Under the Arches

know.’

  ‘No, it’s the singing that does it. Anyway, I don’t have to explain myself to you. He goes, end of story.’

  He started leading Zeus towards the door.

  ‘Oh come on mate, that was one time,’ said Zeus.

  ‘Out!’ said the security guard, opening the door and thrusting him outside. Fuming with rage, Angelina followed him.

  ‘Big Issue?’ asked Zeus turning round hopefully, but the door was closed in his face.

  Angelina looked at him, her face scarlet.

  ‘What a w…’

  ‘Now, now,’ said Zeus. ‘He’s just doing his job.’

  ‘But surely he can’t ban you from the store. It’s not as if you stole anything. What did he mean about your singing?’

  Zeus chuckled. ‘I went in there the other day with my iPod on and before I knew it, I was being escorted out again. Apparently I was singing some rather controversial lyrics at the top of my lungs.’

  ‘That’s got to be just an excuse to get rid of you,’ said Angelina glaring back through the glass at the diminishing form of the security guard. ‘I bet they just hate you standing outside selling your magazines.’

  ‘Maybe, but I’m not fussed. I’ve had worse rejections than that in my time, believe you me. Now, let’s head to one of the other entrances and get out of this weather.’

  They jogged up the High Street past the post office and HSBC, but as they turned to head up the side street to the top end of the shopping centre, Zeus grabbed Angelina’s arm and dragged her into the bank.

  ‘I need some cash,’ he explained, fishing around in his wallet for his card.

  ‘Cool, can I put in the number?’

  ‘Be my guest.’

  He handed her the card, which she inserted into the machine.

  ‘2-8-4-6,’ said Angelina, punching in the numbers. ‘Would you like to check your balance?’

  ‘Not sure if there’s much point, but you’re welcome to.’

  There was a short pause while the machine thought for a moment.

  ‘Whoa!’ exclaimed Angelina as the figure appeared. ‘What is that?’ She began counting the digits. ‘Nine hundred and ninety-nine million, nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine pounds?’

  ‘And ninety-nine pence,’ finished Zeus. ‘Shame it only allows you to draw out three hundred quid a day.’

  Angelina stared at him. ‘That’s a lot of Big Issues. You know, you could change the lives of millions of people with this,’ she said.

  ‘Perhaps, but that is not the purpose of my being here,’ said Zeus, taking over and keying in the amount he wished to withdraw. ‘Remember Angelina, I am here as an observer, not to change the world. I could send money to every person on the planet, but what would that achieve? This world has a little over two months left. Most wouldn’t receive the money in time, and many more would simply not know what to do with it. I have got enough to do what I need to while I am here without getting into any debt.’

  ‘You’ve got a billion pounds in the bank. How the hell would you get anywhere near being overdrawn in the short time you are here?’

  ‘Well, maybe I misjudged the exchange rate a little. Anyway, we’ve got shopping to do.’

  They made their way into the Harlequin centre and passed through the throngs of people in search of their Hallowe’en outfits. The shops Angelina had seen earlier turned out to be rather disappointing, with their stock made up almost entirely of children’s costumes.

  ‘What we need is a decent party shop,’ said Zeus. ‘I’ve seen a few on my travels, but I’ve never been in one.’

  ‘I don’t think we’ve got one in Watford,’ said Angelina gloomily.

  ‘What about t’Internet?’ asked Zeus. ‘There must be a website in the UK that delivers costumes.’

  ‘That’s a great idea!’ said Angelina brightening. ‘Quick, let’s find an Internet café and get searching.’

  ‘Why pay when I’ve got broadband at my place? Let’s get a taxi back there, then we can surf to our heart’s content.’

  They found a taxi close to one of the bus stops on the ring road.

  ‘Can you take us to the Arches please mate?’ asked Zeus as they got in. The driver looked a little taken aback.

  ‘Arches?’ he repeated dumbly.

  ‘Yeah, the big bridge things y’know, over by the retail park?’

  The driver nodded uncertainly and they set off. The rain continued to lash down, but there was still an endless flow of traffic into the retail park and they spent most of the journey stuck in a queue. Once the driver had successfully negotiated Dalton Way they were close to reaching their destination. The driver, uncertain of where exactly they wanted to go, glanced over his shoulder at them as he pulled onto the roundabout.

  ‘Just here will do fine,’ said Zeus with a sly wink at Angelina. The driver’s eyes widened.

  ‘Here?’ he repeated.

  ‘Yep, that’s spot on.’

  ‘I can’t stop here.’

  ‘Sure you can,’ said Zeus. ‘There’s cars backed up round here non-stop normally. One more queue won’t hurt.’

  They had already gone halfway round the roundabout.

  ‘I’ll make it worth your while,’ added Zeus, waving a ten pound note in the mirror in an enticing manner. He and Angelina both lurched forwards as the vehicle came to a sudden halt. They climbed out onto the raised kerb.

  ‘Cheers mate,’ said Zeus chirpily. ‘Have a good day, and God, I mean Allah bless!’

  The driver snatched the money from his hand and sped off. The pair of them stood for a few moments pulling faces at the people in the queue that had formed behind, who were all staring at them, before turning and heading into Zeus’ house.

  ‘That was fun!’ said Zeus as he closed the door behind them.

  ‘Yeah it was,’ said Angelina giggling. Judas came bounding over to her and she rubbed his head vigorously.

  ‘Fancy a drink?’ asked Zeus.

  ‘I’d love a hot chocolate, thanks.’

  ‘Fire up my computer and I’ll put the kettle on.’

  Angelina went over and sat at the small table in the corner. Beneath it sat a beast of a computer, which glowed neon blue out of several windows in the side as it powered up. The large LCD monitor sprang into life, and once the desktop had loaded, Angelina opened a web browser.

  ‘Blimey, your Internet’s quick!’ she exclaimed as the homepage opened up instantly. ‘With our computers at school, you’re best off making a cup of tea while the websites load up.’

  Zeus came over and sat down beside her as she searched for fancy dress costumes.

  ‘Hmm, there’s a few here, but they seem a bit more general than just Hallowe’en. What were you thinking of going as?’

  ‘Dunno,’ said Zeus. ‘Short of rolling myself in toilet paper and calling myself ‘The Mummy’, I hadn’t really got very far.’

  ‘I’ll see what eBay has to offer.’

  Angelina launched the auction site and did a search for masks, hoping for inspiration. Well over a thousand items came up.

  ‘This could take a while,’ she said.

  ‘Keep scrolling through,’ said Zeus staring intently at the screen. ‘There must be something here.’

  Eight pages in and they were about to give up when Zeus suddenly shouted ‘Stop!’

  He pointed to a gruesome looking mask that had sallow, greenish skin and a large shock of white hair sticking out of it.

  ‘That’s perfect,’ he said rubbing his hands together with glee.

  ‘What is it?’ asked Angelina.

  ‘That’s Eddie.’

  ‘Eddie?’

  ‘Yeah, Eddie, the mascot of the band Iron Maiden.’

  Angelina looked at him blankly. Zeus did a quick search of the band’s album covers and then she understood.

  ‘I guess that’s pretty cool actually,’ she said. ‘But what can I go as?’

  Zeus stroked his stubble for a moment as he tho
ught. Then he snapped his fingers. ‘Got it!’ he said.

  ‘What?’

  ‘You can be my victim, like on the front of the album Killers. We can make it a kind of double act.’

  ‘Your victim?’ said Angelina dubiously. ‘That doesn’t sound very scary.’

  ‘It will be with what I’ve got in mind,’ said Zeus mysteriously.

  For the rest of the afternoon they relaxed watching DVDs and playing on Zeus’ Playstation. With everything they needed on order, all they had to do was wait for the 31st to come round. The evening wore on and eventually the time came for Angelina to leave.

  ‘Listen, I’ve got to head off for a week and see to some stuff,’ said Zeus as she stood in the doorway.

  ‘When will you be back?’

  ‘Next Sunday evening, I hope.’

  ‘Oh dammit, I think my mum’s going away next weekend. I was hoping to show you where I live.’

  ‘Perhaps there will be another chance,’ said Zeus.

  ‘I hope so. I’ll probably be quite lonely without you around.’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ he said ruffling her hair. ‘You can take the opportunity to spend some time with some of your other friends.’

  Angelina looked none too enthused.

  ‘They’re all a bit boring compared to you,’ she said quietly.

  ‘Come on, they’re only human,’ smiled Zeus.

  It was a busy week for Angelina, with her homework mounting up in addition to her tuition and hockey practice. That Sunday there was due to be a match against another of the local schools, and thanks to her efforts on the Wednesday afternoon Angelina managed to get herself picked for the team. She would start on the bench, but her PE teacher assured her she would play at least some of the match.

  Angelina had never played sport any more competitively than in school classes and began to feel quite