Page 45 of Kiss Me at Christmas
“I caught these two smoking a joint out the window of the downstairs toilet.”
Harriet’s good-mood bubble popped. She glared at them.Give me strength!
“I’m sorry, Ken, it won’t happen again,” she said pleadingly.Please don’t call the police…or the school!
Ken released his grip on the pot-smoking duo. Ricco shook himself and schlepped over to the rest of the students, throwing himself into a seat in the stalls with a face like thunder, but Carly flicked a double bird and shouted, “Fuck this shit, I’m outta here!” and started walking toward the side exit.
“Carly!” Harriet shouted.
“I’ll get her, miss,” said Billy, leaping to his feet.
“I’ve got this, lad,” said Ken. “Oi! You! Carly!” he boomed. “You walk out that door and you’re off the team. D’you hear me? Everyone gets one chance to screw up and this was yours, but if you leave now, you’re barred. There’s no coming back.”
Harriet put her head in her hands. She felt sure Carly would keep on walking; that girl spited herself more than anyone else ever could.
“Come on, Carls,” said Billy. “Don’t be a dick.”
“We need you!” Isabel called.
“What about our duet?” Ricco added.
Carly had reached the door.
“One chance, Carly,” said Ken, only slightly booming. “Make the right choice. Stay and be part of this team. Everyone wants you here. Don’t blow it.”
To Harriet’s astonishment, Carly turned back and looked at them.
“You’re not the first person to make a mistake, lass,” said Ken. “It’s how you deal with them that counts. Come back over here and take the bollocking that I’m about to dish out to you and your mates and then it’s done. Over. We never need to talk about it again.”
Harriet held her breath; she knew the warring emotions that would be colliding in Carly’s head.Come back!Harriet willed her. Carly took a step toward the group, then another and another. Her hands in her pockets, her head held defiantly high. She reached them and sat down between Ricco and Leo. Leo reached both his arms around her and pulled her tightly to him. “Thank you for staying,” he said quietly.
Ken nodded, and Harriet waited for her heart to return to normal speed.
“Okay then, now we’re all present and accounted for,” Ken began. “This is technically a building site and as such is under my jurisdiction, and I do not tolerate drugs being consumed on my site. Do I make myself clear?”
“Absolutely.” Harriet nodded emphatically.
“What about the rest of you?”
They each mumbled their understanding. Ricco looked sullenly up at Harriet and added, “Sorry, miss.”
“All right,” said Ken. “That’s the end of it, as far as I’m concerned, but cross me again at your peril.” He puffed out a breath that seemed to instantly dispel his displeasure. “Blimey, it’s dusty as a spinster’s bloomers in here—why don’t you take the kids into the cocktail lounge to work this evening. We can’t do any more in there until the new wall plaster’s dried, and it’ll be a darn sight quieter than it is here.”
“Thanks, Ken.” She smiled at him. She wanted to hug him, but she held back. He rubbed the back of his neck and made a dismissivepftsound.
“Well,” he growled, “all that dust’s no good for their young lungs.”
Ken carried on down toward the stage and began to bellow orders at his team, and five sets of eyes bored expectantly into Harriet’s face. She met each of them in turn.
“Okay,” she began in her quiet but dangerous voice. “Ithink we can all agree that was a stupid thing to do and that ‘it’ and all variations of ‘it’ will not happen again.”
“Are you going to dob us in?” asked Ricco.
If the same situation had occurred at school, she would have been duty-bound to report them. But this was after hours, and they were not representing the school. Ricco’s dad smoked medicinal cannabis to treat his chronic pain, and though he would doubtless be annoyed with his son, the chances were that Ricco had swiped the joint from home in the first instance, which rendered it a somewhat gray area. And as for Carly, her stepmum had left with her younger brother last year when her dad had lost his job, and his functioning alcoholism became the nonfunctioning kind. No good would come of telling him.
She let out a long breath. “No. I’m not. But this is your one and only pass. You heard Ken. I need all of you with me if this is going to succeed.”
Ricco nodded. “Thanks.”
