In the previous chapter Lisa is beaten so badly by her alcoholic mother, she fears for her life. Convinced that the only person who can help her is her brother, she leaves the house late at night, and leaves the safety of her respectable street and walks towards a rough housing estate, where she hopes to catch a bus to his flat. A drunk attacks her, and the chapter ends as she starts to lose consciousness.



 
     Just as she thought she was going to pass out, Lisa heard the sound of squealing brakes in the distance, and then the ground next to her ear resounded with the vibration of running feet. Two men had jumped from a taxi, one the driver, one the passenger, when they had seen the man on top of Lisa's limp body on the piece of waste land at the edge of the estate.
 
      Seeing them running towards him, the drunk had taken off into the night. Lisa rolled over onto her side, and felt the air rush back into her lungs as she gasped for air. After she had stared back at the two men for a moment or two, her eyes wide with fear, they helped her shakily to her feet and asked if she was okay. Lisa nodded, but staggered slightly to one side,  forcing one of the men to take her arm in case she keeled over.   
 
     “Are you from around here, love?” The passenger from the taxi asked her gently. Lisa shook her head.
 
Aware that she was somewhere she shouldn't be in her desperate attempt to escape her mother; and already regretting the fact that she had left her home in the first place, Lisa stared back at the two men like a rabbit caught in the glare of a car’s headlamps.
 
     “No---I'm trying to get into Glasgow - to my brother’s flat by the university,” she stammered pathetically. “I was looking for the bus stop.”
 
The two men looked at each other and tried to work out what to do for the best. Neither of them wanted to get any more involved than they had too… but it was patently obvious they couldn't leave Lisa alone, or she might be attacked again. If she needed to get to the bus stop, they thought it best to take her there.
 
     They helped her into the taxi and the driver turned on the ignition, the purring of the engine breaking the silence while he drove through the estate to the bus stop on the other side. Lisa sat with her hands clenched in her lap, not knowing what to expect next. For all she knew, these two men could be as bad as her attacker, she thought miserably. She had reached the point where she didn't trust anybody anymore because of everything that had happened. If you couldn't trust your own Mother...then what chance did she have with complete strangers? For that reason, she was very relieved when the taxi pulled up just a few yards from the bus stop.
 
     There were a few people standing waiting under the shelter. Their shoulders were hunched with the cold, their collars up, their hands in their pockets. Lisa was almost surprised at the normality of it all, considering what she had just been through. The taxi driver went over to the waiting passengers and found out that there was a bus due any minute, which was thankfully going past the university. If they could just get Lisa on to it, they could go home and their involvement would be over.
 
     When the man in the taxi turned to Lisa and asked her if she had any money, she realised that she'd dropped her purse when she was attacked. How much worse could it get? She looked back at him and shook her head miserably. She had only been away from her home for less than an hour, and she had been attacked, nearly raped, and she had nothing but the clothes she stood up in. Maybe her mother was right, she thought - maybe she was totally useless.
 
     When the bus arrived, the guy from the back of the cab put a few coins into Lisa’s hand. She looked down at the money before asking him his name and address, so she could repay him at some point in the future.
 
     “Forget it! It's only a couple of quid. You don't need to pay me back” he replied with an embarrassed smile.
 
Not realising how important his gesture of kindness was to Lisa, he started to walk away, but she called out to him. She asked for  his name, at least. By then the bus driver was motioning to Lisa that the doors were shutting, and the man realised that she would probably miss the bus if he didn't say something, and he certainly didn't want that to happen. He was already at least an hour late getting home, and his wife had an uncanny habit of waiting up for him, and giving him the third degree five seconds after he walked through the door.
 
     'Bob, 63 Sycamore Street,' he shouted back - then quickly walked away…
 
 
 
 
    The journey to Scott's flat took about twenty-five minutes, and as Lisa studied her reflection in the darkened mirror-like window of the bus, she realised just how lucky she'd been. Apart from the recent abuse she'd received from her mother, she had been protected all her life, and had never had to face up to the harsh reality of the outside world. The whole experience left her feeling numb and worthless. It was as though she attracted trouble wherever she went, and she was sick of it. She was sick of trying to please her mother, sick of being leered at by men, sick of life altogether, because there was no one she could trust. She was trapped in a situation which looked enviable to anyone who knew her, but the fact of the matter was, she was totally dependent on her parents...
 
 
 
 
 
     The short walk from the bus stop to her brother’s flat took less than five minutes, and Lisa was relieved to see the lights were still on. If it had been in darkness, she would have felt awkward waking up Scott and his flat mate. She just hoped he would understand...and not tell her off for running away. He was her last hope, and she needed his understanding more than he would ever know.
 
     When Scott heard the knock at his door after one in the morning, he wasn't unduly surprised, because life so close to the university campus was socially nocturnal. He was, however, surprised to see Lisa standing at his door, looking the way she did...especially at that time of night. She looked terrible. Her white coat was streaked with grass stains, and her face was streaked with tears.
 
     “Lisa - what in Christ's name are you doing here?” he gasped.
 
She looked up at him, her eyes pleading, hoping against hope that he, at least, would understand.
 
     “I had to get away, Scott - I can't take it anymore,” Lisa replied in a broken voice.
 
     Scott looked at her impatiently. He thought that her statement sounded a bit melodramatic, but assumed she had just had another fall out with their mother; something his mother always claimed was instigated by Lisa. He took her into the living room where he and his flat mate Tony had been having a drink before going to bed. Scott stared at Lisa waiting for her to explain why she was there and she, in turn, stood there looking back at him without speaking. Eventually, he lost his patience.
 
     “What's happened, Lisa?” he asked, the irritation sounding clearly in his voice.
 
Lisa started to explain, but she stopped because she didn't think Scott would want Tony to hear about what her mother had done to her. Whatever she might have been through, she didn't want to embarrass him.
 
     "I had a fight with Mum, and I left the house to come here. I need your help, Scott…"
 
He interrupted her, suspecting that Lisa was overreacting, as his mother had told him she often did.
 
     “How did you get here?” he asked, ignoring the tears of frustration now coursing down Lisa's cheeks.

Still feeling too embarrassed to say anything in front of Tony, Lisa used Scott's question as an excuse to get the conversation away from her mother. She tried to explain what had happened when she had been attacked after she left the house. Scott couldn't believe she could be so stupid to walk alone through a housing scheme at that time of night, and he knew his mother would be furious when she found out.
 
      “Does Mum know you’re here?” Scott asked, as though he hadn’t listened to a word she said.
 
She looked over at Tony, still reluctant to cause embarrassment. Tony’s mother was friendly with hers, and she knew Scott would be furious if she said anything derogatory about their mother in front of him.
 
     “No, but…” she stuttered.
 
 Scott looked down at his sister with an annoyed expression.
 
    “If she doesn't know where you are, she'll be worried sick, Lisa!” he shouted at her.
 
  She stared back at him in disbelief when she realised that he was taking her mother's side already.
 
    “No she won't! She probably doesn't even know that I've gone,” she shouted back defensively.
 
Scott picked up his mobile and swore. He hadn't charged it for a couple of days, and Tony had lost his the day before. He was going to have to use the phone box across the street. Scott put on his jacket and started walking towards the door, while Lisa just stared back at him looking desperate.
 
     “I'm just going to ring Mum and tell her that you're okay - I'll be back in a few minutes,” he told her.
 
Lisa tried to stop him from leaving by standing in his way.
 
     “You don't understand, Scott, I haven't finished telling you what happened.”
 
He took her by the shoulders and gently, but firmly, moved her to one side. As far as he was concerned, she didn't need to tell him anything else until he'd spoken to his mother.
 
     “You can finish telling me when I get back. All I'm going to do, is tell Mum that you're safe!”
 
Nothing Lisa could say or do was going to stop him. He pushed his way past her and left, slamming the door behind him.
 
     Lisa was now near to hysterics, so Tony tried to calm her by putting his arm around her shoulders and giving her a hug. The way Lisa cried out when he did, nearly made him jump out of his skin.
 
     “What’s going on, Lisa - have you been hurt?”
 
     “It doesn’t matter...” she sobbed.
 
Tony held her at arm’s length and pursed his lips. Although he wasn’t fully qualified as a doctor yet, he knew when someone was trying to hide pain...and humiliation. It didn’t take much to figure out that Lisa was terrified at the thought of Scott phoning their mother, so Tony quickly deduced it must have something to do with her.
 
     “Has your mother hurt you, Lisa?” he asked gently.
 
     “You don’t understand, Tony. I can’t tell you...”
 
     “Well show me then,” he suggested. "I’m not training to be a doctor for nothing, Lisa - I’m sure it’s not anything I’ve never seen before.”
 
     Suddenly Lisa didn't care anymore if Tony knew about her mother, she had to tell somebody, and her brother didn't seem to want to know. She took off her coat and pushed the neck of her sweater down past her shoulder, showing Tony some of the marks on her back.
 
     When he saw them, he swore out loud. The fine red lines were already turning to bluish purple bruises and were dangerously close to her neck.
 
     “You're going to have to show this to Scott, Lisa. Any higher and she could have broken your neck…or worse, she could have killed you!”
 
Lisa let the neck of her sweater go and sat back down in the chair, glad that he, at least, had seen the evidence of her mother's abuse. Not that it mattered, the only one who could help was Scott, and he was more concerned about what her mother thought. It suddenly dawned on her that her situation was completely hopeless.
 
     “What's the point? He's already phoning Mum and telling her where I am. I'll have to go back. I don't have a choice.”
 
Tony didn't know what to say. If Lisa's mother had given her these bruises, and he had no reason not to believe her, then sending her back was the last thing Scott should be doing. He left Lisa in the lounge for a moment and came back clutching fifty pounds, his total remaining allowance from his father that month.
 
     “Take this and get the hell out of here, Lisa, before Scott gets back. I'll explain it to him, and tell him you ran off while he was out phoning your mother.”
 
Lisa shook her head and handed him back the money, thinking as she did, how ironic it was that only strangers ever tried to help her.
 
     'I've nowhere to go Tony, it wouldn't matter how much you gave me…'
 
     As the reality of what she had just said sank in, Lisa slumped back into the chair and resigned herself to the situation. She decided not to tell Scott any more, and she asked Tony not to mention what he'd seen. It was useless. She realised, for the first time that Scott loved his mother far too much to believe she could do anything bad to either of her children, and Lisa didn't want to be the one to shatter his illusions. She would have to think of someone else to turn to, if her mother ever attacked her again. She had thought about contacting Child line when her mother had attacked her before, but she knew the humiliation it would bring on her family, if the secret of her mother's drunken behaviour came out, would be worse than the abuse itself. Lisa had seen the seedy little flat her friend Michelle had been put into when she had told the police about her father, and the way he had abused her. It hadn't mattered how good the social workers were, the whole family had been torn apart, and Michelle's mother had taken the father's side, as Lisa knew her father would take her mother’s. All her friend had done was exchange the odd beating, for a squalid empty existence - and her family's scorn.
 
 
 
 
     Scott returned looking pleased with himself for doing the right thing by informing their mother. Not only had she known that Lisa was missing, but she had contacted the police...so his responsible actions had not only pleased her, but also saved the police from wasting their time.
 
He'd also told his mother about Lisa being attacked after she left the house, thinking it might gain Lisa a little sympathy when she went home. He didn't realise that all he had done was make things worse.
 
     When the police arrived at Scott’s flat fifteen minutes later, Lisa followed them out to the waiting squad car with her shoulders slumped and her face expressionless. It was as though she were being taken back to prison...which in a sense, she was. They said that Lisa would have to make a statement when they took her home regarding the attempted rape, and she sat in the back of the police car feeling numb, friendless and betrayed. She still didn't feel brave enough to tell the police about what her mother had done, believing that she would lose everything if she did. Lisa just sat in the back of the police car saying nothing.
 
     When Lisa arrived home, Fiona embraced her at the door and thanked the police profusely over her daughter's shoulder for bringing her home. She gave the impression of being a loving mother who was genuinely distraught at her daughter's disappearance, and Lisa was so tired and disillusioned by the whole thing that she gave off the impression of being a sulky teenager.
 
     The police woman asked Lisa why she had run away in the first place, and she looked over at her mother knowing that if she wanted to expose her, now was the time.  Fiona stared back at her...and Lisa knew she couldn't do it.
 
There was silence for a moment before Fiona spoke up, a sweet smile on her face.
 
     “You know what sixteen year olds are like, officer...” she purred. ” They always think their parents don't really understand them - it was just a silly row, wasn't it, Lisa?”
 
Lisa's heart sank as she realised that not only had she missed the opportunity to expose her mother, but also that the police would assume she was a spoilt brat because of her mother's comments. It was too late to say anything now...
 
     When the police asked Lisa about being attacked, they asked her if she had any witnesses, but when she told them about Bob, and gave them his address, the policewoman looked back at her with a puzzled frown.
 
     “I know Sycamore Street, Lisa, it's not far from here...but it's only got half a dozen houses in it. Are you sure it was number 63? I don't think the house numbers go up that high.”
 
     While Lisa racked her brain to try and remember what Bob, if that was really his name, had said, the officer radioed through to the station and had it confirmed. There was no number 63 in Sycamore Street. As the two officers and her mother stared back at Lisa, she knew that they all thought she'd made the whole thing up. She had gone through all the pain and humiliation only to end up looking like a spoilt brat. The police obviously thought she had run off after fighting with her mother and was now crying rape to gain attention.
 
     As if to confirm her suspicions, the police woman told Lisa and her mother that they couldn't take the matter any further, as there was not enough evidence regarding the attack. To add insult to injury, before they left, they pointed out to Lisa how stupid she had been leaving the safety of her home at that time of night.
 
     It was as though the whole world was against her, and their comments only proved, yet again, how isolated and helpless she actually was. There was no one who could help her, not family, not friends, not even well meaning strangers…