Mesmeris Read Online Free

of the gloom, across the waste ground towards us. I recognised their coats.
    ‘Aren’t those your friends?’
    Jack looked. ‘My brothers,’ he said. ‘Come here.’
    I hesitated, but the angry scowl had gone. In fact, he looked quite happy. He leaned back against the garage, hands in his pockets, at ease as if he’d been there all day. Only his eyes looked wary as he watched them come. The nearer they got, the closer I moved to Jack, until I was standing right next to him.
    ‘Leo’s the one to watch.’ He barely moved his mouth.
    ‘Leo?’
The one to watch? What did that mean?
    ‘The one in the Parka,’ he said. ‘Art’s all right.’
    ‘And Leo’s not?’ I couldn’t take my eyes off them. Their long strides had an urgency to them, a purpose. They stared straight at me, not Jack. They didn’t smile and I thought that coming there had been a mistake – a big one.
    Jack put his arm around my waist.
    His brothers stopped dead.
    Jack laughed. It sounded forced. ‘You frightened her, you idiots,’ he said. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw him shake his head.
    ‘What?’ Leo turned away and aimed a vicious kick at an empty can. It slammed into the garage door. The crash reverberated through the metal, hurt my ears.
    ‘They won’t be happy,’ Art said.
    ‘Tough,’ Jack said. ‘I’m taking her home.’
    Art shrugged. ‘Your funeral.’
    ‘For fuck’s sake!’ Leo said.
    Jack slapped him across the head. ‘Manners, Leo.’ He steered me past them, back the way we’d come. ‘Sorry. They’re acting like morons.’
    ‘Bloody scary morons,’ I said. ‘Were you meant to be going somewhere?’
    ‘Just a party. Don’t think it’d be your kind of thing.’ He squeezed my hand.
    Something told me he was right.
    We walked for a while in silence. As we reached the trees, Jack’s steps slowed. ‘Have they put you off?’ he said. ‘Seeing me again, I mean?’
    ‘No.’ I felt a flutter of excitement.
    ‘Good.’ He smiled. ‘I should never have taken you there. Sorry.’
    ‘It’s okay.’
    ‘No, it’s not. You’re better than that.’ And there it was, that lovely smile. ‘Tell me something about you,’ he said, ‘about your family.’
    ‘There’s just me and my sister.’
He wanted to see me again
.
    ‘No parents?’
    ‘No, I mean we’re the only children.’ I laughed. ‘Of course I have parents.’
    ‘Of course.’ He looked away, into the trees. ‘Do you love them?’
    ‘Yes.’
What an odd thing to ask
.
    ‘And your sister?’
    ‘Sometimes,’ I said. ‘Sometimes I hate her.’
    I laughed but he didn’t.
    ‘Must be nice,’ he said, ‘living with people you love.’ I sensed the sadness come over him, saw it in the downturn of his mouth, the way his eyes stayed fixed on his shoes, as though fascinated by them.
    ‘Don’t you love your family?’ I said.
    ‘No.’ Definite, absolute.
    ‘What about your parents?’
    ‘Don’t have any. They’re dead.’
    ‘Oh, God!’ I felt such an idiot. Why did I say 'of course I have parents', like it was a stupid question, like he was a dumbo to ask. I’d even laughed. ‘I’m so sorry.’
    ‘It’s fine.’ He quickened his pace.
    I couldn’t think of anything to say except more ‘sorrys’. Everything I thought of sounded trite or patronising so I said nothing, just trotted alongside him.
    By the time we came to the road again it was almost dark. I’d taken a risk and got away with it and, unbelievably, given the inane stuff I’d come out with, he still seemed to like me.
    ‘I have to go,’ Jack said when we reached my house. ‘I’m meeting Tipper.’
    ‘Keep away from him. He’s vicious - really.’
    ‘Shh . . .’ He put his finger on my lips, traced the line, and pushed the tip between them. I stopped breathing. He put his hands either side of my head and kissed me, crushed my lips with his. His stubble grazed my skin. I tasted mint and salt and then it was over.
    ‘You may’ve escaped this