The Goldsworth Series Box Set Read online

She had escaped from the Goldsworth Estate when she was younger and now she was back. It had tried to grind her down before and she had won the battle. She would win it again; she was confident of that. Whether she was just a face to parade in front of the cameras or not, Serena knew she would find Shaniqua Curtis’ killer and justice would be done.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The following day, Marlena woke up with a dry throat and a raging headache. She stood up, sending the kitchen chair crashing to the floor. She hastily pulled it upright and stumbled to the sink. She stuck her face under the running water and gulped heavily, not noticing the chalky taste of the water she so often complained about. A few seconds later, she towelled her face dry with some kitchen roll and turned at the sound of the door opening.

  Aurora entered the room, wearing her school uniform. Her eyes were swollen night-time tears and she looked like she hadn’t slept. Marlena couldn’t blame her.

  “You don’t need to go to school today, love,” Marlena sighed, “Get back to bed.”

  Aurora shook her head. “I’ve got to go, mum. It’ll take my mind off things.”

  Marlena shrugged.

  “The police are coming down later,” Marlena said, “So straight back here after school.”

  Aurora nodded, as she pulled a comb through her thick black hair. She tied it all up in a thick ponytail and kissed her mum on the cheek.

  “Be careful,” Marlena said, pulling her daughter into a tight hug.

  “I will, don’t worry.”

  Aurora extracted herself from her mum’s embrace and grabbed her handbag from the counter. She shoved a can of coke into the bag and left the flat.

  She wasn’t sure how she would cope. Did anyone know what had happened yet? They must, she thought sombrely. The school would have been informed. And gossip must have spread. That was one of the many problems with this block of flats, news spread like wildfire. And if it was bad news, it spread even faster. And half the school came from this estate, so it was given that the majority of the school would know by now, would be talking about it. But what would they be saying?

  She wondered if she should have taken her mum’s advice, and stayed in bed. But no, Aurora thought, that would have driven her insane. She couldn’t stand being in the room, which she and Shaniqua had shared together up until last night.

  She began down the stairs outside the flat when a familiar figure appeared in front of her. Clint Jackson. She forced herself to smile. Clint smiled awkwardly back. Did he already know? Probably, she thought.

  “Morning,” she said softly.

  “Morning,” Clint replied, “You alright?”

  Aurora shrugged, “I’ve been better.”

  “Haven’t we all,” Clint said, “You look fine anyway.”

  Aurora found herself smiling, for real this time. She didn’t know why, but Clint could always make her smile. She had fancied him for months, and she suspected he felt the same way about her. But she wasn’t sure, and she didn’t want to lose his friendship. He was so sweet and caring, so different from most of the boys on the estate. Especially the ones Clint hung around with.

  Clint adjusted the straps of his backpack, and nodded towards the stairs.

  “Another day at school,” he smiled, rolling his eyes.

  Aurora smiled again. She thought once again of how much she liked him, especially his smile. But now wasn’t the right time to act on it. Her sister hadn’t even been dead for twenty-four hours yet. She smiled at him, and when he smiled back, she felt her heart beat faster.

  * * *

  Zoe Taylor groaned as a knock on the door thundered through the small flat she had just moved into. She managed to shove the rest of the piece of toast into her mouth and tie her thick red hair into a ponytail on her way to open it.

  Suddenly she felt a flicker of panic. What if it was the police? She hadn’t been able to sleep well last night, replaying what had happened over and over again in her mind. She had eventually drifted off, but had awoken this morning with a feeling of sickness that was far worse than the morning sickness she’d suffered from a few months ago. She had dreaded getting caught out, but her feeling of guilt was overwhelming in comparison. She wouldn’t go to prison, she had reasoned with herself, awake in bed, a sheet of sweat on her fair, freckled skin. She hadn’t stabbed the girl. She’d been scared and had done what anyone else in her position would have done, and run away. After all, she had her unborn baby to think about now.

  The knocks came harder this time, and a familiar voice called through the letterbox.

  “Zoe, open the fucking door!” It was Brandy.

  Zoe flung the door open, and led Brandy into the cramped and dirty kitchen. Brandy eyed the surfaces with distaste. How could anyone live in such a shithole?

  “What do you want?” Zoe asked suspiciously.

  She knew that Brandy had spent the night with Troy. Whatever, she thought to herself, if Brandy wanted to end up like her, pregnant at sixteen.

  “What?” Brandy replied, “I always call on you, we walk to school together, remember?”

  “Oh right, I just thought it might have been about…well, you know –”

  “– know what?” Brandy interjected.

  Zoe looked down at her shoes, unable to meet her friend’s eyes. “Last night.”

  “I thought we all agreed not to talk about it?” Brandy asked, the smile fading from her face, “In fact, if I remember right, you promised you wouldn’t talk about it.”

  “I know, but –”

  “But what?” Brandy asked, “We’re all in this together. We all have to keep quiet. Get it? Whatever the police ask, whatever happens. We all keep quiet, yeah?”

  “I’m just not ready to get involved in all this.”

  Zoe wouldn’t meet Brandy’s eyes. Instead, she stood there in her kitchen with her back pressed up against the sink, the early morning sun pouring in through the window catching the flyaway red hairs that had escaped her ponytail.

  Brandy looked incredulously at her friend. Zoe shifted her weight from one high-heeled shoe to the other and began polishing the small kettle her mother had bought her as a flat-warming present.

  Brandy was still staring at Zoe. They were both dressed in their school uniform, which consisted of a black mini-skirt, white blouse and a black and red school tie, which both girls had decided not to wear today. Brandy sighed, and noticed how the backlighting from the window made Zoe look like some sort of pregnant angel.

  She stepped forward suddenly, catching Zoe off guard. She grabbed her friend around the throat, pushing her backwards until the back of Zoe’s head was pressed against the window behind the sink. Zoe groaned, her hands flying to her stomach to protect her unborn baby.

  “Then get ready,” Brandy said, her eyes flashing menacingly, “because you’re already involved. In case you’ve forgotten, you were there too. You didn’t do anything to stop it. You didn’t try and help her. That makes you as ‘involved’ as everyone else.”

  Zoe gasped as Brandy released her grip and pulled her out of her uncomfortable position in the sink. Brandy wiped a stray hair off her face, and smiled.

  “Let’s get to school then,” she smiled to Zoe, “we don’t want anyone getting suspicious.”

  Sasha Morton, a pretty white girl with large blue eyes and a long mane of blond hair, was waiting for them at the bottom of the steps, hands on hips and an impatient pout on her face.

  “What’s taken you so long?” she asked, lighting a cigarette and handing one each to Zoe and Brandy, “I was starting to think you were both skiving off today.”

  “Nah,” Brandy laughed, taking a drag of her cigarette, “Zoe was just doing some housework.”

  Zoe smiled awkwardly, not sure if she could keep lying to everyone.

  “Being pregnant must be affecting your brain,” Sasha giggled along with Brandy, “I mean, housework, no drinking, soon you’ll be Mother fucking Theresa.”

  Zoe forced herself to smile. She lit the cigaret
te and inhaled deeply. The doctor had told her not to, but what choice did she have? If she didn’t, the pressure would be too much for her. As Sasha and Brandy walked a few steps ahead of her, laughing loudly, not a care in the world, a thought occurred to Zoe. How exactly was Brandy so convincingly playing innocent? And then she thought of how much trouble they’d be in if anyone discovered their lies. Zoe inhaled deeply on the cigarette and noticed her hand was shaking. Brandy turned around, and slid her arm into Zoe’s. Sasha took Zoe’s other arm, and they strutted around the corner. Zoe could see school at the other end of the road, a crowd of kids waiting around the gates.

  Sasha’s mobile rang, and she dug into her handbag and pulled it out.

  “Hello?” She answered loudly, and then began chatting animatedly to the caller.

  Brandy turned to Zoe, her smile faltering, and whispered, “Cheer up, you stupid cow. Or your face is going to give us away the second we walk through them doors.”

  * * *

  For Aurora, school had never been unbearable. When the school holidays rolled around, all her friends would celebrate the end of term with drunken parties and by playing pranks on the teachers. But Aurora had never felt like celebrating, not really. She had attended the parties, she’d even participated in some of the pranks. But she’d never minded school.

  Until now.

  As she walked through the school gates, Clint by her side, she felt the eyes of all the students following her across the yard. She didn’t know how they knew, but she soon learnt the answer.

  “I’m so sorry to hear what happened,” a girl said, patting her arm gently, “When I saw the report on the TV this morning, I couldn’t believe it.”

  Aurora stopped in her tracks, and the girl smiled softly.

  “If you ever need to talk,” she said, “Just come and find me.”

  Having said that, the girl flounced of to her group of waiting friends, who all looked sympathetically at Aurora – as if she was a terminally ill patient. Aurora felt her eyes stinging, and prayed that she wouldn’t burst into tears. Maybe her mum had been right, she should have stayed in bed.

  She felt a warm, strong hand on her back, leading her forward. Up the school steps and down the corridor, towards the locker room. Clint was taking control, and she was grateful.

  At the entrance to the locker room, Clint stopped.

  “Are you going to be all right?” he asked, his eyes full of concern.

  Aurora nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”

  Clint smiled, and winked at her. As he turned to leave, Aurora stopped him.

  “Thanks,” she mumbled.

  Clint turned and hugged her close to him. She smelt the Lynx he’d applied liberally and the smell of faded smoke, from the cigarette he’d smoked on the way to school.

  When they broke apart a few seconds later, Clint smiled and walked back down the corridor, where Troy Banks and his crew were standing, looking more threatening than usual.

  Aurora watched him go, and as he high-fived Troy and the group traipsed into a nearby classroom, Aurora wondered if Clint did have feelings for her after all. She had thought he did – the hug, but then when he’d met his friends, there’d been no backwards glance, no sign that he might like her. She pushed through the locker room door and found a group of girls giggling in one corner. They all looked at her apprehensively, as if she would burst into tears at any moment.

  Don’t be stupid, Aurora thought to herself. She wasn’t that weak. But then, when she opened her locker, she saw the picture she kept of herself and Shaniqua, pinned to the inside of the door. It had been taken at a house party last year, which both of them had talked about and remembered happily for months afterwards. Her sister’s smiling face beamed out of the photo like a ghostly apparition. She slammed her locker shut, and leant against it, shaking.

  Aurora slid down the side of the lockers to the floor and burst into tears.

  * * *

  In his English class, Clint was unable to concentrate on what the teacher was saying. All he could think about was Aurora. How she had been so upset about her sister. Still, what had he expected? He was unsure what he should do now. He liked her. He liked her a lot. But how could any potential relationship work now, when he felt guilty every time he looked into those pretty green eyes of hers?

  Beside him, Troy was leaning back in his chair, sending a text message on his phone under the desk. Clint knew he could never tell anybody what had happened last night. He knew Troy regretted it, deep down. He was just covering, acting hard in front of Tamar and Amal, not wanting to lose respect.

  Maybe, Clint thought, just maybe, Troy really did have no remorse for what he’d done. For taking a life. For committing murder. But no, Clint reminded himself. He and Troy had been best friends since they were little kids, running around the estate in nappies, as Troy’s brothers jokingly reminded them so often.

  Mrs. Millet stopped in front of the desk and glared down at Clint. Clint looked up apprehensively. He hadn’t been paying attention and didn’t know what she wanted.

  “Did you hear what I just said?” she barked at him.

  “No, sorry. Miss.”

  “So have you listened to anything I’ve said this lesson?” she asked, her grey eyes flaring further, lips tightened.

  Troy sniggered. Mss Millet turned to face him, hands on hips.

  “Is something funny, Mr Banks?”

  Troy shrugged, and continued looking down at his phone.

  “I’ll have that until the end of the lesson,” Miss Millet said, holding out her hand.

  “Fuck off you will,” Troy said, and the rest of the class struggled to hold back amused laughs, heads turning to watch the scene.

  Miss Millet, sensing that she was in danger of losing the respect of her class, made a lunge for the phone. Troy was too quick for her, and stood up quickly, the plastic chair scraping over the floor. Troy was taller than Miss Millet, who was known by the students as ‘The Dwarf’ due not only to her height but her size. She was a self-admitted non-believer in exercise, and it showed.

  “Sit back down this instant.”

  Troy smiled, leaned over the woman, so his face was a few inches from hers.

  “Get fucked, you dwarf.”

  The class burst into hysterical laughter, and Miss Millet went a deep shade of crimson, whether from rage or humiliation, neither Clint nor Troy cared. Troy grabbed his bag off the floor and made his way to the door, high fiving other students on the way. Clint did the same, and followed him out of the classroom. In the corridor, Troy grinned widely.

  “Looks like we’ve got a free now, bruv.”

  * * *

  Aurora was still sitting on the locker room floor, tears pouring down her face, when the door flew open and a group of girls traipsed in. Aurora buried her face further into her sleeve.

  Across the room, Brandy stopped in her tracks. She looked down at the girl on the floor and knew immediately that this would be more testing than she’d first thought. She heard Zoe gasp quietly beside her.

  Sasha seemed to be the only one not frozen to the spot. She crossed the room, dropped her handbag on the tiled floor, and knelt beside Aurora, putting an arm around her shoulders.

  Aurora looked up, her large eyes watery, her mascara half way down her face.

  “Do you want a tissue?” Sasha asked, smiling gently at her.

  Aurora nodded.

  Sasha dug around in her handbag and eventually pulled out a crumpled tissue and passed it to Aurora. Aurora thanked her and dabbed at her eyes.

  “What are you two doing just standing there like fucking retarded lemons?” Sasha asked, looking at Brandy and Zoe, who still hadn’t moved.

  Brandy and Zoe exchanged a dubious look, and moved forward to kneel around Aurora.

  Sasha still had her arm tenderly wrapped around Aurora’s shoulders, and they remained like that until Aurora had stopped crying ten minutes later.

  “I feel so embarrassed, crying in front of people,” Auror
a said wanly, wiping her eyes with the same, now mascara-blackened, tissue.

  “Don’t worry about it, we’ve seen a lot worse,” Sasha said kindly, “At my house party last year, one girl cried all night because she spilt a drink over her dress. I didn’t mind then, so I definitely don’t mind now.”

  Aurora smiled, her eyes brightening slightly, “Thanks.”

  “Come on, let’s get some mascara back on you, I think all yours is on the tissue.” Sasha laughed, and helped Aurora to her feet.

  At the sinks, Aurora searched her bag for mascara, but realized with a sigh that she had forgotten it in her haste to leave the flat.

  “Don’t worry,” Sasha said, “Zoe always brings loads of spare make-up.”

  Zoe hastily dropped her bag on the counter and rummaged through her bag until she found the mascara. She passed it to Aurora with shaking hands.

  Brandy eyed Zoe with concern, eyed her shaking hands and terrified eyes. She needed to get Zoe away from Aurora, and fast.

  “I’m going outside for a fag,” Brandy said, “You coming Zoe?”

  Zoe caught her eye and nodded silently.

  “What about maths?” Sasha asked, turning to them.

  “Who gives a fuck about maths?” Brandy said, before turning on her heels and marching out of the room, her heels clattering on the tiles. Zoe gave them an awkward smile and followed her out, clutching her bag to her chest.

  Sasha turned watched the door shut behind them, and wondered what was up with them both. Zoe was walking around with a face like a slapped arse and Brandy was being even more moody than usual. She could tell something was bothering them, and she felt a slight pang of hurt that they hadn’t confided in her. She vowed to herself that she would find out what was wrong. She didn’t like being kept in the dark, especially by her two best friends.

  She turned back to the mirror, where Aurora was applying her make-up. Aurora smiled in the mirror at her, and Sasha smiled back.

  “Don’t worry, you can hang out with us until next lesson,” she said, “After we’ve got you looking beautiful we can go find Zoe and Brandy, and we’ll do our best to cheer you up.”