Num8ers - By Rachel Ward Page 0,28

still laughing, then he sobered up. “Listen, we need to get going. Sooner the better.”

“Where you going, son?” Val asked.

Spider shuffled his feet, looking down at the carpet. “It’s better if you don’t know, Nan….”

“Alright, but you’ll ring me, won’t you? Let me know you’re OK?”

“Yeah, I’ll try.”

Val had put some stuff together in a bag: food, a sleeping bag, a blanket. I went upstairs to fetch my “real” clothes, and put them in a shopping bag Val had found for me. We stood around awkwardly for a minute, then Spider coughed. “Come on, time to go.” He reached down and hugged his nan. She held him close. I tried not to think that this was probably the last time they’d see each other.

Spider picked up the bags and moved toward the front door. Val caught my arm. “Take good care of him, Jem.” Those hazel eyes looked deep into mine. I swallowed hard, but didn’t say anything. I couldn’t promise anything, could I? “Keep him safe.” I looked away, and straight off she dug her fingernails into my arm. “Do you know something? Do you know something about Terry?”

I gasped; she was starting to hurt me.

“No,” I lied.

“Look at me, Jem. Do you know something?”

I pressed my lips together, shook my head.

“Oh, Christ,” she murmured, her pupils widening in alarm. “Just do your best, Jem.”

She let go of my arm and we walked into the hall. Spider had opened the door a crack and was peering out.

“OK,” he said, “I think it’s clear. Let’s go!” He darted out to a red car parked halfway on the sidewalk, clicked open the trunk, and chucked in the bags.

“What the…? Is this yours?” I stuttered.

He looked up and grinned. “It is now. Get in, quick.” He was looking up and down the road, twitching like mad.

Val fumbled in her pocket and brought out a fiver. “Here,” she said, trying to give it to Spider, “take this.”

He smiled and closed her hand around it. “Nah, don’t worry, Nan, I got money.”

“I don’t care, Terry. This is mine. It’s all I’ve got. I want you to have it. Take it.” She shoved it into his pocket.

“What you gonna live on?” Even in such a hurry, he had time to think about her.

“Don’t worry, I get my Disability money tomorrow. I’ll be fine. You have it. Get some chips or something.”

“Cheers, Nan.” He bent to hug her again. Her eyes closed as she held him one last time. “I’ll be in touch. See you soon, yeah?”

“Yeah, alright, son.”

We got in the car, and Spider reached beneath the steering wheel with both hands and rummaged around until the car spluttered into life. As we drove off, I looked behind. Val was standing on the pavement, just watching, hand half-raised. Her voice echoed in my head: “Do your best, Jem.” I wanted to tell Spider to stop the car there and then. I wanted to get out and run, and just keep running until I had a heart attack or someone caught me and none of it was in my hands anymore. Deep down inside I knew there was nothing I could do to keep Spider safe — his time was coming, and it was days rather than weeks now.

“Stick the radio on. Find some music.” His voice broke into my thoughts.

I looked across at him. He was fizzing with energy, loving the buzz of it all — running away, driving through London. If he’d been a dog, he’d have had the window down now, with his head out and his ears flapping in the breeze. I flicked through the radio stations. It was all rubbish, so I opened the glove compartment, looking for CDs. There was a pretty tragic selection: the Bee Gees, Elton John, Dire Straits. There was all sorts of other crap in there, too — receipts, an old hairbrush, some papers. I fished out one bit of paper, just a boring bill. I was about to chuck it on the floor when something caught my eye. At the top, it was addressed to Mr. J. P. McNulty, 24 Crescent Drive, Finsbury Park, London.

“Oh, my God, Spider. This is the Nutter’s car! Have you completely lost it?”

His eyes were shining. “Couldn’t resist. Neat, eh?”

“You been up the school?”

“Yeah, just sneaked in. They were all in last period. Didn’t take long — you might as well not lock an Astra.”

“He’ll have reported it stolen by now. They’ll all be looking for it.”

“Yeah, I thought about