Baby Bottles and Artificial Plastic Pt 9

“Right,” I say, “Down to business…”

Zac looks at me and grins all over. His really cheeky grin that means he is DEFINITELY planning something. “Well if you want to get down, you err better get started now I mean… I’m ready” he winked.

Eddie and Paris simultaneously roll their eyes and let out a loud groan.

“Ew!” shouts Paris, “that is gross guys” Oh and Zac… You wish!”

And for once it was Eddie who started us on the straight and narrow and decided that we had to get serious. “So er, what’s the big plan eh Ro? I mean you’ve kept pretty quiet about it all but now you have to tell us! Come on, let us in on your big secret!”

“Ok guys, this is how it goes…” I take a big breath to get ready for my master plan. Little do they know that it really isn’t any genius at all and that they’ll probably think that I should go to playgroup or something to learn more about the real world. “Right,” I try to start again.

Zac interrupts as he gets impatient for me to start, “Hurry up hun, spit it out!”

I try again, “Of course… Right… Well…” cough “I think that as the police seem to be playing their own game, we should play a little game of ours. Nothing too serious, no messing up their minds or anything, just maybe we should, you know… Take actions into our own hands so to speak.”

Paris displays a puzzled face, much like the other two. “Look Ro,  you’re gonna have to spell this out for us because you’re really not making sense.”

“I think that we should be kind of… sort of… detectives. Ok laugh at me now why don’t you.”

Zac and Eddie explode into exasperated giggles whilst Paris and me sit, stony faced and wait for them to stop. However, this looks unlikely as they are both rolling around on the floor, clutching their stomachs and generally acting like big baboons.

“Right… I get it,” gasps Zac, “You want us to become detectives and take matters into our own hands. So you mean, we find Annie?”

I nod my head slowly at him. “I know it seems like a crazy idea but no one else is doing anything to help! Think about her parents babe, what would you be like if that was our child? Wouldn’t you want them to be found?”

“Alright Ro, point made.” He puts his arm around me. “It’s not a bad idea actually hun, we could try it I guess, eh guys?”

“Yeah” Paris and Eddie both chorus.

So we start unpacking our sleeping bags so they’re ready for the night and generally chat about what we are going to do in the evening. I mean, I think we deserve a break after all that thinking. Of course, we weren’t going to start the detective work today, there was plenty of time for that. But for now, they were going to enjoy the evening…


Eddie grins round at us all. “Right, guys, whose for pizza?”

“Ooh ooh me me!” I cry as I hear my stomach rumbling in a desperate attempt to feed it.

So we traipse downstairs and grab the pizza that Eddie’s dad has so nicely prepared for us.
When we’re upstairs, we chat about general happenings in school.

I turn to Paris. “Parry, have you spoken to Jamey recently? I mean, occasionally I see her around now, and she seems much happier, you spoken to her?

Paris opens her mouth to speak, “Yeah she is looking happier. I think her having a boyfriend is a good thing because she’s got him to talk to and be there for her, which is something we could never do. We couldn’t give her that sort of support.”

“True” butts in Zac, “I think that’s really great for her. She deserves it”

There is silence as we ponder over this thought. But as we notice, the streets are getting dark and the streetlamps start to appear. We gently climb into our sleeping bags, giggling and tripping over our words as we try to get into the ‘relax’ zone. Our breaths are fresh from a harsh brush of our teeth as we turn out the light and start speaking into the darkness.

I roll over on my mattress on the floor and stare deep into the place where I know Zac’s bright green eyes lie. I take his hand and gently rub his bare chest as I snuggle up close to him, feeling secure.

I kiss him softly on the lips. “Night night baby”

And from the darkness I hear his familiar voice. “Night night hun.”