Page 153 of Inbetweeners
Orion continued to stare at him. “He used to worry that I’d get cold. He put his hat on my head on top of mine and pulled it down over my ears when we were down here. But I never wanted to go back no matter how cold I was. I wanted to stay with him on the beach. He found a piece of blue sea glass shaped like…”
Nix couldn’t help himself. “A teardrop.”
“And he gave it to our mother and she…”
“Said she’d keep it forever. She lost it within a week.”
“Oh my God.” Orion looked as if he were about to keel over. “How the fuck? Itisyou. How? HOW!”
“I can’t tell you. And I can’t stay.”
Emmett let go of his hand and gave him a little push. Nix stepped towards Orion as Orion stepped towards him. They wrapped their arms around one another.
“I’m going hunting for sharks’ teeth,” Emmett said. “I’ll leave you to talk.”
“Really you?” Orion whispered.
Nix tugged him down to sit on the pebbles. They were both shaking. Orion was wide-eyed with shock.
“Don’t ask me how or why,” Nix said. “I can’t tell you. The reason I was allowed back has nothing to do with us.” Though even as he said that, he wondered if it was true, whether itwaspart of it.
“Did you have a terrible time after…?” Orion sighed. “Of course, you did. Sorry.”
“The young offender institute had its good and bad parts. I got regular meals. We had lessons, of a sort. But I mixed with a crowd I should have steered clear of.” Not that he’d had a lot of choice. He’d learned how to pick pockets and locks and how to fight. Learned how to be bad in a way he’d never been before. And when he’d been released, he made the wrong choices for too long. Only when a theft from a warehouse went wrong and everyone but him was caught, did he realise he was heading for jail if he didn’t change his ways.
“All this wasted time.” Orion rubbed tears from his cheek.
“My fault. All of it was my fault. I was older. I should have done something. Told someone. Found a way to get us out of there.”
“You were ten years old. You were a kid like me and we were scared. You did your best. My case worker was such a bitch. Supposed to be a specialist in traumatised children but I never liked her. There was nothing I could do to get her to change her mind and let me see you. It’s probably why I never got any letters. Jane Briscoe. I’ve never forgotten her, nor forgiven her.”
Christ!Emmett’s mother? What were the chances it was the same person? It was a struggle not to react.
“Sometimes I wish my memory wasn’t as good as it is. I remember everything. I remember you. It’s why I wanted to call our son Phoenix. You were all I had. You were my life. I missed you.”
“I missed you too. I’m proud of you. A nurse. That’s great.”
“I love it. I wanted to do something that helped, that would make a difference. You ended up doing that too.”
Eventually. “But I was trying to make up for what I did.”
“Maybe I am too. I never thought you were bad. Never. Mrs Briscoe wanted me to forget about you, but I wouldn’t do that. Because of her, I was determined to remember.”
“Did you have a good family to live with?”
Orion nodded. “My mum’s a nurse and my dad a teacher. I wish they could have been there for you too. I still see them. They were kind to me. I was lucky.”
“I’m glad.” He really was.
“Will I see you again?”
Nix shook his head. “No. This is all we get.”
“Until we meet on the other side, right?” Orion smiled.
Nix made himself smile too.
“Come back to the house and have that cup of tea. Meet your nephew.”
