Of course, it’s only in Level 3 that what happened at the end was shocking, which ought to cheer up victims and perpetrators alike. From a Level 2 perspective, nothing went wrong. Everything worked out beautifully, as it always does in True Time (nothing in that compartment is left to chance, you’ll be glad to hear), and I’m proud to have been part of the team that made it happen.
25
Tuesday 18 June 2024
Sally
It’s almost completely dark by the time Sally sees the sign saying “Norfolk.” Grateful as she is for all Corinne’s help, she hasn’t been relishing the prospect of spending the night (maybe several nights—who knows?) in a kennel, but now that she’s feeling sleepier, she’s willing to concede that it might be fine. Corinne’s kennels of choice are bound to be snugglier than most.
Sally has always felt safe in the dark. When she was little, her parents used to take her out to their friends’ houses in the evenings, and she would sleep in a dark bedroom while the grown-ups chatted downstairs until it was time for her dad to drive them home. She can remember a tea trolley in one of the houses; she would pass it as she was carried to the front door. It was orange, which she could only have known if she’d seen it. That means what her mum likes to say to Ree and Tobes can’t be true: “Sally was brilliant as a baby. We could take her anywhere with us and we never heard a peep out of her. She just stayed sound asleep while we carted her around.”
Sally’s earliest memory is of the comfortable lulling motion of the car and warm streetlights studding the night sky, receding from view as they passed. She loved looking at those lights; there was a sense of being part of something exciting that she wasn’t old enough to understand—thrilling and at the same time risk-free, because her mum’s arms were around her.
It’s nice to remember this, pleasing to acknowledge that there was a time when being looked after by her parents had felt warm and safe. Has Corinne become her temporary parent substitute?
When Sally wakes up, she remembers asking herself that question but not answering it. The lights must have lulled her to sleep, just as they used to when she was little. This time, though, they’re coming at her from ahead, on both sides.I’m supposed to be a grown-up now, she says to herself.
“Okay, my turn,” says Tobes. “Oh, Mum’s awake. Feel better, Mum?”
“I’m fine.” Sally is groggy and disorientated. And, fleetingly, guilty. Is she shirking her responsibilities as a parent? Should she be letting Corinne take them off to yet another new place?
“We’re playing the truth game,” says Ree. “It’s Tobes’s turn. I’ve just had mine and I abstained. Trust me, you don’t want to hear my worst truth.”
“All right, my turn,” says Tobes. “And it doesn’t have to be worst. I’m proud of mine. Mum, remember all those fights I used to get into at school before I turned into a fine, upstanding citizen?”
“Oh, yes,” says Sally. “Painfully clearly.”
“Oh, this is a good one,” Ree says with relish.
“Ree always wanted me to tell you, because school never did,but I thought it’d make you worry even more about whether I was going to end up in prison one day—”
“I’ve always been your biggest fan, bro.”
“—but it’s probably safe to tell you now,” Tobes goes on. “No one’s worried about me anymore, right? I’m much more mature and haven’t given in to any violent impulses for at least four years.”
“I’m not sure I want to hear this,” Mark says wearily.
“I never lost,” Toby announces with feeling. “Not once.”
“What do you mean?” asks Sally.
“He means he’s got an unbroken record of victory,” Ree says impatiently. “Isn’t that cool?”
“It’s true, Mum,” Tobes chips in. He sounds hopeful. “I’ve never lost a single fight. Even when the opp was twice my size, as happened sometimes. I saw a lot of what you might call active combat for quite a few years—some, I’ll admit I started; some, I got started on by someone else—and I was the clear winner, every single time.”
“That’s amazing, Toby,” says Corinne. “Well done!” A small squeal of anguish comes from Sally. Corinne adds quickly, “And obviously it’s brilliant that you’re now mature enough to be able to find other, nonviolent solutions to problems. But winning every fight you’ve ever fought? That’s still an achievement.”
“I think so,” says Tobes.
“We’re all proud of you, Toblerone,” Ree tells him, and for once he doesn’t sayDon’t call me that!
“You know who else would have been proud of you? Furbs.” Ree sighs as she always does when she mentions his name. “Furbs was a fighter. I’m not talking about his biting—that was just an anxietyresponse. I’m saying: If anyone had broken into our house and gone for any of us, Furbs would have destroyed them.”
“Champ wouldn’t,” says Tobes. “He’d mooch over sleepily and try to get his belly scratched.”
Everyone apart from Mark says, “Awwww.” He says, “What I still don’t understand is: Why aren’twebeing fighters? I don’t mean going back and knocking the Gaveys’ teeth out or anything—”
“That sounds like fun!” says Ree.
