The survivor

Seventy

When the phone rang, Courtney was in the shower. She heard the rings, almost didn’t bother with it, but then thought of Raine and wondered if she’d gone all the way with Que. With mango-scented soap dripping into her eyes, she slid the shower door to the side, hopped out, snagged a towel from the rack and scurried half-naked down the hall.

She snatched the phone up on the fifth ring — one before the machine picked up — and looked at the caller ID.

Quenton Wong.

She knew it was Raine and said, ‘Jesus, I’ve been calling and calling you, like, forever. Why don’t you pick up?’

‘Sorry, Court. My cell crapped out.’

‘I’ve been calling Que’s, too.’

‘Thing’s a piece of junk. He dropped it in the tub once and it’s constantly on the fritz. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.’

Raine stopped talking, and there was a moment of silence on the line. Finally, Courtney asked, ‘Well? Did you do it?’

‘He’s… he’s not here,’ Raine said.

‘Not there? Where are you?’

‘At Que’s friend’s pad. You remember, that one we met when we saw Avatar? The one with the bad skin?’

‘Oh yeah, Mr Creepy.’

Raine laughed at the name. ‘Yeah, well, Mr Creepy has his own place. Up here on Adanac.’

‘Is Que there?’

Raine made a sound somewhere between embarrassment and frustration. ‘No one is. And Que hasn’t come back all night. I dunno. Maybe he wasn’t really that… into it.’

Courtney felt the water trailing down her legs and feet, forming a small pool on the hardwood floor of the den. She didn’t care. ‘God, are you kidding me? He was, like, so all over you at the restaurant. Something must have happened.’

‘Like what?’ Raine asked.

It was something Courtney hadn’t really considered, and the thought bothered her because Que was either out with some other girl or he’d gotten into some kind of trouble and was probably in jail or something.

‘Maybe he got drunk again and was sent to the drunk tank.’

Raine’s tone turned defensive. ‘He only did that once.’

‘I’m just saying-’

‘I know, I know. Look, Court, what you doing? Wanna come down and see me? I could use the company. All I been doing is powering through Twilight. It’s good, but if I read any more, my eyes are gonna fall out. And besides, I sure as hell can’t go home right now.’

‘Why not?’

‘You kidding? After staying out all night at Que’s, I’m as good as grounded for the rest of the year. I got my Britney ticket, I got my dress. I ain’t going home again till after the Parade of Lost Souls and the concert.’ She paused, cleared her throat. ‘Hey, it’s almost two o’clock now. Parade starts in three hours — why don’t you head down now and we’ll start partying.’

Courtney thought of the two cops guarding her home. ‘About that..’ she began.

‘I talked to Mandy and she said Bobby was asking about you.’

‘Really?’

‘Said he was gonna be in the park before the show started, just having a few drinks and stuff, wanted us to come down.’

Courtney closed her eyes, cursed Dad. It was so unfair. He was so unfair. Mom would never have held her back like this. She thought about the two cops positioned out front and back of the house and wondered if there was some way she could give them the slip. Maybe out the side window, over the fence through the neighbour’s yard. Or even the other way through the park. There had to be a way.

‘You coming?’ Raine asked again

Courtney took down the address. ‘Be there in an hour.’ She said goodbye, hung up the phone, and stood with only the damp towel to protect her from the cold draughts of the house. Already, her body was chilled. She started back for the shower, stopped, covered herself up as best she could, and looked outside the front-room window.

No cop car was out there.

She turned around, stepped into the kitchen and stared into the back lane.

No cop car was there any more either.

‘Strange,’ she said, but counted her blessings. She hurried back for the shower and finished washing her hair. She had to get ready. There was a lot to do before the party started. A whole lot.

Raine was waiting for her

And so was Bobby Ryan.