Jess
Jess turns onto her street. She’s feeling so much better already; even school was halfway decent today. When she told Gail last night that she hadn’t seen anything on the afternoon Sean was assaulted, and Gail had reluctantly offered to talk to the police on her behalf, she’d felt giddy with relief. She still couldn’t face normal food, but she’d gone downstairs and asked for some chocolate. Lou had watched on, rapt, as Jess gobbled down a whole Dairy Milk. And Jess had woken up this morning with some energy inside her for the first time in ages.
Lou and Justin’s house is nothing special. Paving slabs at the front, a PVC door, a few windows. Pebbledash on the outside, which Lou hates but Justin says they can’t afford to remove. But it’s home, and Jess feels a sense of peace descend as she slots her key into the lock and turns.
‘Jess, is that you?’ Lou’s voice is tight, stressed, and it stops Jess in her tracks. An image pops up in her mind: a car she didn’t recognise parked right outside the house.
She coughs. ‘Yeah?’
‘Can you come in the kitchen? Gail’s here.’
Jess’s shoulders drop. Didn’t she tell Gail everything she had to say last night? Do they really have to go over it all again face to face?
‘And, um, some police officers,’ Lou adds.
Jess reaches out for the newel post to steady herself. Gail was supposed to deal with it all; she promised that she would. She could run back outside, Jess thinks. But if she did, would they come after her? Tackle her to the ground in front of the neighbours? With a sense of inevitability, she kicks off her scuffed school shoes, and trudges into the kitchen.
The room is too crowded, and Jess instantly feels like she’s suffocating. Their table is supposed to seat four, but it’s always a squash, and that’s with her and Amber still being kids. Now there’s DS Sawyer, DC Blake and Gail all sitting down, plus Lou hovering close to the kettle.
‘Hello, Jess,’ DS Sawyer says, nodding to the empty chair. ‘Do you want to join us?’
No, I want you to leave my house. I want to go to bed and pretend you don’t exist. Jess sinks into the chair. To avoid eye contact, she stares at the garden through the window – a small patch of grass and a rusty trampoline.
‘So I understand you’ve changed your story?’ DS Sawyer starts. There’s an edge to her voice: accusing. She’s not pretending to be nice anymore. ‘Which, to be honest, was quite a shock to hear,’ she goes on. ‘A few weeks before the trial is due to start. So which is it, Jess? Are you scared to go to court, or did you really not see the incident take place?’
Jess keeps her eyes fixed on the window. Amber can do backflips on that trampoline, but she’s always been too scared to try. ‘I didn’t see it,’ she whispers. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘You’re sorry? Did you know that making a false statement is a crime?’ the detective says curtly. ‘And your evidence was critical to this case. There’s no way we’ll get a guilty verdict without your testimony.’
Jess’s eyes sting. It’s not like her to show her emotions, especially not in front of strangers, but she can’t keep them in. She’s tired. She planned to eat lunch in the dinner hall today but there was nothing she liked so she made do with an apple and a packet of Skittles from the tuck shop. ‘I just want it to stop,’ she whispers. She drops her head onto the table. The washing machine is mid-cycle, and she stares at the knickers and T-shirts being flung around the drum.
‘Jess has been through a lot,’ Lou reminds everyone softly. ‘Both a while ago, and more recently. I think the most important thing is to make sure she’s okay.’
Gail sits up taller, maybe realising that was her line. ‘Lou is right. Jess’s wellbeing must come first. If she feels that she made a mistake in her original statement, then we need to accept that.’
‘Let’s not forget, the defendant has always maintained his innocence,’ DC Blake says. ‘Very strenuously. If Jess didn’t see anything, then perhaps he didn’t do it. Maybe our first instinct that Russo picked up his injuries in a street fight – and just blamed Mr Rose because he didn’t like him – was correct all along.’
DS Sawyer stares at Jess, as though trying to drill the truth out with her eyes, but eventually she looks away. ‘Okay, well, I’ll speak to the CPS,’ she says with an air of defeat. ‘And I guess I’ll tell them that I don’t think we should charge Jess with anything,’ she adds begrudgingly. ‘It isn’t really in the public interest.’ She pauses for a moment. ‘But, Jess?’
‘Yes?’ Jess whispers, her voice trembling.
‘Don’t ever pull a stunt like that again, okay?’ DS Sawyer pushes up to standing, and her colleague follows suit. A chink of light sparkles dimly in Jess’s mind, the possibility that this might finally be over.
‘Wait,’ Lou says, lifting her hands. ‘Do we need to talk about Sean Russo?’
‘In what context?’ DS Sawyer asks, her hands resting on the top of the chair, her mind already onto the next case.
‘Well, he’s not going to be pleased about this, is he?’ Lou goes on. ‘The case against the guy who assaulted him – allegedly or whatever – being dropped. He’ll see it as Jess’s fault, and he’s a tough 18-year-old guy. What if he takes his frustration out on her?’
‘We have no record of Sean Russo being violent,’ DC Blake says. ‘He’s known to us, but for different offences.’
‘And how many assaults actually make it onto the police database?’ Lou throws back. Jess doesn’t know this Lou, the one who raises her voice. The strangeness of it makes her feel uncomfortable.
DS Sawyer turns to Lou and lifts her hands. ‘I understand your concerns, I really do, but we can’t help, I’m afraid. A potential crime in the future definitely isn’t within our remit.’
‘Could you not even give him a warning?’ Lou asks. ‘Tell him you’ve got your eye on him?’
‘The law doesn’t work that way; not anymore anyway. There are options – court injunctions for example – but Sean was the victim of this crime, so I doubt any judge is going to curtail his freedom just because you ask them to. Sorry,’ she adds as an afterthought. ‘And now, we need to go.’
As Lou shows them out, Jess feels the oxygen levels in the room rise a fraction. But she can’t fully relax until Gail has gone too. The social worker twists in her chair to face her. ‘What do you think, Jess?’ she asks. ‘Are you worried how Sean Russo might react?’
Jess pulls at her bottom lip. Lou slips back in. She must have heard Gail’s question because she stares expectantly at Jess.
‘This whole thing happened ages ago,’ Jess starts, trying to sound offhand. ‘Maybe he won’t care about it anymore.’ She’s not sure she believes it, especially with the stories going round about Sean. How he’s hanging out with a gang now. Selling drugs for them. But she wants to stop Lou worrying.
‘Do you think so?’ Lou says, breaking into a relieved smile. But it folds into a frown when there’s a loud thud in the hallway – the front door flying into the adjacent wall – and thumping footsteps towards the kitchen.
‘What the fuck have you done?!’ Amber screeches from the doorway. Her hair is sweaty and tangled; her shirt collar ripped.
‘Oh my God, Amber! What happened to you?’ Lou reaches out, but Amber shrugs her away, irritated by the interruption.
‘Is it true?’ she demands, narrowing her eyes at Jess. ‘Have you pulled your statement?’
‘I can’t go to court,’ Jess whispers. ‘It’s too much. You told me to sort myself out, remember?’
‘I meant your eating!’ Amber shouts. ‘Not this! Not signing your own fucking death warrant!’
‘Oh shit,’ Lou moans in the background.
‘But Sean might not care anymore,’ Jess pleads, clinging to her own version of reality.
‘Oh my God, you’re fucking delusional!’ Amber drops down into the chair next to Jess; grabs both her wrists and pulls her round, forcing her to make eye contact. ‘Why do you think I look like this? And how much worse do you think you’d look if it was you he caught instead of me?’
‘Did he hurt you?’ Jess whispers, her voice trembling.
‘He was my friend, Jess!’ Amber screeches, squeezing tighter, digging her nails into Jess’s soft flesh. ‘And now he hates me. How could you do that to me?’
‘What if I explain?’ Jess whines. ‘Tell him that I’m sorry?’
‘Are you really that stupid?!’
Jess’s bottom lip quivers. She grabs it with her top teeth but that makes her eyes water.
‘That’s enough, Amber,’ Lou says, her assertive voice back. ‘Let your sister go.’ Then she turns to Gail. ‘But we can’t ignore it; Jess could be in real danger here.’
‘What do you think he’ll do to me?’ Jess whispers. Her chest is constricting again. Her eyes swimming. Jesus, when is this all going to be over?
‘I don’t know, Jess,’ Amber hisses. ‘But you brought this on yourself.’
