Deceit. Kerry Barnes

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СКАЧАТЬ New Guinea trip seemed to go on forever, and the week they had shared together, she wasn’t quite herself; at the time, he’d put it down to jet lag and overwork. Yet, she had seemed oddly cold, even snappy, as if she was under a lot of pressure from work. He didn’t push her, deciding it would be better if he left her alone.

      The boredom, mixed with missing her, foolishly led him to soak up the attention from Lucy. He spent more time in the pub and in her company, and the incentive to do so was there. She was very flirtatious and the compliments she paid him boosted his ego, although he couldn’t blame Kara for any loss of self-esteem he felt. Far from it, yet Lucy was making him feel very special indeed, and as a man, he lapped it up, until once more Justin found himself drunk and in Lucy’s company.

      Again, he couldn’t remember anything until he woke up in her bed the next morning. When Kara was home for good, he pushed the incidents out of his head. Kara’s mood swings and tetchiness continued and once again he assumed it was work. After a short while, Kara returned to her usual self and things were back to normal but then the unthinkable happened – fast. Lucy called him one night in floods of tears. Shocked that she even had his number, he managed to calm her down and agreed to meet up in the park across from where he worked. That was when she dropped the bombshell that hit him like a concrete post.

      Justin was brought up never to shirk his responsibilities. It was bred into him, being raised by a mother and no father in sight. He could still hear his mother’s words: ‘You made your bed, now you must lie in it.’ But it wasn’t just his mother who had that opinion – he did too. All his life he had wished for a father and vowed if he had a child he would never abandon it.

      Lucy removed his untouched plate and toddled off like a moving Barbie doll towards the kitchen. Justin followed her with his eyes and sighed deeply. It was all too fast and like a mad dream; sitting in the dining area with Lucy playing happy families was surreal. She was acting as if they had been together for years, and yet he was torn. On the one hand, he loved Kara, but on the other, he was faced with the cold reality that Lucy was having his baby.

      He knew why he had liked Lucy initially: because although she was very different in personality, she was similar in appearance to Kara. It was not the overdone make-up or her hair, or the neat thin nose, but those amber eyes. He fell in love with Kara because of those hypnotic flecks and swirls like tiger stone. She was aloof at times with her head in a book and her oversized glasses perched on the end of her nose. But he loved the way she was so natural, with her blonde hair pulled up in a scruffy bun, and he was attracted by the way she could look highly desirable, even in just a loose tracksuit. Her beauty was innate, and if she did get dressed up in a tight sexy dress with a sprinkling of make-up, then she looked stunning and turned heads.

      What he loved the most about her was that she never knew how beautiful she actually was. Despite her intelligence, she had a sweet naivety about her.

      He watched as Lucy, in her high heels and skintight catsuit, came walking back with a confidence that emanated self-importance. She waved a bottle of wine and two glasses. ‘Here you go, sweetie, I bought us a special pressie.’

      ‘Lucy, firstly, I’m not in the mood. My house has just burned to the ground and Kara is in some prison somewhere. That’s probably down to us. Secondly, since you are pregnant, you cannot drink.’

      ‘Oh, don’t be like that, darling. I thought it might take your mind off all the drama.’

      Justin rolled his eyes and left the room. He was drained and needed to sleep and hoped things would be clearer in the morning. He stared for a while at the plain white sheets and the grey walls – there was nothing warm or inviting here – and then he looked at his bags. They were still packed, apart from the bare essentials. Maybe he was too hesitant to really put his feet under Lucy’s table. He had no choice now, though. His home, their home, was totally destroyed. He just needed to be alone to think things over.

      As he lay with his arms under his head, staring up at the ceiling, he thought about Kara and wondered how she would ever cope in prison. She wasn’t made for any such place. She was his delicate princess, his soul mate, and he’d let her down very badly. That said, she wasn’t born with a silver spoon in her mouth – far from it. Not that Kara spoke much of her past.

      Her mother, who wasn’t rich by any means, brought her up in a cottage down in Kent; however, she managed to pay for Kara to go to a posh boarding school. Kara hadn’t been exposed to the real world. He gritted his teeth, when he thought of how she would never survive if anyone hit her. She hadn’t had a physical fight in her life, and he’d never seen her be rude to anyone. She didn’t like confrontation. True, she’d certainly put up a fight to keep him when he’d delivered his bombshell, but the fact was he’d committed the act and he didn’t blame her for defending her own corner, even though her intense anger was a shock and that expression on her face haunted him.

      * * *

      The first thing that hit Kara was the smell; it could be best described as sweat mixed with a school canteen odour. With the overpainted metal doors and polished concrete floor enhancing the harshness, Kara longed for her warm bed and to be wrapped in a blanket, safe and secure. She realised then that peace and tranquillity, words that had been so important to her, were now just words.

      Every noise now had an almost frightening meaning to it. Every unexplained bang was making her jump, the rattling chains were setting her teeth on edge, and the periodic sound from the entry buzzer left her ears vibrating. The speed at which she was pushed from one section to another, expecting to take everything in, was alarming. She wasn’t slow either, yet the list of dos and don’ts, times and places, all seemed to merge into one big blur.

      The interview, the prison officers, and the stark coldness of it all was a world so far removed from her own that Kara could never imagine getting used to it. She was led through locked door after locked door, with her arms out holding prison issues, a plastic cup, and basic toiletries. The clothes they gave her to wear after the horrid strip search were too big, yet she wasn’t in a position to complain. The fierce glare on the officers’ faces was enough to imply she was fucked if she argued. Her head was spinning, feverish with fear.

      Eventually, she was escorted down a long corridor with heavy doors on either side and was stopped at a door partially open. ‘In ya go, Bannon!’ ordered Anna Larson, the burly female officer. Kara shuddered at the small space and tiny cold-looking bed. ‘Meet Colette Connor.’

      The inmate, who was lying on the opposite bed propped up by pillows, deliberately sized Kara up. ‘Aw, for fuck’s sake, no one told me I was gonna ’ave a cellmate!’

      Colette Connor was a heavyset woman with a fat face. Her menacing sneer was enough to shit the life out of Kara. Instantly, she stepped back, treading on the officer’s toes and was roughly prodded on the shoulder. ‘Move, Bannon! And you, Connor, can shut it. She’s in with you, so be fucking nice and no nonsense.’

      A faint smile lurked in the corners of the officer’s broad mouth. Her narrowed eyes and her cropped hair emphasised the spiteful appearance. She chuckled, as she slammed the door shut.

      Kara was still trembling when she placed the prison issues on the bed. The reality of her predicament was creeping into her bones, inch by inch. This was no university campus set-up where everyone could share a joke, relax, and have fun. This was a whole different ballgame. She gingerly sat down and tried to give the inmate a warm smile. It wasn’t reciprocated. Instead, she received a stony glare that gave Kara the shits.

      ‘Oh, my name’s Kara Bannon. It’s nice to meet you.’ As soon as the words left her mouth, she realised how ridiculous they sounded. And to make matters worse, Colette repeated them in an over-the-top posh voice, trying to intimidate СКАЧАТЬ