Chapters (88)
- Cover
- Title Page
- Dear Reader …
- Also by Robert Muchamore
- PART ONE
- Walter J Freeman Adolescent Mental Health Unit – East Grinstead, UK
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- PART TWO
- 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
- PART THREE
- Walter J. Freeman Adolescent Mental Health Unit – East Grinstead, UK
- 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
- PART FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- EPILOGUE
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- Have you read KILLER T?
- 1 SLASHED RUBBER
- 2 NOT HARRY POTTER
‘Do not antagonise me further,’ Bunmi warned, rising up behind her desk. ‘How many boys are in your school?’
Julius looked baffled. ‘A thousand? Maybe twelve hundred.’
‘Then this is simple, Julius. Twelve hundred boys to make friends with. Steer clear of this single one.’
‘Duke is my friend,’ Julius insisted.
‘Kehinde, Taiwo and all of your cousins will be asked to look out,’ Bunmi said. ‘If I find that you have been associating with this homosexual boy, I will have Orisa pack your bags and send you directly to the Army Boys Academy in Nasarawa.’
‘You can’t!’ Julius blurted.
‘Are my instructions abundantly clear? I won't repeat myself again.’
Julius eyed his mother defiantly. But she didn’t make empty threats and Army Boys Academy would shave his head, stick him in camouflage and make a soldier out of him, whether he liked it or not.
‘I didn’t give birth to a deaf child,’ Bunmi stated. ‘Answer or shall I find a man to knock the wax in your ears loose?’
‘I guess you win, like you always do,’ Julius said, slow and hateful. ‘Take away my only friend, make me miserable. What do you care? It’s not as if you’re my mother, or anything.’
EIGHT
Hey Georgia,
I’m writing four letters, but honestly, this one to you is way the hardest. When I think about killing myself, I know it will hurt Mum, Dad and Zac, but they’re adults. You’re the kid sister who I looked out for and never wanted to hurt.
You’re going to ask why I’m doing this. They’ll roll out all the clichés – Sophie was a bright girl, Sophie had her whole life ahead of her, it’s all such a waste. She had a good family and an amazing boyfriend. Everything to live for.
It’s like I’ve been on an express train my whole life. Storming the best grades in school. GCSEs, A-levels, good university. Be nice, be popular. Find a cool boyfriend. Get a first. Get a placement at a good training hospital.
Then, one night, you’re screaming and crying. There’s a guy who’s dead because you got mixed up. Dosed a patient with five hundred instead of fifty, when I had a snotty cold and my eyes were so tired I could barely read the tiny print in the Handbook of Clinical Medicine.
And then I was off the express train. Sat in our flat, borrowing money and wearing Zac’s hoodie. Daytime TV and microwave meals. Everything I’ve done or could do feels so pointless.
Reaching for the remote sucks all my energy. And everyone is full of advice: yoga, meditation, read this book, see the world, take meds, take this herbal thing instead of meds, get a dog, get a therapist, get religion.