Free My Demon by Lisa Hinsley Page B

something. I read it in one of my Dad’s Reader’s Digests.” She leaned on the table, cup of ice cream in one hand, spoon in the other as she thoughtfully nibbled at a chocolate chip. “Why don’t you tell me why you’re so sad?”
    Alex opened her mouth. She closed it again, tears welling. She blinked a few times, and dropped her gaze. The creamy white of the caramel chew-chew swirled into the strawberry scoop.
    “Don’t wait too long, or I’ll start going on about how heartbroken I am about being sacked from the shop. Or how irked I am that I didn’t even thieve any bloody money.” Becky put the back of her hand to her forehead. She rolled her eyes until the whites showed, and flopped down in her chair. Becky peeked at Alex for her reaction. “To be honest, you’re the reason I never quit. Aggie did me a favor firing me.” She shrugged. “I hated that job, but I’m no thief. And no, sweets from the pick-and-mix buckets at Woollies don’t count.”
    Alex gazed into her cup, and wondered why she’d ordered so much. She couldn’t force the spoonsful into her mouth. The taste was sickly sweet. She wanted to be home, hiding under her covers in her bed. Perhaps if she stayed hidden long enough, everything would be back to normal when she finally emerged. Alex debated calling Clive from wherever he’d disappeared to after the Post Office and asking if he could transport her. She was pulled from her reverie by Becky.
    “What’s with you? I’ve never seen you low like this.” Becky reached out and placed one of her hands on Alex’s. Bec had small hands, so dainty and pale, she could be made from porcelain. At first, Alex thought her touch was cool. Then she realized her best friend’s temperature was probably normal. Clive burned.
    The ice cream colors were mixing now, melting into the bottom of her cup. Alex stirred the remains of the scoops. She looked up, and stared blankly at Becky. “I’m losing my sanity. I’ve finally gone over the edge.” As if that were explanation enough, she lowered her head.
    Becky didn’t speak for a while. Her grip on Alex’s hand tightened, her touch comforting. Alex held back, for a moment Bec was the only thing keeping her from floating away.
    Finally Becky spoke, “You’re talking nonsense. You know that, don’t you? Complete and utter rubbish.”
    Alex sighed then said in a low voice, “I’ve started hallucinating. I see a demon that’s dressed in a red cat suit. He’s even got these silly stuffed horns. He turns up all the time, and he always seems to land me in trouble. But then again, since he’s a figment of my imagination, I guess I’m the one doing the bad stuff. Anyway, it’s because of Clive-”
    “Who’s Clive?” Becky interrupted.
    “My demon.”
    “Oh…” Becky watched Alex. Her brown eyes were wide with worry, her eyebrows knitted together in a frown.
    “Anyhow, because of Clive, I had the worst argument on record with my Mum. I said some pretty horrible things.”
    “What’d you say to her?”
    “She ended up slapping me, and I asked if she had a client to fuck on the phone or something,” Alex replied. Her face heated up as a blush covered her cheeks.
    “You what?” Becky burst out laughing. “Bloody hell, that’s a pretty terrible thing to say. Why on earth did you say that?” Becky let go of Alex’s hand, and scraped the last of her ice cream out.
    Alex leaned in conspiratorially. “I caught her on the phone saying some really disgusting things to this random guy. I’m pretty sure that she’s got a new job as a telephone hooker.” A giggle threatened to rise to the surface, and Alex gently bit her lip to stop it coming out.
    “So what about this Clive dude. When’d he show up?” Becky asked.
    “Um, a few days ago? I don’t remember how long, seems like forever. He showed up in the back of Jeremy’s minibus when we were getting stoned the other night. I thought he was a hallucination, but he was there again the