His Silence - Chapter 42

Callum and I don’t get another chance to speak to each other for the rest of the afternoon. Every time I think we might be able to snatch a few moments, Mary appears. It seems she’s finally willing to give me plenty of stuff to do, at the expense of spending time with Callum. Perhaps she might even be trying to keep me from seeing Noah.

Eve’s kneeling on the floor in front of me, shovelling laundry into the washing machine in the utility room. I hug my arms to my chest, my skin prickling with cold. Eve wouldn’t have been my first choice of person to help out, but Mary insisted.

‘Oliver said you came here a couple of years ago,’ I say to Eve. I pick up a towel lying on the floor beside her.  

‘That’s right,’ she says, smiling, taking the towel from me and flinging it into the washing machine. ‘I was so lost before I came here, so lonely, I’d never experienced what it was like to be part of a big family before and everyone here they . . . they made me feel so welcome, particularly, Oliver. Believe it or not I’m jealous you’re getting to spend so much time with him, I’m sure everyone is. You’re so lucky.’

He might have a different view of me now after finding me in his room. I shudder.  ‘How often d’you see your parents though?’ I ask.

Eve chucks a laundry capsule into the washing machine and flings the door shut. She flicks the dial round and makes sure it’s running. ‘I don’t see my parents,’ she replies. The tone in her voice darkening. She gets up from her crouched position.

‘What d’you mean?’ I ask, stepping out of the way. She brushes past me, carrying the empty basket, balancing it against her hip.

She spins around. The softness in her eyes hardens. ‘My parents held me back for years, Grace. They . . .’ she wipes her eye. I wasn’t expecting this.

I step forward. ‘Eve, you don’t have to tell me anything, if you don’t want to.’

‘My parents forced me out,’ she says, emotion trickling into her voice. Her knuckles turn white. ‘I was . . . I was . . . I begged them for help, I tried to make them see what they were doing was wrong, but they. I ended up . . . I ended up on the streets. For days I slept in doorways. People would say nasty things to me when they passed. They’d call me low life, scum. There were only a couple of people who actually gave me any money. There was one night though, when I was lying in a doorway of a shop, after closing time, and these boy’s came up to me. They were drunk, high on drugs, or whatever, but they . . . I thought they were going to.’ She holds her hand over mouth and closes her eyes. ‘Oliver found me. If he hadn’t been there, I don’t know what would’ve happened. He saved me and brought me here. He told me I could stay for as long as I liked and eventually, after a couple of weeks, I realised I didn’t want to leave. Well, where was there for me to go back to? I couldn’t go back to my parents. This is my home now. I don’t need anyone else.’

I process everything she’s said to me. I hate myself for feeling the way I’ve felt about her in the past couple of days. ‘I’m so sorry, Eve,’ I say.

She shakes her head. ‘There’s no need to be sorry. Everything worked out for the best in the end,’ she says.

I think of Oliver. What would he have been doing hanging around in town at night anyway? I want to ask Eve, but I don’t want to make things even more awkward for her. Perhaps the reason she likes Callum is because I told everyone what a good friend he’s been to me. It sounds like she hasn’t had much luck with friends in her life.

‘I’m sorry for putting you on the spot, Eve, but does anyone here have any family visiting them at all?’

It seems to take an age for her to respond. The washing machine thrums. ‘Grace, we’re your family now. You don’t need anyone else,’ she says, the emotion in her voice replaced by something fierce.

She takes hold of my hand. Her skin’s hot against mine. ‘But, surely there are some people who would like to still remain in touch with their parents. I know your situation is different, but . . .’

‘Grace, you’ll learn from Oliver, in due course, we don’t need anyone else. Right, come on, I’m sure Mary will find us something else to do.’

She breezes out of the utility and into the kitchen, now buzzing with people preparing lunch. The back of my throat stings with the taste of onion. They seemed to be bloody obsessed with cooking everything with onion here. I shake my head and follow her. Eve doesn’t look once back towards me.