DEAD GOOD by D A Cooper Read Free Book Online Page A

she’s saying now. ‘You have to connect with them and lead the way for them – they’re innocent in death – everyone is innocent in death….’ She’s rambling and I think I switched off ages ago. I’ve started to dwell on how lovely her curtains are and how I wish I still had a nice thick carpet like hers and how I long for double glazing and not those disgusting, draughty old windows which are going to be crap at keeping us warm in winter. We’ll freeze. And then Gordon effing Brown will have to do something about our plight – he’ll have to!
     
    ‘Uuu-ummm! Maddie said a swear word! Maddie said a swear word!....’ the voice’s laughing right in front of me.
     
    I swear, if I could see him right now I’d punch him in the face.
     
    And then I do.
     
     
     

eight
     
     
     
    Not punch him in the face. No, I mean I see him. Right here. Right now. And he’s still laughing at me. It’s weird. I know I’m here, in Amber’s pink and frilly and – if you ask me, although I’d never tell her to her face – completely over the top Barbie-eque bedroom… but…
     
    ‘Ve-ry Barbie, isn’t it?’ His grin broadens.
     
    Hang on a minute – can he hear everything I’m bloody well thinking? Surely that’s not right? It’s not fair anyway – how dare he? Is nothing sacred? Does that mean I’m going to have to think of things like brick walls and empty rooms if I want some privacy from now on? Hmm?
     
    ‘Pretty much, yeah,’ he laughs on. ‘Although I do have a sense of decency about me, so there’s no need to be too concerned.’
     
    I stare at the very vague face which is so close to mine I probably could punch it – if I wanted to.
     
    ‘Try it.’ He goads, widening his deeper-but-still-pale eyes. ‘Go on.’
     
    Yeah right. Like that wouldn’t totally freak Amber out or make me look like an utter mental case in front of her. If I wanted a one-way ticket to idiot-land then that’s exactly what I should do. So I don’t. I won’t.
     
    He laughs. He’s got a nice laugh actually, not thuggish and dense like some boys laugh, but kinda cute. I gulp and feel the beginnings of a flush. Oh crap, he heard that, right?
     
    ‘Right.’
     
    ‘Um… Amber…’ I start, wondering where I’m going to go with this. ‘I think I should probably be getting back home… I mean back to the new place... I mean place – it’s not new – it’s a total shit-hole of course, but I should probably be going. Mum wants me to start making the dinner. So I should…’
     
    Now Amber’s laughing. ‘Since when have you ever made dinner?’ she shrieks. Okay, deep breath - let’s all gang up on Madeline Preston today then, shall we? ‘You wouldn’t know how to boil a kettle if it had a...a big luminous on-off switch that …played music when your hand went near it… or something.’ She trails off.
     
    Bless her; Amber’s not great with analogies.
     
    ‘I promised,’ I lie, standing up. ‘We’ve all got to muck in and help each other get through this, Amber. These are very difficult times for our family… remember Pay-As-You-Go?’
     
    Amber’s face falls and she nods sympathetically. I knew that would get her. She wouldn’t be able to survive a day, no, make that an hour, with only ten pounds’ worth of texts, let alone make them stretch a whole bloody month! She would probably rather poke her eyeballs out with a cricket bat than have to try and restrict herself to three point three texts per day.
     
    ‘That’s good maths.’ The pale boy says grinning.
     
    I sniff and tilt my head smugly. ‘What can I say? I work stuff out.’ I tell him.
     
    ‘You what?’ Amber frowns. ‘What do you mean you work stuff out?’
     
    ‘What do you mean what do I mean?’ I echo back, frowning even harder than she is. Maybe if I try to confuse her she won’t think I’m going mad and talking nonsense. Her head jerks back in confusion.
     
    ‘Oh, doesn’t matter,’ she says, waving her hand