I Can Help You

Chapter 2

4 years previously...

"Can I get some sweets, and a hamster, oh and that sling shot we saw last week" eight year old Jakob begged, hopping from foot to foot.
Billie Joe had watched him that morning while Adrienne went to visit a friend. This seemingly simple plan was not such a good idea, as Jakob was crazy with the amount of smarties he'd been allowed to eat. T his had leaded to yet another argument in the Armstrong house. Billie and Adrienne were still glaring at each other.
"If it was up to me" Adrienne moaned, "We wouldn't be going on this stupid shopping trip.
Billie Joe threw a coat to Joey.
"Don't come then" he snapped, "You won't be missed"
Adrienne looked at him, with the same face one wears when dealing with a naughty child.
"I'm coming" she snapped, "I don't trust you with anything. And we'll take the train; I defiantly don't trust your driving when you're in this mood"

They had left the house in silence, stony expressions on their faces. Joey and Jakob had opted to lag a few steps behind, in an attempt to avoid the crowds surrounding their dad. Mostly they could take a couple of steps backwards and nobody noticed them in the midst of all the hysteria. However, bad days normally are bad from the beginning, and that day their plan didn't work.
"Aww" two girls cooed, "They look like their dad don't they? Especially Joey"
This was news to him; everyone always said he looked like Adrienne. Any other day she would have been there in a flash to chase the girls away. But she was still huffing and puffing.
"Their so cute" one of the girls said in a silly voice, "Aw"
It felt like an hour before they managed to get away from them, and even when they were safely on the train, the atmosphere was still very frosty between Billie Joe and Adrienne.
"Do you have to smile at every woman you pass?" Adrienne asked sarcastically, "Or do you just do it to annoy me?"
And so the snide comments continued until the family reached the pet shop. Billie had agreed to buy Jakob another hamster; mainly because he knew Adrienne hated any form of rodent. And Adrienne, keen to avoid a fuss with photographers lurking, hadn't protested. They had emerged from the store clutching a cage containing a fat white hamster.
"He's called Nimrod" Jakob said laughing, "And Joey's not allowed to touch him. Ever."
"Don't want to" Joey said, "I'd probably get a disease. Just you keep your dirty mitts off my PS2. Or else"
Adrienne sighed, forcing a smile.
"Let's go and get some lunch" she suggested, trying to make amends, "There's a café around the corner, away from all those dopey journalists"
Lunch was not a pleasant experience either. Nobody felt much like eating, especially after an exceptionally skinny waitress 'fell', 'accidentally' landing in Billie Joe's lap.
"I'm so very sorry" she giggled, waving a tea-towel in front of her like a bull fighter, "Silly me, I can hardly walk in my nice new shoes.
And she'd rushed off, still tittering. She was the last person, outside the family to talk to the old them. She'd came forward when they went missing, and after all the media interest she had become a model.
Almost every day Joey wished they'd seen anyone but her before they disappeared. He knew his Dad wished the same thing. They'd never gotten to explain to Tre or Mike, both of them thought they were all dead.

Because the minute the train home left the station, there was an almighty screech, followed by several loud bangs. Then silence.

***

"Adie" someone said tearfully, "Wake up Adie, please"
She forced her eyes open, squinting in the bright light of the white room, to find a familiar face looking down at her.
"Hey" she said softly. For some reason, talking was very difficult. Then she remembered the smoke, how she'd choked on the fumes trying to fight her way through mountains of bodies. Ignoring the pain, she tried to tell Billie Joe something.
"I'm sorry" she croaked, "I'm sorry about the hamster, and moaning about that waitress"
"Adie" Billie said, "I don't give a shit about the bloody hamster"
So why was he crying then? Memories of the previous night came flooding into Adrienne's mind. He could see herself, clinging to Jakob, while Billie Joe held her hand trying to drag her through the rubble. And then there was the next explosion, the one that threw her to the ground and caused debris to fall on them. The whole carriage went up in flames, blocking their escape. She could barely stand, but somehow she had found the strength to pull Jakob from the pile of broken seats and bodies, and clamber out of a broken window. And then her world grew dark.
"I... I need to tell you something" Billie Joe continued, "Adie, Jakob died"
Just for a moment, Adrienne's heart stopped beating, and just for a moment, she hoped it would never start again. But it did, and she fell into her husband's arms.
Neither said a word, and neither noticed a short, ratty-looking man look through the window, scribble something in his notebook, and reach for the door knob.