Where the Memories Lie
By: Sibel Hodge
Lie. To. Me.’ I pronounced each word slowly, the tone of my voice letting her know I wasn’t going to drop this. ‘I want to hear it from you. You owe me the truth. Or do you want me to go inside and tell everyone else about what I’ve found?’
She looked down at my hand that held the necklace, then closed her eyes briefly, her blonde lashes fluttering against her cheeks. She inhaled on the cigarette. Exhaled slowly. Opened her eyes.
‘If you don’t tell me, I’m going in there right now to show them this.’ I jabbed a finger towards the bi-fold doors into the kitchen beyond and stood up.
‘Wait!’ She grabbed hold of my arm. ‘Wait.’ She pulled me back down again. She took a deep breath and licked her lips. ‘I’d 276
Where the Memories Lie
forgotten all about it,’ she said softly. ‘All this time and I’d completely forgotten. It was . . .’
‘What? It was what?’
‘It was mine.’
‘Yours? Then why—’ And I suddenly knew. ‘Katie stole it from your room, didn’t she?’
She stood stiffly and glanced into the house. She smoothed her sundress down with her hands, threw the cigarette on the ground next to the last one and ground it into the grass. ‘Let’s go for a walk and I’ll tell you everything. Not here, though. I don’t want to do it here. Not with everyone around.’
We walked down the street, heading towards our usual dog-walking path along the side of the barn and into the woods. We didn’t say a word. My heart felt heavy with adrenaline, anger, resignation and sadness. The sky was black over our heads now. In the distance I could hear thunder, see the spikes of lightning flashing on the horizon. The air was thick with electricity. When we got through the woods and came out into the sprawling fields that led over the hills to Abbotsbury, she finally spoke.
‘Yes. Katie stole that necklace from me. Lucas had just bought it for me, and I couldn’t believe she was wearing it that day.’
I grabbed her shoulder and spun her round to face me. ‘How did you get it back, Nadia? What happened?’
Her anguished eyes stared into mine, glistening with tears. She folded her arms across her chest and gripped her elbows.
Thunder rumbled over our heads.
I clutched both her shoulders. ‘Tell me what happened.’
She bit her trembling lip. ‘Katie was sleeping with Lucas.
I caught them at it one day. Over there, in the woods.’ She pointed back to where we’d just emerged. ‘Do you remember Sparky, our old dog? I was walking him. He was a bugger for running off when he wasn’t on the lead. He’d caught sight of a squirrel or something 277
Sibel Hodge
in the distance and belted off through the trees, so I was off the beaten path looking for him. I heard them before I saw them. Lucas had his back to me, sitting on this fallen log. She was on top, facing my direction. I couldn’t believe it. Couldn’t believe he was cheating on me. I love him, Liv.’ She sank to her knees, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands. ‘Love him with all my heart.’
Rain started to pour down in fat pellets. A bolt of lightning lit up the sky.
‘What, so you killed her to get her out of the way? How cold and callous can you be?’ I shrieked.
‘No,’ she wailed. ‘No, it wasn’t like that. She . . . um . . . she looked up when she was fucking him. I don’t know if she saw me through the trees but she had this weird smile on her face.
Triumphant. Part of me wanted to run over there and punch both of them, but I didn’t. I covered my mouth to stop myself screaming and ran home, trying to think of what to do.’ Her head dropped back and she turned her face up to the sky, her tears mingling with the rain, and she groaned. ‘I was hoping it was just a one-off. That it wasn’t going to happen again. I could deal with that. I could forget about it.’
‘So what did you do?’ I sank down next to her, ignoring the water lashing down, soaking my hair and clothes, dreading the next words out of her mouth.
She didn’t speak. Just stared in the distance.
‘What did you do, Nadia?’ I yelled over the thunder.
‘I kept an eye on Lucas. When he wasn’t with me, I followed him,’ she said, head bowed.