‘Who’s that?’

‘It’s Donald McGiver.’

A pull the door open n rest the bat in the corner. It’s the big man himself. He looks elder. A hudnae seen him since A left school. A heard he hud retired this year fae the eld school, the big chief finally layin doon the headdress. McGiver is a different breed tae the new types. New school buildings n ways huv replaced the eld wans we knew.

‘Hello, Alan.’

‘Eh, awright, sir. Yi comin in?’

‘Thank you.’ He might look a bit greyer but his frame is still broad n strong. It’s strange tae see him in civvies. Usually it wis his grey suit, white shirt n red tie, the only colour apart fae the thread-vein contour lines on his face beside the thick moustache. A make tea n walk back intae the livin room wae the mugs n hand him wan. ‘Firstly, I want to express my condolences about young Lucas. I know he was a close friend of yours.’

‘Aye. It wis a shock.’

‘So it all flared up again?’

‘Never stopped really.’

‘I still keep in touch with the old place and help when I can. It was disappointing to hear of this. I hoped your lot would have moved on. You, especially.’

‘Nah, still stuck in the rut as per.’

‘Do anything with those two Highers you worked so hard to get?’

‘No yit naw, A wis thinkin aboot college but it never happened. No yit anyways.’

‘Work?’

‘Nah, nuhin. It’s that recession. Naewan’s takin on n folk ir gittin paid aff constant.’

‘Not easy at the moment. Especially not around these parts.’

‘No meanin tae be rude, but is this a social call?’

The big man shifts in his chair n laughs. ‘No, Alan. It’s not a social call. There’s been a flare-up of territorial violence in school and the new headmistress asked me to get involved, give her a bit of info about the area and so on. She’s pretty new to it.’

‘She’s in fur a shock then.’

‘Well, this is it. It’s complicated schooling in this area with these tensions. They don’t come with a manual for the senior management team to follow. They need to learn it from scratch and quickly. They’re trying to prevent any more tragedies like this.’

‘A understand. So, how kin A help yi, sir?’

‘No, that’s not why I’m here. Your name has been floating around the school, something to do with Matthew O’Connor and his girlfriend.’

‘Aye, we hud a run in.’

‘In response to Lucas?’

A nod.

‘The school was vandalised at the weekend. Azzy W is a dead man and words to that effect.’

We follow in the hallowed footsteps ae the YT legends before us.

‘Bit ae paint’s no gonnae hurt us.’

‘I just thought you should know in case they are genuine threats.’

‘A’m sure they ir. They’re aw lookin fur me n Danny.’

The two ae us share a look. ‘Nobody has been caught …’ McGiver says wae a concerned expression.