The Stranger by Mark Ayre (ebook reader wifi .txt) 📕

"I kept tabs on the guys I knew or suspected were involved that night. None of them has since hurt another girl or anyone else."

This was true but omitted essential facts. Purposely, Abbie had obscured how obsessive she had been about tracking the guys. And while it was honest to say none of them had hurt anyone after Abbie, it left out the fact that two had tried. But Abbie had been there. Abbie had made sure neither would have the opportunity to hurt anyone else. After her intervention, that was two men she could stop surveilling.

Ben had found her after her collision with the first of these two men. He had helped her deal with the second. He had not always been averse to helping anyone beyond the scope of Abbie’s prophetic dreams.

Bobby didn't release her hands. There was a flicker of something in his eye that indicated Bobby sensed some of what Abbie had left unsaid. The flicker reminded Abbie why there could be only one date. They got on well. Bobby believed he could see into her soul, but he was missing so much. If Abbie got back her black book from Travis, and if she showed it to Bobby, if she explained to him what the names meant, he would not want another date. He would run screaming and pray to never meet Abbie again.

For now, Bobby was enjoying their date. He was willing to let the darker stuff go. And, of course, he had to uphold his end of the bargain.

To him, Abbie said, "I think it's your turn."

Eighteen

The food arrived and proved to be delicious from the first bite. Abbie made all the right noises. It took Bobby longer to get into his because it was taking him longer to get over Abbie’s story. It wasn’t his tragedy, of course. He had never been raped, and his brother was not in prison for battery with the intent to kill, or whatever the charge had been. On the other hand, Abbie had had longer to deal with the pain, so she gave him some time.

Halfway through dinner, after some idle chat about nonsense topics, Bobby said at last, “I feel silly telling you about my problems now. If your tragedy was a city levelling earthquake, mine is a missed step.”

“Our demons are personal. It’s not a competition,” said Abbie. “Besides, your problems are current, mine from years ago. You get bonus points for that.”

This coaxed back the smile she feared she had driven away for the evening. Imagine being able to smile through countless shifts at Perfect Chicken and one date with Abbie knocked it off for good? That would have been humiliating.

“It’s fairly straightforward,” he said.

Abbie took another bite of her delicious meal. She gave no further encouragement. Waited for him to find the strength to talk.

“Okay, it’s like this,” he said. “Coming up to the autumn before last, my father was made redundant. At this point, we were a happy family: my father and mother, me, and my two much younger siblings. Afraid to destroy this harmony, my father made the cardinal error of not revealing to anyone, including my mother, his redundancy. Instead, he pretended to go to work while job hunting, sure he would not long be unemployed.”

Bobby took a bite of his food. Took far longer chewing than was needed. Abbie said nothing; he had to tell the story his way.

“He was wrong,” said Bobby. “After three months, not only had he not found a job, but the family savings were almost depleted. My mother could not much longer be kept in the dark. At this point, he realised he should have told her of his redundancy the day it happened. It was too late for that. He still would have been better owning up then, even after three months of deceit, but he convinced himself this was impossible. She would leave him and take his children if he was honest. He had to fix this alone. To do that, his only option was to make a lot of money and make it fast. But as you probably know, for most people, there’s only one way to make fast money, and that’s via dishonest means.”

A chill chased up Abbie’s spine. She thought of Michael’s mother with her drugs and her loan sharks; Eddie, with the debt left by his brother’s theft. She thought, Here we go again. But this was Bobby’s story, so she kept her mouth shut and waited.

“To top up the savings and tide him over until he found a job, dad visited one of Francis Roberts’ loan sharks and from the shark borrowed twenty-five grand. This was the perfect solution, he told himself, because it ensured my mother never had to learn of his deception, and paying back the shark would be no problem because he was days from finding a job. Except, of course, he wasn’t. Still, the job didn’t come. Now, my father was paying back the money he’d borrowed with the money he’d borrowed, but interest meant the same cash wouldn’t cover it. He should have given the whole lot back as soon as it became clear he wasn’t going to get a job anytime soon. That still would have left him in the hole, but nowhere near as bad as if he paid it back piecemeal. That’s obvious from an outsider’s point of view and obvious to my father now, via hindsight. But amid this crisis, enveloped by self-delusion, my father convinced himself he could still make this work.”

Abbie finished her coffee. She wanted another drink but was enraptured and horrified by the story, so she made no move to gain the waiter’s attention. Because the food was delicious, and she wanted to enjoy it closer to hot than cold, she forced herself to eat even as Bobby continued, though she found it difficult to focus on anything but his narrative.

“The borrowed money soon ran out,” said Bobby. “Twenty-five grand gone, but because of