Page 28 of No Safe Place
It was the sort of conversation they had a hundred times a year, but the mood in the room was wrong.
Callum hadn’t spoken since the policewoman left. His eyes looked shiny, and his skin was red. He might have been crying, but if he had he’d never admit it to her. His anxiety hung in the air between them.
‘Fine,’ Lily snapped. She gritted her teeth and put her hand into the sink, to pull the plug out. ‘Fucking fine.’
Callum sifted through the biscuit tin on the side, coolly unconcerned.
She lifted a plate out of the water and slammed it down on the counter. ‘It’s not enough that I do everything for you, and all I ask is your help with this one thing. Who fucking cares if I don’t want dirty plates sitting in the sink? What do I fucking know?’
He still didn’t react, just extracted a bourbon from the tin.
She pushed past him and stalked out of the kitchen. The house smelt of stale cigarette smoke and sweat.
She took a seat at the dining table, still littered with Callum’s empty cans from last night. There were rings on the polished wood. Dark circles with fainter satellites. Ghosts of yesterday’s poor decisions.
The room was depressing. There was shit everywhere, crap filling up every space. Junk mail, old magazines. The band posters they’d picked out in Greenwich market were wonky in their cheap frames.
She looked up at the yellow ceiling as a creak came from above – Scott moving around her room, getting ready for his shift.
‘Look, Lil.’ Callum followed her into the room. ‘I am sorry, okay? About the washing-up.’
‘It’s okay,’ Lily said, after a pause.
Cal took a seat at the table, put his feet up. The bottoms of his socks were black. ‘Do you want a Mars bar?’
He lifted a multipack out of the fruit bowl.
‘You know they’re mine, right?’ Lily said. ‘You’re literally offering me my own shit.’
He took one from the packet, made direct eye contact, and peeled the wrapper off.
‘Don’t you fucking dare,’ Lily warned, trying not to smile.
He didn’t speak. He took an enormous bite and then let out a bark-like laugh.
‘You’re an arsehole,’ she said with a laugh, flinging a handful of crumpled napkins in his direction. Cal ducked and stood up, chewing with his mouth open, rolling the gummed-up nougat in his mouth.
Lily jumped from her chair, her laughter making her stomach ache worse. She made a snatch for the Mars bar.
Then she tripped, and Cal shot an arm out, catching her round the waist, just before she hit the floor.
Scott entered the room, dressed for work in dark scrubs. He looked at them both. Took in the mess, the ashtray they’d knocked over.
Lily shot away from Callum. She caught Cal’s eyeroll as he stalked off to the kitchen.
‘Have you seen my wallet?’ Scott called, fumbling around for his shoes.
She scanned the dark hallway. ‘No.’
The bulb had blown months ago, and Cal hadn’t bothered to replace it. Lily hadn’t changed it as an experiment, to see how long it would be before he sorted it out. He’d been promising to fix the broken back door for months, too.
‘I must have left it at work. What are you doing tonight?’ Scott asked.
Lily shrugged and passed Scott one of his brogues.
He leaned against a wall as he pulled it on. ‘Bye then.’
‘Have a good shift,’ Lily said, over-bright, standing on tiptoes and planting a kiss on his cheek.
