Page 28 of House of Bass

She and her mother could barely afford a day-to-day meal. How could she have known a man of that kind of status? It had to be fake but she couldn’t ask her, so she had to ask him. A simple search got her an address too, but it was all the way in London. She would have to skip school and work just for this, but it had to be done.

On that day, a Thursday, she had woken up bright and early, admittedly she could barely sleep the whole night because her mind kept spinning. She couldn’t register exactly what she had been feeling, but it was a mix of excitement and fear.

There was a light drizzle and grey skies once she stepped out of the house. It made her smile a little because it meant the day was off to normal. The bus to Lime Street was on time for once, a shocker, and she sat at the very back, not wanting to be disturbed. Then came the two and half hour train where she finally got some sleep.

This was her first time in London, and sightseeing was the least of her worries, but she needed something to calm herself so she stuck to staring out the window memorising every landmark she could recognise on the bus afterwards.

Almost an hour later, she was within walking distance of Bishops Avenue.

Every step towards her destination left her with a pit in her stomach. The smile that graced her earlier this morning was now an afterthought. Harley was scared. She wasn’t sure of what she’d tell him when she met him. Perhaps she’d tell him about her art, or how brilliant she was in school, or how, when she was nine she’d cut herself running with the kids in the neighbourhood and sulked around for hours. Her mother simply ignored her cries, for her it had just been another day. Once Harley realised no one cared enough to listen she put a plaster on it and slept. If no one would take care of her, she’d take care of herself. Something she realised early.

The thought of that day suddenly made her angry. Angry at the man who was meant to be her father. How could he not think to look for her? It wasn’t like she was hidden. It might’ve taken her months, but she managed to get something about him, and she was fucking fourteen!

Clearly, he had the money to look but never did. Because he didn’t want her.

No. She couldn’t think this way. She’s made it this far. What is the worst that could happen…he’d tell her he didn’t want her? That’s not a problem. He wouldn’t be the first.

Harley gave herself a sharp nod after her less than effective pep talk and found she was already standing at a house bigger than she’d ever seen in her life. The street was obscenely quiet and gated which was so unlike her estate at home that was always loud and bustling. And it was just after midday, so perhaps the kids were at school like she was supposed to be.

There was a tiny doorbell by the gate but no response. She kept ringing but nobody came out. This was a stupid idea. Again, it was midday on a weekday, he was probably at work.

She couldn’t come back another day. The money it took for the trip here already cost her an arm and a leg, so she would just have to wait. How long could it possibly take?

Hence, she waited outside for hours and hours, sitting right opposite the massive house until a car drove up at nightfall.

It felt like her heart was beating out of her chest. This was it. This was the moment she’d been waiting for. She could do this.

Except when she got up from the floor, she realised it wasn’t just one person. It was a family. Four in total: a man, a woman and two kids. A blonde girl who looked about Harley’s age and a black girl that looked much younger. A girl who looked like her.

Harley had completely forgotten he had children, she felt…wrong. She didn’t want to be here anymore.

It was dark, and they couldn’t see her, but she watched them all with blistering smiles on their faces. He looked back like he heard something, but Harley hid between the bushes and he turned back to his family.

By midnight she was back home, and she wished she could say she was surprised but her mother didn’t even notice she was gone.

Then life went back to normal, alone again.

✧✧✧

Present Day

She probably should’ve been honest that she’d always been aware of their existence, but trust didn’t come so easy to her. And admittedly, Harley resented Annabel for leading a life that was far easier than her own while she suffered.

Her phone buzzing snapped her out of her thoughts. There was a text message from an unknown number.

UNKNOWN

Come to Corpse Lily tonight at 11pm, we need to talk.

R.A.T.

Her eyebrows dipped as she reread the short message. Who the fuck was R.A.T.? She sat up straight on her bed, confused as to who would want to meet with her at that time. She looked at the time on her phone that read quarter to ten and based on Maps, the place in question was thirty minutes away in Mayfair. Harley had decided to ignore it; she wasn’t even dressed for going out. Five minutes later, another message popped up:

UNKNOWN

Don’t ignore this, Banjo.

There was only one person who called her that and she immediately frowned further.