You, Me & 'Charlie'

You, Me & 'Charlie' - chapter 5

Chapter 5

“WHAT THE HELL?!” Paloma screeched at the top of her voice.

Luckily we were sitting in the park this sunny Monday afternoon, so no one was there to give us funny looks this time.

“Jake’s clean, I’m meeting him Wednesday, that’s pretty much it.” I said coolly, looking ahead into the distance.

“That’s IT?! Are you having a bloody laugh? Why did we cut ties with him? Because he SMOKED. WEED.” Paloma was having trouble taking this all in.

“Do I have to tell you the whole story all over again? He never smoked weed, it was a cigarette. And his mum went berserk and nearly slaughtered him alive. He was pressured Paloma, nothing else to it.” I repeated, wishing she could just take it and agree with me.

She sat there defiantly, sticking her bottom lip out like my brothers do when they don’t get their own way.

I laughed at her childishness. “Come on. Even you were sad to see him go.”

Paloma showed a hint of what I thought was a small smile.

“Look, Tabby, I’d love to see him again, really, but Bree and I, we, can’t.”

I knew this would come up. “But we were supposed to be best friends, come on, even I’m having trouble with Bree at the moment.” I hated to admit this, but I couldn’t lie.

“Huh? Still?” Paloma was suddenly all concerned.

“Yeah, I’m really worried.” I gulped. Everything had seemed so perfect yesterday.

“Don’t worry.” Paloma said, taking my hand in hers. She got up and started heading back to the entrance gate.

Her hand was warm, just like the sun, warming the top of my head. As we walked I remembered this summer. The days I’d spent lounging around in the park with Elliot, Paloma bringing KFC and Sugar magazines. Laughing about nothing and everything. I’d come occasionally with Bree too, but Paloma was my main girl this summer.

One evening we were so hyper, running around the park in our bikinis, Elliot barking excitedly behind us. We did get a lot of attention from the skater dudes though, wolf whistling us when they practised their half pipes. Paloma said that was her fondest memory of summer, one of the best.

I wish Jake had been there though. He would have done it too, in his trunks, or naked if we’d asked him nicely.

“Doing this reminds me of our Bikini Night.” chuckled Paloma, remembering exactly the same thing as me.

“Funny, I was just remembering that too.” I said, gradually coming back to the present day of September 13th.

She squeezed my hand. The sun was lowering gradually, signalling the end of the day, and the beginning of winter in a couple of month’s time.

 “Christmas soon, what do you want?” asked Paloma as we made our way out the gate and down the path littered with leaves.

“It’s September mate, not December first!” I laughed.

“Yeah well, I need to save up. I’ll buy Bree a leaflet about drugs. Sorted.”

“Haha, do be serious.” I replied.

“Yeah, maybe her own cannabis plant.” Paloma winked cheekily.

“I dunno if she’s into that kind of thing. Chocolate’s good for me.” I smiled.

“So did you see Jake today as well?” asked Paloma sounding genuinely interested.

“Yeah.” I smiled wider.  “He’s changed so much!”

He’d shot up around five inches, and toned up. A lot.

I remember his lanky build when we were about eleven, but now he had the physique of a guy who worked out everyday.

His hair, naturally brown, was now jet black, a single blonde streak in his side fringe. His hair was brought forward, like a halo around his face. Thinking about him made me feel weird inside.

I hadn’t noticed we were almost home. “Sorry about that.” I said sheepishly, hoping Paloma hadn’t noticed my absence from this time period.

“Huh?” Paloma was obviously daydreaming too.

“Don’t worry.” I said.

We were outside my gravel drive now. The sun had dipped low behind the trees, casting an orange glow on the pebbles and my mum’s car.

“Thanks Paloma.” I said, giving her a massive hug.

“What are friends for right? See you tomorrow. Maybe Bree would have come back from Rehab by then.” Paloma chuckled again.

“Hmmm, maybe.” I answered vaguely.

I waved Paloma off.

As I turned towards the house, I went over the various conversations we’d had about Bree this afternoon.

What if she really was into drugs? Would talking to Frank suddenly become a reality and not just a playful joke anymore? Was Paloma really serious about Bree being off to smoke with Calvin’s gang?

My head was spinning very fast.

Thankfully, as I knocked on the door and saw my mum’s face as she answered with Elliot jumping up excitedly behind her, all my worries ebbed away.

My home may have been chaos on a Monday evening, actually it was chaos every evening, but after school and everything else today, it had a strangely calming effect.

I let out a contented sigh. “What’s for tea?” I grinned.