Page 73 of The Girl in the Woods

‘Or what?’ said Khalid, stepping in front of him. ‘You gonna beat us up?’

‘Yeah,’ said Digger.

‘I remember you,’ said Needles to Sajid. ‘You were the Paki on the coach the other day. I just told you to take your filthy Paki hands off my sister.’ He shoved Sajid hard in the chest.

‘Laine,’ said Jassy, her voice trembling. ‘Let’s go.’

Sajid’s body tensed. His warm eyes were suddenly hard and cold. He was angry with Laine for being provocative, furious because he had to struggle all the time because of his colour, angry that he couldn’t have the girlfriend he wanted and angry with Needles for his ignorance. His nails bit into his palms.

He was furious with the whole fucking world, and at that moment, all his hatred was directed at Needles, and before anyone could stop him, he was pounding his fists and kicking his feet at any part of Needles he could reach.

Needles, taken by surprise, yelped in pain and fell to the ground, covering his head with his arms. Digger let out a primal scream and jumped on Sajid’s back, knocking the breath out of him.

Then all hell broke loose. Skinner was winded when Laine punched him in the stomach. Sajid could hear her screaming obscenities. Khalid had dragged Digger off Sajid and brutally punched him in the jaw. Before Digger could retaliate, Kalid hit him again.

‘Here we go,’ said Beth in a resigned tone. ‘Sooner than I thought.’

Through blurry eyes, Sajid saw Needles being dragged away by DS Harper.

‘You all right, mate?’ said a voice. ‘You look a bit winded.’

Sajid nodded. Through the haze, he could see a crowd had gathered, and the police were moving people on.

‘What’s going on?’ said Ray.

‘The usual fair punch-up,’ said Sandy, her voice slurred.

‘You’re a twisted racist bastard, Colin,’ screamed Laine.

The paramedic had somehow got Skinner up, and he realised he was sitting on a hay bale. The Asians, bleeding and bruised, were on the other side, also being seen by paramedics.

Needles gave Laine the finger. Laine returned it and walked off with Jassy, who was shaking so much she couldn’t walk straight.

Sajid was dizzy; all he could see were black spots in front of his eyes, but he knew he’d beaten the shit out of Needles, and it was the best feeling in the world.

After the police searched them, Tom stood before them and said firmly, ‘Right, you lot. We’re giving you two choices. One, you leave the fair right now, or two, you stay away from each other. I’m putting this down to too much drink and excitement, but I’ll arrest all of you next time. Make your choice.’

Sajid got up. ‘Come on,’ he said to his mates. ‘Let’s enjoy the fair.’

They nodded in agreement and followed him, dabbing at their wounds.

‘Wanker,’ Needles said.

‘We’ll be watching you,’ said Beth.

‘Good luck with that,’ said Ray.

Sajid was shaking but feeling more confident. His sides hurt, but he imagined Needles hurt even more, and that made the pain easier to bear. Laine had been right. They shouldn’t be ashamed of their relationship or let anyone bully them into splitting up. He looked around the crowded field, but spotting her amongst the crowd was impossible.

He fumbled in his pocket for his phone to call her, but it wasn’t there. He must have dropped it during the scuffle. He searched everywhere he thought it might have fallen, but it was nowhere.

‘It’s gone, mate,’ said Khalid. ‘Anyone could have it by now.’

Sajid punched the air in anger. There was so much he needed to tell Laine.

The man next to Olivia turned. Ana had been holding her breath, and there was an uncomfortable tightening in her chest. Now that the moment she had been waiting for had arrived, she didn’t want him to turn around. Instead, she wanted to run and keep on running. But there was no time for her to run. Ana’s eyes focused on his hand. The smell of his aftershave made her want to vomit.

‘Hi, Ana, nice to meet you,’ he said, his hand closing over hers.

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