The Border: Part One Read Free

disappointment – that it was her brother Jack who was trying to get through.
    “Hey,” she said as she answered, “this is a bad time, can I call you back when -”
    “Ben’s coming home,” Jack said, interrupting her.
    She opened her mouth to reply, before frowning. The news was sudden and unexpected, and it seemed to come jagging into her thoughts with no care as to how it might fit with everything else that was going on in her life. “Um… What ?”
    “Ben’s coming next week. I just found out. Mum told me.”
    “Ben? Why the hell is Ben coming?”
    “I guess it’s the ninth anniversary of the last time he bothered to come home for Christmas, so he felt bad.”
    She paused, running through the idea in her head. It still seemed impossible and unreal.
    “ Ben’s coming?” She paused, utterly shocked by the idea. “Are you sure? You mean our Ben? Our brother Ben?” Another pause. “Are you sure sure?”
    “I’m sure.”
    “But…”
    “I know,” Jack replied on the other end of the line. “That was my reaction too.”
    Silence fell for a moment, as they each waited for the other to say something.
    “Fuck,” Beth muttered finally, before turning to Lucy. “You didn’t hear Mummy say that bad word, okay?”
    Lucy nodded.
    “So,” Jack continued, on the other end of the line, “I guess we have to talk about… things.”
    “We do?” She glanced back toward the motel and saw that the door to room 5 was still shut, and the light was still on inside. “I mean, yeah, we do.”
    “Where are you now?”
    “Um… At home.” She put a finger to her lips and turned to Lucy, who reciprocated and smiled.
    “I’m coming over.”
    “No!” she said quickly, turning back to look at the motel. “No, Lucy’s gone to bed and I’m exhausted. Bob’s working all night, so… We’ll talk about it tomorrow, okay?”
    “I think we should talk about it now.”
    “When’s he coming?”
    “Monday.”
    “That’s almost a week away.”
    “We should start thinking about it now.”
    “Jesus, it’s not that much of an emergency.” As soon as the words left her lips, she knew they were wrong. Ben. Ben was coming. As if she didn’t have enough on her plate already. “What I mean is… What I mean is , he’s our brother, not some kind of monster. We can handle this.”
    She waited for him to reply, but a kind of silence seemed to have settled on the conversation now, slowly lowering its wings over them both even though they were on opposite sides of town.
    “Did you speak to him?” she asked eventually.
    “Mum did.”
    “Did she say anything else? How did Ben sound? Where’s he been since the last time he was in town?”
    “I don’t know. I think she didn’t want to press him too hard, in case she scared him off. She’s pretty desperate for him to come.”
    “Will he be alone?”
    “Beats me.”
    “And it’s just for Christmas?”
    “That’s what he told her.”
    “So he’ll leave again, right?” she continued. “I mean, that’s the important thing. He’s coming for Christmas, he’ll hang around for that, but then he’ll be gone again.”
    “I guess.”
    “He’ll go back to… Wherever the hell he’s been for the past nine years.”
    “Hopefully. If we’re lucky.”
    “So there’s no problem,” she pointed out, still watching the motel intently, still waiting in case the door to room 5 suddenly opened. “Mum’ll be happy, and the rest of us can put up with him for a few days.” She paused. “I hope he doesn’t stay for New Year as well.”
    “Fingers crossed,” Jack muttered.
    “And…” She paused. “Does Jane know?”
    “I’m with Jane now.”
    “And is she going to… I mean, do you think Alex and the rest of the police should be told Ben’s coming to town?”
    “Well, Jane knows.”
    “That’s good.”
    “Exactly.”
    Silence again.
    “And if -” Before she could finish, she saw the door to the motel room open. Two figures appeared silhouetted