“Hmm?” I turn onto my other side just wanting to fall back asleep but the matrass dips down beside me. Cheryl brushes my hair away from my face and again tells me to get up.
“Kimberley you need to get up! its Amy”
“It’s Amy?” I roll onto my back and Cheryl’s hovering above me with a look of concern on her face. She has her phone in one hand pressed against her chest. As soon as I see her I have a feeling something’s really wrong, I glance at the clock and its only 2am. “What’s wrong with Amy?” I sit up and she quickly hands me the phone before nodding her head to me. “Hello?” It seems like it takes forever for someone to answer on the other end and when there is a voice its Sally’s and It seems to be shaking. There’s defiantly something wrong.
“Kimberley, Is Amy with you?” Sally asks urgently.
“No … what do you mean? She left mine yesterday at around five … Sal, what’s going on?”
“She hasn’t came home, we have no idea where she is” With that being said I get a heavy feeling in my chest and I’m all too aware of my heart pounding in my chest. Cheryl’s sat on the end of the bed watching me and trying to listen as best she can to the conversation me and Sally are having although I’m pretty sure she’s already been filled in on what’s happening.
“She … she hasn’t came home?” I swallow back the lump in my throat and rub my forehead.
“We thought she had went to her friends from yours but when she failed to come home we rang every one of them but nobody has seen her”
“Oh my god” The rest of the words I manage to get out stumble over eachother. I don’t know what I’m saying, I can’t seem to string a single sentence together. I get out of bed and rummage around the room looking for something to wear, absolutely anything will do. Cheryl stands up and passes me a grey jacket as I pull on a pair of Jeans.
“You don’t need to worry-“
“I don’t need to worry? My seventeen year old sister is god knows where with god knows who at this time in the morning, it’s almost 2am how am I supposed to not worry?” Cheryl’s now getting out some clothes of her own and down the phone I can hear someone shouting in the background. “Whos that?, what’s happening, Is she back?”
“That’s mum, she’s going crazy. Dads went for another drive around and Adams still trying her phone. I don’t know what to do Kimberley”
My heart continues to sink. “I’ll be 5 minutes, let mum know me and Cheryl are on our way-“
“What about Paisley? You can’t just leave her”
“Sarah and Nicola are here, I won’t be long, okay? Will you ring me if you hear anything from her?”
“I will I’ll tell Adam you’re coming too, keep an eye out for her on your way over here” Is the last thing she says before I hang up the phone. I feel like my world is crashing down around me. My heads now pounding, i can’t get my head around what’s happening never mind think straight. Cheryl’s already dressed, she’s zipping up her own jacket and she pulls her hood up before grabbing her keys and putting them in her pocket. She comes towards me and pulls me into her.
“It’s going to be fine, she’ll just be with one of her friends having a good moan. You know Amy”
“I do and I know she doesn’t do stuff like this. I’m so sorry for involving you”
“You have nothing to be sorry for, it really will be okay I promise you”
“You can’t promise that” I sniff and she takes my shaking hands and squeezes them.
“We’ll find her, come on”
As we go out onto the landing Paisley is stood by the door. The bright lights we’ve switched on and the commotion happening in the room next to hers must have woken her up. She walks towards us with her arms out and her eyes still slightly shut.Cheryl picks her up without a second thought. “Go on, get in the car and I’ll see to her” She tosses me the keys and that’s what I do. I run down the stairs and I get in the car, the white leather is freezing, as I breathe I can see my breath. I’m hoping to god that Amy isn’t out in this weather. She’ll catch her death. The only thing lighting the pitch black streets is the yellow light flooding from the street lamps. Not a soul is in sight and as I wait for Cheryl every second feels like an hour. What’s taking her so long?”
“What’s she out here for?” I ask as I see Cheryl jogging towards us with Paisley stuck to her hip. She has her leopard print puffer coat on with a pair of brown boots with silver buckles on the side. She’s grasping onto her Jessie doll and Cheryl quickly straps her into the car seat in the back of the car.
“She wouldn’t let us leave her, it’s easier if we just bring her. She’ll fall asleep while we drive to your mums anyways”
*
The speed Cheryl’s driving at down these deserted streets scares me quite a bit but there’s no way I’m going to tell her to slow down. I’m surprised we haven’t been pulled over. It’s only now that I let myself cry. “Mummys crying” Paisley informs Cheryl. She’s pointing at me from the back seat and Cheryl reaches for my hand. She holds her cold hand over mine and rubs her thumb over my knuckles while not taking her eyes off the wet road.
“Calm down Babe, come on” She says softly and I wipe under my eyes with my sleeve. Caching my breath is proving difficult. I still haven’t looked away from out the window. I’m looking for her even though I’m sure my dad has been up and down this street at least a hundred times.
“This is all my fault, how could I be so stupid?”
“Shhh baby” Cheryl begins to rub my knee to try and calm me although it doesn’t seem to work. “Enough of that, of course it isn’t. I bet you she’s just at her friends … or that boy’s house. What’s his name again? James?”
“Johnny” I correct her. It is possible that she’s with him. Now that I think of it, it does make sense that she’s with him but I have no idea where he lives. I don’t even have his number. I know nothing about him. None of us know anything about him that’s the scariest thing, I’ve only met him twice. The first time I only seen him for 2 seconds when I bumped into him in a shop and the second I was throwing him out of my house. “She might be with him” I start to calm down and again dry under my eyes before I upset Paisley even more then I already have. She’s leaning forward in her car seat trying to look at me. She hates when I’m upset, that’s why I never cry in front of her. I never normally let her see me like this.
“We need to find out where he lives, One of her friends must know mustn’t they? See I told you it would be okay didn’t i?”
“It’s not okay Cheryl, we haven’t even found her yet. She might not even be there!”
*
As soon as we get to my family’s home I run straight in leaving Cheryl behind to get Paisley who still has no idea what is happening. I’m straight away faced with Sally sat on the bottom step of the stairs with her head in her hands. As she hears me she looks up and she does look dreadful, her makeup is smudged under her eyes but she quickly tries to wipe it away before I see, she’s too late.
“I’m so glad you’re here” She throws herself to me and wraps her arms around my shoulders; I can tell that she’s shaking just as much as I am.
“It alright” I hush her just like Cheryl had done to me earlier. Now I’m here I have to be the strong one for everybody’s sakes. I’m used to doing this, it shouldn’t be hard but it is, I’ve ever had to deal with a situation like this before. I hold onto her for a minute or two before pulling away and letting her take me into the living room. My mums sat on the sofa, she’s as white as a sheet. No tears are present, she’s trying to hold it together for everyone but its obvious that she’s in a right state. Adams parched beside her with his arm around her shoulder. His phones pressed to his ear and when he sees me he does the faintest little smile. “Mum?”
“You shouldn’t have came, its freezing outside”
“What did you expect me to do? Roll over and go back to sleep?”
“You brought Paisley?” She looks up and I turn around as Cheryl finally carries Paisley across the room and gives her to Sally. Paisleys now half asleep. She turns her head into Sally and Sally begins to rock her side to side. This is the only house on the whole street still glowing in the darkness. It’s like Blackpool illuminations.
“She wouldn’t let us leave her, have you heard anything?” Cheryl asks and my mum just simply shakes her head.
“Dads still out looking, she’s still not answering the phone and none of her friends have seen her… I don’t know who to ring next” Adam says as he starts to worry again.
“I have an idea, I didn’t mention it early but the reason she was coming home early was because we sort of had a bit of an argument over this boy-“ As soon as I say this my mum grunts and lowers her head into her hands. I ignore her and carry on. “I told him to leave my house so she left with him but when she came back later on she was on her own, she might be with him now. It’s worth a try isn’t it?”
“She told me she had finished with him” My mum says and Adam hands me the mobile. “You don’t even have his number”
“I’ll find it, I’ll ring her friends. They must know him they all go to school together”
I was right or should I say Cheryl was? After ringing all of her friends we know I finally found one that had a contact number for the boy I’ve only briefly met. Just by looking at my mum I can tell she has no idea what to do. Adams taken himself outside to have another look for her around the streets. Cheryl’s just went after him in her car. The last thing we need now is someone else going missing at this time. Sallys still sat on the sofa beside herself. She’s more of the panicker, I’m trying to sort this out as calmly as I can, someone has to. “Is he answering?” Sally asks looking at me with her eyes widening. I simply shake my head and ring the number again. I frown to myself as it says his phone is turned off, it was on just moments ago. She’s defiantly with him, she has to be.
“He’s turned his phone off”
“Wait until I get my hands on him” Sally grits her teeth and goes to stand up but I put a hand on her shoulder. Just by looking at my mum I know what she’s going to ask before she even opens her mouth.
“Do you think I should call the police?”
“No, not yet”
“But-“
“If she’s not home by the morning we’ll have too, I’ll find her” I tell her and she looks at me, her eyes look heavy. She has dark shadows surrounding her eyes, she looks just as bad as I feel. She gets up silently and crosses the room to stare out of the window into the darkness. This proves that blood is thicker than water.
“Sal, could you…” I point to the door and she stands up carefully with Paisley still asleep in her arms and she follows me out of the living room. I close the door behind her and hand her a piece of paper. “Kelsey who I was speaking to on the phone gave me this address, she thinks this is where Johnny lives with his mum”
“We have to go there!”
“Shh” I quieten her and she frowns at me. “Let’s not tell mum, she’ll end up coming with us and I know she’ll do something she’ll regret”
“So what are you saying? What are we going to do?”
“I’m going to phone Cheryl and she’ll take me over there, could you stay here with Mum and Paisley? I’ll phone you as soon as I know anything”
*
We pulled up not that long ago outside of a rundown house not that far from where I live. Cheryl got out the car with me and now I’m just stood in the cold staring at the marked door.
“I think this is it”
“What are you waiting for then?”
I knock on the door loud enough to wake the neighbours and it takes a while before someone answers. A middle aged woman does. She yanks the door open and I’m surprised by her appearance. I’m taken aback. She’s small and scrawny, her brown hair is straw-like tied up in a messy pony tail. She has a cigarette hanging between her thin lips and I must have gotten her out of bed as she’s stood in a short nighty and a pink dressing gown which is hanging open. “What do you want?” She spits and she looks at me with her blood shot eyes.
“I um … does Johnny live here?”
“Depends whos asking” She folds her arms and sticks out her foot.
“Is he in?” I ask and she does a laugh, I’m sure she’s had a drink or something. Cheryl’s stood to the side so she’s unseen but even if she was I doubt she’d be noticed. Not with the dark surrounding her and her hood pulled right up. The woman notices me looking over her shoulder and into her house so she steps forward.
“What do you want with my lad? What the fuck are you banging on my door for at this time?”
“Im here for my sister, I know she’s here so don’t even think about trying to say she isn’t”
“Oh the little lass?” She does a hand movement and the longer she keeps me waiting the more annoyed I’m getting. “Annie isn’t it? Blonde hair? Pretty face?”
“It’s Amy. either you get her out here so I can take her home or I’ll come in and get her myself”
“She’s a big gi-“
“Don’t even think about it” Cheryl comes into sight and steps towards the woman with her finger pointing at her. “Get her out here now before I get the police and I do something I’ll regret cause trust us I’m not in the mood”
“Wait you’re Ch-“
“I’m getting pretty fucking sick, get out of me way” Cheryl pushes the lady to the side without a struggle and she marches into the house, I follow her at a loss for words. “Amy?” Chery shouts and I do the same. It stinks in here, It’s like we’re climbing over dirt. The thought of my sister staying in a dump like this doesn’t sit well with me. We search every rom but there’s no sign of Amy or the boy she’s became infatuated with.
“Where’s my sister?” I demand an answer from the nameless woman, she’s followed us in with a smug look on her face. “Tell me where the fuck my sister is!” I go to step forward but Cheryl stops me, I’m grateful she does because right now I can’t be held responsible for my actions.
“She’s gone, they’ve both gone”
“gone where? What are you talking bout?”
“I don’t know where they’ve gone, all I know is that they’ve gone away for a few days” She taps her finger on her cigarette and lets the hot ash fall into the butt mounted ash tray. “It’s hardly a big deal, it not like she’s not coming back. They are nearly adults for gods sake”
“You might not give a damn about your son but I do about Amy, you don’t have any clue of where they might be going?”
“Not one, here” She rummages around the living room for a scrap piece of paper and she finds a pen after a bit of a struggle. “If I hear from them I’ll ring you, give me your number” She pushes the bit of paper in her hand and I look from Cheryl back to this woman. “Go on, I swear I don’t know where they are”
“Go on babe, its better than nothing” Cheryl tells me with her hand on my back I reluctantly scribble my number down and leave.. This isn’t like Amy, she’s never done anything like this before. I would never expect her to, this whole situation just keeps getting worse.
*
“Have you got her?” Asks Sally as soon as I walk through the door. Paisleys now awake and sat on Adams knee still in her coat and shoes. My dad’s back and everyone’s looking at me in hope I feel terrible. “We’ll have you?” She asks again and I sadly shake my head. The look of hope soon dissolves from everyone’s faces.
“She’s ran away, she’s gone away for a few days with her boyfriend”
“Where to?”
“Well don’t you think if I knew that I’d have gone to get her?” I snap but soon feel bad. I sit myself on the sofa between Adam and the arm. “I’ve spoken to his mum and she’s going to call me if she hears anything, I don’t know what to do now” I admit and Adam tries his best to comfort me. My Mums returned back to the window and shes again staring out of it.
“Do you think we should call the police?” Cheryl asks and Paisley gets up from Adam to cross over to her mam.
“Police?” She asks and Cheryl smiles and picks her up.
“It’s nothing for you to worry about, Miss”
“I think we should wait until the morning, she might still come back” I tell them, my dad now looks more angry then he does worried, he has his jaw clenched. I’ve never really seen him like this before. He’s barely speaking but I feel like I can read every thought going through his head.
“You lot might want to stay here but I’m going back out, She has to be around here somewhere” He says and again marches out. Adam quickly follows him so Cheryl takes his sat on the sofa.
“I have no idea what to do” I again admit quietly just to Cheryl. The lump in my throat is growing by the second. She could be anywhere with anyone. Anything could happen to her. Cheryl pulls me into her side and she kisses my head. Sally goes off somewhere so we’re left just with my mum who still hasn’t looked away from the window. “Why didn’t you call me earlier?” I ask out of nowhere and I get no response. “Mum?”
“Hm?” She turns around and looks at me, her eyes are red raw. “What did you say, Love?”
“Why didn’t you call me sooner? You waited until 2am to let me know”
“ we didn’t want to worry you, we thought she would have come home. This isn’t like Amy”
*
I wake up when daylight falls upon us. I can’t even remember falling asleep, I mustn’t have been asleep long, just about half an hour because we stayed up still trying to get a hold of Amy. The atmosphere is killing me. It’s horrible. When I turn my head I see Cheryl still asleep next to me, her legs are tucked under herself and she’s fell to the side against my body. She looks done in, everyone does. Adams asleep too over on the chair and Sallys dozing next to Cheryl. There no sign of either one of my parents or even Paisley.
I get up carefully making Cheryl fall to the side and onto the sofa. I brush her hair out of her face and just look at her for a second. I find myself getting trapped in my own world. She didn’t have to do this, she could have stayed in bed last night, she didn’t have to go through so much effort for me. I definitely have a keeper. I’ve never met somebody so selfless in all my life. I go through to the kitchen once I pull myself from my thoughts and my parents are both sat nursing strong coffees in their hands and Paisley is sat with them chatting away to herself over her bowl of cereal.
“Any news?” I ask and they both look up.
“She rang you”
“Oh my god, she did?” I ask feeling a wave of relief flow over my. My dad gets up and gets my mobile phone from the counter, he quickly gives it to me but the look on his face is still the same as it was before I fell asleep.
“I answered and as soon as she heard my voice she put the phone down”
“Why didn’t you wake me up? I was asleep for less than an hour! You should have woken me!”
“Kimberley i-“
“She obviously wanted to speak to me dad or she would have rung you, now we’re no further forward and we still have no idea where she is!”
“And don’t you think I know that?!” He raises his voice and Paisley looks up from her milk swimming food. “I’m sorry” He mutters and I sit on the empty kitchen chair.
“No i am, it’s not your fault. I just hate this you know. I can’t help but blame myself, I’m going to ring her and hope she picks up. If she doesn’t I think it’s time we get the police. We need to know where she is and they can find her, they can bring her home even if she doesn’t want them to. She’s under eighteen. She’s still not an adult”
“Keep ringing her then, I’m going to go and get Paisley changed-“
“How about you two get some rest? I’ll wake you up if I hear anything?” They both shake their heads and as my mum stands up she kisses my cheek. It surprises me but she smiles at me warmly. “What was that for?”
“I appreciate everything you’re doing, we both do”
*
Of course after my mum answered my phone to her this morning Amy is refusing to answer any of my calls. Every time I’ve tried its gone to answer phone that’s until now. I can’t begin to explain how I felt when I heard her voice on the other end it’s a feeling I’ve never felt before.
“Amy, is that you?” I quickly ask and there’s a noise in the background before she speaks.
“I’m so sorry Kimberley”
“Are you alright? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine … well sort of”
“what do you mean ‘sort of’?” I’m beginning to panic again and its obvious by my voice. I’m getting worked up even though I’m trying to stay calm.
“I don’t like it here, I don’t know these people and Johnnys …. Well Johnny has just left me here. He said he was going to the shop but he’s been hours and I’m really scared Kim”
“Right where are you?”
“I don’t know-“
“You must have some idea Amy!”
“I don’t, im just in some flat… I have no idea where I am” I can hear her getting upset on the other end of the phone. Her voice is beginning to shake as is my hands. Paisley comes walking into the living room looking at her doll in both her hands and as soon as I can reach her I pull her over to me.
“Where’s your mam?” I ask and she points to the ceiling. “Can you go and get her for me please? It’s really important” She nods her head and she goes to walk out the room. “Quickly Paisley, run but be careful on the stairs!... Right Amy calm down, okay?”
“They’re all trying to get me to do things I don’t want to … they’re making me go to a party tonight even though I said I just want to stay here. I’ve told Johnny I want to come home but he’s just ignoring me”
Cheryl comes rushing into the living room holding onto a towel wrapped around her body. Her hair is soaking and dripping over her shoulder. “What’s wrong,Is that Amy?”
“She’s in some sort of trouble” I say quietly and return my attention back to Amy on the phone. “You said you don’t know where you are but what’s around you? Is there any shop or anything?”
“Erm there a paper shop and ….erm a few stalls and stuff but that’s about it…. There’s a park with a lake”
“A park with a lake and a few stalls, anything else? Amy have a think!”
“I’m trying to! There’s a wall of flats. There’s not just one there’s louds of them. I don’t know what else to say Kimberley… I …” She falls silent and there’s another noise. “I need to go” and with that she quickly hangs up, I throw my phone as hard as I can and it bounces off the wall and onto the rug.
“What am I going to do?” I begin to cry and run my hands down my face. Cheryl pulls my hands away and looks at me seriously.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know, she doesn’t know! Johnnys taken her to a flat and he’s left her there with a bunch of strangers, she’s scared Cheryl. I think we should get the police now”
“She has no idea where she is? “
“No, It sounds like she’s on an estate, She said there’s a park nearby with a lake, there’s a few stalls and thats about it, she has no idea”
“It’s a good job I think I do then, wait for me to throw some clothes on”