Page 14

I might be off the street now, but there is no break from the dreary surroundings because the interior here is just as drab as that outside. Pock-marked posters are pinned up on cracked concrete walls, all displaying the sort of information that clearly marks this place out as somewhere that addicts and users frequent.

Helplines for mental health.

Information about drug addiction.

Tips on how to stay sober.

There are posters everywhere, not that anyone here is paying much attention to them. I see several people shuffling around this reception area, whilst others are seated on plastic chairs. They’re all just hanging out, killing time, happy to have a place to stay. I wouldn’t say I’m happy to be here, but there is someone here who will be happy to see me.

I just need to find them.

‘Hey, Kate,’ says the grey-haired man behind the desk that I pass, and I give him a nod of acknowledgement.

‘Hey, Graham,’ I reply, grateful to see a friendly face here, as well as grateful for all of the work he does for these people who frequent this place. He’s certainly not sitting here for money, nor love. He’s here because he cares about other human beings and wants everyone to have the best chance in life. If only more people were like Graham.

I doubt he has had affairs or stabbed someone to death.

That rather dark thought reminds me of the two bodies who are currently still undiscovered in that house that I broke into. As far as I know, the police are not investigating anything yet, but I will keep checking the news until I learn that they are. Not that it should matter. I’ll be well away from here by then.

As will the person I am on my way to see.

After leaving Graham behind, I move into a corridor in which are several doors. All of them are open, as the rules dictate here, because bad things only tend to occur behind closed doors. The first time I came here, I didn’t know which way to go, which meant I had to look into every room to try and spot the person I was trying to visit. But now I’m used to this place, I know exactly where to go, so I keep walking until I reach the third door on the right. When I get there, I knock gently on the open door, just to be polite and not impose on this person’s private space until they have had a chance to accept me in.

‘Hey,’ comes the response from the young man lying on the bed as he looks up from the gaming magazine he was reading.

‘Hey you,’ I say as I enter. ‘How’s it going?’

‘Meh,’ comes the enthusiastic response, but while it might be boring being in here, I know it has also been exactly what was needed for the skinny, shaven-haired guy on the bed.

‘Did you get the things?’ he asks me, and I remove my backpack straps from my shoulders.

‘Yeah, I got them,’ I reply.

‘All of them? Even the passport.’

‘The passport. The video console. Cash.’

‘Wow, I’m impressed. It can’t have been easy.’

‘You have no idea,’ is all I say to that as I unzip the bag and reveal the contents inside to prove my point.

‘Thank you for doing this for me,’ he says.

‘Of course,’ I reply. ‘Now let’s get you out of here. Unless you’ve changed your mind and want to stay?’

He laughs as he gets up off the bed, and I wait for him to gather up his possessions before he is ready to leave. It doesn’t take long, especially considering most of what he has in this world is now inside my backpack.

‘Let’s go,’ I say, as eager to be out of this building as my companion is.

The pair of us exit the room, leaving the door open behind us because somebody else will soon be taking ownership of that bed and the small space it inhabits. We reach Graham on the desk, and he looks happy to see I have company this time.

‘Just sign this, and you’re good to go,’ Graham says, and I wait for Kirk to do what he is told, watching him pick up the pen with his skinny hand and scribble his signature.

‘Good luck, and you know where we are if you ever need us again,’ Graham says to him, and Kirk nods solemnly. He is adept at sarcasm and wise-cracks, but there is a time and a place for those, and this is not it.

‘Thank you,’ Kirk says to Graham, and it’s a sentiment that I make sure to share too before the two of us are finally ready to leave.

As we step out of the dreary building and into bright sunlight, the wave of optimism that washes over me is one that I hope the man beside me is experiencing too. I glance at Kirk to see if he is looking refreshed and, to my delight, he is smiling.