Free Love My Enemy by Kate Maclachlan Page A

looked mutinous as he held aloft a white
dinner plate with a single jewel-like berry. Tasha froze,
but Zee giggled. She thought the whole scene looked
like something out of Oliver Twist . Promptly, she
grabbed a knife from the table and sliced the plump
berry in two.
    'There! Enough for the both of them!'
    Mrs O'Keefe laughed. 'By heaven, Zee, they should
have you in the peace process. Conor, take the girls
through the house – you'll get privacy in the parlour.'
    Mr O'Keefe looked as if he would much rather they
didn't have privacy and his bald head seemed to
shimmer with curiosity. As for Conor, he looked as if he
would rather evaporate than move, but he got up
eventually and led them through the house in silence.
    'I'm sorry,' Zee blurted as soon as he had shut the
parlour door.
    'You're not half one for surprises,' he said.
    'I didn't mean to turn up like this but it's an
emergency – and you did say you'd help me.'
    'Are you all right? What's happened?'
    'Nothing. We just need some money, Con, that's all.'
    'Money?' he repeated.
    'A fiver.' She hesitated. 'Maybe a tenner?'
    'What the hell for?'
    He looked thunderous and Zee began to wonder if this
had been such a good idea after all. She glanced at Tasha
but she was looking away. 'The thing is . . . I've called a
taxi but we haven't got the money to pay for it.'
    'Well then, you have got a problem.' Conor crossed
his arms unsympathetically.
    'You said you'd help me!'
    'And maybe I will – when I know what it's for.'
    'Oh, tell him!' cried Tasha, spinning round. 'Just tell
him, Zee.'
    'Tell me what?'
    There was silence.
    'I need the morning after pill,' blurted Tasha. 'We
haven't got a bean to pay for the taxi and the clinic shuts
in forty-five minutes.'
    Conor stared at Tasha, then he stared at Zee. His eyes
were growing rounder by the moment. 'Right,' he said at
last, 'we'd better get a move on then.'
    ' We ?' Zee felt her face light up, she couldn't help it.
'You're coming too, Conor?'
    'Sure.' He grinned at her. 'Call it my good deed for
the day if you like.'
    They made for the front door. Conor grabbed his
jacket off a peg and shouted to his parents. 'I'm heading
out – see you later.'
    At that the kitchen door burst open and Mr O'Keefe
came hurrying through. 'Out where?' he demanded.
    'Just out,' replied Conor, 'I'll be back in a couple of
hours.'
    'I wanted a hand in the garage, son.'
    'Get one of the others to help you, Dad.'
    'But Conor—'
    'What?'
    Mr O'Keefe's nostrils flared as he looked the girls
over suspiciously. 'What's going on, Conor?'
    'Nothing. The girls are friends, that's all.' Conor
stared back boldly at his father. 'Have you got a problem
with that?'

9
    The taxi driver swerved like a bull-fighter, racing between
the lanes of traffic clogging up the Ormeau Road.
    'We're all gonna die!' giggled Zee, clutching
Conor's arm.
    'Relax,' he said, grinning at her. 'We'll get there.'
    Watching them, Tasha wondered if it was all some
awful dream. She sensed that, despite her own predicament,
Zee and Conor were actually enjoying themselves.
    'Are you okay?' Zee asked a moment later, her voice
tinged with guilt.
    'Do you think this clinic is going to be some dreadful
seedy place,' murmured Tasha, 'with prostitutes hanging
around outside it and syringes on the ground?'
    'Why on earth should it be?' asked Zee.
    'Bet it is,' mumbled Conor, 'bet it's stuck up some
stinking alley.'
    'Bet it isn't .' Zee glared at him.
    'What does it matter,' he persisted, 'as long as Tasha
gets what she wants?'
    But it did matter and Tasha could feel tears burning
behind her eyes. 'What if they think I'm a slut, Zee?
What if they make me feel like one?'
    'Call it a steep learning curve,' muttered Conor.
    'Shut up you!' Zee gave Tasha's arm a reassuring
squeeze and tossed Conor a look that would have frozen
acid. As the taxi braked, they all lurched sideways,
collapsing on each other like playing cards. 'We're here,'
said Zee, pointing, 'and look – it isn't seedy at all.'
    The