It all came out then, the boy clinging to Bonnie while he talked. Smoking. Stealing. Bullying. The dog helped him. He stroked her head as she lay draped over his lap in her favourite position.

It was all starting to make sense to Leon. Max taking things from the shop. Not wanting to go to the footy. Jaden letting Bonnie out after the semifinal. The bullying must have been going on for weeks, and Leon felt terrible—why hadn’t he noticed? It appalled him that Miki was the only one who’d suspected. From the small world of her shop, she had been far more aware than he, who was the boy’s next-door neighbour and supposedly his friend. Leon had been so caught up in his own troubles, he hadn’t actually been looking. He’d let the kid down. It was pitiful.

In a show of support, he patted the boy’s leg, but Max winced. Why was he so sore? ‘Can you show me?’ Leon asked.

Reluctantly Max tugged up the leg of his trousers. Purple bruises on his shins.

‘Jaden did this to you?’

Max cast down his eyes and nodded.

‘Okay.’ Leon stood up. ‘We have to do something about this. We have to tell your mum.’

Max grabbed Leon’s arm and shook his head violently. ‘No, don’t. She’ll kill me.’

‘It’s okay, I’ll do the talking. Jaden shouldn’t be doing this to you.’

‘Please don’t tell her,’ Max begged.

‘You should come with me. Mums are good with this stuff. She’ll be on your side.’

Max just kept patting the dog’s head, soothing himself.

‘We have to tell her,’ Leon said. ‘It’s the only way to make things better. And schools have bullying policies—they’ll stop all this crap with Jaden.’

Max curled around the dog and shut down. Clearly, he was too terrified to tell his mum. That was why he’d come to Leon.

‘Wait here then while I go,’ Leon said. ‘You’ll be okay. I’ll make sure of it.’

Max didn’t look up. He had gone into a cocoon.

‘Promise me you’ll stay put. You can go inside if you want. Watch some TV. I won’t be long, then this will be over. Everything will be fine. Bonnie will look after you.’ That was a dog’s job: to be with whoever needed them.

Leon hurried next door. It probably wasn’t a good time—he could hear Suzie shouting somewhere inside the house. But this wouldn’t wait. He knocked.

Wendy came out looking hassled, Suzie at her heels, still yelling.

‘Sorry,’ Leon said over the din. ‘We have to talk about Max. He’s just told me some things you should know.’