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Chapters (75)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise
  3. About the Author
  4. Title Page
  5. Intoroduction
  6. ONE
  7. TWO
  8. THREE
  9. FOUR
  10. FIVE
  11. SIX
  12. SEVEN
  13. EITHT
  14. NINE
  15. TEN
  16. ELEVEN
  17. TWELVE
  18. THIRTEEN
  19. FOURTEEN
  20. FIFTEEN
  21. SIXTEEN
  22. SEVENTEEN
  23. EIGHTEEN
  24. NINETEEN
  25. TWENTY
  26. TWENTY-ONE
  27. TWENTY-TWO
  28. TWENTY-THREE
  29. TWENTY-FOUR
  30. TWENTY-FIVE
  31. TWENTY-SIX
  32. TWENTY-SEVEN
  33. TWENTY-EIGHT
  34. TWENTY-NINE
  35. THIRTY
  36. THIRTY-ONE
  37. THIRTY-TWO
  38. THIRTY-THREE
  39. THIRTY-FOUR
  40. THIRTY-FIVE
  41. THIRTY-SIX
  42. THIRTY-SEVEN
  43. THIRTY-EIGHT
  44. THIRTY-NINE
  45. FORTY
  46. FORTY-ONE
  47. FORTY-TWO
  48. FORTY-THREE
  49. FORTY-FOUR
  50. FORTY-FIVE
  51. FORTY-SIX
  52. FORTY-SEVEN
  53. FORTY-EIGHT
  54. FORTY-NINE
  55. FIFTY
  56. FIFTY-ONE
  57. FIFTY-TWO
  58. FIFTY-THREE
  59. FIFTY-FOUR
  60. FIFTY-FIVE
  61. FIFTY-SIX
  62. FIFTY-SEVEN
  63. FIFTY-EIGHT
  64. FIFTY-NINE
  65. SIXTY
  66. SIXTY-ONE
  67. SIXTY-TWO
  68. SIXTY-THREE
  69. SIXTY-FOUR
  70. SIXTY-FIVE
  71. SIXTY-SIX
  72. SIXTY-SEVEN
  73. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  74. CLIMATE EMERGENCY
  75. Copyright

I sit in silence.

‘OK, why don’t you talk me through the incident. You were on your way home, and…’

‘I pushed him.’ I say, bluntly. ‘I wanted to hit him but I pushed him instead, and he fell backwards and then the bike came along.’

‘Why did you push him, Josh?’

‘I wanted him to leave me alone.’

‘Was he threatening you in any way?’

‘No. He was…’ I trail off, aware of how ridiculous it sounds.

‘He was what?’

‘He was … being nice. I didn’t want him to be nice to me.’

The police officer steals a look at Mum, hovering in the doorway.

‘Well, Josh,’ Mum speaks. ‘It seems that Jamie is still being nice, despite what his parents want. And despite what another witness says. He says that he pushed you first, and that you were playing around and it was an accident.’

I don’t look up, but feel my cheeks burning.

‘Is that right, Josh?’ The police officer asks, her pencil poised above her notepad.

‘Yeah,’ I manage, hoarsely. ‘If that’s what he said, that’s what happened.’

‘The lucky thing for you, Josh, is that Jamie doesn’t want to take this any further. He’s happy to see this as an accident. Which means the school won’t be taking it any further either. However, the fact is that your actions directly caused an injury – quite a serious one – to a cyclist. Whatever the two of you were up to, it was reckless and dangerous. It can’t happen again. Do I make myself perfectly clear?’

I almost whisper, ‘Yes.’

‘We’re going to need to speak to you again, at the station. We need to be absolutely certain of what happened before we can take the next steps, if there are any, and as you fled the scene – which doesn’t look good at all, by the way – we need your statement quickly. Is that clear?’

Again, a whisper, ‘Yes.’

‘Mrs Milton, do you think you’d be able to bring Josh along tomorrow, at about 10, so we can get his statement? You’ll need to be there with him, I’m afraid. Sorry if it’s inconvenient.’

Mum’s voice is barely louder than mine, ‘That’s fine.’

There are a few more exchanges, mostly about where to park and who to ask for at the front desk. When Mum lets the police officer out, I rush upstairs and close my bedroom door. A few minutes later, I hear Mum do the same.

FORTY-THREE

FORTY THREE