Waiting for Wednesday

her, his hair
sticking up in peaks and his face blotchy.
    ‘They couldn’t wake him,’
she said.
    Frieda tried the door. It was locked. She
knocked at it.
    ‘Josef, it’s me,’ said
Frieda. ‘Let me in.’
    There was a click and the door opened. He
was with a boy who was leaning over the lavatory. Josef turned around with an apologetic
smile. ‘He was like this when he come almost,’ he said.
    ‘Is he responsive?’ said Frieda.
Josef looked puzzled. ‘I mean, can he speak? Can he see you?’
    ‘Yes, yes, fine. Just sick. Very, very
sick. Teenage sick.’
    Frieda turned to Chloë. ‘He’s
all right,’ she said.
    Chloë shook her head. ‘Ted’s not
all right,’ she said. ‘He’s not. His mother’s dead. She was
murdered.’
I tell you what, let’s go away
somewhere this summer – somewhere neither of us has ever been. Though I can’t
really imagine you anywhere except London. That’s where I met you and
that’s the only place I’ve known you. Do you ever go anywhere else? The
furthest afield I’ve seen you is Heathrow, which must be your idea of a kind
of man-made hell. You hate planes, and you don’t likebeaches. But we could get a train to Paris, or go walking in Scotland. You love
walking the streets at night – but do you like other kinds of walking, where you
have a map and a picnic? I know you – but there are so many things I don’t
know about you. That’s what I’ve been thinking. But we’ve got lots
of time to find things now haven’t we, Frieda? Call me soon – Sandy xxxxxx



EIGHT
    ‘Can I have a cup of tea?’ said
Billy Hunt. ‘I want a cup of tea and I want a lawyer. Tea with milk and two
sugars, and a lawyer sitting next to me for every moment that you’re inter-viewing
me.’
    Munster turned to Riley. ‘Hear
that?’ he said.
    Riley left the interview room.
    ‘And a lawyer,’ said Hunt.
    ‘Wait.’
    They sat in silence until Riley returned. He
placed the polystyrene cup on the table in front of Hunt, with two sachets of sugar and
a plastic stirrer. Slowly, and with great concentration, Hunt tore the sachets open,
tipped their contents into the tea and stirred them. He sipped the tea.
    ‘And a lawyer,’ he repeated.
    There was a digital recorder on the table.
Munster leaned forward to switch it on. As he spoke the day’s date and identified
the people in the room he looked at the device to check that the light was flashing.
There was always the worry that it wasn’t working properly. Cases collapsed
because of details like that.
    ‘We’re interviewing you on
suspicion of handling stolen property. I’m going to caution you that you
don’t have to say anything, but that anything you say can be used in evidence.
Also, if you remain silent, that fact can be presented to the court.’
    ‘Are you sure?’ said Hunt.
    ‘Yes, I’m sure,’ said
Munster. ‘And I probably do this sortof thing even more often
than you do.’
    Hunt drummed his fingers on the table.
‘I guess I can’t smoke.’
    ‘No, you can’t.’
    ‘I can’t think when I
don’t smoke.’
    ‘You don’t need to think. You
just need to answer some questions.’
    ‘And what about my lawyer?’
    ‘I was about to inform you that you
are entitled to legal representation, and that if you don’t have representation of
your own, we can arrange it for you.’
    ‘Of course I don’t have fucking
legal representation of my own. So, yeah, get me one. I want a lawyer sitting here
beside me.’
    ‘It doesn’t work like that any
more,’ said Munster. ‘Money’s tight. That’s what they’re
telling us. We can bring you a phone and a phone number.’
    ‘Is that it?’ Hunt seemed
baffled. ‘No cigs and no lawyers?’
    ‘You can talk to one on the
phone.’
    ‘All right,’ said Hunt.
‘Get a phone.’
    It was twenty minutes before Billy Hunt had
finished on the phone, Munster and Riley were back in the room and the recorder was on
again.
    ‘So,’ Munster began.
‘You’ve talked to your lawyer.’
    ‘It was a bad line,’ said Hunt.
‘I couldn’t make out most of what she was saying. She had an accent as well.
I don’t reckon English is her first language.’
    ‘But she gave you legal
advice?’
    ‘Is that what you call legal advice?
Why can’t I get a real lawyer?’
    ‘If you’ve got a problem, you
can take it up with your MP. But that’s the way the system works now.’
    ‘Why is that window all boarded
up?’
    ‘Because someone threw a brick at
it.’
    ‘Can’t