Idle time

Idle Time by Gunther Gupter

School was not as interesting as it used to be for Jane. She had only
really begun to realize it this last term. Recently she had found
herself in the Headmistress's office too many times for her own good.
She couldn't understand why.
Jane had a good set of friends, well she used to up until quite
recently, she still speaks to a few of them but not as real friends
anymore, anyway she'd acquired a new circle of friends now, not at
first by choice but she realized they were into things she found
interesting and different that's all, there was no bitchiness and back
stabbers in this group she thought.
It all started really as a bit of a dare when she was doing some
shopping for her mum last term. She had been given some money to buy
some food one evening as her mum was unable to cook as she was
attending an evening class. Jane was quite tall and certainly looked
older than fifteen. That evening in the supermarket she bought a packet
of cigarettes and stole as much fancy make-up from the salon selection
section as she could fit in her school bag, she knew girls at school
would pay for this and she in return could buy cigarettes as and when
she wanted.
Jane pranced out of the shop as bold as you like, undid the cellophane
from the cigarettes and pulled out the gold paper, she took a deep
sniff and exhaled a satisfying breath, they smelt so good, fresh and
naughty. She pulled one out and sat on the bench outside the
supermarket and lit it up. The first inch of smoke always made her
cough as her delicate lungs protested the first puff, it got easier
after that.
It wasn't too long before some older guy she knew pulled up outside in
his sporty white escort. Jane used to know him, he was two years older
and had left school now and got himself his first car. Jane was
impressed and walked over to the car as he opened the door. "I've got
to get home"
"That's ok" he said "I'll run you there".
Jane got in and shut the door. Dan had black hair that was greased back
with gel and she could smell he had far too much aftershave on. His
eyes narrowed as he smiled and tapped the steering wheel to the
thumping music. "You coming down the Square tonight eh? We've got some
booze and Mike might be playing some tunes down the youth centre. She
had recently got to know Dan's mates from the youth centre but thought
most of them were twats, some of them had tried getting her pissed and
expected a shag, Dan had never done that though, she thought he was
more sensible and cool than the others, he also had dope most of the
time, she'd done dope a few times but usually made her tired and
giggly. "Yeah fuck it, I ain't got nothing else on tonight" Dan smiled
and lit a cigarette. They drove through the village for a while and
said nothing.
"Here you go then" he said as he pulled up in the street outside her
house.
"You can pick me up later then if you want" Jane said turning to Dan.
Dan smiled and said he would around 7.30.
Dan kissed Jane on the cheek and she said she'd be ready later, she got
her bag and said goodbye.
She could feel and hear the voices from her friends, well her old
friends now, she did miss her old friends but she had made her own
decision now and didn't really want to be part of that old girly
friendship thing.
Jane felt guilty as she saw a note on the kitchen table next to some
rice, tinned tomatoes and instructions for making Spaghetti Bolognaise,
her Mum was out at one of her amateur dramatic readings, Jane hadn't
done any of the shopping her mum had told her to this morning before
she left for school and it was half past six. 'Oh fuck it' she thought,
she felt guilty again.
It took Jane all of an hour to get herself ready and decide which
lipstick to wear, they should fetch a few quid she thought stuffing
them back in her handbag.
Dan was on time but said she would have to hurry as he'd promised he
was supposed to pick one of his mates up at 7.30. Jane pulled another
Superking cigarette out and lit it as she got in. "You ok then?" he
said, she thought he really looked as though he wanted to know, she
thought of telling him about the lipstick, and not buying the food for
her Mum. Na, he didn't need to know. He would only think her dumb. Dan
put a tape in the stereo and pulled off.
Jane noticed how Dan couldn't keep still and chatted away like he had
never done before, he was usually quite quiet she thought.
It only took about five minutes through the village to reach the car
park near the square and it was empty apart from a couple of cars, one
of which was Dan's mates. There were two people in it and Dan pulled up
next to it.
Jane could hear music coming from the car before they had pulled up.
"You getting out then?" Dan said. Jane nodded.
The window of Dan's mate's car was wound down and Jane could see the
passenger snorting what looked like speed from a plastic tray. She had
never done things like that, sure she had been stoned a few times but
who hadn't? She knew her old friends at school wouldn't like
this.
The passenger got out, Dan pulled back the seat, got in and gestured
for Jane to get in, and she did. "That guy from green gates popped this
gear round earlier" the driver said to Dan "same stuff as last weekend"
he held his breath and smirked.
"You know Clem don't you Jane?" Dan said "and Mike?"
"Not really" she said, he kind of looked familiar, she may have seen
him driving about the village a few times but she didn't really know
him. "I remember Mike" she said, Mike turned round and nodded.
"Here ya go then Dan the Man" Clem said as he passed the tray over to
him, on it were two small neat lines and a rolled up cigarette card.
"You know me, never a man to say no" Dan said taking it and placing the
tray on his knee. Jane sat and stared at the tray, she knew one of
those was for her, she was scared and slightly curious, she didn't
really know Clem and wondered how quickly and easily she had got into
this.
She saw Dan sniff slowly until only one line remained. She had to think
quickly but knew she would opt for getting it out of the way, it
wouldn't kill her she thought but she was scared.
After trying to act cool Jane took the tray and rolled up the card, the
line looked a lot bigger than it previously had, could she do the whole
lot or would she choke or something? Without thinking about it anymore
she got in place and sniffed as quickly as she could. Her eyes began to
water as she held her breath. After a short while her right nostril
felt as though it was on fire and her throat was sore.
"Ok that's business taken care of" Clem said as he revved the car. The
music sounded crisp and menacing, she could feel the bass rumble
through her abdomen.
Clem pulled out of the car park and raced up the road. Jane didn't feel
too worried about the speed he was doing, she couldn't help fight the
burning in her nose. 'Shit it's got to get better than this' she
thought. It took a while but it did get better.
She found that she smoked a lot more than she usually did and spoke the
others into their place most of the time, she didn't feel as though she
was speaking out of turn and the others didn't seem to mind
listening.
After a while Jane found she began to enjoy herself, she got into the
music that was playing and found she quite liked these guys, they said
she wasn't the usual fairy airhead girl like most of them her age, she
quite liked that.
Later on that night they went to the youth centre but found the hall
where they usually met was hired out for an old timers dance or
something. "Hey Dan" Mike said "We'll nip back to the car and get our
gear"
"Ok" Dan said "We'll still be here". They said they wouldn't be long
and were gone. Jane smiled and ran her hands through her hair, it felt
a bit greasy as she'd been doing it all night without realizing.
"Hey is it me or has it got warmer all of a sudden?" Dan asked. Jane
smiled and agreed it had. "Hey lets go round the back" Dan said
unzipping his jacket. She felt good now and safe, nothing could stop
her fun now she thought. She looked at Dan and hugged him, the evening
air now had become warmer. Dan's leather jacket felt cold against her
cheek. Dan ran his fingers through he hair and kissed her. It felt so
different to how she thought it might, his tongue felt hard and
pointed, she kissed him back and felt her breasts being groped, she
didn't mind so much but it did feel a bit rough.
"You're a very pretty girl you know that?" Dan said smoothly "I could
understand people wanting to take advantage of you".
Jane smiled "Well don't let that put you off" she said jokingly, Dan
gripped her hand and laughed. "Come on round the back, lets see if it's
open" he said as they broke into a run.
She noticed a couple of cars in the car park round the back apart from
that was pitch darkness. Jane followed Dan holding his hand past the
car park and up to a door to the side of the building. Dan twisted the
doorknob and cackled "Hey I knew this might be open, lets go inside
eh?" he said grinning, Jane did as she was asked and closed the door to
behind her. A light could be seen coming in through the corridor. Dan
walked over and switched on the light.
"Hey what if someone finds us?" Jane whispered, Dan poked his head
through the door and looked up and down the corridor "Looks like were
ok for the moment, we'll just say were looking for someone, your Mum,
she come here doesn't she?" he said.
"No" she laughed "for god sake don't say that!"
Jane's head now was buzzing with adrenaline and she had a thought of
doing something naughty.
This room was used for amateur dramatics amongst other things and rails
of old costume clothes hung inside cupboards along one side of the
wall. At the far side of the room a cabinet that housed what looked
like a TV and video sat on a stand. Dan walked up to it and fiddled
with the small lock on the front. "Hey how easy do you reckon this
would be to bust open?" he said turning to Jane, she shrugged, Jane
knew her mum did her play readings in here as part of her amateur
dramatics, she didn't feel guilty now though, the speed she had taken
earlier had completely taken over her mind.
She paced up to one of the cupboards and pulled some costumes out "Hey
can you see me in this darling" she said holding up velvet looking
purple gown, she laughed then took it off. "What about his then" she
said turning to Dan with a graduates cap and gown and some thick rimmed
black glasses, she had wanted to go to university one day and told her
Mum she wanted to teach children abroad.
She looked at Dan who by now was sitting on a chair. He held up a
little plastic bag and raised his eyebrows "There ain't much left" he
said innocently "Might as well finish it off". Jane took a seat next to
Dan and told him all about the make up she had stolen earlier, he
didn't really say much as he emptied the bag onto a table and arranged
it with a photo-card. She told him everything, mainly about her old
friends and how she'd given up on school as if he would offer her some
kind of advice or direction. He hadn't exactly done well either at
school, he was studying for a city and guilds certificate in
engineering at college, he said he wasn't that interested in it at all
but thought he had to do something. "Well I say there's more to life
than school" he said as he rolled up a five-pound note. "Everyone
learns things their own way don't they". He then told Jane of his Dad
leaving them when he was six leaving his Mum to bring him, two brothers
and a sister up on her own. "Fuck it wasn't easy ya know, I had a
pretty shit childhood at times, I wouldn't change it though, I reckon
it's only made me a stronger person". Jane put her arm around
him.
"You don't think I was silly stealing that stuff earlier then" she said
ruefully.
"Don't be silly" he said "Look I've nicked quite a few things in my
time, don't feel guilty for it, no one else will". Jane tried to
justify it then by what he had just said.
They finished the speed and Dan got up, he noticed a screwdriver on the
windowsill, he took it and walked over to the TV cabinet. After a
minute or so of jamming and hacking away at the lock it was open. "You
want to nick something now?" he said gleefully, he wrenched the video
clean from the unit, he pulled a penknife from his pocket and slit the
lead "Right let's get the fuck out of here"
Jane walked towards the door and had a quick look around then stopped
as she looked up at some pictures on the wall. One picture stood out
from the others, she knew that one quite well as her Mum had it at
home. In it was her mum dressed as an animal in a play complete with a
tail and whiskers, crouched down below her was Jane similarly dressed
but looking up at her Mum. Jane met most of her friends from that play
and grew up with most of the others.
"Come on lets go then, do we wanna get caught?".