Chapter Ten

Don't Kid Yourself

Elliott looked impatiently at her watch and was frustrated to see that it still told her that it was thirty-five minutes past ten, the same as it had been what felt like hours ago. She checked with the clock above the bar to make sure her watch wasn't just lying to her, but the clock said the same thing. She drummed her fingers on the tabletop and glanced out of the window. The local bus trundled by without stopping at the bus stop. It moved on leaving Elliott looking out over the beach. She watched the still water for a moment, and then checked her watch again.

Ten thirty-six.

She tried to tell herself that he was just running late, but how could he be running late? What else did he have to do?

Elliott sat back, feeling like an idiot. Had she really thought that Gary would show up? He hadn't changed. God knows why he had came back to Bullworth, but it certainly wasn't to see her or Reese. It wouldn't surprise her if he had come back just to see if she would still give him the time of day. Humiliatingly she had gone running to his motel room to arrange this stupid meeting and probably played right into his twisted little game. She felt foolish for blundering into this so blindly and guilty for going behind Jimmy's back. Had she really thought that someone like Gary Smith could change?

The painful truth was that she had thought he could change.

Clenching her jaw in frustration she pushed herself up from her seat and shouldered her bag. She ignored the curious stare of the young barman and hurried out onto the street. She could still get to the café and at least attempt to salvage the rest of her morning by doing something productive, but she knew as soon as she started walking down the street that she wasn't going to be going to work.

That bastard. If he thought he could come crashing into her life just to mess her around again then he had another thing coming. If he wasn't going to come to her, she would go to him. And she was going to give him hell.

The garage was unusually quiet this morning, which unsettled Jimmy. It wasn't as if it was usually full of conversation, but there was something about Johnny and Peanut's behaviour today that was slightly perplexing. Johnny seemed to be strangely pleased about something. He was walking tall, shoulders squared and chest puffed out more than usual. Peanut was pretty much his usual self, just quieter and seemed to be aiming more dumb grins at Johnny than he usually did.

It didn't take a genius to work out that they were up to something, but frankly Jimmy didn't give a damn what they were up to. As long as they got the work done they could strip naked and run into the street for all he cared.

'Hey, Jim.' Johnny said, appearing in the door of the office.

Jimmy glanced up from the papers he had been pretending to look at. 'What is it?' he asked, sharper than he had intended.

Johnny shrugged. 'How's Elliott doin?'

Jimmy looked at him for a moment, troubled by the slight smirk that was playing on his face. 'Okay.' He replied. 'Look, did you sort out that Sedan? Cos I've had that bitch on the phone twice already asking when it's going to be done.'

'Yeah, yeah,' Johnny replied, waving a hand dismissively. 'Look, you seen that Gary Smith any more?'

Jimmy shook his head. 'I don't want to talk about it, Johnny.'

Johnny leaned against the doorframe and shrugged. 'Maybe he saw sense and skipped town.' He suggested. 'When he realised that no one really wants him around.'

Jimmy eyed Johnny for a moment. 'Why are you so interested in him anyway?'

'Just curious, I guess.' He shrugged. 'Not much happens round here these days. I remember when there was always something to keep a guy occupied in Bullworth. Place has kinda gotten boring in the last couple of years.'

Jimmy continued to watch him thoughtfully. Johnny was hinting to something, but Jimmy couldn't be bothered to figure out what it was. He just shook his head. 'Just buzz off, Johnny. I'm busy.'

Johnny smirked. 'Sure, Jimmy.' He started to leave. 'Oh, uh… y'know, Jim…' He flashed a knowing grin. 'Don't worry about Gary. I don't think he's gonna stick around long. Psychos like him don't change.'

Jimmy frowned. Johnny just chuckled and disappeared, allowing the door to close behind him.

Elliott almost lost her bottle by the time she reached the motel. She stood in the car park, staring at the practically derelict building and clutched onto the strap of her bag. She chewed anxiously on her bottom lip.

Right, she told herself. If you're going in there, you're going in with guns blazing. You're going to kick his ass if you have to. Don't get all soft brained and start pecking out of his hand like a dumb chicken. You're going to give him hell.

'Give him hell.' She mumbled, and then quickly marched towards room number five.

She rapped hard on the flimsy wood, hurting her knuckles. She frowned at them and then switched hands a knocked again. 'Gary?' she called. 'Open the door.'

She stopped to listen. At first there was no sound, and she began to wonder if he really had been running late and he was at the bar right now, thinking that she hadn't showed. She allowed herself to momentarily believe this scenario, until she heard a thud on the other side of the door. Feeling a new flush of anger and knocked again, this time ignoring the pain in her knuckles.

'Open up.' She called. 'I'm not going anywhere until you open the door.'

Another light thump, but no answer.

'You can't do stuff like this,' she heard herself telling the door. 'If you think I'm going to let you play with mine and Reese's lives like this then you've got another thing coming. I'm not the same easily-led moron that I was at school, Gary. I'm not going to follow you around like some retarded little puppy to see what you have planned.' She waited to see if he would answer, but he didn't. This time she tried the handle but as she had expected it was locked. 'Okay, I'm going to put this to you. I know you're in there. If you really came here to see Reese then this is your only chance to see him. If you don't open this door right now then I won't let you see him. I don't care what he says. So what is it gonna be, Gary?'

Elliott waited. She felt a heavy disappointment when about ten seconds went by with no response. Frowning deeply, she stepped away.

'Fine.' She said firmly. 'Enjoy the rest of your life.'

She hadn't even turned away when she heard the lock click back. She stopped and watched as the door opened, but there was no one there. She peered in the dark, stale smelling motel room but didn't go inside.

'Well are you coming in or what?' Gary's voice asked from behind the door. He sounded different, somehow.

Elliott hesitated, and then stepped inside. She glanced around, taking in the miserable dirty beige walls and the flat uncomfortable looking bed. 'Christ,' she mumbled. 'I thought my flat was depressing.'

'Then you'd probably hang yourself if you saw my flat.' Gary replied from behind her. He sounded throaty.

Elliott turned around, and her hand immediately shot to her mouth in surprise. She gasped involuntarily. 'Oh my… Jesus! Gary, what the hell happened to you?'

The right side of his face was puffed up, his eye practically swelled shut. His other eye was a shiny dark purple colour and he had a nasty looking cut beneath it on his cheek. He had another cut on his forehead, this one smaller but looking deeper. He was holding one arm up to his chest and seemed to be favouring one leg. Jimmy had landed a few nasty looking punches on Gary when they had fought in her flat, but no way could they have done this amount of damage. Instinctively Elliott moved to him to examine his injuries closer. She reached up and pushed his hair back to look at the cut on his forehead.

'Gary… Oh man… You need stitches! Look, your head is still bleeding! Who did this to you?'

He just shook his head and moved away. 'Really should have expected it, coming here.' He replied, limping slightly as he moved to the bed. He sat down with a wince and put his finger to the cut on his head, checking to see if it really was bleeding. 'Wasn't exactly expecting a parade.'

Elliott stared at him in shock. He hadn't just been beaten up; he looked like he had been beaten to an inch of his life. And it certainly wasn't the work of just one person. She put her bag down on the floor and pulled off her coat, draping it over the television. Still examining his injuries from a distance, she rolled up her sleeves. 'Are there towels in the bathroom?' she asked.

Gary shrugged. 'Yeah. Can't tell you what colour they used to be though.'

Elliott went to the bathroom and pulled one from the rack above the toilet. They were pretty grubby, but they weren't disgusting. She soaked one through and rung it out, putting a dry one over her shoulder. She returned to the main room and sat down beside Gary.

He shot her an impatient frown. 'Get away with that stuff,' he sighed. 'I don't need nursing.'

'Shut up.' She told him sternly, and then took his chin in her hand. He pushed her hand away, but she just grabbed him again and frowned. 'If you don't keep still I'll puff up your other eye so you won't be able to see me kicking your ass.'

Gary half smiled in amusement, and then winced as she dabbed at the cut on his forehead with the wet towel. 'Gently.' He frowned.

Elliott just shook her head and sighed. 'Who did this?' she asked.

'No one.'

'Oh, so you just had one major slapstick accident, did you? Let me guess, you slipped on a banana skin.'

Gary frowned and took the towel. He pushed her hand away and dabbed at his head himself. He didn't seem surprised to see blood on the towel. 'You thought I stood you up, didn't you?' he asked. 'That's why you nearly kicked my door down.'

'Of course I thought you'd stood me up.' Elliott snapped. 'What the hell else was I supposed to think? I don't think I need to tell you that you're not the most trustworthy person in the world, Gary.'

He glanced at her, looking mildly annoyed, and then checked the towel again. 'And you're just Miss Dependable, aren't you? I bet Jimmy thinks you're at work.'

Elliott grimaced and stood up. 'Oh screw you, Gary.' She said, grabbing her coat from on top of the TV.

Gary sighed. 'Don't go all drama queen on me. Come on. Sit down.'

She paused and looked at him, and then put her coat back down. Instead of sitting back down beside him she leaned against the dresser and crossed her arms. 'The only reason I'm here is to arrange a day for you to meet Reese.' She said firmly. 'That's it. Although I think we should wait until you look less… grisly.'

Gary smirked. 'I'm sure the kid's got a strong stomach.'

Elliott watched him as he put the wet towel down and picked up the dry one. 'Do you want me to take you to the emergency room?' she asked. 'You should really get checked out. This non-entity that beat the crap out of you did a pretty good job.'

He looked up at her, amused. She instantly felt a pang in her chest, and suddenly she felt like she was fifteen again. How did he do it? How could he make her brain practically stop working with one look?

'I'm not sitting in some grimy Bullworth hospital just so some pervert old guy in a white coat can grab my balls and tell me to cough.' He dabbed his head. 'I'll be fine. I've had worse than this. You didn't get a proper look at me after I dropped through into Crabblesnitch's office. I was picking glass out of my chest for weeks.'

Elliott cast her eyes down. She didn't like to think about that day. 'Well I think you're stupid.' She told him. 'You could have internal bleeding or God knows what else.'

Gary just chuckled. Then he winced and put his hand to his stomach. 'You might not be wrong.' He replied.

Elliott just watched him sadly.

'I'm glad you came,' he said after a pause. Then he glanced to her. 'I thought about you a lot, you know. After I got sent away.'

She could only hold his gaze for a couple of seconds. She glanced down at her feet and shifted uncomfortably. 'Yeah, well… it was a long time ago.'

'Still good to see you though.'

Elliott continued to look down and said nothing.

'So how serious is it?'

'What?' she glanced up and frowned.

'You and Jimmy. Serious?'

Elliott took in a breath and glanced up at the ceiling. 'Well,' she breathed. 'It's… complicated, I guess.'

'Try me, I'm a big boy.'

She couldn't help but half smile. 'Well… um…' The words didn't seem to want to come. 'I don't know. It could be, I guess.' She should have said yes, she realised. If she had said yes then she would have made things a whole lot easier for herself.

Gary half nodded, knowingly. 'Any reason why you haven't moved in with him?'

Elliott looked away awkwardly. 'I don't really think it's any of your business.' She replied.

Gary shrugged. 'Guess not.' He stood up, still dabbing at his forehead. 'Just… strikes me as strange is all. Jimmy implied that he'd been around since Reese was born but… you'd think that being with the same person for ten years that you would at least move in together.'

Elliott rolled her eyes. 'Gary-'

'You're right,' He raised one hand in defence. 'It's none of my business. I guess I'm just nosy.'

She looked down at her hands and fiddled with a ring on her thumb. He moved towards her but she didn't give any indication that she had noticed, even though she was very aware of how close he was getting. She didn't seem surprised at all when he put a finger beneath her chin and gently lifted it.

'It really is good to see you again, Elle,' he said, his one open eye looking directly into hers. 'I missed you.'

Elliott said nothing. She just looked up at him as he moved a little closer. Just when he was an inch or so away from her, she said; 'You're bleeding.'

Gary moved back and half frowned. 'What?'

'Your nose,' she said, lifting her hand to point. 'It's bleeding.'

He touched nose and looked to see red blood covering the tip of his finger. He frowned, and then muttered a curse. He turned to the bed to get the towel, but he hadn't even reached it when the door banged. He looked around, surprised, to see that Elliott had gone, along with her coat and her bag.

He stared at the door for a moment, and then smiled.