Midnight Train part 4

For audio click here 
For art one click here, for part two click here and part there click here

Ten minutes after Helmut had left, Clive returned with another officer.

“This man is going to arrest you on suspicion of murder. Do you understand?” I nodded. “Because you’re 15 I have to be here.” I nodded again and then the German policeman spoke rapidly in German. I signed an official form with my latest name. The German spoke again.

“Now, you will be held in a cell over night while they investigate.” Clive translated for me, and I was taken away and led into a barren looking cell with a blue plastic mattress and a grey blanket. To most it would have been a desperate place, but as I’d not seen a bed for the best part of two weeks, to me it felt like a five-star hotel. I lay down and stared at the ceiling. I felt woozy, the coffee, the nicotine and the strange situation was having an effect.

I’d known this would happen eventually, all adventures have to come to an end and I’d been running too long. Although I didn’t know what would happen next, it kind of felt good to be caught. The light blurred and the room span a little. I was happy to be horizontal. As crazy as it seemed this was the most relaxed I’d felt for as long as I could remember. I guess a weight had been lifted. I drifted in and out of sleep like I usually did back home on a lazy Saturday morning.

I was sitting on the bed when a police woman came in with that wally from the embassy.

“Hello Clive,” I said.
“Hello Danny,” he replied. It took me a while to realise he had used my real name. “Come with me.”

They led me back along the corridor and out into a car park where I was put into a large German car. Clive got into the front seat next to the driver. The way he played with the seatbelt suggested he normally sat in the back.

“Where are we going?” I asked, but he didn’t answer. We drove through the streets of West Berlin, snow lined the grey pavements, drizzle hung in the air. I watched the people but didn’t see one smile.

“What’s going on?” I asked again, but Clive still ignored me. From my position in the back seat I could see dandruff on his shoulders.

Every traffic light seemed to be against us, and there was no way in the world the driver was going to jump the lights. A tram rattled past the window of the car as we waited at one set, making me jump. I tried the door, wondering if I could escape, but the bastards had put the child locks on.

“Earth to Clive, come in Clive, where are we going Clive? Earth to Clive.” Before he could answer, the driver signalled and turned into a narrow alleyway that lead into a courtyard. Clive got out and came around to my side.

“Don’t try anything Danny. You won’t get away,” he said.

Part of me wanted to run, but the way he spoke the words made me listen to the rational side of my brain. I got out of the car and followed him into the building.

“In here,” he said, opening a door. “Sit down,” he pointed to a chair underneath the Queen and left me to it.

I sat and waited and waited and waited. The room reminded me of my Granny’s front parlour, the one we only went in for special occasions. The only difference was Granny had more pictures of the royal family than this place. I didn’t have a clue what was going on. They’d found out my real name, what else had they found out about me.

The creak of the door made me jump. I looked up and saw them. Relief on their face. I smiled.

“Hi mum, hi dad.”