Tybalt and Juliet Ch. 08

"Jake, what's wrong, what happened?" Mum asked.

I explained how Lauren had upset Amy with the newspaper article and how I'd gone round to have it out with her.

Mum put an arm supportively around my shoulders.

"It's OK Jake," she said. "Let's get you up to bed for a sleep and we'll talk about it later."

I stood up and reached for my phone.

"No Jake," she said. "That's staying down here. You need to focus on you, not on anyone else."

-

There was a knock on my bedroom door a few hours later. Mum entered and sat down on the end of my bed.

"Are you feeling better?" she asked, offering me a glass of water.

I nodded.

"Did you sleep?"

I shook my head. "No, I don't think so," I replied.

There was a silence. Mum took my hand in hers.

"You're going to hate me," she said, "but I've been to talk to Lauren."

I swallowed. I didn't really want Mum to fight my battles for me.

"She didn't think," Mum went on. "She thought that showing Amy the newspaper was helping. She thought it would make you look like the hero. She's very sorry and she didn't want to upset either of you."

I nodded again, acknowledging the apology.

"She's confused and she doesn't understand why Amy reacted the way she did," Mum said softly.

"What did you say?" I asked cautiously.

"I said you were the one who was hospitalised but it was the two of you that got attacked. Amy saw everything, not just the scuffle, but you face down in the car park, unconscious, covered in blood."

I nodded.

"Amy's traumatised Jake. That's not something for you to get judgemental about - she's stayed so calm all the way through, but now you're back home she's relaxed the tiniest bit, let her guard down and all it's taken is something small to knock the cork off the bottle and to release all those emotions."

"Should I call her?" I asked anxiously, "Amy I mean."

"Well you're going to hate me even more," Mum said, "but I phoned Jenny, her mum. She gave me her number when I met her at the hospital - she thought this might happen. I just said that Amy had lunch with you here and that she'd been a bit upset before she left. That's all. It's up to her if she wants to tell her mum more."

"Thanks," I said, a little relieved that Amy's mum was aware. There was a silence for a few seconds.

"Anyway, I wanted to know what you wanted to eat for supper," Mum asked. "There's some more of the soup you had at lunchtime, but I've got some chicken if you prefer."

"Oh I'd prefer the chicken please," I replied.

"And you'll come down and eat with Dad and me?"

I nodded.

Mum patted my leg then stood. She looked back at me.

"Don't judge Amy on how she reacted today Jake," she warned. "She loves you. Maybe that's the problem, she didn't realise how much she loved you and that's scared her a bit."

Mum paused.

"She needs time to heal too," she said.

-

Throughout my childhood, I'd never been a good patient when ill - I couldn't stand being shut indoors all day. Aged eight and stuck at home with chickenpox, I'd learnt how to climb out of my bedroom window. Had there not been a thunderstorm one day that had panicked the hens, my exploits would have escaped detection, but my Dad had caught me in the pouring rain attempting a temporary fix to the wire mesh around the coop. A lock had swiftly been added to my window as a result.

Now as a teenager, I was even more hostile to being fussed over and held hostage by my injuries. Watching television or messing on the computer rapidly brought on severe headaches and, at first, even reading a book for more than five minutes was impossible.

I'd patched up my relationship with Lauren pretty quickly. We'd fallen out regularly as children, but animosity had rarely lasted long. She realised she'd crossed a line, albeit inadvertently, and was contrite and apologetic. We both wept as we hugged each other and my cousin promised unconditionally to support me through everything.

In contrast, things with Amy were strained. It was clear she was finding things tough going. Things were pretty unhappy at home, and apparently Rob, her step-dad, was still in big trouble with her mum for not picking us up from the Prom on time. She'd been called in for another interview with the police, which had left her pretty shaken, but to my frustration she refused to discuss it with me. Like me, she was having some counselling, but I didn't know any of the details.

Amy rarely laughed or smiled when we were together. She didn't cry, but increasingly she seemed a shadow of her former self. Before the attack, I'd thought I knew could read her well, but now I was struggling and clueless as to how best to support her. Although I was recovering steadily, my injuries still made me tetchy and short-tempered, and it was an effort to prevent myself from lashing out at her, as I had at Lauren.

The one bright point in Amy's life seemed to be her job at the Stables. She was certainly getting lots of free riding time. She liked Jackie, the owner, and the rest of the small team that worked there. Jackie had a son, Tim, who was a year older than me and was now back from his first year at university, also working there a few days a week. I liked Tim, although I didn't know him that well. Amy also liked him and talked about him a fair bit, enough to make me a little worried.

-

It was the second Friday after the Prom, when things really went awry. I'd woken up with a thumping headache, which hadn't been improved by a phonecall from the police around mid-morning, calling me in for an interview the following Monday. That had almost sent Amy over the edge, when I told her, and we'd very nearly fallen out over some trivial issue to do with the choice of plates we were using for lunch.

That evening, Mum, Dad and I were at the kitchen table in the middle of supper when Mum's phone rang. I couldn't see the screen from where I was sitting, but she excused herself and took the call into the sitting room. Dad and I looked at each other, concerned that something might have happened to my grandparents.

Mum returned a few minutes later.

"That was Jenny, Amy's mum," she said.

I looked up anxiously.

"Amy's had a really tough week," Mum continued. "It's not your fault at all Jake, you've been wonderful and supportive of her. But it's all got a bit too much.

"Jenny has persuaded her to spend a week with her grandparents in Hampshire, just to get away from everything here."

"But what about the Stables?" I protested.

"So they spoke to Jackie this afternoon," Mum continued. "Tim's going to stay around next week to help out."

"Oh," I said.

"Amy's going to ring you later, but Jenny though it would be wise for you to know beforehand. Amy doesn't know she's called me."

"Oh," I said, fearing the worst. "Does that mean it's over between us, Amy and me?"

"I don't think so Jake," said Mum, looking a little sad. "But I'm sorry - I don't know, I really don't know."

There was a silence, as the enormity of Amy's decision sank in.

"Jake," said Mum gently. "When she does phone, please be supportive of whatever she decides to do. You can scream, shout and yell at Dad and me - even Lauren, but don't take anything out on Amy."

"OK," I said, trying my best to smile.

-

It wasn't until around nine o'clock that my phone rang.

"Hello Amy," I said meekly as I answered.

"Hello Jake," she replied - she sounded a little tired.

"How are you?"

"I'm OK," she replied. "I've got something to tell you."

I paused. "OK," I said.

"I've been finding things really tough since the Prom," she said. "I'm sorry."

"You've got nothing to apologise for," I said.

"Please Jake," she said, "let me say this."

I murmured in agreement.

"I'm going to go away for a few days, maybe a week to stay with my grandparents," she said quietly. "I'm really sorry, I feel like I'm running away from you when I should be supporting you, but I need to clear my head. I can't do it here at home."

There was a pause.

"I really love you Jake, I really do. I feel like a real bitch, running away like this, but I have to go, I need to get away." She was beginning to cry now.

"I love you Amy," I said, a lump in my throat too. "Take as much time as you need. I'll be here for you when you come back. You know I'll support you whatever you do. And if you want to talk when you're away, just pick up the phone."

"I don't deserve you Jake," she said. "I really don't. I'm so useless; it's all my fault."

"Nothing's your fault," I replied. "And you're not useless, and I really love you too."

We said goodbye to each other, then I sank back on my bed in floods of tears.

-

I think that was the lowest point for me, that phonecall. I moped around the next morning, convinced that Amy was going to split up with me and that the world was going to end. Fortunately, Lauren returned from the Campsite that afternoon and dragged me out to the river. She and Danny rowed me round the millpond a couple of times, doing their best to distract me.

The police interview on the Monday turned out to be a formality, nothing more. They'd written up the evidence that I'd given to Sergeant Roberts in the hospital, which they asked me to check through and sign.

Then they showed me the CCTV footage of the attack and asked me to talk through what was happening. I was surprised how little time the whole incident had taken. From Ritchie's initial appearance in the car park to me kicking the knife out of his hand was well under a minute. He'd disappeared off screen for maybe twenty seconds, while Billy had taken off his shirt and tied it round my arm. Then Ritchie had reappeared with the champagne bottle and smashed it over my head. I watched myself falling helplessly forwards onto the ground and winced as I saw my head hitting the kerbstone. Amy had pulled out her phone immediately to call the ambulance and Billy had tried his best to stem the blood. I wasn't sure if Amy had seen the same footage, but I understood why she'd been upset by her police interview if she had.

-

I was at home a few days later, when I heard a knock at the door. It was Frankie. (She'd played the Nurse in the school play and had become a good friend of Amy's.)

"Oh hello Jake," she said. "I was just passing, I thought I'd stop and say hi."

"Come in," I said smiling. "I was about to make a cup of tea, you want one?"

We sat at the kitchen table clutching our mugs.

"How are you, Jake?" Frankie asked.

"I'm feeling a lot better," I said. "I was with the police on Monday for the final time - that's taken a big weight off my shoulders. And I'm over the concussion now. I should be back at the Campsite next week."

"And how is Amy?" she asked.

"She's finding it really tough," I admitted. "She's gone to visit her grandparents for a week. She's still a bit traumatised by the whole thing."

Frankie nodded sympathetically.

"She keeps saying it's all her fault - she blames herself for Ritchie attacking me," I said, half-hoping I might persuade Frankie to talk to Amy.

"Her fault?" Frankie echoed.

I nodded. "She thinks she might have given Ritchie signals that he might have misinterpreted," I added. "But it's not true, I know it's not true."

"Actually Jake," Frankie said nervously. "It is true."

I shiver of panic ran through me - surely not. I looked at her wide eyed, fearing what I was about to hear.

Frankie took a deep breath.

"You and Amy got together after James' party before Easter, right?" she said.

I nodded, my throat too dry to speak. I hadn't thought that Frankie knew that.

"And you took her home after Ritchie tried to push her too far?"

I nodded again.

"Do you know what happened before that?" she asked.

"Er, not really," I said. "I know he tried to feel her up, so she ran away from him and that's when I stopped him."

Frankie looked me directly in the eyes.

"How do you think Amy was going to get home - if you hadn't taken her, I mean?" she asked.

I paused. I'd never thought of that. In my self-centred view I'd assumed at the time that Amy was waiting for me, but she'd had no idea I was coming back. It was very strange. Her over-protective mother would not have allowed her to go to a party without knowing how she was getting home, especially if the family were away that night.

"Er, I don't know," I said. "Maybe call for a taxi?"

Frankie shook her head. "No, Jake," she responded. "Amy was meant to go home with me. We were going to leave together at nine thirty. I passed you coming back to James' house as I drove up the street. I waved to you, but you didn't see me."

"So you left without Amy?" I asked, beginning to get angry.

Frankie nodded. "I told her I was getting ready to go, but she said she wanted to stay for longer."

"Oh," I said, confused. Why had Amy turned down the lift from Frankie? It didn't make sense.

"Look Jake, there's no easy way to tell you this," she said. "When I left, Ritchie and Amy were kissing."

I felt the blood drain from my face and my heart pounded in my chest. Surely this wasn't true?

"But he went too far and too fast," she said. "One minute is was a gentle French kiss, the next he had two hands up her jumper and was trying to rip her bra off. Then when she pushed him away, he tried to get to her crotch. That's when she ran."

I was silent - in shock. When Amy had told me that night that I was a good kisser, she'd been comparing me with Ritchie, less than half an hour before.

I sat there, opposite Frankie, devastated. I wanted to deny it and to accuse her of making the whole thing up, but it all fitted. What would she have to gain by lying?

"And after that?" I asked, "I mean when we were together. Did she see Ritchie? Did she do anything with him? Her mum was trying to keep them apart as much as possible. That's why she took her exams in a different room."

Frankie looked at me sharply.

"Once she was with you, she was one hundred percent loyal," she said. "One hundred percent - she never cheated on you."

I breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed a little. It wasn't nice to hear that Amy had kissed Ritchie immediately before we'd got together, but that wasn't cheating.

"But she did see Ritchie," Frankie continued. "Her mum didn't know. You didn't know."

I looked at her, alarmed once more.

"Our English class, we met a couple of times a week during Study Leave, to go through the set texts together. Sometimes in the afternoons, but mostly in the evenings," she explained.

I nodded, that hardly seemed the crime of the century, but I was disappointed she hadn't told me. "And Amy and Ritchie were always there - both of them?"

Frankie nodded. "Yes, most of the time we met at my house, but there was one evening I couldn't make it, so they met at Billy's."

"Oh," I said.

"And Ritchie ended up driving Amy home - she'd always walked, but Ritchie insisted, and Billy helped pressure her into agreeing apparently."

I nodded.

"And what happened in the car, when Ritchie took her home?"

Frankie took a deep breath.

"So apparently he apologised to her and said how badly he'd behaved towards her and that he wanted a chance to try again," Frankie said.

"Amy was scared. She didn't want to say that she was with you, so she thanked him for his apology and said that she didn't want to do anything until after the exams were over," she continued. "She thought that would convince Ritchie not to try again, but he thought she was still keen and wanted him to wait."

I sank my head into my hands.

"So when the exams were over, he called her. He wanted to invite her to the Prom, to move her to his table, away from losers like you and Danny!"

I nodded. I remembered Ritchie trying to phone Amy when we were on the train back from Dorset.

"That's when she told him that she had a boyfriend," Frankie explained. "But she didn't say it was you - Ritchie didn't find out until the Prom."

There was a long silence. A lot of things that hadn't necessarily made sense before, were now becoming clearer.

"And when did you know?" I asked. "About me and Amy, I mean. When did she tell you we were together?"

Frankie hesitated. "It was a couple of days after James' party," she said. "We went for a meal together - I wanted to ask her how things went with Ritchie. We were going to go for a pizza, but we saw you and Danny in the restaurant, so we went somewhere else. That's when she told me about the two of you. I've known all along."

I paused. That was the evening that I'd tried to console Danny about Becky. Frankie had known almost a week before Lauren found out.

"Does Amy know you're telling me this?" I asked.

Frankie shook her head. "No. I've talked to her a bit since the Prom, but she doesn't know I'm here," she said.

"Er, why are you telling me this then?" I asked, not really sure where Frankie's loyalties lay or what agenda she was serving.

Frankie fished in her pocket and brought out her phone. I waited patiently as she flicked through the menus. She turned the screen to face me.

I recognised the photo immediately. It was the one of me and Amy performing together at the Easter concert - the one that Lauren had used for her collages for the Prom.

"You took this?" I asked.

Frankie nodded. "I took hundreds that night, mostly of Ross," she said sheepishly. "But I forgot about this one. I found it a month ago, when I was looking for something else. But that doesn't matter. Look at Amy's face Jake. She loves you, she's always loved you."

I nodded, it was impossible to misread Amy's expression.

"I have two friends," she continued. "Both of them love each other very much. They're right for each other, but one of them has told a few white lies and kept a few secrets so as not to upset the other. But something's happened, you've got hurt, badly, and now she's tearing herself up inside. She's worried how you're going to react when you find out."

There was a pause. I still wasn't understanding.

"Jake, what do you think the rumours are saying?" she asked.

"Rumours?"

"Oh come on Jake! The attack has been the talk of the town for the last two weeks. It's been on the front page of the past two editions of the local newspaper and probably will be on there this week too. Of course there's been gossip."

"Oh," I said.

"Ritchie's tried to claim that Amy cheated on him with you and then dumped him before the Prom," she explained.

"He's what?!" I exclaimed.

"Oh, it gets worse Jake," she continued. "Apparently you attacked him, broke his wrist and he only stabbed you in self-defence."

My mouth hung open; how on earth could he claim that?

"Does anyone believe that?"

"A few," she said. "But you haven't been arrested and he has. He's running out of friends now."

"He's got more friends than me," I observed wryly.

"No Jake, he doesn't," she replied. "Us girls always had to keep an eye out for Ritchie and his wandering hands. You'd never want to be on your own with him, or he'd end up groping you. All the girls have been complaining about him for years at school, but nothing was ever done. The police are raking through all that now - a lot of old allegations have surfaced. The only one he wouldn't touch was Lauren - he was just too scared of her."

"I'm sorry Frankie," I said, "I had no idea."

"Nor did Amy," she said, a little ashamed. "It was obvious he was going to be Romeo in the play, so none of us wanted to be Juliet. She was the only one who auditioned for the role. Then she seemed to be taking a shine to Ritchie, we kinda encouraged her. We thought if she hooked up with him, he might leave us alone."

Frankie looked down.

"I'm sorry Jake," she said sheepishly, "she was our sacrificial lamb."

-

About an hour later, I was sitting on the bank above the millpond, thinking.