Page 83 of The Making of Jonty Bloom
Yep.
Though he still had the problem of what to do now. What if there was a snake that the guys hadn’t found? What if Brad or one of his mates put another through the letterbox while Jonty was upstairs? Anxiety was toxic. He couldn’t stop shivering.
He went back into the salon.
“They got it?” Miriam asked.
“Yep. Could I use your phone again please?”
She handed it to him and Jonty moved out of her hearing. He could have called the hotel and asked to speak to Devan, but he called Mike instead.
“Hi mate, what’s up?”
“I need a favour.” Jonty kept his voice low. “I’ve had a…bit of an issue with my flat. I need somewhere to stay, just for a little while, and a place to store my stuff while I sort out new accommodation. No more than a couple of days. I’m back on nights on Saturday so I wouldn’t be around in the evenings. Could I kip on your couch until I get a room? You’d hardly know I was there. But if I can’t, and it’s fine if that’s the case, if you could keep my stuff, I can find somewhere to sleep in the hotel. Probably.”
“What the hell’s happened? Is there a leak? Did you get thrown out?”
“There was a snake.”
“What the hell?”
“It’s gone. I called the police. The RSPCA came and got it. But I don’t want to stay here.”
“I’ll come now. Lee’s in the shop. He can close up for me.”
“Thanks.”
WHEN MIKE TURNED UP, HEhad Willis with him. Mike pulled Jonty into his arms and gave him a hug. Jonty found it really hard not to cling to him, but he didn’t want to upset Willis so he let Mike go.
“We can take your stuff now,” Mike said. “I thought the faster we do this, the better.”
“Thank you, both of you.”
Willis lifted a pile of flattened boxes out of the back of the van along with rolls of tape and bubble wrap and they shared the load between the three of them.
“I’m sorry to be a bother,” Jonty told Willis.
“It’s fine,” Willis said. “I wouldn’t want to stay here either.”
Jonty led them up the stairs, trying not to shudder. “The animal guys checked the flat too, but they didn’t find anything.”
“Still be careful,” Mike said. “Don’t either of you go reaching into spaces when you can’t see what’s there.”
Jonty unlocked his door and tried to ignore the fact that his heart was beating out of his chest.
“Do they know what type of snake it was?” Willis asked.
“Only that it’s not native to the UK.”
“It must have escaped from someone’s flat,” Willis said.
“It was in the stairwell, wrapped around my bike. There’s no way in except through the door or the letterbox.”
“You mean someone deliberately put it through your letterbox?” Willis gaped at him.
“Yep.”
“Who?” Mike snapped. “That fuckhead Brad?”
