Page 72 of The Cut
Pearls Before Swine 1994 is in full swing and the entertainment is lighting up the stage. Mark, dressed as Marty McFly in skinny jeans, bomber jacket and sunglasses, is on cello, accompanied by Catherine on clarinet, dressed as Doc Brown in a cotton wool wig, swimming goggles and hairdressing robe. She is perched on a cardboard box DeLorean. Their rendition of ‘Smooth Criminal’ by Michael Jackson is the highlight of the night so far. By the last thumping chorus, Marty McFly is up on his feet as jumping kids punch the air. Chanting and shouting in anticipation that ‘Annie would be OK. Is she OK? Is she OK, Annie?’279
Annie Maddock waits in the wings. She seems fine, if a little sweaty under all of Princess Leia’s layers, but she is nervous for her solo.
Lynette, or rather Sarah Connor, in her mum’s stretch wig, has opted for a lip sync of ‘Bat Out of Hell’ by Meat Loaf for her performance. She’s waving a red silk scarf around while her brother, Chris, circles on his mountain bike, fanning her with a piece of cardboard as a makeshift wind machine. It’s somewhat underwhelming. To add insult to injury Chris attempts to steal her thunder by thrashing his Freddy Krueger glove around, which catches on Lynette’s wig, yanking it off. She kicks his back wheel and his bike crashes into the boom box, but he saves face by pretending it was all planned. The whole mess of a routine is more comedic than rock’n’roll. The twins leave the stage, on the verge of a punch-up. But then Lynette’s attention is drawn back to the spotlight. This is the moment she’s been waiting for.
Princess Leia in ballet shoes stands serenely with her arms crossed over her heart, her eyes cast demurely downwards. Patel moves slowly around the perimeter of the room as the love theme fromReturnoftheJedioozes out of the speakers. The spotlight illuminates the pristine white tablecloth toga as Annie raises her arms like an angel. Patel zooms in closer.
Across the room, a figure in a long black gown that drapes from neck to floor is standing dead still. The grey mask completely covering the face is startling: it’s peppered with vicious-looking six-inch nails. The chest plate over the black velvet jacket is shaped like a ribcage. As if on wheels, the dark shape glides across the floor towards Patel. Hellraiser closes in on Obi-Wan: the stand-off of movie heroes and villains is about to come to a head.
As Patel follows the ethereal Leia in a series of flourishing turns around the room, a face suddenly looms into the lens. Close up,280the homemade costume reveals its crudeness. The nails sticking out of the grey rubber mask have been fixed with gaffer tape and the velvet ball gown is more Alexis Carrington fromDynastythan Pinhead. Ben has strung together a ribcage made from half-chewed dog bones dipped in ketchup. The result is both terrifying and a bit stinky.
‘Outside, Patel … NOW.’ The inside of Ben Knot’s mouth is black. He’s chewed on an ink cartridge for maximum effect.
Patel pulls up Obi-Wan’s hood and covers his face. ‘Later. I’m busy.’ He turns his back on Ben and lifts the camera to carry on filming Annie’s performance. Ben Knot grabs him by the shoulder and yanks him back around. Patel snaps and shoves Knot away. As Ben loses his balance, his foot catches on the gown and he tumbles backwards. A sickening crunch is heard as he hits the ground hard.
‘Ah … my wrist!’
Patel piles on top of Knot, layers of brown terry towelling and black velvet flying and tearing as a full-on scrap breaks out. Patel’s camera skids across the floor into a pair of Converse trainers belonging to Marty McFly.
Cherry picks up the camera and trains it on Patel and Knot. This is all his doing. This is exactly what he had orchestrated. He couldn’t have hoped for a more satisfying revenge. He intended to film it and watch it over and over again, revelling in his victory. They had always underestimated him, but he had caused all of this. Let them beat the crap out of each other and ruin Annie Maddock’s star turn on the dance floor. Let them suffer.
‘Aaarrggh!’ A high-pitched scream pierces through the chants and jeers of the Jedi Masters’ fight. Annie is sitting on the floor, clutching her foot. The hem of Princess Leia’s white gown is spotted with red, and as Annie removes her ballet shoe, it becomes281clear why. The shoe is soaked in blood, and the toes that emerge are almost black.
‘Oh my God, what happened?’ Catherine rushes up and kneels down to help her sister. Cat picks up one of her shoes. ‘There’s broken glass in your pointe shoe, Annie.’ Her head whips around the circle. ‘Who did this?’
Lynette grins to herself from the dark corner of the room. Patel and Knot have stopped fighting and Knot is sliding around trying to get up as Dave Patel frantically searches for his camera. Ben charges up on to the stage and tries to pick Annie up from the floor.
‘GET OFF ME!’ Annie, in floods of tears, tries to stand but the pain in her foot is excruciating. ‘Why can’t you just leave me alone? What is your problem?’
Catherine puts a hand on Annie’s shoulder to calm her down. Ben reels, his fists ball, and for a second it seems as if he’s going to retaliate, but instead he turns and smashes out through the double doors of the school hall. The humiliation is unbearable. Patel watches him go.
The strip lights in the hall flicker on and the music is cut. Branchflower totters on to the stage, half-cut, as the sound of fireworks diverts everyone’s attention.
‘All right, everyone, outside!’ He looks in horror at the blood on the floor, more concerned about the mess than making sure Annie is OK.
As the kids stream out of the school hall, Patel lingers. He is torn. Half of him wants to step in and be Annie’s hero: this might just be his one and only chance. The other half of him is desperate to pursue Ben Knot and finally show him who’s boss. As he turns to leave, he comes face to face with Lynette Davis. She’s leaning on the wall, chewing gum as a nasty smile spreads across her face. Catherine clocks it.282
She stares at Lynette. ‘You did this?’ She stands and moves towards her. ‘What is wrong with you?’
‘Little slag deserved it.’ Lynette’s head turns to Patel. ‘Right?’
Before she has chance to blink, a hand swipes hard across her face in a vicious slap. Lynette strikes back at Catherine, but she ducks and lurches towards the door and Lynette sprints out after her.
There’s a sudden explosion outside and the last screaming gaggle of kids swarms out into the night.
Dave and Annie are left alone as the fireworks begin.
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JULY 2024
Dark, ominous clouds shifted across the moon; the rain was holding off for now, but a storm was brewing. The streetlamps reflected off the wet tarmac as Ben swerved into the centre of the road. At the corner of Barton Rise, he headed down the hill, past the ancient Hanging Rock and out towards Blackstone Mill. He stepped on the accelerator. Why was she doing this to him? He needed to hurry; Karine had Lily and Nate bound to some macabre performance. God knows what she had in store for them tonight, but his worst fears were coming to the surface. She was out of control. If she even laid a finger on either of his children … he flinched at the thought of what he would do to her.
At the top of the hill, he could see that the road was flooded at the bottom.
‘You’re a bad influence on me, Ben Knot.’ For a second, Annie was sitting right there in the seat next to him. Had he been the bad influence, or had she?
