The Disappeared Read Online Free PDF Page A

cap. She threw back her head and allowed the strong liquid to tumble
around her mouth. That should take care of that.
    In the middle
of the caravan, opposite the door, was the closet space; shelves on the left,
hanging space on the right. The lower shelves were crammed with dozens of books,
neatly arranged in alphabetical order. The floor of the closet was similarly
decked with books. Reading was more than a hobby. It was a life-saver. A
sanity-saver. Lindiwe sometimes wondered what she would do without her books. She
paused for a moment picking up a book that had fallen into a corner creasing
its cover. It was The Beach fromNeville Shute . She
smoothed its cover with fondness and re-inserted it into its position. From the
closet’s neatly arranged interior Lindiwe grabbed a pretty, flowing Gypsy dress
with a colourful floral design. In her eagerness, she almost knocked yet
another clock from its perch on the topmost shelf. She flung open the caravan
door and rushed across gogo’s backyard towards the kitchen door. A Black-eyed
Peas tune was swimming in her head.
    She stopped
dead in her tracks.
     
     
6:19
     
    Clip. Clip. Clip.
    Not a sound. Not
a single sound.
    Except for ...
    ‘What the hell
are you doing, Josh?’
    Clip. Clip. Clip.
    David was doing
one of this ridiculous temper tantrum struts, walking up and down in front of the
table at which Joshua, Carla and their mother were seated. Other families,
seated at the two dozen or so tables in the large visiting area of Westville
Reformatory, were watching his older brother throw his toys. The Foxtrot of
Fury Joshua always called it. Inevitably evincing a giggle from Carla. Carla
was Davey’s long-time girlfriend. Long-suffering, some would say. Josh really
liked her. She was decent and worldly without being stuck-up. You could talk to
her. She loved Josh’s imitation of his older brother’s strange mannerisms. And
she loved the stories; the innumerable wild exploits of two uncontrollable sons
of a single mother.
    Yeah. Josh
really liked her. He hoped she and Davey would get married. But now, as he looked
at Carla for some encouragement, some sign of shared suffering. A smile ...
shit anything; her eyes were averted. There would be no support today.
    Clip. Clip. Clip.
    ‘Josh, are you
listening to me?’ Josh’s head snapped back. ‘What are you doing? What the hell are you doing?’
    ‘I’m only
trying to survive, Davey. Do you know what it’s like in here?’
    ‘The only thing you’re doing, Josh, is buggering up spectacularly. Again!’ David did a
strange kind of balletic Plié that would have been hilarious had it not been
for the gloominess of the situation. A few families and couples at various
tables had given up trying to engage in small talk and were instead watching the
entertainment at Joshua’s table.
    Josh met Davey’s
enraged look equally. Maybe Davey did have a right to be angry. But he didn’t ...
hell no ... Davey didn’t understand what it was like inside the walls of this
hellhole. He didn’t understand what it was like to have made an archenemy on
your very first day. And to have lived with the consequences of that mistake
every single day since then. He had every right – Josh supposed – to be angry.
But not the hell did he understand what it was like. And now, as he looked down
on his errant little brother, Josh guessed all Davey could see was a kid with a
torn lip, a black eye and yet another mark on his record. FIGHTING WITH THE
INTENT TO CAUSE GRIEVOUS BODILY HARM. It was little consolation that Rico – the
archenemy in question – did not look much better.
    ‘So what now,
Josh? What now? I asked you so nicely just to keep it cool. Keep your nose
clean. Shit, not for me, for mom’s sake. Shit ... for mom, dude.’ He turned to
their sobbing mother. ‘Sorry about the cursing, mom.’ Davey was, even in rage,
a consummate gentleman. He re-focused his attention on Joshua. ‘What are you
going to do now, Joshua?’
    That