Rain In My Heart by Kara Karnatzki Page B

to go our separate ways.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter Thirteen
     
    Curtis spent ten minutes trying to bust the door to the link corridor. He took his shoes and socks off, waded into the water, and wrestled the door handl e– only to conclude it was locked.   Greg, wh o’ d been filling his head with all sorts of website-of-doom facts about floods, suddenly started yelling:
    ‘ Be careful!  The watermight be contaminated ! ’
    When Curtis heard this, he got out fast and began to scream.
    ‘ My feet!  The y’ re melting!  Acid water ! ’
    It was funny.  For a nano-second.  But Curtis being Curtis carried the joke on.  And on.  Ten minutes later he was still telling people he had no feeling in his big toes - until Byron interrupted.
    ‘ It might be funny to you now ,’ he said coolly ,‘ but contamination is a killer. Once a plumbing network is overrun, the nasties get everywhere.  And when I say nasties, I mean nasties . ’
    ‘ Like what ? ’
    ‘ Toxic waste, garbage, fertilizer, excrement, dead animals – you name it . ’
    ‘ Yuck ,’ said Curtis, rubbing his feet .‘ How do you know all this stuff ? ’
     
    As for Leon and I, it felt like we had to make the most of the time we had left.  We sat by the radiator and chatted about the various music festivals w e’ d been to and the ones we wanted to go to.  It felt good, sparky, excitin g– until the subject matter strayed into different territory.
    ‘ So, what about boyfriends ?’ he said .‘ Alittle bird told me you were seeing a guy from Slode Business College ? ’
    Marshall Finch. Why did he have to bring up Marshall Finch?
    ‘ We broke up,' I replied, as quickly as I could.
                  That was all I wanted to say on the matter.  Do n’ t get me wrong, I was flattered he was curious.  I knew it could only mean good things, but my messed-up ex boyfriend was n’ t a topic I liked to discuss.
                  ‘ What's his name again ? ’
                 Like he didn't know.  Everyone knew.  I exhaled, clenched my fists, forced myself to say it.
                  ‘ Marshall.  Marshall Finch . ’
    'Oh, yeah.  Him .  But you're through?  It's over now, yeah ? ’
    He eyed me suspiciously.
    ‘ Definitely . ’
    ‘ Wha t’ s he up to ? ’
    ‘ Not much.  He quit college.  He works no w– sort of . ’
    Sort of, meaning he sat on his butt in a bedsit, drinking and smoking and playing computer games, while dodging parole officers and pretending to employment agencies that he was up for work.  But really, I did n’ t want to go into it.  Mostly, because it still had the power upset me.  My mum, my sister, my best frien d– they'd all warned me about Marshall, but I hadn't listened.  I'd only seen an older guy in college with a car, who went to gigs and knew about music and art and festivals, who said he could get me back-stage passes for any concert I liked, who bought me my first alcoholic drink, introduced me to his mates, promised w e’ d go backpacking together.
    That was the idea. 
    The reality was that Marshall Finch was a selfish control-freak with a twisted streak. 
    And the rest.
    ‘ Do you still see him ? ’
    ‘ Not if I can help it . ’
    ‘ So, would you say yo u’ re, like, available?  No badassboyfriends waiting in the wings ? ’
    ‘ One hundred per cent.  And you ? ’
    Leon Prentice, about to look me in the eyes and tell me he was available and ready for love.
    ‘ Well ,’ he said, embarrassed.  ‘ Not exactly .. . ’
    Splat! My heart hitting the floor at high speed.
    ‘ To be honest, Kate, i t’ s complicated, but I can - ’
    BEEP BEEP BEEP
    We both jumped.  My phone again.  My mum.  She always was good at interrupting.  The first time I kissed Marshall in my room, she popped her head round the door to ask if we wanted pizza. I took the call.
                  ‘ Kate, listen, we're having trouble - ’
    Her voice