Chapter 5

When Jamie returned to Rachel's room, his parents had arrived. He had called the police as he had promised, and they were on their way to the hospital. Rachel glared at him coldly as he entered the room, but as he felt what he had done would make things better he ignored it and smiled at her; she didn't return it.

"Jamie!" his mum exclaimed. "There you are! Thank you so much for calling us, isn't it just awful!"

"Yes, mum. It is," he replied. It didn't seem to him that Rachel had told them what had happened yet. So he prompted.

"So Rachel," he began. "What happened?"

"I was walking back from school, the same way I usually do. It was deserted, unusual for that time of day. Two boys, about 17 or 18 years old tried to take my bag, but I wouldn't give it them. So they beat me up, took my purse from my bag and ran off… Then I don't remember anything."

Jamie was disgusted. He had expected Rachel to tell their parents exactly what was going on, but she had lied. He couldn't remember the last time she had done that.

"Oh darling!" her mum said. "That's awful. We have to call the police," she stood up.

"No!" Jamie butted in. "I mean, I've already called them. They're on their way."

"Oh good," their father spoke for the first time. "Thanks Jamie."

"No problem," he replied. "I want to catch the scum who did this." He meant Athena and her group, but somehow he didn't think Rachel would be willing to tell them about it. If she could lie to her parents, surely she could lie to the police.

"We're just going to get something to drink," their father said. "Stay with your sister for a while will you?" he asked Jamie.

"Yeah cause," he said as they left the room.

"Why did you call the police?" Rachel spoke as soon as their parents had gone.

"Because something had to be done, and they're the only people who can do anything."

"You know this is just going to make things ten times worse don't you?" Rachel asked. "If they hear that I called the police my life won't be worth living."

"If they hear that you called the police, then they'll know you're not a wimp and they'll lay off you!"

"That's not going to happen," Rachel said. "I know them better than you."

"Maybe. But I know that I'm right." But even as he said it, he was beginning to doubt how much he was convincing himself.

It was an hour later when two policemen knocked on the door of the room Rachel was in, and then without waiting for a reply wandered in, as if they had every right to do so.

"Rachel Richardson?" one of the policemen said formally.

"Yeah," Rachel replied. "That's me."

"We'd like to ask you a few questions about your attack if that's alright," the policeman who hadn't spoken yet said.

"That's fine," she said, glancing at Jamie who was glaring at her, attempting to make sure she told the truth. However the look in her eyes told him she wasn't planning on it.

"When did the attack happen?"

"About four hours ago, just about anyway."

"Do you know who attacked you?" the policeman asked a second question. This was the critical moment; would Rachel tell the truth?

"I've seen them around," Rachel said; Jamie's hopes sank. "But I don't know them personally. From what I can see it was a random mugging." She finished.

"And what did they look like?"

"They were boys, about aged 17 or 18… That's all I can remember."

"OK, that's all for now," the policeman said. "We'll be back if we need any more information from you." They walked out of the room, and Rachel relaxed, glad to have gotten the Interview over with. Jamie, however, was not so relaxed. He wasn't happy with what Rachel had done, but he knew if she was determined he couldn't do much about it.

Jamie tossed and turned all night. Did he do the right thing? He thought. He thought it would have made things better, but Rachel said it would make things worse. He was so confused; he was only trying to do the right thing. And she had lied to the police, wasn't that an offence? By the time he woke up the next morning he knew what the answer was. He had done the right thing by calling them, and they had to know the truth. He hesitated before dialling the number of the local police station on the phone.

"Hello," he said. "I have some information on Rachel Richardson's attack." He spoke calmly, knowing he was doing what was right for everyone.