Wrapped in Chains - Nicola Jane Page 0,35
to move out,” I blurt out. It wasn’t the way I intended to bring it up, but now I have.
“Why?” he asks.
“Because I do. I’m twenty. I want to do what other girls my age do.”
“No,” he says firmly. “You’re not moving out.”
“I am,” I argue. “You can’t stop me.”
“Watch me.” He gets up and leaves the room. Mum comes in and I glare at her.
“Why did you tell Riggs there’s stuff on my mind? I told you I’m good.”
“You’re not good. Something’s wrong,” Mum says.
“Yes, I want to move out. I told him and he said I can’t. How can he stop me? I’m an adult.”
My mum eyes me for a few silent minutes. “Is it that boy you were seeing before? Ryan?” she asks.
“No.” I sigh. I haven’t heard a thing from him since he left on the day of my party.
“Because if he’s got you into some kind of trouble, then tell me and I’ll sort it,” she continues.
“Trouble?” I repeat with a laugh. “Ryan was straighter than a poker stick. That was half the problem.”
“So, he isn't the father?” she asks. I freeze and stare at her open-mouthed. “It’s just you’re a James and we have this look about us when we’re pregnant. I saw it a few weeks ago, but I couldn’t be sure, but now, well, now it’s all over your face.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I whisper.
She sighs. “I haven’t told your brother. I haven’t told anyone. Talk to me, baby girl.”
CHAINS
I chuck some money on the table and grab Raven’s hand. “Thanks,” I call to the waitress as we head out.
“Where to next?” asks Raven.
“Let’s see where the road takes us,” I mutter. We’ve been moving since we left Manchester. I don’t stay in one place for more than two days because Riggs tipped me off that Cobra was out looking for me. He insisted I come back to the club for protection and I had to convince him I was good and in love with Raven, that I want to show her the bloody damn world.
The road takes us to Blackpool, where we find a bed and breakfast that’s cheap and near the seafront. “Did you speak with Riggs?” she asks.
“I told you, I can’t go back there,” I mutter, taking a seat on the balcony of our room and looking out at the busy beach.
“But if we go together and that Cree guy sees you’ve moved on, why would he care that you’re back?”
“He just will. I don’t wanna talk about it,” I snap. I never do. Raven’s desperate for a home, and I’d love to give her that security because she deserves it, but I can’t go back to the club. If I see Leia again, who knows how I’ll react. I miss her so bad, it’s a physical pain.
Raven and I aren’t a thing but things have progressed. We both enjoy sex but neither of us want a relationship, and she knows how I feel about Leia, so Cree will smell a rat. He isn’t stupid.
She sighs. “We can’t spend the rest of our lives moving around like this.”
“I have a place,” I admit. “It’s in London, but not at the club. Maybe we can go there eventually, but for now, let’s keep moving. Once Riggs gives me the all clear, we can head back there.”
“Can we at least go to the beach and enjoy what Blackpool has to offer?” she asks hopefully. I don’t have the heart to tell her no, so I find myself nodding. Raven confided in me not long after we left the club. She grew up in the care of an aunt and uncle. She doesn’t believe they were actually related at all, but her father told her they were, right before handing her over. Turns out they didn’t have a nurturing bone in their bodies and Raven had a shit life until she ran away at age fourteen. Since then, she’d lived on the streets until one of the guys from the club found her a few months back.
So when she asks me to do stuff like take her to the funfair, I can’t say no. She missed all that as a kid and as she wanders around in awe, popping cotton candy into her mouth, I find myself smiling. It feels good to make her happy. And then I think of Leia, like I always do. She must come into my head a thousand times a day. Even Raven’s joy