Page 53 of Samuel
He paused waiting for me to respond with a nod.
“You regretted it then, so don’t let us be having this same fucking conversation in another three years, because by then, Sam, it might be too late.”
I knew then what I wanted to do, what I was going to do and do it to the very best of my ability. I would no longer be shrouded by the guilt and shame of what I’d done as a kid, because that’s all I’d been, a kid who had been steered in the worst possible way.
I knew I’d make mistakes along the way, but I was determined to make my son proud of me.
Sam
the present
I’d tried to call Maisie about three times on my way around to her house, to tell her I was on my way, but each time it went straight to voicemail. At least she wasn’t dropping my call, so hopefully she’d be okay at me just turning up.
After I’d changed out of my beer sodden sweats and pushed my brother out of the door, I’d jumped into my car to go to Maisie’s house. I probably should have left it until I’d had a chance to speak to her first and possibly organise about going around there on the weekend, but I couldn’t wait. I’d made my mind up and didn’t want to waste any more time.
When I pulled up at the bottom of Maisie’s drive, I was surprised to see the door fling open and her come rushing out. She had her phone clutched to her chest and was sobbing.
“What the fuck?” I opened my door and jumped out, meeting her half way. “What’s wrong? Is it Frankie?”
Maisie’s chest was heaving as huge, fat tears rolled down her cheeks. Her hair was falling from its plait and there wasn’t a hint of colour in her cheeks – she was deathly pale.
“He’s taken him, Sam,” she screamed, grabbing hold of my bicep. “Mum went to pick him up from the school play rehearsal and he wasn’t there the teacher said his dad had picked him up Mum rang to ask if it was you but I knew it wasn’t I just knew I-.”
Everything was blurted out in one sentence, without any pause and every word felt like a knife stabbing at my skin.
“Maisie, sweetheart,” I soothed, trying to keep the panic from my own voice. “Take a breath. Come on, breath.”
I stooped down to look her in the eyes, breathing slowly and encouraging her to copy me.
“Sam…we…have…to…find…him,” she gulped in between sobs. “They said it was his dad. I forgot to tell them that Josh wasn’t on the approved list any more. This is all my fault.”
“No Maisie, it’s not. This is all on Josh. Have you called the police?” I asked, steering her back to the house.
“I-I-I only just got off the phone from Mum. I need to c-c-call them.” She moved away from me and started to stab clumsily at her phone. “Maybe the school did. I don’t know, Sam.”
“Hey, let’s get into the house and I’ll do it.” Gently I prised the mobile from Maisie’s fingers and taking her hand led her into the house.
* * *
“You should be out there looking for him,” I snapped at the copper taking a statement from me. “Not damn well questioning me about my whereabouts. We know who took him, the fucking teacher said it was him.”
“Mr. Cooper,” the copper started, holding out a hand. “We know what we’re doing. We are taking this very seriously, seeing as he isn’t the child’s father and Miss West has already made a complaint against Mr. Brent, we’ve sent a squad car to his address and I’m just trying to get a clear picture so we can rule things out.
“You don’t need to rule me out because I shouldn’t have been bloody ruled in in the first place.” I was about to push up from the sofa when a large palm landed on my shoulder. I looked up to see Maisie’s dad standing over me. He was a tall, balding man and as soon as he’d walked into the house he’d created a presence – this man was the one I had to thank for making sure my son had a great role model, so it was with respect for him that I didn’t brush his hand off me.
“Just calm down, Sam,” he said quietly. “They’re just doing their job. They know you’re not involved, but without realising it you may give them some information that helps.”
I relaxed back in the chair and nodded. “Sorry, but can I at least go to Maisie?”
The copper looked down at his notes and nodded. “Yeah, I think I’ve got everything I need. I’ll get on the radio and see if there’s any more news.”
As he left, I stood and looked around the room searching for Maisie.
“She’s in his room,” her dad said. “Jen is making her some tea, would you like one?”
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I nodded. “Please.”
“Okay, I’ll bring them up to you both.”
