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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

‘It means bad, Vince. Bad and getting worse. Contrary to Alan’s insidious actions, I do believe there resides within him the ability to be a decent human being and to live a long and purposeful life.’

‘Is immigration insidious, Sir? Like that new Muslim kid?’

‘That, Vince, is another matter for which we have no time. Pack your things. I’ll see you next week.’ He looks over my shoulder, to the back bench and the figure under the coat. ‘You too, Dana, for what good it’s done you.’

I spin around so fast my stool wobbles violently, just in time to see the door close behind her.

TWENTY-THREE

TWENTY THREE

I can’t avoid Alan and Vince this week. They stay and talk to Mr Walters for a while and I leave first, trying to glimpse which way Dana might have gone, but she’s too quick. I run to one end of the corridor and quickly conclude that she must have gone the other way. I hear Mr Walters’ raised voice behind me as Vince and Alan leave the room.

They catch up with me as I emerge from the science block into the seemingly endless drizzle. I was right. Dana must have taken the other exit. There’s no sign of her.

‘Not trying to avoid us again, Milton?’ Vince snarls as he knocks past me.

‘I told you, Vinny, Josh is one of us.’ Alan’s on my other shoulder. ‘He knows what these insidious people can do. What they’re capable of. Don’t you Josh?’

I know that any change in speed or direction isn’t an option.

‘He knows what these scum can do, first hand. He’s been affected.’

That word, used like that, where had I heard that before? I keep walking, my eyes on the floor.

‘Josh knows what these murdering mudskins do. Don’t you, Josh? How they worship a god who says murder is OK, expected even, in his name? It’s like a death cult.’

Vince is so close I can smell the damp, cigarette scent of his breath. I feel it rolling, dark and oily, over my hair and down the side of my face.

‘Josh has been on the front lines. He’s a casualty. And now there’s one of them here. A filthy murderer parading around in our school, in Josh’s school. Isn’t there, Josh?’

I can feel the stitches in my coat pockets starting to stretch and gape as I push my hands deeper, harder into them. But I don’t look up.

‘One of those mudskins with blood on his filthy hands.’

I ache for the cloud to come back down and take me, to wrap me up again. I urge it to come and surround me with silence again. I keep walking.