‘Here he is, the warrior.’ Donny raised his hand in greeting. ‘Glad to see you’re alright. You had us all worried. You’re very lucky to still be with us, lad.’

Clare followed behind and invited him to sit down. ‘I’m banging the kettle on if you want a brew, Mr Knight?’ Donny sat and tapped his hands on his knees. ‘I’d love a coffee if you’re making one.’

‘Sugar?’

‘No, I’m sweet enough,’ he joked.

Ged pulled a face – was his headteacher hitting on his mother?

Donny waited for Clare to disappear into the kitchen and leant over towards Ged. ‘So, fill me in, what really happened?’

‘I just got jumped, sir. Unprovoked attack it was.’

‘What, there was no arguing or anything? You can be straight with me, Ged. It doesn’t make you a grass.’

‘Nothing, I swear I never said a word to them, they just started kicking the shit out of me and one of them must have stabbed me up. I didn’t even know I’d been stabbed at first.’

Donny looked concerned. He looked over towards the door and kept his voice low. ‘So, you’ve been dealing, then?’

Ged’s eyes were wide open. ‘No, sir,’ he stuttered. ‘Who’s been chatting shit about me because I’m not selling drugs, no way.’

Donny sat back and stroked his chin. ‘I hear things, Ged, people talk. I heard you had drugs on you and that’s why you got whacked in, is that right? County lines is serious business. It might seem like just something to do for your mates but there are nasty folk involved higher up, trust me on that. Have you heard anything about that kind of thing?’

Ged avoided eye contact. ‘No sir, like I said. I got jumped for no reason. People need to stop gassing about me because if I find out who it is, I’ll punch their fucking lights out.’

Donny nodded his head slowly. ‘Calm down, keep your voice down. I have to ask you because I need to make sure you’re going to be safe, Ged. We’ve all been worried about you lately. Your mam is out of her mind with it and you have to admit that you’ve changed recently.’

‘I’ve not, I’ve just learnt not to take shit from people. I look after myself now and I don’t let people take the piss out of me. What’s wrong with that?’

Donny reached down into his bag and pulled out some paperwork. He understood this more than he was letting on; he’d been bullied, he’d been a victim. He knew how these things worked.

He started to read through his notes. ‘You chill with Frankie a bit, don’t you?’

Ged was alert now. ‘Yes, why?’

Donny kept his eyes on the paperwork as he spoke.