laughs. ‘Our neighbours are not so keen on his drums.’
