Page 151 of A Long Way Back
“Would you like a drink?” Tay asked. “Does Bela?”
“I’m okay. She has water in her cage and food if she wants it.”
The cage was on a side table. Dog had looked at it and at the bird, ears twitching, but he’d not strayed from his bed. Was Dog in shock too? Bela flew onto Ink’s thigh and he tensed.
“Stroke her.”
She cocked her head looking at him, and Ink stroked her gently with the back of his index finger. Was it Bela? How? Ink released a shaky breath.
“She remembers you.”
But I don’t remember you.Ink stared at the guy’s face. Maybe he did recognise him. Was that because he really wanted this to be Ru?
“Talk to him, Bela.”
“Juicy fruit,” the bird cawed and Ink gasped.
“Are you okay?” Tay gripped Ink’s hand. “Do you need some water?”
Ink shook his head.
“I know you’re shocked. I thought you’d just see me and know. You remember me teaching her to sayJuicy Fruit? Those grapes Mum had been saving for a fruit salad? You told her you ate them.”
Oh God, it is you.
Ink looked straight at his brother, overwhelmed by such a whirlwind of emotions, he thought he was having a heart attack. “Where the fuck have you been? I spent ten years locked up because everyone thought I’d killed you. If that wasn’t you, then who the hell was it?”
“Our cousin, Eagan Byrne.”
Ink sucked in a breath. “But…”
“Let me tell you this from the start. Most of it I didn’t know until recently. As soon as I realised what had happened to you, I came back.”
How could he fucking not have known? What planet had he been on?
“I was waiting outside school like you told me,” Ru said. “You know I wanted to get home to go and look for Bela. Uncle Felan went past in his car. He stopped further down the street, got out and beckoned, and I ran to him. He said he needed to take me home, that something bad had happened. I told him I was waiting for you and he said he’d come back and get you. I shouldn’t have got in the car, but I did. He was our uncle. I know Dad didn’t like him, but whenever we’d seen him at traveller gatherings, he’d been nice to us.”
That was true. Maybe Ink would have got in the car without worrying, except for knowing how angry his dad would be that he’d even spoken to his uncle.
“I had no reason not to trust him. Uncle Felan offered me his can of Coke, said he’d only just opened it. You know how Mum felt about fizzy drinks and how much I loved them.” Ru sighed. “I guzzled it down and it seemed a bit flat, but I didn’t realise why at the time. Just as I didn’t realise why he’d parked away from the school. So the camera wouldn’t catch him.”
They weren’t allowed fizzy drinks. They rotted teeth and it was a source of pride to their mother than neither Ink nor his brother had any fillings.Oh God, Ru! Am I dreaming?Bela fluttered from his thigh back to Ru’s shoulder. Ink was desperate not to miss a word but it was hard to concentrate when his heart was pounding so hard.
“I wasn’t feeling right by the time the car stopped. Sleepy and sick. We weren’t at our house. We were at his mobile home. But Auntie Nessa opened the door, her face all blotchy from crying, and she threw her arms around me and I still thought everything would be alright.”
“Why didn’t your dad and his brother get on?” Tay asked.
“I never fully understood why,” Ink said. “It had something to do with family money after the fair had been sold, and an argument about the travelling lifestyle. Uncle Felan felt dad had let the family down. As well as that, Auntie Nessa could be a bit weird, sort of manic, and mum didn’t like her. The two families only met up if we were at the same gathering. Eagan was okay. We could have been friends if our parents had got on better.”
“I liked Eagan,” Ru said. “We used to pretend we were twins. Little did I know… Anyway, Uncle Felan sat me down and told me Dad had killed Mum, then killed himself.”
Ink gaped at him. “What? And you believed him?”
“Not at first, but Auntie Nessa was sobbing and you know Dad had a temper. We’d both seen him hit Mum. Uncle Felan said it had been an accident, a push that made her fall and bang her head on the table. Dad had sliced down both his arms and bled to death beside her. The police had called Uncle Felan, asked him to get us from school and look after us. He told me he had Bela. I pressed him about you, but I was so tired, I could barely keep my eyes open, let alone string a sentence together.”
“You were drugged,” Ink said.
“Yes. Later, when I saw the medication Auntie Nessa was on, I guessed I’d been given that. I came around to find myself in bed, wearing Spiderman pyjamas. Not mine. The inside of my elbow was itching and when I looked at it, it was bruised. I know now that they took my blood.”
