Under the Arches

phone. Now.’

  ‘Hey man, I don’t have either,’ said Zeus.

  The man twisted the knife and Angelina saw Zeus clench his teeth. She covered her mouth to prevent herself from crying out, and tears flooded her eyes. She felt utterly helpless.

  ‘Don’t mess with me,’ growled the man, his eyes darting from side to side. ‘Wallet and phone. NOW!’

  ‘All I’ve got’s this card,’ said Zeus, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his debit card. The man snatched it from him and threw him against the ticket machine, before landing a punch on his cheekbone that sent Zeus crashing to the floor. Then he darted past Angelina, cuffing her across the face as he went and disappeared into the night.

  ‘God bless you!’ called out Zeus, but the man was gone.

  Choked with tears, Angelina ran to Zeus’ side as he staggered to his feet. She was in such a state of shock that she was barely able to string two words together.

  ‘You… you…’ was all she could manage as she buried her face in his sleeve.

  ‘I’m just fine, my dear,’ he said shaking his head in an attempt to clear it. He stroked her long, dark hair and she looked up at him. Her white make-up was smeared and streaks of mascara lined her face.

  ‘You’re bleeding,’ she sniffed, pointing at Zeus’ face. He touched his cheekbone with his hand and his fingertips came away crimson.

  ‘Oh, that’s nothing,’ he said with half a smile. ‘Now the Romans, they knew how to dish out a beating.’

  ‘It’s not funny!’ cried Angelina pulling away from him. ‘You could have been killed! Why didn’t you stop him? You’re the Son of God, for God’s sake!’

  ‘Easy, easy,’ said Zeus, taking her by the arms and kneeling before her. ‘You know that violence and retribution are not what I’m about. The important thing for me was to make certain you were OK and to keep him from harming you.’

  ‘But he had a knife…’

  ‘… and was afraid to use it.’

  ‘I thought I saw him stab you though.’

  Zeus lifted up his top and peered round at his side, which was also bleeding.

  ‘Barely a flesh wound,’ he said dismissively. ‘I’ll sort it out later. First let’s get you home.’

  They were only a short distance from Angelina’s flat, but it still took them nearly a quarter of an hour since she was very shaken and needed to sit down on a couple of occasions to collect herself. They were almost at the front door when a voice suddenly called out behind them.

  ‘Angelina? Angelina! What the hell are you doing out so late?’

  They both turned to see Angelina’s mother walking up the path with Derek in tow.

  ‘Who the hell is that with you?’ she asked as they neared.

  Angelina looked as Zeus, whose face was still stained with blood.

  ‘Mum, wait,’ started Angelina, but her mother would not wait. She was livid.

  ‘What the hell are you doing with my daughter?’ she shouted.

  Zeus held up his hands and took a step back.

  ‘Listen madam, I… your daughter has been through a lot tonight. Please, take good care of her.’

  ‘How dare you tell me how to look after her!’ she shrieked.

  ‘Mum, wait…’

  ‘No Angelina, I’ll deal with you later. I want to know what this sick bastard wants with you.’

  ‘Mum, he’s my friend,’ said Angelina, but it did not help matters.

  ‘Oh, your friend huh?’ said her mum scornfully, rounding on Zeus again. ‘Make a lot of friends with young girls do you? Enjoy spending your evenings with them?’

  ‘Madam, you’ve got it all wrong…’

  ‘Don’t… don’t even speak to me. Don’t even open that foul mouth of yours. You stay the hell away from her, you hear me? If I see you anywhere near her again I’m calling the police. Derek…’

  The huge man stepped out form behind her and grabbed Zeus’ arms with his gigantic hands.

  ‘C’mon mate, time to go,’ he grunted, forcing Zeus away, across the street. Zeus did not try to resist.

  Then, when they were out of earshot, Angelina saw Derek lean down and whisper something in his ear.Zeus did not answer. He did not even make a sound when Derek shoved him backwards and sent him sprawling across the pavement. He just got back to his feet and walked away into the darkness.

  ‘Mum, please!’ pleaded Angelina as she was ushered indoors. ‘He’s my friend. He’s hurt. What did Derek say to him?’

  ‘Never you mind,’ said her mother closing the door behind them and escorting Angelina upstairs to their flat. ‘Friend indeed. Did everything I’ve told you over the years about talking to strangers just go in one ear and out the other?’

  Angelina said nothing.

  ‘You watch the news,’ her mother continued as they went inside. ‘There’s all kind of sick perverts around nowadays. How could you be so stupid?’

  ‘I’m not being stupid!’ said Angelina her anger flaring uncontrollably. ‘You’re always telling me what to do and you never listen to my side. If you spent more time with me you’d know what’s going on in my life.’

  ‘Angelina…’

  ‘Leave me alone!’

  Angelina fled to her room and slammed the door behind her.

  Needless to say that Angelina was grounded following the events of that night. In fact she spent most of the next day in bed staring vacantly up at the ceiling, such was her distress at how badly the evening had turned out. Her mother seemed genuinely concerned about her state of mind, and having called up her school to let them know that she wouldn’t be in, she had made several attempts at reconciliation, but Angelina ignored her whenever she came into the room.

  She had never felt such inner turmoil. She was angry with her mother for jumping to conclusions and not listening to her side of things. She was angry with Zeus for not standing up for himself on two occasions. And she was angry with Derek for just being in her life. If felt as though her whole world was hanging by a thread and she was terrified that she may end up being the cause of it breaking.

  Over the course of the day however, her mind began to settle itself, helped in part by listening to some of her favourite music and watching a couple of episodes of Spongebob. As the evening drew in she felt that her inner calm had been restored, a process accelerated by the absence of her mum, who had gone out to do some shopping. Angelina’s thoughts quickly returned to Zeus and she wondered how he was faring and whether or not he was angry about what had happened. She missed him. She always missed him. It may only have been a few weeks but it felt as though he had been a part of her life forever. She just wanted to always be with him and to spend every waking moment in his presence. She wondered whether the intensity of her feelings was partly due to being forbidden to go anywhere near him. After giving the matter a great deal of thought she decided that this wasn’t the case. Indeed it wasn’t even down to who he was or why he was there, but simply because he was a lot of fun to be around and he understood what Angelina was going through. He was like the father she had never really had.

  She went to bed early that night, ashamed of her tantrums and determined to reconcile with her mother again at the first opportunity. More than anything she wanted to see Zeus again, but she knew better than to ignore her grounding and pay him a visit. She did not need her mother calling the police and for them to get involved.

  Angelina was back in school on the Friday and was horrified to discover how much work was needed to catch up after missing just one day of school. She spent her entire lunch hour in the library copying up some notes from the previous day’s lessons, but already it was looking as though a bleak weekend dominated by schoolwork lay before her. The day seemed in no hurry to finish and her final two lessons dragged by painfully slowly. Angelina did her best to focus her attention, but all too quickly her thoughts turned to Zeus and when she might next get to see him. When the final bell went and she trudged back up the hill, kicking her way through the fallen leaves, she to
yed with the idea of calling in on him briefly to see whether he was all right. She was just in the process of making a decision when she caught sight of her mother walking up Eastbury Road in the other direction. That settled it.

  ‘Hi darling,’ her mum said cheerfully as they met outside the entrance to their flat. ‘Have you had a good day?’

  Angelina shrugged her shoulders and looked at the pavement.

  ‘Still feeling down?’ pressed her mum. ‘Listen, I hope I wasn’t too hard on you the other night. I thought about what you said about me not being involved in your life and I realise now that I’ve been neglecting you.’

  ‘No mum, I shouldn’t have said that. I was angry and upset and I didn’t mean it.’

  ‘But that does not stop it being true. Derek and I enjoy one another’s company and we had a lovely weekend away, but I want you to know that you are my number one. Always. I won’t let anything come between us and if you are feeling neglected then I am really sorry.’

  ‘It’s OK,’ said Angelina. ‘I want you to be happy, even if it is with Derek.’

  ‘Oh darling,’ her mum said putting her arm around her shoulder as they headed inside. ‘He really is a great person if you get to know him.’

  ‘You sure?’

  ‘Of course! And I’d love it if the two of you spent some time together and learned to get along.’

  Angelina raised her eyebrows.

  ‘Well, one step at a time perhaps,’ her mum added.

  ‘So am I still grounded?’ ventured Angelina.

  ‘Well yes, for the weekend at least. I