Page 142 of The Making of Jonty Bloom
Jonty didn’t stop, didn’t look back. He should have gone upstairs and packed. That would have delayed things, but he’d panicked. The tide was most of the way in and he ran over the beach, straight into the sea and kept running until he had to wade, then he swam until he couldn’t put his feet down. The cold stole his breath, chilled his body until his teeth were chattering, but he hadn’t been able to think of anywhere to go that Brad wouldn’t follow. He kept swimming until he could pluck up the courage to turn and check behind him. He groaned with relief when he saw Brad standing at the edge of the surf.Thank fuck for that.
“Bet you wish you’d forked out for those swimming lessons,” Jonty yelled.Idiot!
“I did. I just don’t want to get wet.”
Jonty gulped. He’d been shocked when Brad had told him he couldn’t swim.But you work on an oil rig, he’d said. Brad’s response had beenAssuming I survived the fall, you think I could swim back to shore?Jonty remembered pointing out that if hehadfallen in, at least he’d be able to keep himself afloat long enough for help to arrive.
So had he learned or not? Jonty thought not, but he couldn’t be sure.
“Get back here!” Brad yelled. “Stop fucking about.”
You can’t swim.Jonty was pretty sure that while he stayed in the water, he was safe. Not that he felt safe and even he was safe from Brad, he wasn’t safe from the cold. Brad was screaming at him to come back in.Oh yeah. I really want to do that.He lay on his back and kicked his legs only enough to keep himself afloat.I’m so cold. Shit.
“What the fuck are you playing at?” Brad paced along the wet sand. “Swim back before you get hypothermia.”
A difficult choice.Hypothermia or you?Except, how long could he stay out before he became too tired and cold to keep himself afloat? September had been unseasonably warm, so the sea temperature was maybe a little higher than it usually was, but it was still too cold to stay in for long without a wetsuit. Jonty knew the way to conserve body heat was to use as little energy as possible. So even though he felt as if moving his arms and legs would help him get warm, it wouldn’t. So he floated, rising and falling on the waves, ignoring Brad yelling at him, doing just enough to keep himself on the surface, waiting for Devan to come, until a wave broke over him and he realised too late what had happened.
He'd carelessly let himself drift back in on the tide and Brad was in the water up to his waist about to grab him. He screamed as Brad grabbed him and struggled to get free, but Brad dragged him out of the water by his neck, threw him on the sand and knelt on his back.
“Now I’m all wet too,” Brad snapped.
Wracked with shivers, fighting to breathe, Jonty could do nothing while Brad had him pinned. Even if he got free, he was too cold to go back in the water. Too cold to run down the beach, but he had to do something to give Devan time to get here. All he had was running which should warm him up. But first he had to get free.
“Can’t…breathe,” Jonty gasped. Not a lie.
The moment the pressure was off his back, he pushed to his feet and sprinted away.
He felt Brad grab for him, but the touch was fleeing. Brad was faster than he remembered, or maybe Jonty was slower because his muscles were sluggish. He kept telling himself to go faster, faster… Then he crashed to the sand as Brad brought him down. He pressed on the back of Jonty’s head and Jonty only just managed to turn his head to one side or he’d have had a mouthful of sand. Brad sat on his back and the pain was unbearable. Jonty groaned, but no noise came out of his mouth and no air went in. Black dots danced in his vision. He couldn’t move any part of his body. He had just enough time to feel sorry that he’d lost chance of the future he’d hoped for before everything went black.
Jonty came round but didn’t move. The weight on his back had gone.
Brad hauled him into a sitting position. “I’m beginning to think you’re more trouble than you’re worth.”
Jonty struggled to suck air into lungs that felt crushed. “I am,” he choked out. “A lot of trouble… Everyone says.” He had to get his breath back, knee Brad in the nuts and run back into the sea. That was his plan. His only hope.
“Get up.” Brad pulled at his arm.
“Just give me a minute. I can’t get my breath.”
“I nearly went too far there.” Brad stood up and gave a short laugh. “You look like a drowned rat.”
“I don’t understand…why you’re doing this.”
“Because you’re beautiful. You were all mine. I liked that. Liked having something just for me. But you were always going on about your pal and I wanted to be important to you like that. I needed you and you needed me. I’ve done so much for you.” Brad booted him in the side and Jonty keeled over. “You don’t need anyone else but me.” He kicked him again and Jonty cried out and curled up. “I thought I’d made you see that. But no. You don’t deserve me.”
“I don’t.”Oh God.“I’m sorry. I can try harder. Let’s go and get dry. I’ll pack my bag and—”
Brad reached down and grabbed hold of his throat. “Do you think I’m stupid?”
“No.” Jonty came up on his knees and grabbed at Brad’s fingers, trying to pull them off.
“I cocked up with your fucking pal, but I won’t make the same mistake with you.”
“What?” Jonty was only sucking tiny amounts of air into his mouth.
“That ladder didn’t exactly slip.”
Jonty’s dawning horror immobilised him for a moment, then all the seawater he’d swallowed surged up his throat and he threw up over Brad’s arm and hand. As Brad made a sound of disgust and released him, Jonty scrambled backwards.Run or die.
