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
The twins’ party was in a VIP area on the club’s mezzanine level. Julius was pleased to see a ton of Adebisi bodyguards on hand in case of trouble. He grabbed a beer out of an ice bucket and tried to make himself invisible, standing with his back to a post, as the twins brayed and bumped fists with school friends. They were the kind of loud, beefy guys Julius avoided, and also the type of girls who hung out with them.
‘Hey, stranger,’ a girl with a country accent yelled over deafening bass and drums. ‘You too good for us now, Julius?’
There were two of them, fifteen and seventeen, dressed for a formal photo, not a club. Lights were flashing and they’d grown since Julius last saw them, so it took a second to recognise two favourite cousins, Blessing and Pru.
‘Too good for what?’ Julius shouted.
‘When did you last come back to the village?’ Pru, the older one, asked.
‘I went to London the last two summers,’ Julius admitted. ‘What’s happening back there?’
Blessing’s teeth caught the flashing lights. ‘In the village?’ she asked.
‘Nothing,’ Prudence said, grinning. ‘Nothing ever happens. I’m starting university in Lagos soon.’
The band was playing a loud bit and Julius cupped his ear. ‘Pardon?’
‘University,’ Prudence shouted.
‘Ahh, that’s good!’ Julius shouted.
The trio drank beers and shouted themselves hoarse, remembering stuff they’d done together at the family village in olden days. Julius had cheered up by the time his cousins dragged him out of the private area and headed close to the stage to dance. It was a crazy scene, with shirtless guys, flying sweat and the floor slippery with spilled bear. But when the lights went up for a change of band, Adebisi security fished the trio out of the crowd.
‘Stay in the private party,’ a slab of a guard said bitterly. ‘You’re fourteen. Are you trying to get another one of us fired?’
Pru and Blessing acted stroppy as they got chaperoned back to the mezzanine, but Julius felt guilty about Simeon and made no fuss.
He grabbed a third beer and found himself stood among more cousins. They looked as out of place as they felt, clustered together sipping beers as the birthday boys and their rich-kid St Gilda’s pals kissed girls and ordered expensive drinks and food platters.
A two-tier birthday cake fizzed with sparklers, after which most of the cousins had to leave for an overnight bus ride back to the village. Julius hugged a bunch of relatives and his phone said 22:43 as he came back from the bathroom, a touch drunk. He reckoned he’d stayed long enough to show good faith and asked a white-haired driver called Abeo to take him home.