The Rapunzel Dilemma Read online

  She wondered where Ronan was taking her. Perhaps to the gallery where Max had seen some of his art – only hadn’t Max said it wasn’t in a gallery? She vaguely remembered something about a private collection.

  She was about to ask Ronan about it when he turned abruptly down a side street lined with tall red-brick houses. Most of them were three storeys, with windows right on the street. There were no trees or gardens, just pavement and, halfway down the street, a dark, narrow laneway lined with rubbish bins. Ronan looked around and then quickly pushed Lily into the lane ahead of him.

  Her heart suddenly beat a little faster. There were no streetlights and Ronan stood behind her, his body completely blocking the narrow opening to the street.

  ‘What are you –’

  ‘Keep going,’ he hissed and, putting his hands on her waist, steered her down the alley.

  ‘There’s nowhere to go,’ said Lily nervously as she came to a high brick wall and realised it was a dead-end. Ronan stood squarely behind her, completely blocking her escape.

  ‘That depends on your point of view,’ he replied, reaching into his jacket. ‘I promised you a night of firsts and this is where we begin.’

  Lily’s pulse raced and, in the three seconds his hand was out of sight, her imagination ran wild. Was he going for a gun? Or a rope? Or some kind of drug? What did he mean –

  She almost screamed as he pulled his hand free and pointed a metal cylinder at her.

  ‘Move,’ he said, and flicked the switch.

  Lily was glad she was well behind the torchlight so Ronan couldn’t see her cheeks burn with embarrassment as he pointed the torch’s ultra-bright beam at the wall beside them.

  ‘Ready?’ he asked.

  ‘I guess,’ said Lily, her heart still tripping faster than usual.

  He swung the torch beam ninety degrees, pointed it at the bottom of the high brick wall, then slowly raised the beam.

  Lily stared in wonder.

  Before her was an enormous painted ‘hole’ in the bricks, and through the hole was a green field, full of flowers, basking in the sunshine. Among the flowers, weathered tombstones rose from the long grass like ancient sentinels and beyond them a great tree raised its branches skywards, reaching for the sun.

  Even in the torchlight there was something extraordinarily tranquil and inviting about it and Lily felt a sudden longing to step through the wall into the space beyond; she wanted to wander among the tombstones reading the names of the dead, and lie under the tree and watch the flowers nodding in the sun.

  ‘What do you think?’ asked Ronan after a minute.

  ‘I love it,’ whispered Lily. She stretched out her hand and touched the rough brick wall. ‘It’s hard to believe it’s a painting.’

  ‘Graffiti, really.’

  ‘Not like the graffiti we get in New York,’ she replied. ‘I mean, there was the 5-Pointz building, before it was painted over, but even that was mostly tags – although some of them were pretty creative.’

  ‘I don’t do tags anymore,’ said Ronan, ‘not since I was a kid. I find this a lot more satisfying.’

  ‘This is yours?’ exclaimed Lily. She stared at the painting again. ‘Oh, my.’

  ‘There were a few of mine around here, though the council have painted over most of them.’

  ‘Wow, that’s sad,’ said Lily. ‘Were they like this?’

  He shrugged. ‘A couple. Some of them were pretty crude – mostly early stuff. I did a bunch along the train tracks near Liverpool Street station, before –’ He paused and then said, ‘Before we moved.’

  ‘So you grew up around here?’ asked Lily as they exited the laneway.

  ‘For a while. We moved round a lot. These days my mother lives on the council estate in Becontree.’

  ‘Where’s that?’

  ‘About twelve miles east of here.’

  ‘Do you see her much?’ asked Lily, unsure about whether Ronan’s family was a safe topic for discussion.

  ‘Whenever I can, but she likes me to stay in school.’

  ‘Don’t most parents?’ sighed Lily. ‘I bet she’s really proud of you being at Pendragon, though.’

  ‘Yeah.’ Ronan nodded. ‘Yeah, I guess she is.’

  ‘Do you have any other family?’ asked Lily carefully.

  ‘No. There’s only me and Mam. My dad left when I was fourteen.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ said Lily. ‘That must have been hard.’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Ronan. ‘It was.’ He spoke with a finality that seemed to put a giant stop sign in the way of any further conversation about his family.

  ‘I’ve always found there are lots of advantages to being an only child,’ said Lily after a pause.

  ‘Except you have a sister,’ said Ronan, wrinkling his forehead. ‘Angel’s your half-sister, right?’

  Lily blinked. ‘Yes. That’s right. She is.’ She kicked a pebble onto the road. ‘I always wanted Angel to be my sister,’ said Lily. ‘Practically from the first moment we met. We were best friends for ten years . . .’ Her voice trailed away.

  ‘And?’ prompted Ronan after a long silence.

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Lily. ‘I love Angel, but I never expected to have to sacrifice my dreams for hers!’ She put her hands to her face. ‘I hate not being able to talk to her and I don’t want to be angry with my dad, but I have no idea how to change it.’

  ‘I know something that might help,’ said Ronan.

  ‘What?’ asked Lily.

  ‘Soup.’

  ‘Sorry?’

  ‘I thought we could go round to the Soup Kitchen. I often swing by on a Friday night.’

  ‘Oh, okay, sure,’ she said doubtfully. ‘I guess a bowl of soup might make me feel better. Is it near here?’

  ‘Not far,’ he replied. ‘Practically around the corner.’

  He took her hand and together they walked through the darkened streets. It was only when she saw the caravan that had been set up outside a local church that Lily understood.

  ‘Oh, a soup kitchen!’ she exclaimed. ‘I thought you meant . . .’ She broke off as Ronan ran forward to help a man trying to heft an enormous pot in through the caravan’s back door.

  ‘I’ll take that, Padre,’ he said, grabbing the pot by the handles.

  ‘Ronan!’ The priest relinquished his load and mopped his forehead with a large red handkerchief. ‘Good to see you. I wasn’t sure you could make it.’

  ‘I said I’d be here, Padre. Besides, I knew you’d tell Mam if I didn’t show.’

  The priest laughed. ‘I don’t think I’d risk telling Alondra that, Ronan. Besides, I doubt she’d believe me.’

  Ronan grinned. ‘Well, you can tell her I was here as usual and that I brought a friend along to help.’ He waved Lily forward. ‘This is Lily. Lily, this is Father Doyle who runs the homeless shelter.’

  ‘Hello,’ said Lily, shaking his hand shyly.

  ‘Welcome to St Mary’s, Lily,’ said the priest. ‘It’s very good of you to give up your evening to help us.’

  ‘It was Ronan’s idea,’ she said. She looked a little worried. ‘But I should warn you that I’m totally new at this and basically clueless.’

  He smiled and patted her shoulder. ‘Don’t worry, Ronan will look after you. He knows the routine inside out. You just go on into the van and he’ll get you started. People will begin arriving any minute and I’ve still got a few more blankets to find.’

  He waved her towards the caravan just as Ronan came to the door, a soup ladle in his hand. ‘Ready, Lily?’ he asked. ‘We’d better get organised.’

  ‘Okay,’ she said.

  He hesitated, and then said, ‘Uh, Padre?’

  ‘Yes, Ronan?’

  ‘About Mam.’

  ‘Yes, Ronan,’ replied the priest, and Lily saw his eyes twinkle.

  ‘Maybe better not to mention Lily just yet?’

  ‘No, Ronan,’ said Father Doyle, winking at Lily as she climbed into the van.

  Inside, Ronan wa
s just opening the serving hatch. ‘Great,’ he said briskly, as Lily came in. ‘Do you want to ladle the soup into the cups? I’ll hand them out with the bread rolls.’

  ‘Sure,’ said Lily. ‘Do we need to put butter or anything on the rolls?’

  ‘There isn’t anything,’ said Ronan. ‘Bread and soup, a blanket, maybe some medication and a bit of friendly counsel is about the best we can do.’

  Lily was still absorbing this new and unexpected side of Ronan when he handed her the ladle.

  ‘Serve the soup?’ he asked, smiling at her.

  ‘Absolutely,’ replied Lily, grinning back.

  ‘Are they all drug addicts?’ she asked, about two hours later. The line had finally petered out, along with the fourth pot of soup and the twentieth bag of bread rolls.

  ‘Not all,’ said Ronan, washing the soup pot industriously. ‘But a fair number. Drug, alcohol and gambling addictions are the main problems that we see around here, though there’s some mental illness, too, and a few people who’ve just lost their way.’

  ‘Can they be helped?’

  ‘Some. Father Doyle does his best and he’s had a few successes, but usually people’s problems are way too complex to be solved by a cup of soup and some roadside counselling.’

  She nodded. ‘This is going to sound really clichéd but, until tonight, I honestly didn’t know how lucky I was.’

  Ronan took off his apron, closed the serving hatch and pulled her into his arms. ‘So, another first, then?’

  ‘I can’t believe I ever felt sorry for myself,’ said Lily, looking up at him.

  He kissed her gently and said, ‘It’s good to get some perspective. But knowing there are other people out there who are worse off than you doesn’t necessarily mean that your own worries and problems aren’t real.’

  ‘I guess so, but it does make them seem a lot less important.’

  ‘That’s no bad thing,’ said Ronan. ‘Especially if it means no more complaining,’ he joked.

  She punched him lightly on the chest. ‘So, are you telling me that you never complain about anything?’

  He assumed a pious expression. ‘Me? Complain? Never. I’m a saint – ask Father Doyle.’

  ‘Ask me what?’ asked Father Doyle, coming into the van.

  ‘Ronan says he’s a saint,’ replied Lily, freeing herself from Ronan’s embrace and digging him in the ribs.

  ‘I don’t think even Alondra would agree with that,’ said Father Doyle, smiling. ‘Though your mam would be pleased with your efforts tonight and I thank you both for your hard work.’

  ‘We’ll be going now, Padre,’ said Ronan, edging towards the door.

  ‘Well, give my best to your mother,’ said the priest. ‘And you can tell her from me that your young lady has my tick of approval.’

  To Lily’s surprise and immense satisfaction, Ronan blushed.

  CHAPTER 29

  Five minutes later, they were back in the street and heading for the main part of town. This time Ronan wouldn’t say where they were going.

  It was only when they turned into the High Street that Lily began to suspect what sort of destination he had in mind.

  Down the street she could see an art gallery and beyond that a bar and a couple of nightclubs. As they drew near, she could hear laughter and the clink of glasses mingled with the doof-doof beat of electronic music.

  Outside the first nightclub a long line of people stood waiting to get in. To Lily’s surprise, Ronan walked straight to the front of the queue, where a huge black man stood guarding the door. He stared at them as though they were a couple of pesky flies he might swat away with one of his enormous fists and Lily’s heart kicked up a gear as he and Ronan eyed each other. Ronan’s head only reached the bouncer’s shoulder.

  ‘Hey, Credo,’ said Ronan, after what seemed like forever.

  ‘Ronan,’ nodded the big guy. He looked right and left and then, apparently satisfied, reached out and grabbed Ronan by both arms. Lily shrieked and then fell into embarrassed silence as Credo pulled Ronan into a huge embrace.

  ‘Where’ve you been, boy?’ demanded Credo. ‘I ain’t seen you for two weeks.’

  Lily almost laughed to see Ronan practically struggling to free himself from those huge muscular arms.

  ‘I’ve been at school, Credo. Now, can you please let go?’

  ‘School?’ queried the bouncer, releasing Ronan and stepping back with a grin. ‘You mean they ain’t kicked you out of the new place yet?’

  Ronan glanced at Lily and then laughed. ‘Not yet.’

  Credo frowned. ‘Don’t you go getting into trouble again, boy. Bolt won’t like it.’

  ‘Bolt needn’t worry,’ said Ronan tersely. ‘I’m behaving myself.’

  ‘Then what’re you doing here at this time of night?’ growled Credo. ‘Daytime hours, remember? Bolt don’t like you comin’ round so late.’

  ‘I just want to take a look,’ replied Ronan. ‘Show my friend the club.’

  For the first time, Credo turned his attention to Lily. He stared at her, unblinking, for several seconds and Lily did her best to meet his gaze. She half expected him to roar with laughter at the idea of letting someone who was so obviously under-age into his nightclub. Instead, he looked her up and down as if she were some kind of new life form.

  At last he said, ‘Welcome to the Third Dimension. I’ll get Linus to take you down.’ He waved to a beefy white guy standing just inside the doorway, unclipped the velvet rope holding back the queue, and waved them through. Lily heard cries of protest from the wannabe patrons before their voices were drowned out by the electronic music that permeated every corner of the crowded club.

  It was an amazing space. Around the room, cylindrical perspex pillars held up the ceiling, each of them filled with twisting tentacles of light that changed colour and moved with the music. Lily would have liked to stop and watch, but Ronan drew her through the crowd to the bar.

  ‘Sit here,’ he mouthed, patting a tall neon-green bar stool.

  Lily jumped up onto it and he put his mouth to her ear. ‘You’ll probably like this room.’ He waved his arm. ‘Plenty of firsts in here.’

  Lily looked. It wasn’t really fair to call it something as mundane as a room. It reminded her of an underground cavern, with a ceiling so low you could almost touch the enormous sculptures hanging from it. It took her a few moments to get accustomed to the constantly changing light, but when she did, she realised that what she’d thought were sculptures were actually paintings: incredible 3D paintings hung at crazy angles in their big box frames. There were huge silver wheels, giant coiled nautilus shells, a clenched fist, and bunches of long narrow pipes. An enormous silver pyramid hung down over the dance floor with a crystal point that almost touched the heads of the throng of people dancing beneath it.

  Light cables ran under the dance floor and, as Lily watched, they shifted, roiling about like multicoloured snakes writhing beneath the dancers. The music changed and a tech-house beat set the floor pulsating. The crowd whooped and hollered as the lights responded to their dancing feet.

  She suddenly wondered if Ronan liked dancing. She was pretty sure dancing with him would be a first she’d enjoy. She turned to look at him and found him watching her, his eyes alert, his mouth on the edge of a smile.

  ‘What do you think?’ he shouted, waving at the interior.

  ‘It’s amazing,’ Lily shouted back. ‘Are we going to –’

  ‘What’ll you have?’ bawled a voice.

  Lily jumped and would have fallen sideways off her barstool if Ronan hadn’t caught her.

  ‘You okay?’ he asked.

  She nodded.

  ‘A Rusty Nail and a margarita thanks, Tony.’

  ‘I don’t want –’ began Lily.

  ‘Put it on Credo’s tab?’ asked the barman.

  ‘Yeah, great,’ said Ronan. ‘Come on, Lily, let’s find a booth. We’ll be Under the Tiles, Tony.’

  The bartender nodded.

  Th
ey edged their way around the dance floor and into a smaller room at the side. It took Lily a moment to adjust to the new space.

  The walls were blood-red and at first glance the ceiling appeared to be undulating. Waves of colour rippled slowly back and forth above her head and it was a full minute before she realised that the ceiling was built in a series of hills and valleys covered with rows and rows of endlessly turning tiny cubes. They were lit by rotating coloured spotlights and the whole effect was hypnotic.

  ‘What do you think?’ asked Ronan, after Lily had stared up at the ceiling for several minutes.

  ‘It’s incredible. I’ve never seen anything like it,’ she replied.

  ‘Wait ’til it stops.’

  ‘Why does it st– oh!’

  The cubes directly above her head had stopped turning and, to Lily’s astonishment, a huge pair of green eyes now stared down at her. As she watched, one by one the rows came to a standstill and gradually the ceiling was revealed as a gigantic copper-coloured face. It stared down at them, the spotlights momentarily lighting it so brightly that for a second Lily could see the detail in the cubes overhead.

  ‘It’s a painting!’ she exclaimed.

  ‘Not exactly,’ said Ronan. ‘More like a stencil. It’s really a giant picture broken into thousands of tiny pieces – one for each cube.’

  ‘It must have taken forever to do.’

  ‘Months – and that was just the first face – though it did get quicker with each face because – well, repetition is a great teacher.’ He grimaced. ‘Still, I’m not sure I’d do it again.’

  Lily’s jaw dropped. ‘You did this?’ she cried, pointing at the ceiling.

  Ronan nodded. ‘And the 3D stuff above the dance floor, too.’

  She stared at him and then at the ceiling again as a blood-red spotlight lit the face and one great eye slowly winked and disappeared as the cubes began rotating and the ceiling gradually started undulating once more.

  ‘It’s amazing! How did you think of it?’

  ‘Playing Monopoly at my last school.’

  ‘You’re kidding?’ Lily looked at him in disbelief.

  Ronan shook his head. ‘Actually, I’m not. It was the dice that did it. I threw a double two and there was something about the way they fell that made me think of eyes.’ He pointed to the ceiling. ‘Each cube has four usable sides. So I drew four pictures and stuck them on.’