Page 36 of Mine before Dawn
“What happened here?” she asked, bending down to look. They were raw and raised.
Tanay tugged his trouser leg down immediately.
“Nothing.”
“Tanay.”
“It was rugby. Just the lads playing.”
“Who?”
“My mates.”
But he would not meet her eyes. That frightened her more than the bruises.
“Tell me what happened.” she asked again, trying to inject authority into her voice.
He shrugged.
“Danny got new rugby shoes with studs.”
Alarm moved through her chest, abolishing the constant pain.
“Did he kick you?”
“No.” He said it too quickly. It was time to get off.
Asha crouched in front of him once they turned the corner.
“Tanay.”
The boy’s mouth twisted stubbornly and his eyes slid off her to stare into the distance.
“He doesn’t like me.”
“Why?”
She could see the conflict behind his eyes.
“He called me something,” he whispered in a slightly wobbly voice.
Her heart lurched with fear.
“What did he call you?” she asked in a trembling voice, even as she wondered what she could do about it.
But just like that he shut down completely. He folded his arms and fixed his eyes on the ground. The conversation was over for now. Asha hoped he would open up but everyday from then on, he seemed to withdraw more and more into himself.
***
An entire week passed without James.
There were no footsteps on the stairs, no broad figure following her home from the pub.
His absence sat beside her like a phantom limb constantly.
Then one afternoon a week after their fight, it was near closing time at the seamstress shop. The bell above the door chimed softly.
A plump woman in her fifties with dark hair streaked with grey entered. There was something oddly familiar about her though Asha was certain they had never met. She was well dressed.
