Lehiff and Katia

Katia lay quiet in her bed, her brain soaking up her own thoughts. Drinking them, lolling in confused curiosity.

Never had she had such an eventful night in her life. Of course, it had been terrifying, and at times she had even feared for her life. But now, now that she was safe and alone in her bedroom, she could easily dwell on the evening’s exciting little details with ease. And sometimes, even pleasure...

She had experienced the most intense adrenaline rush, and as she lay there, she tried to mimic the emotions she had felt when she was terrified in a vain attempt to feel the rush again. She wasn’t used to it. But she liked it.

Lehiff must be used to it, she thought to herself. Maybe that’s why he had done it. Maybe that’s why he did anything. It seemed to her that the robbery had not been something new for him; though it was obvious that he was uncomfortable, she assumed that was just because of her intrusion to his plans. He’d had an air of calm when they had had to escape, and, despite her panic, she had trusted him completely. Katia suspected that he had had to do something similar before. Kicking her legs and pushing her body further down the blankets, she recounted the events of only a few hours earlier...



Katia’s feet kicked gently against the muddy ground. She glanced at her phone. 11:36pm.

Crap, she thought to herself, Mum’s gonna go crazy. She picked up her feet a little and gained pace. She couldn’t be late again, but it was always hard to leave Cokey. Her best friend had rejoiced in the fact that Katia had arrived at the foot of her bedroom so that she could engage in a heady discussion revolving around the attractive little details of Stephen’s lower back (Cokey had seem him without a shirt earlier that day).

As a result of her best friend’s eager descriptions, it had been more than a challenge to leave, even several hours later. But Katia had forced herself, recalling her mother’s less-than-cheerful mood of late.



She rounded a corner and gladly realised that she wasn’t too far from home. At that moment, an ominous gargle of thunder hummed above, and she felt a few cold droplets of rain hit her forehead and nose. Lifting her jacket higher around her shoulders, she sped up a little.

She could see a small street lamp lighting the entrance to a path further ahead, and she was gaining nearer to it when she heard a small thud, followed by hastened, low whispers, and she swivelled around to see a dark figure dropping something on the grass and frantically fumbling to pick it up.

For an instant she froze, but within a moment Katia realised that she needed to move out of the figure’s range of sight, in case they turned around and spotted her. She spun her body around, and, so as not to make too much noise, began jogging towards a large hedge across the road.

She had almost made it to her leafy refuge, and relief began to restore itself to her, when the unmistakable sound of a snapping twig beneath her feet stopped her breath. Without thinking, she whipped her head around at the same moment that she realised she was caught under the yellow radiance of the path street lamp, and saw the dark figure lifting their own head and catching sight of her.



Katia gasped, and systematically began to pelt in the opposite direction. For a second she thought she was safe, until she heard deeper, heavier footsteps descending upon her from behind.

She was not a good runner, and fear practically paralysed her, making her trip over her feet and non-existent objects on the road. As the footsteps drew closer, she could hear the shallow breath of the person running behind her, and this confirmed what she already knew; he was male.

Katia was growing closer to the hedge she had planned to find sanctuary in before, and knew she was running out of room to run. She glanced sideways in either direction, but saw no alternative.

As the space between her and hedge grew slimmer, her fear ballooned and the person behind was closer than ever before. In a desperate act, she hurled herself towards the hedge in an attempt to toss her body over it, but she didn’t make it.

Instead, she landed half way across its surface, and she closed her eyes tightly, dread washing over her as she felt the weight of the person chasing her moving beside her, and pulling her down behind the hedge.

Katia’s eyes were still closed, and a wave of crippled dread became her. A large hand found tight grip of her forearm, and a whimper escaped her lips.



‘What the fuck are you doing here?’



Katia couldn’t breathe. Maybe it was because she was still reeling in terror from a moment before. Maybe because she knew that voice, and it didn’t sound sinister, just frustrated.

Gingerly, she allowed her eyes to open. Before her, his face somewhat hidden by darkness, and his hand clutching her arm accusingly, was Cokey’s older brother, Lehiff.



She found she couldn’t bring herself to speak. But it didn’t matter, Lehiff was hissing at her in a hushed, incensed tone.



‘You can’t be here. You have to go home... But you’re already here.’

He seemed to be talking to himself more than anybody, and Katia shook her head furiously, trying to make some kind of sense of where she was and what was happening.

Eventually, she interrupted his whispered ramblings.

‘What are you doing here?’



Lehiff looked at her, and though she could barely make out his face, she distinguished that his features were contorted into a worried, angry expression.



‘Nothing. I’m just with some friends.’

He grunted, releasing his grip on her arm to pull at his own dark, matted hair, his mind obviously elsewhere.



Katia watched him, brow furrowed for a moment, before slowly pushing herself up onto her knees in order to peek over the hedge. Sure enough, there were two more figures standing in the spot where she had seen Lehiff. Judging by the way they were regarding each other and their surroundings, they were obviously looking for Lehiff, and were equally as angry.

She noticed they were standing in the driveway of a tall and prestigious-looking house.

Katia wanted to keep watching, but Lehiff grabbed hold of her arm again and pulled her back down beside him. Slumped on the ground, he was hissing at her again, but she didn’t notice. She took in his appearance, and noticed what he was wearing.

His clothes in their entirety were black or equally dark. He wore long sleeves and woolly, dark gloves on his hands. On his feet she recognised the work boots he wore when he was at her father’s workshop. His pants had a hole in them at the knee.

This time, Katia did not hesitate in talking to him.

‘Whose house is that?’ She whispered hastily, pointing her finger to the hedge and indicating the house beyond.

Lehiff’s neck snapped and he looked at her.

‘It’s my friend’s place. The one out there.’ He said quickly. Katia laughed incredulously.

‘Alright then. If it’s his house, why don’t we just go back out there for a chat.’

She hadn’t even got to her feet when Lehiff grabbed her by the ankle and yanked her back down to him as he hissed ‘No!’

‘Fine.’ She said. ‘Tell me whose house it is, and what you’re doing!’

Lehiff looked into the darkness, steadily chewing his lip. After a long while, he seemed to crumple at the edges, and slouched further against the hedge.

‘It’s Graham Herald’s house.’ He said in a low voice.

Katia was confused.

‘I have no idea who that is.’ She said, annoyance and confusion plaguing her. Lehiff gave a small and arrogant laugh through his nose.

‘Yeah, well you wouldn’t. He’s a dealer.’

Katia considered his words, and stiffened.

‘A drug dealer?!’

‘Yes, a drug dealer. For fuck’s sake Katia, you’re my little sister’s best friend, and I work for your dad. Of all the people who had to show up in the middle of this, it had to be you.’

Katia let out a shallow, hollow breath, as she came to realise the reason Lehiff was here.

‘You’re robbing a drug dealer’s house?! Jesus Christ! I’m sorry for interrupting your narcotics burglary!’

Her last few words came out at a higher frequency, and Lehiff leapt towards her immediately, clapping his hands over her mouth.

‘I’m not stealing drugs!’ He muttered frantically, ‘It’s... money.’

Katia jerked his hand away from her face.

‘Money? Oh well, that’s much better, I’m so gl-‘

‘There’s so much in there, he won’t even notice!’

‘Are you completely stupid?!’

Lehiff didn’t reply. He dealt her a menacing, foul look and proceeded to lift himself up to climb over the hedge. Katia reacted in an instant, copping hold of his shirt and trying to haul him back down.

He was strong though, and she had to push her heels into the mud to try and keep her grasp. Lehiff was grunting as he tried to pull his body over the hedge and go back to the house. Katia yelped slightly as he stepped on her foot below.

They continued to wrestle with each other, when suddenly a subdued, repetitive ringing began to sound in Katia’s ears as though approaching from far away. Then she realised that it was. As the sound grew steadily louder, she looked up to Lehiff, and knew that he had heard it too.

There was less than an instant between Lehiff disentangling himself and launching himself down next to her, and the two police cars hurtling into the street towards the driveway.

Katia’s heart stopped, and she clung onto the pocket of his pants without even realising it. Lehiff was now peering through a tiny hole in the hedge’s growth, the light of the police cars aiding his sight.

After a minute, he turned to her.

‘We have to go.’

‘What? What if they see us?’ She asked frantically.

‘They’ll definitely see us if we stay here.’

He was adjusted his body and moving into a crouching position. He took her arm, and she mimicked him.

‘Just stay low, and be quiet. When we get out of this street, we run. Understand?’ He said to her as he scanned their surroundings with narrow eyes. She nodded hastily.

With that, they began to make their way away from the scene, stooping down low as they went. Katia’s breathing was heavy as she tried to stay calm. She was glad Lehiff didn’t let go of her arm, as she had no idea where he was heading.

After several minutes of steady, slow movement, they reached the mouth of a footpath at the end of the street. Immediately, Lehiff tightened his grip on her arm and began to run.

Katia struggled to keep up as he practically dragged her down the length of the footpath. The place where he was holding her arm was starting to hurt, but she was too desperate to gain distance from the police to notice or care. By the time he stopped running, she felt as though she was going to pass out. She looked to Lehiff, who had let go of her and was now doubled over, his hands on his knees, trying to restore his breath. Satisfied that he was apparently content with their location, Katia allowed herself to slouch down on the path. Though she had not noticed it, the rain had never stopped, and her hair was damp. She lifted her face to the dark midnight sky and permitted a few lonely drops to cool her skin. Her jacket and jeans were muddy from struggling with Lehiff behind the hedge.

Finally her breath came back to her, and she sat up. With a sigh of relief, she realised she wasn’t far from home. Brushing herself off, she got to her feet.

‘Look. I’m going home now.’ She said, still picking globs of mud off her jeans.

‘Wait,’ She heard Lehiff say, and she looked at him, ‘You know that if you tell anyone about this, I can say that you were there too.’

He obviously looked worried, and Katia parted her lips in a disgusted scowl. She folded her arms tightly across her chest.

‘Thanks,’ she said, her air of sarcasm apparent. ‘It’s not like I just prevented you from being caught by the police or anything.’

‘What? All you did was get me out of the way of some money.’ Lehiff scoffed.

Katia pursed her lips and held back the nasty retort that wanted to explode from her. She just wanted to go home, and another argument with Lehiff wouldn’t get her any closer to the comfort of her warm bed. For the final time, she checked her clothes. She could at least blame the rain for her appearance, or she could tell her mother she tripped in the mud. She turned away from Lehiff and began to walk away.

It took a few steps for her to realise that he was following her. She stopped and turned, obviously annoyed.

‘What are you doing?’

‘I’m walking you home,’ he said quietly, and for a moment she softened at his chivalry, until he added, ‘If the police see us walking, it’ll be less suspicious if I’m with you and I say you’re my girlfriend or something.’

Katia narrowed her eyes. She had never had any kind of interaction with Lehiff before, but now she did not wonder why Cokey didn’t care for her brother too much.

‘Oh, for God’s sake. I just want to go home. I didn’t plan to spend the rest of my night with some guy who thinks it’s a good idea to go around robbing the houses of drug dealers.’

She turned and began to walk in the direction of home once more, but was stirred by the sound of Lehiff laughing dubiously behind her.

‘I don’t think it’s a good idea to rob houses!’ He said, reaching in his pocket and retrieving a cigarette. ‘I need the money.’

This time it was Katia that laughed.

‘Oh, and there’s absolutely no other way to get money than to rob people? You have a job. I’m sure if you spent half as much time working than you do smoking cones with Samantha and Micheline at the community centre, my dad would give you a pay rise.’

When the last word escaped her mouth, Lehiff shot her a fierce look, stepped on his smoke and moved towards her. He leant into her when he said,

‘You have no idea how much I work. I go in early, I stay late. I even do labour for free when your dad’s too busy!’ He laughed incredulously, and continued. ‘I’ve worked there for eight years and gotten absolutely fucking nowhere. I’m twenty-four and I still live with my parents because I can’t afford to move out! Just because you and your dad don’t notice, doesn’t mean I don’t work hard.’

With that, he moved away from her. Katia moved her gaze towards the ground, not knowing what to say. A sliver of guilt weaved its way inside her, and she racked her brain for something diplomatic to tell him. However, she needn’t have to, because Lehiff was standing with his hands deep in his pockets, talking again.

‘Not that I’m not used to it. Trust me, I know that everything good that I do is invisible to everyone else. The only time I seem to get any recognition is when I fuck something up. I’m a waste of space’ He motioned towards her, a laugh escaping him that made Katia feel sad. ‘You’ve kinda just proved that to me again.’

The pang of guilt was in her chest now, and she was so confused because she had never seen Lehiff like this. She wondered if Cokey had.

Slightly fearing an outburst, Katia made a small step towards him.

‘Lehiff,’ she said in a low voice. ‘You’re not... that... ‘

She had no idea what else to say. He didn’t move, but he also didn’t shoot back any kind of retort. She bit her lip, thinking frantically.

‘You’re a lot smarter than your friends,’ she finally said. ‘You didn’t want to rob that house.’

Still he didn’t talk or move, so she continued.

‘I just think, um... that my dad needs to be reminded of how much work you do. He’s probably used to it by now, and is taking your contribution for granted. I could talk to him...’

At that moment, Lehiff’s neck twitched and he said hurriedly,

‘Come on. Let’s go. I’ll walk you home now.’

He didn’t say anymore, and Katia decided it was best just to follow him. They walked the short distance to Katia’s mother’s house in silence, and when they reached the driveway, she turned around to bid him goodbye, only to find him halfway down the road already.

Rattled and very perplexed, she managed to pry open the door quietly enough not to rouse her mother, and made her way to the bathroom in silence.

Gazing at her reflection in the wide bathroom mirror, Katia thought she looked a mess. Her hair was matted and wet with mud, and her face was scratched and dirty from her collision with the hedge. Running the tap, she washed her face and ran the water through her hair until all the mud she could remove was gone.

When she was finished, she made her way to her bedroom, tiptoed inside, removed her clothes and collapsed on the bed.



She had stayed there for several hours, wide awake and with all chance of sleep evading her. Until this moment, when she turned her head to glance at her clock radio. Her eyes were met with the luminous crimson of the LED numbers; the time was 4:56am.

She was somewhat surprised that she had managed to fall so deep into thought for so long without even realising it. Everything that had happened; the walk, seeing the dark figure, experiencing fear beyond all previous measure, the police cars, and most of all, Lehiff’s strange behaviour, could not break away from her.

She was dying to talk to somebody, and wanted to call Cokey so badly that resisting the urge was virtually impossible. Of course, she could never tell Cokey that it was her own brother who had tackled Katia over the hedge in his bid to rob the drug dealer’s house, but she could at the very least make up some hypothetical situation for Cokey to comment on. Cokey’s opinion would put everything into perspective.

Shifting in her bed, Katia’s eyes fell upon her phone laying invitingly on the bedside table. Gingerly, she reached out from under the blankets and picked it up. She considered whether it would be wise to call her best friend at such an hour. Certainly, Cokey had called Katia at the most ungodly of times available to her when she was in the midst of what would be considered a trivial problem to other people. Katia had never minded that, in fact she’d quite liked the fact that Cokey has not been hesitant in needing her. And at this moment, Katia thought she had never wanted to talk more in her life. Her desktop wallpaper, a photo of herself and Cokey, was the clincher:

Pushing in the number of Cokey’s house, Katia pressed the phone to her ear. The monotonous ringing that sounded was somewhat soothing to her, because she knew she would be hearing Cokey’s voice soon.

The phone continued to ring, and Katia was considering hanging up, when she heard the line connect.

‘Hello?’

Katia froze as Lehiff’s low voice echoed through the receiver.

Oh my God.

‘Hello?’ He said again, as Katia fumbled with her phone, not a clue what to do.

She heard him say it once more as she pressed the End Call button. Groaning, she flung her phone to the end of her bed and buried her face into her pillow.

How could she be so stupid? Cokey and Lehiff lived in the same house! She had forgotten probably the most important detail in calling Cokey.

Detesting her own stupidity, Katia’s face was still in her pillow when another thought sprang into her mind; Cokey’s house phone had Caller ID.

Frantically, Katia racked her brain trying to determine whether her phone number was on display for calls or not.

Urgh, why didn’t I call her mobile?

Katia slapped herself on the forehead, and realised she had to retrieve her phone from the other end of the bed and check her settings. If her phone number wasn’t on display, she would be safe.

Katia was scrounging around her blankets in search of her phone, when she felt the muted vibration near her foot.

Petrified, she looked and, sure enough, the electric blue of her screen was flashing guiltily in the ruffles of her blankets.

She swallowed, and reached out for it. On the little screen, the words

COKEY HOME CALLING

stared at her angrily.

So, her number had been on display.

Terrified, Katia considered her options. She could always say she called the wrong number, or that her phone had been unlocked and called the number accidentally.

Urgh.

Figuring that getting the conversation over with would be better for her (She knew it would haunt her relentlessly if she ignored it), Katia bit her lip, whimpered, and pressed the ANSWER button.

‘Hello?’ Her greeting came as a splutter.

A pause. Katia frowned.

‘Hello?’ She said again.

‘Hello, is this Katia?’ Lehiff’s voice rang out, and Katia thought this was an odd thing to say. How could he possibly know it was her? He didn’t have her phone number.

‘Um, yes?’ She said inquiringly.

‘It’s Lehiff. Morrissey... Cokey’s brother. Did I wake you up?’

Katia was quite confused now, but sensed that her reasons for being embarrassed were now dissolving.

‘No, no you didn’t.’

‘Oh okay, good.’ He sounded different on the phone, Katia noted.

‘Is there something I can do for you?’

‘No, not really. I just wanted to make sure you were alright.’

Katia furrowed her brow. Despite the fact that she had had no contact with him up until last night, she was sure that her welfare was not Lehiff’s reason for calling.

‘Um... Yes, I’m fine, thanks.’

‘Good.’

Still furrowing, Katia tried to get to the real issue of the phone call.

‘Listen, I’m not going to tell my dad or Cokey or anybody about what you did tonight, if that’s what you’re worried about.’

‘Are you going to tell your dad about the work I do?’

He asked this very quickly, and Katia’s eyes widened. This is what he wanted to ask?

‘Yes, sure. I mean, if you do the work, why not get some kind of recognition? And by the sounds of it, my dad should know about everything you do.’

There was a pause in which Katia realised she was sitting completely upright, and this was causing her pain in her back. So she relaxed into her pillow and waited for a reaction. Even by now, in this short period of time, she had learnt it was a good idea not to push Lehiff to a response. When at last he spoke, it was only,

‘Nobody’s ever said that to me before. Any of the stuff you said to me tonight.’

‘Oh. Okay.’

‘It was nice.’

‘That’s good.’

Katia’s mind was spinning at a million miles an hour. Her brain was overloaded and completely confused.

‘I hope you don’t mind me having your number. I got it from Cokey’s phone.’

‘Oh... Yes, that’s okay.’

So, Katia thought to herself, my number wasn’t on display.

‘I think I’m going to go now. Cokey will probably be getting up soon to go to work, and she might be a little bit weird about us talking on the phone.’ Lehiff said.

‘Yes, you’re probably right.’ Katia replied, her brain still reeling.

‘I guess I might see you at the workshop or something like that.’

‘Yes, you might... I guess.’

‘Goodbye, Katia.’

‘Goodbye, Lehiff.’



When they had hung up, Katia knew that all possibility of sleep was now extinguished even more than before. For hours afterwards, she held onto her phone, clutching it to her chest, wondering inexorably about the possibility that she and Lehiff Morrissey were becoming... friends.