Steven Dunne - Deity

‘Thank you for what?’

‘Somebody at college went for him. I stepped in.’

‘You’re referring to Wilson Woodrow,’ said Brook.

‘Yes. He started picking on Kyle in Media Studies. That smarmy git Rifkind wasn’t going to do anything so I got in between them and broke it up.’

‘That was good of you.’

Jake shrugged. ‘I don’t like bullies.’

‘Really. So you don’t like Wilson Woodrow.’

‘No. He’s a sherm.’

Present tense . Brook and Noble exchanged a glance. ‘Sherm?’

‘A knobhead to you.’

‘So what did Kyle say exactly?’ asked Brook softly.

Jake smiled. ‘Thank you,’ he replied, as though talking to an idiot.

‘And that was it? He thanked you and then less than an hour later — half a mile from your home — you just happened to wander past at the exact time Kyle was being assaulted by Wilson.’ Jake became tight-lipped. ‘You have seen the assault on the internet, I take it?’

‘Who hasn’t?’

Brook waited. Silence was the heaviest pressure. ‘According to Mrs Kennedy, Kyle left her house before nine that night. He was carrying a poster and a CD. He told his mum they were for a friend.’ Still Jake was silent. ‘When we searched Kyle’s room after he disappeared, we discovered what a huge fan of The Smiths he is — posters all over his walls, every CD they ever released.’ Brook paused to look up from his notes. ‘If we searched your room. .’

‘He came round.’

‘To your house?’

‘Yes. In fact, when he phoned me, he was already outside.’

‘Why didn’t he just knock on the door?’

Jake shrugged. ‘Guess he knew my dad hates faggots.’

Brook nodded and looked into Jake’s eyes. The teenager turned away.

‘What was he wearing?’ asked Noble.

‘Jeans — and he had his G-STAR hoodie on. He never took it off.’

‘What colour?’

‘Blue.’

‘So you went out to speak to him?’

‘Yes, and he gave me the poster and a CD he’d burned as a thank you.’

‘What was it?’

‘The Smiths. Like you said — Kyle was nuts about them.’

‘Was?’ queried Noble. ‘You think he’s dead?’ Jake looked up. ‘I don’t know.’

‘And the poster?’

‘It was the lead singer — Morrissey.’

‘You know Morrissey is a gay icon?’

‘I guess,’ answered Jake.

‘Did you know Kyle was gay?’ asked Noble.

Jake started laughing. It subsided quickly. ‘Yes.’

‘Is that why Wilson bullied him?’

‘That sh- knobhead doesn’t need a reason.’

Brook and Noble exchanged another glance. Jake was either being very clever or he honestly didn’t yet know Wilson’s body had been discovered that morning.

‘These gifts,’ said Brook. ‘Do you still have them?’

Jake nodded.

‘How long were you talking outside your house?’

‘About five minutes. No more.’

‘And did Kyle say anything other than to thank you and invite you to his party?’

‘No.’ Jake decided against mentioning the ten-ton truck.

‘Then what?’

‘Then I went back in.’

‘You went back in? But forty minutes later. .’

‘I listened to the CD and decided I didn’t like it so I went looking for him to give it back. I was on the way to his house. .’ He shrugged as though the rest was obvious.

‘And when you found him, Wilson and his friends were beating him up.’

‘Yes.’

‘This time you didn’t step in.’

‘There was no need. Wilson stopped when he saw me.’

‘And Kyle came over to you.’

‘Yes.’

‘Then what?’

When Jake spoke his voice was barely audible. ‘I threw it on the ground.’

‘What?’

‘The CD.’

‘What did Kyle say to that?’ No reply but Jake’s lip began to quiver. ‘Was he upset?’

‘Yes.’

Brook nodded. ‘ You betrayed me when I needed you most . Is that what the text was referring to?’

Jake looked at Brook. There were tears in his eyes. ‘Looks like it.’

‘Then he walked back over to Wilson.’

‘You’ve seen the film.’

‘Then Wilson knocked him out.’

‘Yes.’

‘Did he say anything?’

‘Who?’

‘Wilson.’

Jake laughed bitterly, through the tears. ‘After he hit Kyle, he got all self-righteous. He said Kyle liked the violence and that disgusted him, like the fat fucker and his thick crew were offended by having to smack him around, like Kyle was a pervert and they’d been forced to hit him.’ Jake let out a quivering sigh. ‘Then Wilson left. Said he was going to get laid to get the gayness out of his head.’

‘Wilson said that?’ Brook looked up at Noble. ‘Did he say where?’

‘No. It was just talk anyway. That fat sherm couldn’t get laid if he was a carpet.’

‘Then what?’ said Brook.

‘Then I tried to help Kyle. I went to get water from the stream.’

‘But he ran off into the fields.’

‘Yes.’

‘Did he say anything?’

‘He said he hated me.’

Brook studied Jake. ‘But you know that wasn’t true, don’t you?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘A gay young man giving you presents. That tells me quite a lot.’

‘Like what?’

‘His mum told us Kyle was in love,’ chipped in Noble. There was silence for several minutes.

‘Kyle isn’t an active homosexual, according to Mrs Kennedy. He has crushes on people from afar. Do you think he could have been in love with you?’ asked Brook finally.

Jake looked up in confusion then returned his eyes to the bed. He opened his mouth to speak but thought better of it.

‘Okay. Was that the last time you saw Kyle?’ asked Brook. Jake didn’t answer.

‘Well, was it?’

‘To speak to, yes.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘I saw him the next night.’

‘Did you!’ exclaimed Brook. ‘What about Wilson? Was that the last time you saw him ?’

Jake’s brow furrowed in confusion. ‘Actually, yes.’

‘You didn’t follow Kyle into the fields?’

‘No.’

‘And you didn’t go after Wilson?’

‘No, why would I?’

‘To exact revenge for the attack on your friend,’ offered Noble.

‘I picked up the CD and went home. End of.’ Jake finished his water and wiped his mouth.

Brook gazed at Jake. ‘So you did go.’

‘Go where?’

‘To the party.’

Jake looked away. ‘I told you before, no.’

‘But if you saw Kyle, that wasn’t true, was it?’ No reply. ‘You stood at the same lamp-post, the one I first saw you under when we searched Kyle’s room. You were seen.’

Jake looked glassy-eyed into the distance. ‘I went to the house. I stood under the streetlight — that’s true. I wasn’t sure whether to go in. After I’d thrown his gift back in his face. .’

‘Then why go at all?’

‘I’d bought him a present. To say sorry.’

‘ Picnic at Hanging Rock ?’

‘Yes. We’d seen some of it in Media Studies that day. He watched it all with the others. It blew Kyle away. He wrote a review of it the same day and gave that to me as well.’

‘Where is it?’

‘On my computer.’

‘And the DVD?’

‘I’ve still got it. We were watching it the day you came into Media Studies. Rusty brought it the previous week but he hadn’t turned up.’

‘So what happened? Did Kyle throw your gift back in your face?’

‘No, nothing like that.’

‘What then?’

‘I couldn’t go in so I left,’ shouted Jake. There was an edge of hysteria in his voice.

‘You didn’t go in the house?’

‘No.’

‘But you’d bought Kyle a present. You went all the way to his house. Why couldn’t you go in?’