Nemesis: Soulmates Never Die - 8. Chapter Eight: Running Up That Hill

CHAPTER EIGHT

Running Up That Hill

‘Please state your name.’

‘David George Thompson.’

‘And how long have you known Nicholas Davis?’

‘For almost my entire life.’

‘What is your relationship?’

Dave licked his lips and glanced at Nick, who didn’t quite manage to smile at him but seemed to make a valiant effort all the same. He looked small where he sat.

‘He’s my boyfriend. For over a year now.’

Mr. Butler nodded. ‘Tell us what happened last easter.’

‘Nick showed up at my house. My parents were out of the country and my cousin, Jason Gardiner, was staying with me.’

‘Do we have a statement on record from Jason Gardiner?’ the judge interrupted. She spoke in a quiet but authoritative voice.

‘Yes, ma’am,’ said the prosecutor curtly. He approached the bench and handed a blue folder to the judge.

‘Thank you. Proceed.’

Dave cleared his throat, trying to recall everything he was supposed to say. He had practiced this. ‘It was raining out. He was cold and wet and clearly in shock. He looked like he’d been crying. He told me that Craig had found out about us, and that he’d tried to beat the queer out of him.’ He found it hard to keep his voice steady. The memories from that night were still stark in his mind, and he clenched his jaw and swallowed. ‘I, er . . . I took him to my room, found him some dry clothes. When he took his shirt off I saw the bruises. He had finger marks around his upper arms and shoulders, bruises around his ribs and abdomen. I asked him what Craig had done. That’s when he told me that Craig had—that he’d been sexually assaulted by, er, by Craig.’ Dave folded his hands to stop them from shaking. He glanced at Craig. The man was looking resolutely away. Dave was grateful for that.

‘And to your knowledge, was this the first time Mr. Spencer had hurt Mr. Davis?’ asked Mr. Butler.

‘No. He beat up Nick the previous October, when Zoë was in Coventry. The two had an argument and Craig got violent.’

‘Did you witness this?’

‘No, but I saw the injuries. Nick’s nose was bruised and bleeding, and his arm had been badly twisted. His eye was bruised as well. He had a cut lip, but that’s cause he tripped over his own feet running away. I found him in the park, on my way home from football. I examined him and cleaned his cuts, and he told me what had happened. This was before we were even friends.’ Dave bit his tongue. He felt like he was rambling, now.

‘You describe Mr. Davis’s injuries in great detail,’ the prosecutor observed.

Dave smiled faintly. ‘I want to study medicine, so that kind of thing sort of sticks.’

‘I have no further questions, ma’am,’ said Mr. Butler and resumed his seat.

‘The defence may now cross examine the witness,’ said the judge.

Mr. Bligh, Craig’s lawyer, stood up. ‘Mr. Thompson, you say that Mr. Davis told you what the defendant had done. What, exactly, did he tell you?’

‘He said that Craig punched him in the stomach several times, until he couldn’t breathe or stand up straight. Then Craig loosened his belt, pushed him face first onto the bed and—and held him down.’ Dave cleared his throat again. He glanced at Nick, who was staring down at his hands. Zoë sat next to him with an arm around his shoulders.

‘And that’s all he said?’

Dave glared at Craig’s attorney. He was a slippery looking man of medium height. Dave couldn’t imagine he was any sort of good person if he could defend the likes of Craig. The fact that the man worked for Dave’s father’s firm didn’t make the situation any better.

‘At the time, yes. Why? Do you generally expect rape victims to go into the details of their trauma immediately after?’

‘Mr. Thompson, there is no need for sarcasm,’ said the judge softly. ‘Any further questions, Mr. Bligh?’

‘Yes. What happened after he had told you this?’

Dave shrugged. ‘I tried to comfort him. He was sick. I ran him a bath.’

‘And why would you do that, knowing that it would wash away the evidence?’

Dave frowned. ‘We didn’t think like that. We were two sixteen-year-old boys. No one ever taught us what to do in a situation like that. Windfield Green is a small town. Word spreads fast. We could have gone to the police, but if we had everyone would have known soon enough, and we didn’t know if we’d be believed or in any way taken seriously. Zoë was in London. Nick was freaking out. At the time, neither of us was thinking especially practically, and my first priority was to help him calm down. Evidence was the last thing on my mind.’

‘Thank you. One final question. Were you and Mr. Davis having sex at the time?’

Mr. Butler stood. ‘If I may, I would like to remind Mr. Bligh that he is questioning a minor, and either way I hardly see how this is relevant.’

‘My apologies. I withdraw the question.’ Mr. Bligh resumed his seat.

‘Thank you, Mr. Thompson,’ said the judge. ‘We shall now take a short break. Court resumes in fifteen minutes’ time.’

They all filed out of the court room. Once safely out in the open space of the corridor, Dave finally allowed himself to breathe, and he realised that his heart had been hammering since he went into the witness box. Nick found him about a minute later and hugged him. Dave hugged him back. Then he took Nick’s hand in his and squeezed it.

‘Fuck,’ he breathed. ‘I’ve never been so stressed out in my life!’

Nick smiled a watery smile at him. ‘You were amazing! Thank you.’

‘Well, I love you. I want to see the fucker behind bars. Simple as that.’

‘I love you too. And I’m glad you’re here.’ Nick drew a shaky breath and rested his head on Dave’s shoulder. ‘We will get him, right?’

‘Yes,’ said Dave simply. ‘They’ve got our testimonies, and your sister’s, and statements from doctors and your shrink and D.S. Javelin and all sorts, and even if all that fails they still have his DNA. They can’t overlook that. Besides, the judge seems cool.’

Nick nodded. ‘It’s the jury that decides, though, not the judge. But yeah. We’ll get him. We’ll lock him away. You’re right.’

‘Of course I am. I’m always right.’ Dave kissed Nick on the forehead. ‘This will all be over soon.’

‘Yeah.’

‘You boys all right?’ D.S. Javelin had appeared next to them, holding a cup of instant coffee. He smiled kindly at them both.

‘As all right as can be expected at this point,’ said Dave.

‘Hey, you did well,’ Javelin told him earnestly. ‘Almost a bit too well. How long did you rehearse those speeches in front of the mirror, eh?’ He bumped Dave’s shoulder with his own. ‘You nervous about giving evidence, Nick?’

‘Well, yeah. I think I’m supposed to be, don’t you?’ said Nick.

Javelin smiled. ‘It’s a cruel thing, forcing victims to recount their experiences like this. But it’s important that justice be served, right?’

Nick nodded. ‘Course.’

‘Good man. If you get scared or freeze up, just look at me. Or better yet, look at Dave.’ Javelin grinned.

‘Zoë’s first, anyway,’ Nick informed him. ‘Can’t be easy, giving evidence against your ex.’

‘I should imagine not.’ Javelin glanced over at Zoë, who was sitting with a cup of tea in her hands a few metres away. ‘See you lads later.’

They watched him walk over to where Zoë was sitting and sit down next to her. He put a hand on her shoulder and spoke to her in quiet tones. She smiled at him, and put one of her hands on top of his.

* * *

‘I picked him up on my way back from London. It was Easter Monday. He finally came out to me, told me that he and Dave were involved. I thought that was what he wanted to talk to me about, but then he went all quiet, and he told me. About Craig. I . . . I couldn’t believe it at first. There was some part of me, the part I’m most ashamed of, that kept telling me, “He’s lying, he’s lying. He’s just making this up because he doesn’t like Craig. He never has.” But then I realised how absurd that was. Nick just isn’t the sort of person who would do that. And anyway, he’s a terrible liar. I’ve known him all his life. I know his tells. He . . . He told me the whole story, everything that had happened, and I just knew he was telling the truth. He’s not the sort of person who’ll make up ridiculous lies to hurt people, but he is the sort of person who’d conceal the truth to protect me. I felt so ashamed!’ Tears were pouring freely down Zoë’s face now. ‘He’s my baby brother, and for all this time I had had no idea what he was going through. How afraid he was to be alone with Craig. And he never told me because he didn’t want to ruin anything for me. Because even after Craig beat him the first time . . . He wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, because he thought it would make me happy. And I’m supposed to be the adult, I’m supposed to protect him! Like he hasn’t been through enough in the sixteen years he’s been alive . . .’ She buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

‘Miss Davis,’ said Mr. Butler kindly. ‘Are you all right?’

She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand and sniffed. ‘Yeah. I’m sorry.’

‘Please, can you tell us what happened after your brother told you what had happened to him?’

Zoë nodded. ‘I rang for the police straight away. We drove home and parked a little ways up the street. We didn’t have to wait long for the police, but Craig was already gone. Detective Sergeant Javelin,’ here Dave could see her eyes finding said detective in the crowd, locking onto him as she spoke, ‘told us we should come down to the station to give evidence, so we did. The rest is on record, I believe.’ She turned her eyes back to the prosecutor.

‘Thank you, Miss Davis. Your witness, Mr. Bligh.’

Mr. Bligh stood. ‘Miss Davis,’ he began, ‘how long have you known the defendant?’

‘A little over two years.’

‘You said you couldn’t believe at first that he could have done such a thing. Can you expound on that?’

Zoë shrugged. ‘I was in love. You always want to believe the best about your partner, don’t you?’

‘Prior to this incident, what would have been your assessment of my client’s character?’ Mr. Bligh asked.

‘I would have said that he was a kind and handsome man, who was good to me. Not many men would give notice to a girl who spends most of her time being mother as well as sister to a teenage boy, and who’s stuck in a low wage job because she never finished university and has no useful skills. I believed he genuinely cared for me. I still believe that.’ She did not look at Craig as she spoke. ‘But, there was always a darkness to him. He certainly had a temper. This was always obvious whenever he watched sports. And he would insist on making distasteful gay jokes. I was not unaware of his homophobia. He never acted like he was anti-gay rights or anything like that—mostly he’d just ignore it—but I knew. I just never thought it would manifest in the way it did. I should have known.’

Mr. Bligh nodded. ‘No further questions.’

* * *

Nick looked resolutely away from where Craig was sitting. Dave could see him chew his lips nervously. He took a sip of water. Then he swallowed and continued. ‘He, er . . . He pushed me down on the bed, face first. I heard him undo his . . . his trousers . . .’ Even from the distance at which Dave was sitting he could see that Nick’s cheeks were wet. ‘Then he pulled mine down. He stood behind me, and he—he—’ Nick’s eyes searched the room and locked on Dave’s. Dave tried desperately to hold back his tears and keep his eyes locked to Nick’s.

‘He held me down,’ Nick continued, ‘by the shoulders. Pushed me into the mattress, and it hurt. And . . . I just remember thinking . . . This is all wrong. This doesn’t belong to him, he shouldn’t just be able to—’ He cut himself off and drew another deep breath. Then he looked down at his hands, and Dave dared to cast a look over in Craig’s direction.

He was staring, wide-eyed, at Nick, shaking his head slowly, as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Dave felt a wave of hatred towards him, and then, oddly, pity. He looked as if he honestly couldn’t believe that he had done what Nick was saying he had done. Dave wondered how he got this way.

‘When it was over, he just looked sort of horrified,’ Nick was saying, voice still unsteady. ‘He left me lying there and when I heard the shower turn on I just put on my clothes and ran. Didn’t look back, I couldn’t—just had to get away. So I went to Dave’s place.’

The room echoed with silence.

‘Thank you, Mr. Davis,’ said the judge kindly. ‘You may leave the court room or even go home now, if you wish.’

Nick nodded, and stood up.

‘I’ll go with him,’ Dave whispered to Zoë.

‘Do you think I should stay?’ Zoë asked quietly.

‘Only if you want. You don’t have to.’

Zoë nodded. ‘I think I will. Only an hour left anyway.’ She pulled out the keys to her Vauxhall Astra and handed them to Dave. ‘If he wants to go home straight away.’

‘Cheers. See you later.’ He kissed her on the cheek, and then stood up to follow Nick out of the court room.

He found him on a bench, just outside, staring at the ceiling. His psychologist, Evan, was sitting next to him with an arm around his shoulder. Dave sat down on Nick’s other side.

‘Hey . . .’

Nick looked at him. His cheeks were wet and his eyes red, and he looked exhausted, but he smiled anyway. ‘Hey,’ he said softly.

‘You okay?’

Nick shrugged. ‘I guess. I think. I don’t know.’

‘You did really well,’ Evan told him, removing his arm. ‘Did you manage to do what you were trying to do, you think?’

‘I think so,’ said Nick. ‘I hope so.’

Dave nodded, and put an arm around his shoulder, pulling him close. He buried his nose in Nick’s hair and breathed him in as Nick melted against him and took a shaky breath. He nuzzled Dave’s throat.

‘It’s over now, right? I won’t be . . . They won’t call me in there again?’

‘No, the judge told you you could go home,’ said Evan.’ That means they won’t ask any more of you.’

Nick nodded. ‘I want to go home.’

‘Do you want to go right away?’ asked Dave. ‘Zoë gave me the car keys.’

‘Yeah.’

‘Okay, then. Let’s go.’

They stood up.

‘Bye, Evan,’ said Nick.

‘I’ll see you for our session next week, yeah?’ Evan smiled. ‘It was nice to meet you Dave. You did really well today, too.’

Dave tried to smile, but in his exhaustion it probably came out as more of a grimace. ‘Thanks.’

They drove mostly in silence. It was dark by the time they reached Windfield Green. They didn’t say a word as they entered the house and took off their coats and boots. By some form of silent consensus, they just went up the stairs to Nick’s room, where they took off most of their clothes and crawled into bed. Neither of them spoke, and they didn’t do anything else either. They just lay there, and Dave put his arms around Nick, holding him close for what felt like hours. When the door opened downstairs, he realised that Nick had fallen asleep. He untangled himself, slowly, and pulled on his trousers before leaving the room as silently as he could.

In the hall downstairs he found Zoë and D.S. Javelin.

‘Oh, hey,’ he said in surprise.

Zoë turned to him and smiled. ‘Hi, Dave. The Detective Sergeant gave me a lift home. Where’s Nick?’

‘Asleep. That whole thing really wore him out, so we went to bed.’

‘Well, he deserves some rest,’ said Javelin kindly.

‘Shall I put the kettle on?’ Zoë asked. It was clearly a rhetorical question as she immediately headed off towards the kitchen.

‘You don’t live here, do you?’ asked Javelin as he and Dave followed.

Dave shook his head. ‘No. Only sometimes. I’ve got time off from college for the trial, so I may as well sleep here.’

‘Don’t your parents miss you?’

‘We don’t really get along so very famously,’ Dave admitted. ‘It’s okay. I don’t mind.’

‘Well, I’ve always been of the opinion that we make our own families,’ said Javelin. ‘“The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.”’

‘Oh, is that what that saying means?’

They sat down at the kitchen table while Zoë made tea.

‘So, what happens next?’ asked Dave.

‘Well, tomorrow the defence presents any witnesses they’ve got. In this case, I believe it’s just Craig’s father. Then, if no one has anything more to say, the jury will make their decision. We may have their answer as soon as tomorrow afternoon. Could take longer, though.’

‘And what do you think’s gonna happen, Detective Sergeant?’ asked Zoë, filling the teapot. ‘Guilty or not guilty?’

‘I think the odds are in our favour,’ said Javelin. ‘The prosecution has presented a strong case. The defence will have to present something truly miraculous if they’re to sway the jury now. Even if there are as many as two idiots in there who can’t see Spencer’s guilt, ten out of twelve is all we need for a guilty verdict. I think we’ll get him.’

‘I’ll be sure to tell Nick that when he wakes up,’ said Dave with a smile. ‘Thanks for everything, Detective.’

‘Hey, one way or another this will be over within a couple of days; you guys can call me Richard.’