Black Rabbit Summer Read Online Free PDF Page B

He’s coming to the fair with us tonight.’
    Mum raised her eyebrows.
    ‘What?’ I said.
    She shook her head. ‘Nothing… what time are you going?’
    ‘About nine.’ I flapped my T-shirt, trying to cool myself down. ‘A few of us might go back to Nicole’s place afterwards. She and Eric are having a little going-away party. They said I can stay over if I want.’
    Mum grinned. ‘ They said?’
    ‘Yeah,’ I said, blushing slightly. ‘Pauly’s probably going to be there, and Eric…’
    ‘And Nicole.’
    I shook my head. ‘She’s just an old friend, Mum.’
    ‘I know,’ Mum laughed. ‘I’m only joking.’
    ‘Is it all right if I stay over?’
    She nodded. ‘I don’t see why not. Make sure you take your phone with you, though. And be careful, OK?’
    ‘Yeah.’
    She wiped some sweat from her forehead and squinted up at the sky. The air was shimmering now, hazing in the heat, and in the distance I could see things that weren’t there – silver seas, floating reflections, mirrors on the horizon. The heat was distorting the world.
    ‘You’d better take a jacket tonight,’ Mum said.
I looked at her. ‘What?’
‘I think we’re in for a storm.’
    I spent the rest of the day doing nothing – just hanging around, waiting for the night to come round. I didn’t like admitting it to myself, but I was really looking forward to going out for a change. I was still a bit wary of seeing Nicole and the rest of them, and throughout the day I kept hearing the echoes of a faint whispered voice somewhere in the back of my mind – be careful, don’t go… be careful, don’t go – but I was determined to ignore it. I hadn’t been out anywhere for ages. I hadn’t felt excited for a long time. I wasn’t going to let some stupid whispering voice spoil my day.
    I couldn’t hear it anyway.
It wasn’t there.
    Dad woke up around midday, and I managed to see him for about ten minutes or so before he went back to work. He was in a hurry – sitting in the kitchen, bolting down some bacon and eggs – so we didn’t have much time to talk.
    ‘Are you all right?’ he asked me.
    ‘Yeah.’
    ‘Doing anything tonight?’
    ‘Me and Raymond are going to the fair.’
    He nodded, chewing vigorously. ‘Well, be careful up there.’
    I smiled to myself, wondering how many more people were going to tell me to be careful.
    ‘I mean it, Pete,’ Dad said. ‘There’s been a bit of trouble up at the fair the last few nights, so make sure you keep your eyes open, OK?’
    ‘What kind of trouble?’
    ‘Just the usual stuff – fights, drugs, people getting robbed. It’s going to be really hot and crowded up there tonight, so it’s probably going to be even worse.’
    ‘I’ll be careful, Dad,’ I promised.
    ‘Yeah,’ he smiled, ‘I know you will.’ He took a big gulp of tea, wiped his mouth, then got up from the table and rubbed his unshaven chin. ‘Right,’ he said, ‘well, I’d better get going, I suppose.’
    Later on, around six o’clock, when Mum nipped out to the corner shop on St Leonard’s Road, I went into the little room at the back of the kitchen where Dad keeps his wine and I picked out the cheapest-looking bottle I could find. Dad likes his wine, and there were quite a few bottles in there, so I didn’t think he was likely to miss one.
    Then I went back upstairs, hid the bottle away, and started getting ready.
    I put some music on – Nevermind , Nirvana.
    I showered again.
    Deodorized.
    Picked out some clothes – combat shorts, baggy T-shirt, trainers, no socks.
    Got dressed to more music – Elephant , The White Stripes.
    Studied myself in the mirror. Changed my shirt, changed it back again… changed my shorts, changed them back again…
    And then I just hung around some more – lying on the bed, trying not to get too sweaty… trying not to ask myself why I was making so much effort, why I cared what I looked like, why I was feeling so tingly and weird…
    Why anything?
Why not?
Be