Chapters (67)
- Cover
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
‘A man. That’s his name. He says it is anyway and I don’t know any other, only it’s funny because he’s actually really skinny, AND he’s a ginge, anyway he gave me a lift from school one time when I’d missed the bus, he was coming out this way and he dropped me at the corner, and then he did it again, when I was running for the bus. He gave me a bag, a rucksack thing when my stuff spilled out all over.’
Vince sat down and pulled the chair over until his own knees were touching Brookie’s.
‘So, maybe we’re getting somewhere or maybe you made all this up. I don’t have lying, I’ve told you all that how many times? Your mother was a liar, lied her way through every bloody day of her life. So no lying. What kind of a car has this Fats got then?’
‘Van. It’s ancient.’
‘He’s brought you home in it twice and never told you a real name? Why’d you think he did that, Brookie?’
‘Dunno.’
‘So he gave you the phone, right?’
‘He bought us all fish and chips once. I was going to the chippy with enough money to get scraps and the ends of the chips and he was in there and he bought fish and chips for all of us and peas. He’s all right if he did that.’
‘Is he? How’d you know?’
Brookie stared.
‘Listen, son . . . a bloke who gave you a lift home twice, and didn’t even know you – what was he doing hanging about your school anyway? He could have been up to any sort of trouble, he could have been a nonce, he could have been a killer, how would you know?’
‘He isn’t.’
‘Then he gives you a new school backpack, spends twenty-odd quid on fish and chips for four of you, then gives you a bloody mobile phone – for Christ’s sake, boy, where’s your brain? You’re not stupid. You can’t think that’s normal. Why didn’t you tell me? Did you tell the others?’
‘No.’
‘Why? Afraid they’d get the stuff instead of you?’
‘No.’
‘What then? They might have told me? Ah, all right, that’s it. Pity they didn’t do that before you were sitting here in big trouble. Taking a phone off a bloke, you don’t know who he is, you don’t know his name or where he lives, you just took it? And then he starts messaging you. What do you message back?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Liar – didn’t you hear what I just said about that?’
‘I don’t say anything back, I don’t answer.’
‘And how long do you think you’ll get away with that?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Jesus wept, Brookie, what do I have to say? How do I get this through your thick skull?’