Slip Away
That day I pretended not to hear her calling just as I always did.
Shania was the oddball and meant trouble if she got involved in what you were doing. Of course, that meant she wasn’t cool to have around. So I pretended not to hear her shout and carried on walking towards the parade of shops where I was meeting Lucy and Tori. We were going into town to do some shopping. Tori’s brother was having a party at the weekend, and new fashion was required. Tori’s brother was the bees.
Later we returned with several designer label bags. My parents were waiting. Nothing unusual in that they liked to make sure I got home safe. Normally dad would take Lucy and Tori home too but their parents were there too.
It was back home in our living room a police constable spoke to us. Had we seen Shania that morning? I said I thought I heard her shouting at someone but didn’t know who. Lucy had seen her bike outside the newsagents on the lane, and Tori knew nothing. The police knew about the bike. Shania had disappeared
Tori stayed at our house that night. The police were searching her house. Tori’s brother, Mike, who worked in the newsagents, had disappeared too.
A few weeks later they were found trying to board a ferry for Dieppe. A gold band on Shania’s finger said it all. It wasn’t only me who had the hots for Mike. Mike and Shania had eloped, and the day we went shopping was her 18th birthday, not that any of us knew that.
©JezzieG2023
Jezzie G 