The Drop

they were away on holiday.
    ‘I realise you weren’t there Laura,’ I said in what I thought was my most reasonable tone, considering my head hurt like a bastard and my throat had almost been crushed, ‘but it’s not as if I had a choice of weapons.’
    ‘That’s it,’ she half screamed, half sobbed at me, ‘make a bloody joke out of it!’
    ‘I wasn’t,’ I said, ‘he almost fucking killed me.’ And even completing that small sentence was a supreme effort. I didn’t have the energy to fight any one else tonight, least of all Laura. If I was expecting a modicum of concern from my girlfriend it was distinctly absent. Instead she shooed Sarah away from the pile of ashes and insisted on sweeping it all up herself, then she looked around uselessly, as if she somehow expected the urn to have magically reformed so she could put the ashes back into it. Realising there was nowhere for her mother to go, Laura’s bottom lip started to tremble and she seemed on the verge of a bout of cataclysmic weeping when Sarah, who had at least anticipated the problem in advance, appeared from the kitchen, clutching a large, clear plastic dish complete with a bright blue lid. The sort of thing you’d pack sandwiches into for your lunch and maybe an apple.
    ‘I realise it’s not ideal,’ conceded Sarah and Laura scowled at us both.
    When she finally left, with a Tupperware dish full of her mum, she told me, ‘I can’t stay here. I’m going back to my sister’s. You can call me tomorrow.’
    When she’d gone, Sarah said, ‘I wouldn’t call her,’ and she looked me right in the eye, ‘not a word about you, no concern about whether you’re alright or not. That’s not love,’ and then she realised she was probably out of order and added quickly, ‘I know, it’s none of my business. I’ll shut up,’ but to be honest I was starting to think she might have a point, so I didn’t scold her. I couldn’t even be arsed to contradict her.
    Sarah tried to get me to go to bed before they left but I refused. I needed to think. I had to try and work out what was happening. Who was behind this raid on my flat? What was he looking for - and why would he rather kill me than risk being caught? I assured Sarah I would be okay and I told Finney to drive her to her mate’s house. He didn’t argue. He’d seen men in a far worse state than me and, considering he thought I was some sort of pseudo intellectual woofter, he was probably finding the whole thing pretty amusing.
    They’d been gone thirty minutes when the doorbell rang. I figured it was Laura, who’d seen the error of her ways and come back to apologise but I wasn’t taking any chances. I’d already brought the gun out of its hiding place in my golf bag, a location I had chosen because there was no way Laura was ever going to look in there. I moved very slowly, very quietly from the sofa and walked over to the door. I made sure I didn’t stand right behind it in case they shot-gunned me through the wood. I leaned over and peered through the eye slot then I opened the door.
    ‘What’s going on?’ I asked, bemused now.
    ‘I wanted to make sure you are okay.’
    ‘But you know I’m okay,’ I told her.
    ‘No I don’t,’ Sarah explained it to me as if I was a slow learner, ‘I only have your word you’re okay, and you might have a concussion. You need someone with you for the night,’ and she must have seen the worried look, ‘don’t panic. I’m not here for a shag. I don’t think you’re really up to that.’
    ‘Thanks.’
    ‘I got Finney to drop me outside Joanne’s and got a cab back here as soon as he left, so you don’t have to worry about him or the rest of the boys talking.’
    ‘It’s not him I’m worried about.’
    ‘Well I won’t tell dad unless you do. Now are you going to let me in or what?’
    I held the door wide and she walked in. I slipped the gun back in the golf bag without her seeing it.
    ‘You’ve not got any overnight things.’
    ‘You can lend me a T-shirt,’ she said, ‘now sit down on that couch while I boil the kettle.’ She walked off into the kitchen and, though I had wanted to be alone to work all of this out, I had to admit it was nice to see her. I was touched by her concern for my wellbeing, which was a marked contrast to my girlfriend’s mood.
    She made me cups of sweet tea, for energy. I never take sugar but there was something warm and comforting about them. We stayed up and talked for a while and