The Promise Page 20

  Already beside herself, Marnie started sobbing so loudly that her entire body shook.

  Georgie finally lost it. She couldn’t let her sister get worked up again. Not after last night. The poor girl was on the verge of a breakdown.

  ‘Our mum does want us,’ Georgie snapped, angry as she heard the quiver in her voice. ‘You don’t know anything about us, so why don’t you keep your big FAT nose out of it.’

  The other kids stifled their giggles.

  No one ever spoke back to Shaun James like that.

  ‘What did you just say, Jugs?’ Pushing his chair back, Shaun James leant across the table, challenging Georgie.

  She stared around the table at the sea of anxious faces all eagerly awaiting her reply. While she didn’t fancy her chances going up against the likes of Shaun James, she knew she had no choice. He was gunning for her, and if she didn’t stick up for herself now, herself and Marnie would end up as the boy’s newest targets.

  ‘I said: KEEP YOUR BIG. FAT. UGLY. NOSE OUT OF MY BUSINESS.’

  ‘Ohh, listen to old Jugs here!’ Shaun laughed, desperate to save face and hide his shock. No one spoke back to him. No one with half a brain anyway.

  Georgie Parker didn’t know who she was messing with.

  ‘And what are you going to do about it, Jugs? You gunna set your little pissy-knickers sister on me?’ Shaun sneered knowing full well that his words would get a rise from Georgie. He could see how protective of her she was. ‘Eww I can smell her from here. Pissy-knickers-Parker. That’s what we’ll call her.’

  The children all roared with laughter at that, right on cue, like a row of Shaun’s little puppets.

  Georgie could feel Marnie flinch beside her. That was all she needed. Shaun James could call her whatever the hell he wanted to, but she was not just going to sit here and say nothing while he terrorised her sister. Marnie had been through enough.

  ‘Do not talk about my sister like that.’ Georgie was glaring. Her fists clenched at her sides.

  ‘Who?’ Shaun said, raising his arms, feigning innocence. ‘Oh, you mean about Pissy-knickers-Parker?’

  Corey piped up then too: ‘Pissy-knickers-Parker. Pissy-knickers-Parker.’

  ‘That’s it. Sing along, everyone!’ Shaun commanded, until the room was loud with the chants.

  Unable to control her temper any longer, Georgie stood up in such a rage that she knocked the jug of orange juice over. Leaning her hands on the table, she stared across at Shaun defiantly. One more word and she was going to scratch his ugly eyes out.

  The other kids were all up on their feet too. Avoiding the spillage of orange juice as it dripped off the edge of the table, they all laughed in chorus. Only this time they were directing their attention at Shaun. Pointing at him as he stared down at his lap. His crutch covered in orange juice; the wet patch trickling down his legs.

  ‘Look, Jugs made Shaun piss himself.’ One boy giggled loudly.

  Shaun shot the mouthy boy a death stare: it instantly silenced the boy and the other children nearest to him.

  ‘You’re going to pay for that!’ Shaun was furious. His face red and blotchy; his hands clenched into fists at his sides as he realised that he was now the butt of some of the children’s jokes.

  ‘You and your little pissy-knicker-sister.’

  Leaning forward he grabbed at Georgie’s arm. Gripping her wrist with his fat chunky fingers, he pulled her towards him over the top of the table.

  Georgie didn’t even think twice about her actions. She had to fight back. To show this boy that she wasn’t scared of him. Lurching forward with her free arm, she swung out. Catching Shaun unawares, her fist caught him hard in the face. There was a loud crack of her knuckles as they made contact with his nose, causing him to stumble backwards, cupping his nose to stem the flow of blood that was now streaming through his fingers.

  Shaun looked momentarily startled. As if he literally didn’t know what had just hit him.

  The rest of the room were shocked too. Rendered silent now. Every pair of eyes were staring from him to Georgie and back again, as they waited to see what was going to happen next.

  He knew what they were all thinking though: Shaun James had just been beaten by a girl. Humiliated by her.

  That’s when he made a grab for Georgie’s hair. Wrapping his blood-soaked hands around the bun on the top of her head, he pulled her down onto the floor.

  He was on top of her now. The humongous weight of him pinning her slight frame. He raised his fist above his head, ready to punch her back, square in the face.

  ‘I told you I was going to make you pay, you skanky little bitch.’

  Waiting for the blow that was coming, Georgie flinched.

  Opening her eyes suddenly as she felt the weight of him shift from her. A shrill voice in the room shouting: ‘what in God’s name is going on in here?’

  It was Mrs Reed. She was dragging Shaun from her, shaking her head at him as she stared at the pandemonium in the room.

  The children had been out of control. Chanting and screeching as they had watched on as Shaun James was physically assaulting one of the new girls. Mrs Reed was utterly disgusted.

  ‘All of you return to your bedrooms immediately,’ she bellowed, desperate to restore some normality once more into the house. This was not how she ran things around here. She would not condone violence in any shape or form.

  ‘What the hell are you playing at, Shaun?’ her eyes flashed with fury. She’d lost count of the amount of times that she’d had to deal with this child in the eighteen months that he’d resided here at the house, but his behaviour was becoming more and more volatile as the days went on. He was a law unto himself. Bullying and intimidating every child that walked in through the doors; girls included now, it seemed.

  ‘She hit me,’ Shaun spluttered.

  The bitch had busted his nose. He was sure of it. It wouldn’t stop bleeding. The pain so acute he had tears in his eyes.

  He could see the other children staring at him as they all left the room, all drinking in his humiliation: most of them secretly glad that Shaun James had finally got his comeuppance.

  ‘Who hit you?’ Seeing the blood running down Shaun’s face, dripping onto the floor, Mrs Reed could see that he was indeed hurt. That was a first. Normally it was him that inflicted the injuries around here.

  ‘Her.’ Shaun pointed towards Georgie. Though he didn’t dare call her by the nickname that he’d given her now Mrs Reed was standing between them.

  ‘Georgie, is this true?’

  Georgie nodded. She wasn’t sorry, and she didn’t care what Mrs Reed said to her either; she wouldn’t say she was. Not if her life depended on it.

  ‘Well, that’s not the way we behave around here. I want you and your sister to both go to your room and wait for me there.’

  Georgie didn’t argue. Only too happy to be sent off to her room. Away from these horrible kids; away from Shaun James. She grabbed her sister’s hand and led her out of the room.

  ‘Is that it?’ Shaun had the hump. Mrs Reed had barely raised her voice at the girl.

  Georgie should have been punished. She should have all of her privileges taken away from her. She should be sent to isolation. That’s what Mrs Reed would have done if it was his fault. She’d have punished him dearly. Though somehow Georgie had managed to get away with it scot free.

  ‘Don’t you worry about her, Shaun, you just worry about yourself. Let me take a look at you.’ She could see the tears glistening in the corner of the boy’s eyes, from both pain and humiliation.

  Biting the inside of her cheek to stop the small smile forming on her lips, Mrs Reed couldn’t help herself. ‘Wow, that must have really been one hell of a punch she gave you. I think your nose might be broken. We better get you down to the hospital and get you checked over.’ She spoke loud enough so that Annie, who was hovering around nearby, could hear her.

  Annie was one of the last to leave, trailing behind as always so that she could try
and find out every last detail. Mrs Reed knew that she’d spread that last bit of news all over the house.

  Not only would the children know that Shaun had been hit by a girl, but that he’d also been taken to hospital.

  Served the little shit right. Shaun James was an out-and-out bully. An instigator of nearly every fight and argument that went on here at the children’s home; yet, today, he’d finally met his match in the little slip of a girl called Georgie Parker. Who’d have thought it?

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Somewhere far off in the distance, Georgie could hear Marnie laughing. Giggling.

  The sound of whispering filled her head, echoing inside her mind.

  Still half asleep, enthralled in her dreams, Georgie kept her eyes closed, willing them not to end. Not to be woken.

  She wanted them to go on for ever. To never stop.

  She was back home with her mother, with Marnie. The house looked warmer in her dreams. A rich yellow. They were in their mother’s bedroom. Herself and Marnie both perched on the end of their mother’s bed, just like they often did when they watched their mother getting ready for one of her nights out. Only, this time was different. They were so busy laughing and having fun that their mother had announced that she was going to stay at home with Georgie and Marnie instead. The three of them had spent the evening doing makeovers on each other. Their mother had drawn big black slug-like eyebrows on them all with an eyeliner pencil, and Marnie had giggled so much that she had tears streaming down her face.

  Then their mother had taken her favourite lipstick. Bright pillar-box red, her trademark – and drawn a thick red circle around the outside of her mouth. Clown-like, she turned and gave the girls her biggest smile.

  Laughing.

  ‘Georgie… Georgie… ’

  Giggling and whispering again. In her dream? In the bedroom?

  Unsure if the noise was in her dream or in the room, Georgie grumbled to herself in her sleep.

  ‘Georgie, Georgie… ’

  Stirring, annoyed that her dream had been snatched from her, Georgie felt her sister clamber onto her bed beside her; the weight of her making Georgie sink into the mattress and roll towards her.

  Irritated, Georgie shuffled over to one side to make room for her, still refusing to open her eyes, refusing to be dragged away from the sweet escape of her slumber. She pretended that she hadn’t noticed Marnie slipping underneath the bedcovers beside her and lying down.

  In true Marnie style, that wasn’t good enough.

  Marnie wanted Georgie to wake up. To comfort her.

  Fidgeting, the child dug her sharp pointy elbows and knees into Georgie as she shuffled around underneath the covers.

  The whispering and giggling continued.

  ‘Sshhh,’ Georgie grumbled. ‘Go back to sleep.’

  Placing her arm around Marnie now in a bid to shut her sister up, Georgie was glad when her sister finally stopped moving about.

  Snuggling into her sister’s body, relishing her warmth, she was eager to get back to her dreams.

  Back to their make-believe happy home with their mother.

  She wrinkled her nose.

  That smell?

  Unfamiliar, musty. She could smell stale body odour. Sweat.

  She froze.

  Terror enveloped her as she realised that the person lying next to her, the person that Georgie had draped her arm around, wasn’t Marnie.

  Awake now, on high alert, Georgie’s eyes flew open, Disorientated, surrounded by darkness. Her heart started thumping loudly as the whispering and giggling continued; this time, Georgie could hear it loud and clear. The hushed voices, the laughter.

  ‘Shaun?’

  His huge weight beside her in the bed.

  Underneath her covers.

  ‘What the hell are you doing?’

  Engulfed with blind panic, Georgie knew she needed to get away. Pushing herself backwards, up the bed, she tried to move, to get up so that she could run.

  Suddenly she was pulled back down onto the mattress. A sweaty hand clamped tightly over her mouth.

  Shaun’s hand.

  ‘Don’t fucking move.’ This came from Corey. Behind her at the head of her bed.

  He was here too.

  ‘Hold her down,’ Shaun instructed.

  Corey did as he was told.

  Crouching over her, Corey dragged Georgie’s arms up above her head; pinning her down to the bed he knelt on both of her hands. Then, as Shaun moved his hand from Georgie’s face, Corey replaced it instantly with his own.

  Corey had a tight hold of her now.

  Georgie couldn’t move.

  She tried to kick out with her legs, to unsteady Shaun, but he straddled her.

  The heavy weight of him pinning her down to the mattress.

  Unable to make a sound, her eyes flickered wide with terror as Shaun moved his hands under the covers.

  Touching her. Laughing.

  ‘I told you I was going to make you pay, didn’t I, Jugs?’ He sounded menacing, as if he was enjoying her fear. His chunky hands kneaded her thighs, squeezing her flesh roughly as he moved his hand higher.

  Petrified at what the boy was going to do to her, Georgie felt sick. Hot bile burned through her. Maybe Shaun was just messing with her head. Just teaching her a lesson. He wouldn’t do anything that bad to her if he had Corey here with him too? Would he? This was just a twisted little game to get her back for humiliating him earlier. For showing him up in front of the entire house.

  Shaun tugged at her nightdress. Yanking it up.

  Georgie realised to her horror that she was very wrong. Shaun was going to make her pay in the worst way possible. She thought about her mother, and all those disgusting sounds. Georgie felt nauseous.

  Kicking out, as hard as she could, she wriggled around in the bed frantically in a bid to escape.

  The boys just laughed, finding her panic amusing.

  Georgie recognised another voice then too.

  High-pitched laughter.

  Annie.

  Then she spoke sternly: ‘Stop fucking squirming about Pissy-knickers or they’ll do the same to you.’

  Georgie could hear the muffled cries of her sister, as if she was being restrained too. Annie must be holding her; clamping her mouth shut so that her sister wouldn’t be able to alert anyone about what Shaun was intending to do.

  She tried to bite Corey’s hand. Desperate to escape, to save her sister from these animals. Only, he was holding her too tightly; she couldn’t get any leverage.

  She was crying now. Hot tears poured down her cheeks. Helpless, weak there was nothing she could do. She was completely at Shaun’s mercy.

  ‘I told you I’d make you pay,’ Shaun whispered in her ear as he climbed on top of her, pulling down her knickers.

  His voice sounded thick, breathless with excitement. He was enjoying the fear that he was instilling in her.

  The weight of him above her, crushing; she tried to move, to turn – anything to try and shake him off, but he was too big. Too strong.

  Pinned down underneath him, the air burst out of her lungs. Crushing, heavy. She tried to breath, to draw in some air, but she couldn’t. Her chest was tight, wheezy.

  Heady now, she thought that she might actually die. Trapped underneath the boy, unable to breathe.

  There was another pain now too.

  A sharp, hard pain that she’d never felt before.

  Inside of her. Searing, so painful. It was as if it was ripping her in two.

  Shaun was grunting on top of her.

  The rolls of sweaty skin sticking to her body as he pressed himself against her.

  It felt like for ever.

  Corey and Annie were laughing. Egging him on.

  ‘She ain’t going to be so full of herself now, is she?’ Annie said, satisfied that the new girl had got what she deserved.

  Then they were laughing.

  Corey and Annie both mimicking the grunting sounds that Shaun was making
.

  Still, Shaun didn’t stop.

  The noises only seemed to spur him on to hurt her even harder.

  Staring up at him she could see the dark shadows under his eyes; the bandage across his nose where she’d hit him earlier. She sorely regretted doing that now.

  Shutting her eyes in a desperate bid to shut Shaun out too, Georgie was in survival mode.

  Concentrating only on her breathing, on the sound of her sister, she tried to make everything else that was happening to her disappear.

  She zoned out.

  Unsure of how long it had been, she registered the sound of Shaun making one final last grunt on top of her, before he stopped. Collapsing on her, crushing the last bit of air inside her lungs with his huge fat body.

  She could feel the hot sticky sweat dripping from him. The foul stench of his bitter body odour would be engraved in her memory for ever.

  Finally, he rolled off of her and sat up.

  ‘You liked that didn’t you,’ he smirked.

  Georgie didn’t answer. She didn’t dare. She couldn’t, even if she wanted to. Corey’s knees were still pressing down on her palms; his hand still clamped over her mouth.

  She just stared ahead, up towards the ceiling. Willing Shaun to leave now. For Corey to go with him.

  ‘I said you liked that, didn’t you?’

  She knew he wouldn’t go until he heard her say the words. So she nodded. Telling him what he wanted to hear. So that he would just go. So he wouldn’t hurt her sister too.

  ‘I can’t hear you?’ Shaun said; then nodding at Corey, the boy removed his hand from Georgie’s mouth so that she could answer.

  Only, when Georgie opened her mouth to speak, no sound came out.

  Nothing.

  Her throat was burning as she swallowed down the hot bile that threatened to escape.

  Shaun grabbed her face. ‘I want to hear you say it.’

  ‘Yes. I liked it,’ Georgie spat. Crying now, humiliated. She saw the amusement in Shaun’s eyes staring back at her.